Union Pier Open House on March 5: A Recap

The Bennett Rice Mill from the interior, stabilization efforts are visible. March 5, 2024.

The Port and the Riley Center hosted an open house at the cruise terminal this week to engage with the community on the “opportunities and constraints” of the planned redevelopment of Union Pier and to provide tours around the property. Most Charlestonians are used to seeing the large expanse of asphalt from a car moving along Washington Street—from this vantage point it is difficult to get a true sense of the scale and potential of the site. It is also challenging to grasp the physical and technical complexity of inserting an entirely new neighborhood onto this industrial waterfront land. Several themed stations were set up to address the various aspects of Union Pier that are currently being considered by the master planners.

There were several remarkable aspects of this open house that deserve attention because they deviate from the previous planning effort that imploded last June. First, the landscape architects had delved deep into the history of the site, from the pre-historical period to its time as a colonial port, industrial center, then international port facility. This acknowledgment of the layered history helps to ground any future approach to land use and development. Second, the team prepared in-depth analysis of the character and context of Charleston’s historic urban form and streets, indicating that they truly seek to make this plan a natural extension of the city to the water’s edge. Lastly, there was a fascinating array of research into the structural, environmental, and financial challenges with developing a complex site like this—almost half of which sits on aging piers out over the water. The underlying soil has been contaminated over many decades of industrial use, the site is low-lying and subject to severe flooding and storm surge, there is not much infrastructure currently on the property (therefore large investments required for water, sewer, utilities, roads/sidewalks), and the aggregate costs of addressing these issues for new development is daunting. Which get us to the penultimate question: what is this property worth and how can the owner and community determine a viable approach for funding this redevelopment without diluting the positive elements that people are seeking: generous parks and open space, properly scaled buildings, resiliency features, workforce housing, and public amenities?This is the critical question that needs to be answered in the next couple of months before a master plan is presented for city approvals. All levels of government—from federal, state, county, and city—will need to be engaged to help answer this question. HCF will be at the center of these conversations and will continue to keep the community informed as the process unfolds.To learn more about the project, visit the dedicated website: UnionPierSC.com