Charleston County Council Votes to Support Attainable Housing

Charleston Metro home values have gone up 28.2% over the past year and are estimated to grow by 13.1% by March 2023. For homeowners, this provides the opportunity to build equity and wealth, but for those striving to be homeowners, this furthers the opportunity gap. It is estimated that Charleston County will need 29,000-36,000 new housing units over the next decade. Of those units, 35% would serve incomes less than 80% AMI (area median income), 20% would serve incomes between 80 – 120% AMI and 45% would address housing needs for incomes more that 120% AMI.

On Tuesday, January 31, 2023, the Charleston County Council voted unanimously to award over $10 million of the reserved $20 million of America Rescue Plan Act funds for the first round of gap financing grants for the development and preservation of attainable housing and in-fill development. The term “infill development” refers to building within unused and underutilized lands. Housing affordable below 100% AMI typically needs incentives, subsidies or regulatory flexibility.

This serves as a major win for the county and its efforts to address the housing needs.

The Charleston County Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization department has released its draft of the comprehensive housing plan for housing and housing affordability. This plan identifies specific housing needs, identifies strategies to create and preserve needed housing and lays out a clear path forward.  The Housing Steering Committee has been working with consultants from Development Strategies since March of 2022 to guide the county on its first-ever comprehensive housing plan. The public comment period is January 30 – March 1, 2023. HNR department will be holding public comment sessions during the month of February. To learn more about the scheduled public comment meetings, visit the Housing Our Future website. You can also provide your comments digitally. The plan is scheduled to be presented to the Charleston County Council in March for adoption.

Charleston County Council Votes to Advance the 526 Completion to “Shovel Ready” Status

This past Tuesday, Charleston County Council held a special Finance Committee meeting to vote on the proposed $75 million in funding for the Mark Clark Extension project. The funding would contribute to a total of approximately $150 million needed for permitting and approvals, as well as land acquisition. This figure was based on a presentation given by the South Carolina Secretary of Transportation, Christy Hall, during their regular Finance Committee meeting on January 26. In a 5-3 decision, the Finance Committee moved to advance the $75 million funding request to the Council at large for a final vote.

Prior to County Council’s vote, Charleston County residents were able to give public comment regarding the project. Comments were heard from a variety of residents and organizations, including your Chamber Chairman, Joe Grech, and Chamber staff, on what the extension of the Mark Clark Expressway would mean to the community. After several minutes of compelling discussion, the Charleston County Council voted in a 5-3 decision (Councilmembers Sass, Honeycutt, Moody, Pryor and Boykin voted in favor) to authorize the $75 million in funding. Additionally, Council authorized their Administrator, Bill Tuten, to develop a reasonable funding approach as it relates to remaining expenditures for the project. This decision comes as a major victory for the Chamber and its many business leaders that have championed infrastructure development in the region.

Please join us in thanking the Charleston County Council for these major community advancing actions!