North Charleston Community Master Plan

This massive redevelopment plan, with a three-quarter-mile waterfront site as its catalyst, covers 3,000 acres, including 350 acres that the City of North Charleston, South Carolina, acquired from the Charleston Naval Complex Redevelopment Authority. The major objective for North Charleston is to offer an alternative to urban sprawl by setting the benchmark for smart growth, reclaiming the waterfront for public use while integrating the former Navy base into the city. In short, the plan transforms the ways in which the community functions, interacts and lives. As a public-private sector collaboration, funding will be provided by both tax increment financed (TIF) bonds and by equity provided by The Noisette Company, LLC.

BNIM is working in collaboration with the Washington D.C. office of Burt Hill Architects and a diverse group of specialty consultants including Steven Apfelbaum, ecologist and site designer.

The master plan includes sustainable development guidelines for parks, zoning, density, movement systems circulation (vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian), parking, energy-efficient utilities, ecological restoration, landscaping and watershed management. The Plan also calls for the reestablishment of Noisette Creek as a healthy, functioning ecosystem and watershed.

There are many areas encompassed by the redevelopment: the Riverfront Park at the old decommissioned Navy Complex joins a 200-acre park surrounding Noisette Creek; up to 10,000 new and rehabilitated housing units; six to eight million square feet of commercial space and revitalization of the City’s Old Village; improvements to 13 public schools; and the creation of cultural venues, such as museums and other recreational areas, tourist and shopping destinations.