Consultants present draft housing goals to Charleston City committee, warn subsidies and policy changes will be needed

At a Community Development Committee meeting, a consultant from Bloomberg Associates presented updated analyses and a set of draft housing goals for the City of Charleston, saying the city will need sizable subsidies, incentives and policy changes to meet demand.

"I think the top line goal, of course, is to create 3,500 more affordable or attainable homes," the Bloomberg consultant said, and outlined a six-part package that also calls for building at least 7,500 new homes, raising the homeowner-price target to about $400,000 (from the earlier $300,000 figure), catalyzing $800 million in investment, reducing homelessness by 25% and stabilizing roughly 1,000 households.

Why it matters: the consultant told the committee that multiple gap analyses — the city’s 2021 study, county work and Bloomberg’s own assessment — show the largest shortages of renter-affordable units are concentrated at the lowest income bands (below 30% and below 50% of area median income). He said the apparent easing of some gaps in city statistics mainly reflects lower-income households moving out of the city rather than an expansion of affordable supply.

The consultant summarized a development-feasibility study that combined building typologies (high-rise, mid-rise podium, garden-style, townhomes and built-to-rent single-family) with four land-price tiers and tested a 6% yield-to-cost hurdle rate. He said the most feasible projects were high- and mid-rise developments in the city’s prime land tiers and some lower-cost garden- and single-family BTR scenarios in outer tiers. "If we were to reduce the rents for 20% of the units at a level of 80% of AMI, all of a sudden none of these projects are in that green or mostly feasible category," he said, warning that adding affordability typically pushes projects below investors’ feasibility thresholds without subsidies.

Financing and scale: Bloomberg’s team gave a back-of-envelope estimate of roughly $250,000 in public subsidy per unit as a planning figure that underpins the $800 million catalyzation target. The consultant also said that where the city can provide land at low or no cost, developers can typically include a larger share of affordable units; in some mid-rise scenarios provided land increases affordable-unit shares to near 50% in high-value locations.

Homeownership and supply trends: the consultant’s homeownership accessibility analysis (transactions back to 2019, adjusted to 2024 dollars) showed a sharp shift into higher-priced sales: about 30% of transactions were $800,000 or more and new-build transactions for first buyers had declined substantially. He said roughly 17,000 units were in permitting or review as of June, but cautioned the city’s historical production (about 1,500 units per year) and changes in underwriting mean not all pipeline units will necessarily be completed.

Council response and key exchanges: committee members welcomed the level of detail but raised concerns and caveats.

- On pipeline reliability, one council member questioned counting large projects in the permitting pipeline toward future supply; the presenter and other council members responded that underwriting shifts, construction cost and permitting delays mean many pipeline projects may stall unless conditions change.

- On infrastructure and flooding, a council member asked whether the analysis included traffic and water impacts from adding thousands of units; the consultant said traffic and water studies are required but outside the current scope, and other members highlighted unresolved flooding as a prerequisite issue for large-scale peninsula development.

- On density and character, one council member urged accepting greater height and fewer parking requirements on the Peninsula to enable large-scale affordable housing, while acknowledging tensions with historic character and community pushback; another member flagged the political and procedural constraints that enable local opposition to delay projects.

Actions and next steps: the committee approved the November meeting minutes by voice vote with ayes carried. Chair and staff agreed to circulate the presentation materials and analyses to all council members for review; the consultant said the team will work through incentives, finalize eviction/stabilization subtargets once state eviction data arrive, complete the alternative revenue and homeownership studies, and support the city during expected follow-on discussions early next year.

What the presentation did not do: the consultant did not propose specific ordinance language, bond measures, or precise subsidy programs; infrastructure impacts (transportation, water) and final eviction/stabilization targets were flagged as items for future technical study rather than resolved policy decisions.

Next procedural step: staff will distribute the consultant’s slides and supporting documents to all council members for review, and the committee anticipates continued work on specific incentives, revenue options and implementation details in the coming months.