Council ends county purchase talks, authorizes $18M ILA purchase for Morrison Drive housing push

Charleston City Council on Dec. 16 voted to terminate the city's pending purchase-and-sale agreement with the county for a large site and instead authorized contracts to buy two parcels comprising the ILA property at 899 Morrison Drive, an action the mayor described as advancing the city’s Build First affordable housing initiative.

The administration told council the county had sought roughly $30 million for its site, while the ILA property can be acquired under an $18,000,000 aggregate purchase price. City officials said the ILA site is zoned for greater density (up to 12 stories as described in the meeting), lacks a troublesome Lehi Wall line obstruction the county parcel has, and is contiguous to housing authority land — factors the mayor said make the ILA property a better near-term site to begin construction and use limited TIF design funds for vertical development.

The mayor also flagged a potential land-access complication on the county site: the county parcel contains a strip owned by a third party with no recorded cross-access easement, which could increase acquisition cost and complexity. Councilmembers who spoke in favor said the city would continue to work cooperatively with county officials to make the county parcel marketable if needed and to preserve the regional partnership required to deliver thousands of workforce and affordable units.

A motion to terminate the county agreement and authorize the ILA purchase was made, seconded and approved by voice vote; the transcript records the outcome as "Ayes have it." Several council members emphasized the need to stay aligned with county partners as rezoning and development work continue.

Quotes

"This is an $18,000,000 aggregate purchase price. The county...was proposing $30,000,000," the mayor said, describing the rationale for the shift in acquisition strategy.

"We need to keep an open line of communication and make sure that we got their buy-in as we go forward," one council member said, urging continued collaboration with county officials.

Context and next steps

Council and staff said the city will continue talks with Charleston County to explore rezoning or co‑marketing options for the county parcel and will proceed with due diligence, design and planning on the ILA property to support the Build First affordable housing program. The council motion authorizes the mayor to enter into the purchase contracts for the ILA property; the administration indicated follow-up rezoning and detailed design work will be required.