Charleston City committee advances Project 3,500, recommends county term sheet for Morrison Drive and approves 899 Morrison PSA changes

The Charleston City Community Development Committee on March 19 received a near-complete design update on Project 3,500 and took two procedural votes to move Morrison Drive properties forward to full council consideration.

City staff member Josh said the affordable-housing charrette is wrapping up and invited the public to a work-in-progress presentation tomorrow at 5 p.m. at the Dock Street Theater; he said recordings and a 500-seat comment-card process will be available to gather public feedback. "That presentation will be at 5PM at the Dock Street Theater," Josh said, and staff will post recordings and make public-comment cards available at the event.

The mayor summarized a recent meeting with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, saying officials in Washington discussed adjusting funding timelines and mechanisms to help the city accelerate Project 3,500. "They were very, very receptive to it, which is really exciting," the mayor said, adding that the goal is to move the concept "from watercolors to shovels in the ground."

On property actions, staff described a proposed term sheet with the county to include a county parcel alongside the city-owned property in the Project 3,500 request-for-proposals package. Julia, a city staff member, told the committee the term sheet would run 12 months from signature, would require the county to begin rezoning to MUH 3 within 15 days if the city submits a modified offer, and would include a deed-restriction backstop if the county's own sale does not deliver the affordable-unit protections originally intended. Julia said that if a bona fide offer arrives the first step would be to "pay them off the 34,000,000," removing the county from the deal and allowing the developer to proceed under the MUH 3 framework.

A committee member moved that the committee recommend approval of the proposed agreement with the county on 993995 Morrison Drive; the motion was seconded and the chair declared the ayes carried, forwarding the recommendation to full council for final action.

Staff also described an amendment to the purchase-and-sale agreement for 899 Morrison that creates a condition precedent to closing, extends the closing deadline, and requires the city to enter an approved voluntary cleanup contract (VCC) with the Department of Environmental Services and to approve any covenants and restrictions to be placed on the property. The committee moved to approve the recommended modifications to the PSA for 899 Morrison as proposed; after a second, the chair called the ayes and declared the motion carried, advancing that amendment to council.

Committee members also received an update on the MUH 3/W H mixed-use zoning item (first reading; final reading expected in April) and a briefing on West Edge/MUSC Foundation discussions about buyout and financing options that avoid short-term city debt while prioritizing housing.

Next steps: the Project 3,500 work-in-progress presentation will be held tomorrow at Dock Street Theater; the committee’s recommendations on 993995 Morrison Drive and the 899 Morrison PSA amendments will be placed on the full city-council agenda for consideration.