CHARLESTON — County Council is approving funding for land purchases that will clear the way for future affordable housing projects.
As the region continues to grow, securing land for affordable housing is one priority laid out in Charleston County’s housing affordability plan. The county identified three additional housing projects through its grant program that uses American Rescue Plan Act funds to purchase land.
“Land is obviously expensive and getting more and more scarce,” said Eric Davis, the director of Charleston County’s Housing Development and Land Management department.
The county’s Affordable Housing Land Acquisition Grant program was designed to allocate $2.5 million ARPA funds to nonprofits, municipalities or private groups to purchase land for affordable housing. A partnership between the county and the Charleston Redevelopment Corporation, the program distributed the first round of funds in November 2024 that left $1.4 million in the pot.
Now, the next round of funding was awarded for two projects in North Charleston and one in Ravenel. County Council unanimously voted to approve $635,000 in funding for the three projects at their Sept. 25 finance committee meeting. Council members Henry Darby and Jenny Costa Honeycutt were absent.
Davis said the program provides an opportunity for groups to secure land without having to build on it immediately. All projects must begin vertical construction within 24 months of the grant agreement. The projects range in the level of income they will serve, ranging from households making between 80 and 120 percent of the area median income, or an annual income between $88,700 and $133,000 for a family of four, he said.
These properties will remain within these affordable limits for at least 20 years, Davis said.
Affordable housing in Ravenel
Ravenel Town Council voted in July to approve a resolution to purchase 35 acres of land off Martin Street to use for affordable housing. Eleven of the 35 acres will be for 23 single-family homes, and the rest will be preserved as a passive park.
Ravenel is purchasing the land from resident Sandra Loy for $675,000. In addition to the $250,000 in ARPA funds, the town is investing $200,000 in the project. Ravenel is also applying for greenbelt funds for financial assistance with the purchase.
Mayor Steve Tumbleston said the town closed on the purchase Sept. 26 and plans to start the civil engineering process immediately, including tree surveys and mapping out property lines. In the meantime, the town will start to look at potential partners to build the homes.
Ravenel is focusing on affordable housing as a preemptive approach to incoming growth, Tumbleston previously told The Post and Courier. He added that the 35-acre purchase is a great example of smart growth for the town
The town has wrestled with new development over the past few years. Since 2021, Ravenel has annexed over 4,000 acres of land to build over 1,000 homes off Old Jacksonboro Road and Davison Road. Residents protested a rezoning request for a 96-acre property on Drayton Road that would have allowed for 300 homes in 2024, but the applicant eventually withdrew the request.
A proposal for a concrete batch plant that came before Town Council and the board of zoning appeals last year sparked controversy. Residents said they were concerned about the environmental impacts, and worried local officials didn’t have a long-term vision for the town and weren’t prepared for the traffic that new development would bring.
The board of zoning appeals unanimously denied the request for a special permit to build the concrete plant in January.
2 projects in North Charleston
In North Charleston, one group is requesting $200,000 to purchase land for eight townhomes on Taylor Street in Liberty Park.
Palmetto Community Action Partnership, a nonprofit that serves the economically disadvantaged in the tri-county area, is helming the eight unit townhome project. The organization received $250,000 through the grant program’s first round of awards and used $50,000 to acquire two lots — one vacant lot and the other with a home. The group is rehabbing the home and plans to build affordable housing on the vacant lot next year.
For the current round of funding, they requested more money to purchase the two parcels on Taylor Street for $395,000 where they will build the townhomes.
Casdell Singleton, the CEO of Palmetto Community Action Partnership, said the organization will start construction on the townhomes early next year. He estimates it will cost $1.7 million to build them.
All of the nonprofit’s projects funded through the county’s grant program will be rental units for residents making at or below 80 percent of the area median income, he said. These types of housing projects help the organization continue its mission of helping residents live stable lives, he continued.
“I get calls every day from people who are looking for a place and can’t even find one,” he said. “The ones that they can find are not always in the best shape and the cost is really prohibitive.”
The other project in the city is on Durant Avenue, led by HLS Commons. The group requested $185,000 to convert a market-rate property into affordable housing. The property includes a single-family home and duplex with units geared towards residents making between 100 to 120 percent of the area median income. One unit will remain market-rate to support the sustainability of the project, according to county documents.
If all of the awarded projects are approved, the grant program will have $765,000 left. Davis said applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the funding runs out.
