CITY PICKS LOCAL BIDDER
New Concord Park project to be designed for mixed use, activity

The Post and Courier
By David Slade

Charleston has tentatively named a developer for Concord Park, a large mixed-use development near the S.C. Aquarium on the site of the former Ansonborough Homes housing project.

The site is the largest piece of vacant land on the peninsula, below Calhoun Street. The low-lying property is a former Superfund site surrounded by pricey condos, offices and tourist attractions.

The city had asked a small, prescreened group of developers to come up with their best proposals for putting shops, offices, a small hotel, and new homes on the northern and southern ends of the site, leaving a park in the middle.

Thursday the city decided to negotiate solely with Charleston-based East West Cumberland Park Associates, one of three teams that had submitted plans.

East West proposes building 233 apartments and condos, with 64 of them being rented or sold at below-market rates. The city had prodded developers to include as much affordable housing as possible in their plans, and East West offered the most.

The East West plan also calls for a 50-room hotel at Concord and Calhoun streets, roughly 25,000 square feet of office space, and about 20,000 square feet of retail space.

"I think everyone individually came to the conclusion that they had the best urban design," said Mayor Joe Riley, who was part of the selection committee.

Also voting to select East West were council members Robert Mitchell and Yvonne Evans; Michael Maher, director of the Charleston Civic Design Center; Yvonne Fortenberry, Charleston's director of the Design, Development & Preservation; Christopher Morgan, acting director of Planning and Neighborhoods, and Mike Robinson of Charleston Appraisal Service.

Those reviewing the plan took particular note of the amount of below-market residential units proposed by East West.

The group would offer 44 rental units to people earning as little as 50 percent of the area median income, and 20 condos for people earning no more than 120 percent of the median.

The median income for a family of four in Charleston is currently $55,900.

The committee also liked East West's ideas for what city officials refer to as "activating the street level." Creating a lively street , is particularly challenging at the

Concord Park site, because federal regulations require that no habitable space be built there lower than 11 feet off the ground.

East West would solve that problem along Calhoun Street with cafes, display areas and lobbies leading to the second floor retail areas. Elsewhere in the development, residential units would have stairs from the front doors to the street. Most ground-level space would be hidden parking areas.

"In East West, there was a more consistent approach to activating every face of the buildings, particularly at the south end of the site," Maher said.

Officials from the other investment groups, Atlanta-based Wood Partners, and Columbia-based Estate Properties, declined to comment Thursday on the selection.

"I'm very excited about it, and I'm sure my partners are too," said Wally Seinsheimer Jr. of East West. "I'm pleasantly surprised that they were able to choose so quickly."

All three teams submitted initial proposals Feb. 28. Then the city asked for more details, and an increase in the amount of affordable housing.

East West's initial proposal strayed from the city's plan requirements, suggesting a land swap that would have put the proposed International African American History Museum on Concord Park, and an upscale grocery store and condos on the proposed museum site next to the Aquarium's parking garage.

Riley rejected that idea, and East West came back with a different plan more in line with the others.

"It's really very unique for Charleston, in that it's a major mixed-use development on the peninsula that includes office, retail, residential, a hotel, and affordable housing," Seinsheimer said. "We did focus very hard on design, and creating affordable housing."

Riley said East West's revised plan offered the best design, the most affordable housing, and the largest investment in the site. He did not say where East West's offer of money for the city's land ranked, in terms of being financially competitive.

"We'll be negotiating with them on that," he said.

The city has not disclosed how much money each team offered for the city's land, or how much each developer proposed to invest. Those details will come out when negotiations are completed.