After a year-and-a-half hiatus, the proposed apartment building at 295 Calhoun Street is back for BAR-L review this week. The revised design is a new take on a controversial project that has been subject to four denials by the BAR-L and three developer-led appeals since 2021.
Previous proposals put forth an overly massive, 8-story building sharply contrasting with the character of the adjacent Harleston Village neighborhood. Throughout the design review process, the PSC has called for more sensitive height, scale, mass, and architectural direction, and even successfully intervened in the developer’s lawsuit challenging the validity of the Board of Architectural Review’s authority. That case remains pending, and this week’s proposal appears to be the mediated outcome of a subsequent legal challenge to the fourth BAR denial.
After numerous failed attempts by the developer to muscle an incompatible design through the review process, the proposal up for consideration this week represents the first meaningful restudy since the BAR first denied this project in 2021.
The reworked design reflects the input of a newly assembled, local project team. While still one of the largest building footprints ever proposed downtown, notable changes include reducing the height to seven stories and stepping down further toward the neighborhood, a revised massing approach, and a simplified design direction.
Overall, this is a promising step forward, but the design needs refinement. The PSC will continue to push the applicant to deliver the highest quality building for this site — one that includes vibrant connection to the public realm, elegant and contextual architecture, and greater deference to the scale of adjacent residential streetscapes.
LOOKING AHEAD
Many have asked us how such a large building in the floodplain along Alberta Long Lake is permitted at all. Prior to the adoption of the current City Plan, in 2021, City Council approved rezoning requests for 295 Calhoun Street that resulted in increased height and density allowances. These decisions were made under the city’s 2010 comprehensive plan, which designated the site suitable for the most intense development allowed at the time. With the rezoning in hand, the owners of 295 Calhoun have a vested right to build, subject to architectural review.
Increased flooding in Charleston has since prompted a reevaluation of where development should occur. Locating high-density projects in flood-prone areas like 295 Calhoun not only places future residents at risk, it has the potential to further constrain our already-stressed infrastructure.
The PSC supports the recommendations of the City Plan and newly released Water Plan, which encourage city leaders to consider elevation as a factor in land use decisions. While the BAR’s purview is limited to architecture, the PSC is working in other arenas to address fundamental issues with current zoning that facilitated the entitlements for 295 Calhoun and other buildings already permitted in flood-prone areas.
Equipped with new floodplain and sea level rise data and associated policy recommendations, City leadership is positioned to implement impactful policy changes to ensure Boards and Commissions have the tools to guide context-sensitive development. The PSC is committed to working with decision makers and community members toward a more resilient future for Charleston.
The BAR-L will meet on Wednesday, September 25 at 4:30 P.M. in the 1st floor Public Meeting Room at the Gaillard Center, 2 George Street. Anyone is welcome to speak at the meeting or submit comments via the City’s online portal by Tuesday, September 24 at 12 P.M.