Charleston County approves part of Union Pier's financing plan

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) – Charleston County councilors met Tuesday evening and approved becoming part of the Tax Increment Financing District, or TIF, for the redevelopment of Union Pier.

Charleston Mayor William Cogswell presented the redevelopment plan for Union Pier last month, and county officials said they had until Nov. 4 to vote on whether to be part of it or not.

A TIF is a public financing instrument designed to stimulate private investment in a devastated area.

By using a TIF system, the city can convert property tax revenue generated by private redevelopment projects into a fund to pay for public infrastructure projects such as stormwater drainage, public spaces such as parks, water access and affordable housing at Union Pier. .

Essentially, it will increase the assessed value of the property in the project area, which will lead to higher tax revenues.

Currently, Union Pier does not generate any tax revenue. Cogswell said this private investment could be worth about $2 billion and is expected to generate $47 million in tax revenue annually over 30 years.

However, Charleston County School District, Charleston County and the city of Charleston would not see tax revenue from the project until the 30-year funding period is over.

CCSD was approved Monday evening as part of the Union Pier TIF. Part of the school district’s deal with the city required them to give up their office space at 75 Calhoun St., leaving the additional 30,000 square feet to CCSD.

Charleston County also entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the city to gain approval for this TIF. With that agreement, the city would give up ownership of 294 parking spaces in the Cumberland Street Garage. The money that comes from people paying to park there then goes back to the province. The city will still have the option to use these spaces, but it would have to pay the province 30.6% of the operating costs.

Charleston County Council member Brantley Moody said he looks forward to the redevelopment of Union Pier. One concern he mentioned earlier was making sure the county’s costs would be covered for the next 30 years.

“So as the area grows, we’re going to see apartments coming up there, hotels, restaurants and things like that that require the county to provide services, whether it’s ambulances, 911 and things like that, so my big concern was making sure that we had a source of revenue to cover these costs and I am confident that this is the case,” said Moody.

Another Charleston County Council member, Jenny Honeycutt, also said she was curious to see what would come out of this project.

“The province is really looking forward to seeing what the city can do with this incredible resource that we have. We are very pleased that we have a local partner who is willing to redevelop this area and the province is eager to work together,” said Honeycutt.

The IGAs for both the school district and the county will head to the city of Charleston on November 4 for a second and final reading.