The Charleston County School District met for the final time on Monday to discuss the potential tax increment financing funding that will be allocated to the renovation of Union Pier.
Following two previous meetings regarding the funding in July and the beginning of October, CCSD voted to approve the TIF funding reallocation to Union Pier during the Oct. 28 CCSD board of trustees meeting. The vote was not unanimous, with five board members voting for the TIF and four members voting against.
The TIF will allow the city to collect property taxes that usually go to Charleston County and the CCSD and use it toward the purchase and renovation of the pier.
“I think it will be one of the landmark projects of this generation,” William Cogswell, mayor of Charleston, said. “I think it has incredible opportunity to be transformative for not just the City of Charleston, but really the region.”
Daniel Prentice, chief financial officer for the Charleston County School District, said typically TIFs are simply approved or disapproved by CCSD. For this TIF, he aimed to make sure the school district would negotiate something in exchange for participation.
In exchange, the school district asked that the city cancel their lease on the third floor of 75 Calhoun St., giving 30,000-square-feet of office space back to CCSD which has been rented out since the 1990s, Prentice said.
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Other residents spoke during public comments in the meeting including two CCSD high school students in an advocacy group called Youth in Action discussing the improvements they suggest to their schools.
“You have too many people on the peninsula of Charleston that don’t have a house because of TIF districts by the City of Charleston,” one Charleston resident said during the CCSD board meeting.
Since the Union Pier TIF is approved by CCSD, work will begin to turn the Union Pier into public improvements, including access to the waterfront, parks, affordable housing and other infrastructure on the property, according to a news release from the City of Charleston.
At the moment, Union Pier does not generate any tax revenue, but with this renovation project, the space will be expected to generate over $20 million annually for CCSD, according to the release.
“I think it is an incredible investment for the county, for the school district and for the city,” Cogswell said.
The South Carolina Ports Authority previously owned Union Pier and sold it to Ben Navarro, the owner of Beemok Hospitality Collection. The city will have a say in the further development of Union Pier, concluding it being used as a cruise terminal.
The Cooper, owned by BHC, will be located next to Union Pier, opening in Oct. 2025, Courtney Capata, senior vice president of communications for BHC, said. The Cooper will be the first luxury waterfront hotel in Charleston, placed between Union Pier and Charleston Waterfront Park.
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