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Noisette gets deal for improvements
By Molly Parker
Staff Writer
After months of wrangling over the details, North Charleston City Council signed off on a financing plan in late November that will allow the Noisette Co. to undertake a $165 million public works construction project at the former Charleston Naval Base.
By a 7-2 vote, the council approved the bond deal that will work like other tax-increment financing districts except that bonds could be floated before the value of the property appreciates enough to pay them down.
As a stopgap measure, the financial agreement includes an overlay tax—which Noisette will have to pay to make up any shortfall—on the development through implementation of a municipal improvement district.
At the conclusion of the roll call vote, the unusually large audience erupted in applause.
Noisette CEO John Knott, who was counting on the financial agreement to kick off a planned mass-scale revitalization of the historic Navy Yard, gave a thumbs-up and beamed at his employees who were gathered around him.
The finance committee, which includes the full council, had advanced the deal on a 9-2 vote two days earlier after a handful of political and community leaders heralded Knott’s commitment to turning around the southern end of the city. But nothing required Council members to vote the same way the second time around, and some had their reservations.
“Everything boiled down to whether I trust Noisette or not and I don’t, and that’s because of past history,” said Councilman Bobby Jameson, who voted for the plan despite his questioning of Noisette’s progress on the base and the developer’s work on Riverfront Park.
Jameson said he was impressed with the attention staff had given to his concerns about the agreement, and that he believed in second chances.
“I want to give Noisette the ability to re-establish that trust by doing the job the way I think it should be done,” he said.
“Relief,” Knott said the next day when asked what crossed his mind after the vote.
“I’m very emotional,” he said. “I almost broke down and cried halfway through those comments from the public. It’s what we do our work for. We’re here to serve the community. Our goal is to build community and engage community and bring community together and create a healthy environment for people.”
The city’s southern end, which made up the whole of North Charleston when it was incorporated in 1972, has suffered many setbacks over the years, culminating with the 1996 closure of the Navy base. But over the past decade, the footprint around the base has been the focus of a revitalization effort, which included demolition of the state’s largest public housing project. The North Park Village and its signature barbed-wire fence have been replaced with the multi-million dollar Horizon Village government-subsidized neighborhood.
The city’s forefather, former Mayor John Borne, waxed nostalgic about the historic portion of North Charleston that included just 21,000 residents at the outset.
“With all due respect, new development is easy; redevelopment is tough,” Borne said, thanking the Council for approving the deal.
The resolution outlines how the city will repay Noisette for public infrastructure, which will be turned over to the appropriate utility once it’s completed.
Noisette estimates the entire project could cost around $165 million over the course of several years, but the agreement requires the company to complete the work in small phases and apply for reimbursement after hitting specific benchmarks to the city’s satisfaction.
The company estimates its first project will cost about $25 million, and it is slated for completion sometime in 2009. The entire first phase of the infrastructure improvements is estimated to cost around $80 million, and, once completed, will support up to 2,100 housing units and 1.5 million square feet of commercial space.
Knott said he has already secured contracts for 400 residential units and 500,000 square feet of commercial space, but those agreements were contingent on the financial deal. The current infrastructure on the base is so poor that it could not support a major development,
he said.
Among other problems, the roads are falling apart and storms can leave parts of the base under three to four feet of water. Noisette’s first undertaking will be construction of a massive stormwater drainage system. To handle the water flow, a 1,200-foot-long basin, roughly the size of four football fields laid end-to-end, will be placed south of McMillan Avenue. It will also serve as a reflecting pond and stand as a focal point of the mixed-use community.
The first phase of improvements will also include redeveloping the infrastructure around McMillan Avenue and the area between Spruill and Hobson avenues.
Molly Parker is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her directly at mparker@setcommedia.com.
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