By Molly Parker
Staff Writer

Sometimes the most prosperous development is no development at all.

One of North Charleston’s oldest land owners sold its last remaining parcels to the city in a deal that closed March 25.  

It’s a story that hearkens back to North Charleston’s roots, where visionaries such as Rhett and Montague – the men whose names now grace the streets that cut through the heart of the historic city – saw potential in what would eventually become the thriving, and then struggling, and now revitalizing Park Circle area.

For $2.8 million, the city of North Charleston will acquire the land largely running along Noisette and Filbin creeks that for the last 75 years belonged to the North Charleston Lands Corp. All but 20 acres of the land must remain open green space as a caveat of the sale.

“We always thought it would be a crime if it couldn’t be preserved,” said John Noble, president of North Charleston Lands Corp.

Noble’s father-in-law, Joseph France, acquired the land in 1933, when the Great Depression drove the original owners, including former Charleston Mayor R.G. Rhett, into bankruptcy. With the transfer, the Baltimore-based investment company completely dissolved its interests in Charleston County.

“He would be very pleased to see that it’s evolving this way,” Noble said of the late France, a Baltimore corporate lawyer whose expertise on railroad disputes often brought him to the Charleston area. (North Charleston was not incorporated until decades later, in 1972.)

The nonprofit Trust for Public Land, which holds the options to the land, orchestrated the deal between the city and the North Charleston Lands Corp. after another deal fell through.

The Trust for Public Land will purchase it and then transfer it to the city at the same price.

“Normally you don’t have opportunities to buy big chunks like this in an urban core,” said Slade Gleaton, director of the South Carolina division of the Trust for Public Land. “This provides the city the opportunity to put parks on the ground and provide walking trails for the citizens of the community.”

When the housing market improves, the city will look to sell about 20 of the 50 acres of highland situated near the corner of South Rhett Avenue and the CSX rail line near Noisette Creek.

The other large parcels are located on both sides of Interstate 526 and Filbin Creek from North Rhett Avenue to Attaway Street. That area must all remain green space.

North Charleston Assistant to the Mayor Ray Anderson said the long term goal is to “interweave those communities with permanent dedicated green space and some recreational activities associated with it.”

The green space will also help the city control the quality of the creeks by tempering storm water runoff, Anderson said.

The city will pay for the bulk of the land using green belt funds set aside for the city from Charleston County’s half-cent sales tax.

Molly Parker is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her directly at mparker@scbiznews.com.  

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