The former Navy Base in North Charleston that closed back in 1996 is finally on its way to adding new construction, including both single and multi-family homes

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - New ownership brings new developments. The former Navy Base in North Charleston that closed back in 1996 is finally on its way to adding new construction, including both single and multi-family homes.

Since the base closed its doors in 1996, the city had an original master plan that was created in 2004 for this redevelopment. Now, the city has a revamped plan, known as the “Navy Base Redevelopment District” that they say is going to help bring even more connectivity to this area.

The city of North Charleston says the “Navy Base Redevelopment District” will include areas south of Virginia Avenue, areas around Noisette Boulevard, and Reynolds Avenue as the main focus. Megan Clark, the city’s planning and division director, says they are renovating two buildings on the base. One for residential and one for offices and retail.

Clark says other buildings could be hotels or strictly office buildings.

“All of that’s permitted,” Clark said. “The only development that we have proposed right now is just reused to those two buildings for the multi-family and office and retail.”

The city owns a lot of the property surrounding the base, such as the Noisette Creek Pedestrian Bridge, the Admirals House and Riverfront Park. Clark says they do not have a set number of how many people will be able to move to this area as they preserve the historic district.

“There’s a height district surrounding the historic buildings, so we maintain that character along Noisette,” Clark said. “But beyond that, there isn’t a height district. Potentially, you know, if you can park the facilities then you can put as many units as can fit.”

The city says they have nothing budgeted for this because they won’t have to pay if a property is privately owned. However, they can join an agreement with someone if they wish to do so.

The city’s planning commission will have two public hearings on Monday, Jan. 9. The first will be about the proposal of this new plan and the second will be approving the rezoning of the actual property. From there, it will need to go through city council readings in order to officially move forward.

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NORTH CHARLESTON — A new motel, barbecue restaurant and coffee shop are slated to be the newest businesses in the Chicora Cherokee neighborhood where once-vibrant Reynolds Avenue is now a focal point for revitalization.

“Our goal is to not be King Street,” said Ed Sutton, developer and president emeritus of the Reynolds Avenue Area Merchants Association, emphasizing the need for the North Charleston strip to attract locally owned business as opposed to chain restaurants.

But there’s another problem that affects the downtown Charleston business corridor that those living near North Charleston’s Reynolds Avenue are hoping to keep at bay: flooding.

The Chicora Cherokee community, a hot spot for new development and also a target for affordable housing and new businesses, is one of six neighborhoods that have been targeted for drainage improvements. Though residents and community leaders welcome the improvements, the city’s recent decision to move forward with a flooding study in Chicora was met with mixed reactions.

City Council voted Dec. 15 to pay civil engineer Reveer Group $146,510 to lead the Chicora Drainage Study. The study will analyze existing flooding conditions and evaluate remedial action in the form of maintenance or drainage improvements that will reduce or eliminate future flooding.

Reveer, a North Charleston-based firm, will also develop alternatives that will increase the capacity of the stormwater system and reduce the flooding potential in Chicora.

Chicora will be the first of six neighborhoods to undergo drainage studies using funding from grants awarded last year by the South Carolina Infrastructure Investment Program to help cover more than $14 million worth of drainage improvements. Other neighborhoods that will see flooding solutions are Union Heights, Accabee, Read Street, Midland Park and the Northwood/Bentwood area.

The city still needs to secure additional funding to implement the recommendations from the study, Councilman Michael Brown said.

AJ Davis, president of the Chicora neighborhood, said any improvement that seeks to alleviate flooding is welcomed. But the infrastructure improvements are to be expected, given the economic interests in the city’s south end, he said.

Development is trickling southward from the Park Circle community, an eclectic district of residences and restaurants. Businesses have stretched south along Spruill Avenue and along Reynolds Avenue into the predominantly Black Chicora neighborhood, where housing affordability and gentrification remain a concern.

Some expected that incoming development would “trigger” infrastructure improvements, Davis said.

“In my opinion, this is less about truly addressing infrastructure issues for the people there and more so about aligning with a development trajectory that we’re all pretty much seeing,” Davis said.

Union Heights, located a few miles south of Chicora, is also slated to see drainage improvements.

Skip Mikell, neighborhood president, said he was unaware of the $14 million being invested in southern end neighborhoods. He also said the city should have considered the number of grassroots organizations that have for years been examining environmental issues in these neighborhoods.

In 1980, North Charleston studied the Chicora Drainage Basin, which spans over 400 acres and covers the neighborhood, and concluded that a new box culvert and outfall to the Cooper River was needed. The study also concluded that the pipes upstream of the retention areas were undersized and only provided up to 50 percent of the required stormwater conveyance capacity.

Soon after, the city constructed the recommended saltwater retention. In 2007, the Charleston Naval Complex Redevelopment Authority built a new box culvert though the former Charleston Navy base and a new outfall to the Cooper River.

While drainage has improved, flooding has continued to impact the community, which includes several homes, nonprofits, businesses, schools and churches.

“You have flooding to where folks can’t get to their houses,” Brown said. Brown added that the problem hasn’t gotten better over the years, even as new infrastructure projects have made way, such as the four-lane Cosgrove overpass that was replaced several years ago.

Evie Palmisano lives at the corner of Arapahoe Street and Captain Avenue, located in the adjacent Nafair neighborhood. She bought her home in 2019. Since then, her yard has flooded at least 10 times, she said. In 2021, Palmisano lost her car after the vehicle was flooded during heavy rainfall.

“I’m tentatively hopeful,” she said in hearing about the city’s new Chicora drainage study.

Rexton Street, a strip that stretches off the up-and-coming Reynolds Avenue, is also frequently under water. This impedes current plans to transform the strip into community-oriented space that includes an amphitheater, cafe and plaza. But proper infrastructure will need to be in place for those plans to be successful, Sutton said.

CHARLESTON S.C. (WCIV) — Wonderful things can happen when a community comes together.

Lowcountry non-profit, Metanoia SC, is listening to the people who live in North Charleston's Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood.

Over the past 20 years, Metanoia has been implementing programs to meet residents' needs to generate positive changes.

Shawn Saulsberry is the Board Chair of Metanoia.

"It's a huge responsibility because Metanoia is literally serving the area that I grew up in," Saulsberry said.

Saulsberry remembers growing up in what's known as "Charleston Heights," or the "Heights" in North Charleston.

The community played an important part in his childhood.

"I didn't have the organization that we have today, but somehow I ran across those metanoia-type people who saw me, and they invested in me."

His grandfather taught him the importance of entrepreneurship.

"My grandfather taught us to work hard at an early age. He would let us rent the lawnmower from him, and we would go and cut grass in the community, and we would get to keep the profits," Saulsberry said.

Now, as a Senior Manager at the accounting firm Ernst & Young, Saulsberry uses his background of a strong work ethic to encourage the youth in the neighborhood.

Metanoia serves as a youth leadership pipeline.

"I'm not the smartest or the brightest, but I do know how to work hard, and I also know how to have endurance and not stop and just encourage them. If you do those things eventually, you're gonna find what you love. You're gonna find what you want to do in life, and it's gonna work well for you," said Saulsberry.

Metanoia was launched in 2002 by a coalition of churches across South Carolina.

By definition, Metanoia certainly works well with the community it serves.

"It means to make a positive transformation, kind of take upon a positive change of direction," explained Metanoia CEO Reverend Bill Stanfield.

Rev. Stanfield and his wife Evelyn live in the Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood with their two teenage sons.

Before Metanoia's founding, the couple spent one year getting to know their neighbors and listening to their concerns.

"We really do believe people closest to communities know the solutions to their own problems," said Stanfield.

Stanfield saw this as an opportunity to build on the positive community members saw in their neighborhood.

And Metanoia did just that.

In addition to building leaders, it's the non-profit's mission to also establish quality housing within Chicora-Cherokee.

"We build new homes for some home buyers. We also build new homes for affordable rental, all within the community where prices are going up, and people are finding it hard to afford a place to live," said Stanfield.

The organization also invests in neighborhood assets. They support black businesses on Reynolds Avenue and have a partnership with a local manufacturing company to create jobs in the community.

"There's a systematic way of listening to the community and understanding what the community needs and then coming alongside the needs of the community and becoming an advocate for what the community wants to do," said Saulsberry.

If you'd like to nominate an individual or organization for a prestigious 'Jefferson Award, email your nomination to ABC News 4's Tessa Spencer.

Reno, Nev.-based ITS Logistics issues the January forecast for its U.S. Port/Rail Ramp Freight Index. Also, the South Carolina Ports Authority approves $100 million-plus in contracts for its new intermodal facility in North Charleston.

The January forecast for the ITS Logistics U.S. Port/Rail Ramp Freight Index reflects “a muted increase in inbound volumes due to the Lunar New Year, with a slight increase in container volumes,” according to the third-party logistics (3PL) firm, which provides port and rail drayage services in 22 coastal ports and 30 rail ramps throughout North America. “There is also cause for concern with inland ocean chassis at the rail ramps, as rail operations could be impacted by a lack of ocean chassis availability.”

The ITS Logistics US Port/Rail Ramp Freight Index forecasts port container and dray operations for the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf regions. Ocean and domestic container rail ramp operations are also highlighted in the index for both the West Inland and East Inland regions. (Download January report below.)

2777-DI-Port-Rail-Ramp-Freight-Index-January-2023-v2-FINAL-COPYDownload

“The Lunar New Year is once again approaching and as a result, we can expect to see a slight increase in container volumes, but it should not add any significant stress to U.S. Port operations,” said Paul Brashier, Vice President, Drayage and Intermodal for ITS Logistics.

The Lunar New Year—aka Chinese New Year or Spring Festival—marks the start of the year within the Chinese calendar. A seven-day public holiday in China, it will be held Jan. 21-27 this year.

“This time of year traditionally has an immense impact on the logistics infrastructure as China and other Southeast Asian countries temporarily shut down production facilities and operate transportation services with significantly limited personnel on hand,” said Brashier, who noted that a “bottleneck can be caused due to orders flooding in before the Lunar New Year and heavy delays can be experienced with goods exported from, as well as imported into, the countries that acknowledge the holiday. Both the Atlantic and Gulf regions are expected to experience higher than normal volumes as a result.”

Despite shipping ports and airports remaining open during the Lunar New Year, they will operate at a limited capacity, and the overall process of shipments being loaded and discharged may be delayed due to limited personnel and cargo deliveries, according to ITS Logistics. The trucking sector is expected to ramp up container transportation to and from the ports, the 3PL firm said.

Other potential disruptions to port/rail ramp operations in January: “The ILWU and Terminals have still not come to terms on a new contract,” Brashier reported. “Rail operations could be affected by a lack of ocean chassis availability as more volumes move IPI and move via rail further inland since the resolution of rail labor disputes. The ocean chassis availability is expected to potentially impact both the West and East Inland rail ramp regions.”

The South Carolina Ports Authority has signed off on contracts valued at more than $100 million for design and construction of a new facility in North Charleston, according to a Jan. 17 report by WCSC, Channel 5.

In October, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the rail-served Navy Base Intermodal Facility, which will provide near-dock rail and inner-harbor barge operation to the Port of Charleston.

In partnership with Palmetto Railways, Class I railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern will utilize the new facility, which is located about one mile from Leatherman Terminal. Nearly 80,000 feet of track will create a capacity of one million rail lifts in phase one. Containers will be moved to and from the Leatherman Terminal on a dedicated road. Inside the intermodal yard, rail-mounted gantry cranes will lead containers on and off trains.

The South Carolina Ports Authority Board selected Landmark Construction to build sound walls, rail foundations, 11 processing tracks, and four arrival and departure tracks, WCSC reported. That contract is worth nearly $120 million. The Board “also unanimously voted to pay over $4.3 million to design around 15 miles of rail that would head south from the facility toward Charleston before wrapping back to North Charleston,” according to the news outlet.

In phase one, South Carolina Ports Authority President and CEO Barbara Melvin told WCSC, “We expect to be able to handle a million rail lifts, and as we move into phase two, which is the second part of the design, it moves to 1.3 million rail lifts.”

The first trains are expected at the facility in July 2025.

With the current Charleston weather on the fritz, we are all struggling to either embrace the unseasonably warm moments or bundle up for the typical January chill.

Thankfully there are several indoor events and happenings this weekend, as well as chances to enjoy the mid-60 degree weather this Friday and Saturday.

If you’re wary, head indoors and take the opportunity to support local artists and performers at “The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show” at Dock Street Theatre, “Requiem” by the Summerville Singers or “Rock the 90′s” at The Music Farm.

Or enjoy the predicted nice weather at Topgolf North Charleston’s grand opening and test your driving range golf skills.

Rock the 90′s

Get your dose of nostalgia Jan. 21 beginning at 8 p.m. at the Music Farm for a performance from Rock the 90s USA: The Official 90′s Rock Tribute. The band advertises a no-frills experience: no costumes or remixes, just alternative rock. For $17 at the door or $15 in advance, there’s little reason to turn down some tunes. Tickets are available via the Music Farm’s website: bit.ly/3Xe5SqS.

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show”

Dock Street Theatre presents “The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show,” running both this weekend and the next. Join a cast of around 75 puppets Jan. 21, 22, 28 and 29 at 11 a.m. or 2 p.m. for a magical performance transporting you into the classic children’s books by Eric Carle. See classic characters from “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” and — of course — “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” The show is world-renowned; showing in the UK, Australia and China. Snag tickets now before they’re sold out. Tickets are $34.50 for all attendees over one year old. More information and tickets are available via bit.ly/3Wdamg6.

“Requiem”

The Singers of Summerville and the Summerville High School Greenwave Chorale present “Requiem” at 3 p.m. Jan 21 in the Bethany United Methodist Church, 118 W. 3rd Street South. The choral work “Requiem” by Michael John Trotta is the second performance since its creation and the first in South Carolina. The 10-movement work is said to encompass hope and solace for those who’ve experienced loss and grief. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and are available via bit.ly/3Xkf9xx.

Topgolf

Topgolf, a premier driving range featuring a bar-style atmosphere, is set to open Jan. 20. The new North Charleston venue is the third location available in the state. The driving range is a two-story entertainment hub with a full restaurant and bar, rooftop terrace, nine-hole mini golf course and a high-tech driving range using microchipped golf balls to record accuracy and distance. Topgolf is advertised as fun for all ages and skill levels. Customers can rent their personal driving bay, accommodating up to six players, for $52 an hour after 5 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome, but due to the buzz surrounding the new location, it is suggested that you RSVP via the Topgolf website: bit.ly/3ZKDOwM.