There’s more to come at the evolving Navy Yard Charleston, a massive collection of historic naval storehouses, docks and administrative buildings nestled against the Cooper River in North Charleston.

For three decades, Lowcountry residents have looked forward to the redevelopment at the old naval base site, holding onto longtime promises of event venues, green spaces, housing and a hub for local businesses. Now, many of those hopes are bearing fruit.

The redevelopment of storehouses Eight and Nine and the refurbished outdoor courtyard nestled between the two historic buildings is already complete. Together, they feature 32,000 square feet of creative office space, 7,200 square feet of first-floor restaurant space, 86 luxury apartments and more.

“We just got a Carolopolis Award for both of these buildings, which is amazing,” said Thea Anderson, Navy Yard Charleston associate marketing manager. “Understanding the process and how it all goes, and now we have residents moving in and tenants here — we can really offer this space.”

Storehouse Nine is the heart of the first phase of Navy Yard Charleston’s mixed-use environment. Several local business owners and makers have moved into the workspaces on the ground floors with housing units above. And further up, work is underway on an upscale rooftop restaurant that overlooks the Navy Yard and the river.

Across the street and closer to the water sits the Navy Yard Industrial Campus. Separate from the Navy Yard Charleston project, the industrial campus features more than 2 million square feet of industrial space and three dry docks. It is also home to more than 4,000 jobs and a $1 billion annual impact.

What’s coming next?

The partnerships with global real estate investment company Jamestown and local real estate developers Weaver Capital Partners and WECCO Development are key to the Navy Yard’s redevelopment, Anderson said.

Jamestown recently announced the development of the Charleston Design District, a regional design hub that will span the Navy Yard and its surrounding historic campus. The district is set to be a central component of the multi-phase redevelopment to transform the former naval base into a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood that seamlessly integrates historical architecture and modern innovation.

“The history and architecture of the area offer a strong anchor and compelling backdrop for the Charleston Design District,” Jamestown President Michael Phillips said in a March 19 press release. “The formation of the Charleston Design District is, in part, a response to the diverse design and creative community that has amassed throughout the neighborhood over the past few years. We want to foster and grow that community.”

While Storehouse Row is the beating heart of the district, triplet warehouses across Noisette Boulevard boast impressive space for events and generous natural light through high bay windows. Called the Three Sisters, these historic buildings acted as storage for the now-defunct naval base.

“The Three Sisters are probably next [to be restored],” Anderson said. “It’s front-facing, and we already have the event space going. We’re talking about a lot of different concepts about what would make the most sense.”

While the neighboring industrial complex is not being redeveloped, leaders are happy to be included.

“Having Jamestown as a neighbor is kind of ideal for what we do,” Industrial Campus CEO Elias Deeb said. “I would love nothing more than for folks who come here to work to have adjacent to us a great place to live and shop and find daycare and other services. And if we do this well … we’ll have a really great example of mixed-use development adjacent to pretty heavy industrial work and a job center unlike really anything in the country.”

Housing, services and amenities that come together with large-scale beautification efforts across the Navy Yard are expected to give visitors the feeling that they’ve arrived somewhere new and special. Deeb said in the next five years, it’s possible to see several housing options with a broad range of affordability, as well as up to four blocks of completed streetscaping.

‘The perfect example’

Deeb said he envisions the area as a haven for residents who wouldn’t need to own a car to get anywhere they want. With the combination of the Lowcountry Rapid Transit Project and a proposed water taxi to connect the Navy Yard to the peninsula, Deeb said the area could be the most connected Charleston has ever been.

“The ability to connect Mount Pleasant, Daniel Island, Park Circle, downtown and more — it just makes all kinds of sense,” he said. “People are already doing it. They hop on that ferry and go from downtown to Daniel Island for concerts.

“There’s enough room to do it,” he added. “There’s enough adjacent infrastructure — it arguably needs some upgrading, but it’s here. It’s just the perfect example of infill development. Why build another few thousand homes out in Ridgeville when you can do it right here?”
Anderson agreed.

“A lot of things are outgrowing downtown Charleston,” she said, adding that there’s beauty to be found in all of Charleston, not just on the peninsula.

“Riverfront Park is such an incredible asset to us, as well as Park Circle,” Anderson said. “Our challenge is that a lot of this campus was abandoned for so long, and before that it was a closed military base. So now we have to demonstrate porosity to the public to say, “This is open, this is available, you can come and celebrate the history of it while we amplify what we can accomplish here in the future.”