Condos finally to go up

Long-delayed work set to begin on affordable housing

Long-delayed work set to begin on affordable housing

The long-awaited construction of middle-income homes in Charleston, across the street from the pricey Longborough development in Wagener Terrace, is about to get under way, and the 42 townhomes could be ready for sale around the middle of next year.

If you think you've read that before— in 2005 and again in 2006 — you're correct, but the city and The Beach Company say construction really is about to begin.

"We're starting construction right away," said Kent Johnson of The Beach Company. "We're starting site work in the next 10 days."

The homes built for the city will be set aside for first-time buyers who earn up to 120 percent of the median income for the area, which amounts to around $67,000 for a family of four and less for smaller households.

Several hundred people already are on a waiting list.

It's all part of a $6 million deal the city struck with The Beach Co. in 2001, when the development company set out to demolish a low-income apartment complex it owned on a site with Ashley River views.

Amid a public outcry over demolition of the Shoreview apartments, Beach agreed to build up to 50,000 square feet of housing for the city for $125 per square foot on part of the site.

"With the price that we had agreed upon, in light of the high-end properties around it, it was a challenge and it took some time," said Adelaide Andrews, Charleston's deputy corporation counsel.

"There were some stops and starts, and we went through several iterations of design."

The 2001 agreement said permits for construction would be issued by the end of 2004. In 2005, city officials said the homes likely would be completed in 2006. In 2006, they said 2007.

"I am absolutely certain we will see the product built in 2008," Andrews said.

The result of years of design issues and negotiation should be 10 buildings containing 42 condo-like units on a 1.6-acre site bounded by 10th Street, Alberta Avenue, Hester Street and the marsh.

Johnson said The Beach Company does not consider the homes one of its projects, but a city development that it is building.

In the new 83-home Longborough neighborhood that rose where Shoreview once stood, lots have sold for as much as $295,000, and homes for up to $985,000.

The city's quadruplex units will be 900 to 1,200 square feet, and will be sold at the city's cost of $112,500 to $150,000.

Like other properties in Charleston's Home Ownership Initiative, the homes come with deed restrictions that limit the price for which the homes can be sold in the future, and require that they be re-sold to qualified first-time buyers.

The 99-year deed restrictions are meant to assure that homes sold for low prices to qualified buyers aren't flipped for big profits.

Former Shoreview residents get first priority to purchase the units, but city officials and affordable housing advocates said they don't expect that anyone who lived at Shoreview could afford one.

Otherwise, homes will be sold first-come, first-served, to those who meet the city's guidelines, according to Geona Johnson, Director of the Housing and Community Development Department.

For more information on the city units at Longborough and other affordable housing opportunities in Charleston, call the Family Services' Housing Resource Center at 744-1348, ext. 25.

Reach David Slade at 937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com.