Charleston is preparing to buy out the Medical University of South Carolina Foundation's interest in a roughly 2.5-acre WestEdge parcel, clearing the way for affordable housing on a corner across from the Publix off Lockwood Drive. The price tag is $25 million, and City Council is expected to take up the agreement in November.
The deal was first reported by the Post and Courier, which says the city plans to unwind the relationship gradually to simplify things between the owners of the WestEdge Foundation. The city and the MUSC Foundation have worked together through that combined foundation to redevelop part of the western peninsula. The newspaper also reports that the city's operating budget will not fund the buyout.
Where the $25 Million Comes From
Under the structure described by the paper, a WestEdge Foundation account would transfer $10 million to the MUSC Foundation. The other $15 million would come from the private developer the city selects, according to city official William Cogswell. The newspaper reports that the agreement would give the MUSC Foundation first option to purchase or lease about 250 of the affordable housing units.
An earlier financing outline pointed in a different direction for part of the money. A Post and Courier editorial described $10 million that the WestEdge Foundation had already agreed to pay MUSC and $15 million from the existing tax increment financing district, which was created to pay for public infrastructure tied to WestEdge's redevelopment. A separate Live 5 News report from February described the remaining $15 million as city-issued notes due by March 31, 2031, at 7% annual interest. The sources describe the structure differently, and the record does not settle which version is final.
From Medical Hub to Housing
WestEdge was conceived as the brainchild of the MUSC Foundation and the city, according to SC Biz News. The two formed the nonprofit WestEdge Foundation to carry out the master plan and sell some city- and MUSC-owned parcels to private developers across a 60-acre footprint. The original vision called for a bustling hub of medical companies, commercial spaces and residences on the site of a former landfill.
What has been built so far includes a glass-exterior office building and an apartment complex anchored by a Publix grocery store, per the Post and Courier. The newspaper's editorial board has framed the buyout as part of a broader shift in WestEdge's mission from a medical research hub toward significantly more housing. The city also listed the Lockwood Drive property as an area to be studied in its summer bid for architecture, design and civil engineering services.
Part of a 3,500-Unit Goal
The city says it plans to build 3,500 new affordable units, and WestEdge is one piece of that push. Live 5 News reported that officials see the land deals giving Charleston more leverage over future development, particularly when it comes to requiring affordable and workforce housing. The city's bid also includes another WestEdge development parcel it owns near Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park, and that bid is expected to close the week after publication.
Cogswell told the Post and Courier that the project has been a long time coming. “It's been a little bit of a long time coming, and I think we are finally there and ready to move this thing forward,” he said, adding, “This has been the result of a lot of hard work.”
Parking Questions Linger
Not everyone is sold on the details. The affordable housing plans have raised concerns about where residents will park, according to the newspaper, and city staff are still working out parking specifics. The MUSC Foundation did not respond to a request for comment before the story was published.
