Charleston’s Union Pier needs to be redeveloped at scale so it looks more like historic Charleston instead of any commercial district in America.
This value has long been part of our Charleston Checklist of community objectives. Why? Because up to this point, the land has essentially been public land — first owned by the city, which turned it over to the S.C. State Ports Authority to use for ports. The city then released the SPA from that obligation and allowed it to determine the land’s future. But there’s always been a sense that it has been “our pier,” a future resource to share somehow.
For local billionaire and entrepreneur Ben Navarro and his Beemok Capital company, which has entered into an agreement to purchase the site, that means redevelopment should resist rows of ship-sized buildings. No chunks of the kind of offices you see near malls in Charlotte, Atlanta, Tampa or Chicago. Development of the 70-acres of Union Pier’s historic land just south of the International African American Museum needs to be appropriate, at scale and reflective of Charleston’s values. It clearly does not need to become the behemoth planned by the first team of developers fired by the SPA when it paused the redevelopment project in 2023 after a wailing public outcry.
Based on early indicators, Navarro gets it. He seems to understand that a local guy — someone who has to see people every day around town — must be responsive to his neighbors on the massive redevelopment to be considered a good neighbor. As he noted in a Tuesday statement about purchasing the tract, “A developer’s perspective is how we ended up with the original plan for Union Pier.” He says he wants to be perceived as a steward — someone who “would care every bit as much about the long-term legacy of Union Pier as about the economics” and who would ask the question, “Does this development enhance the quality of life of all Charlestonians?”
This is the right approach forward. We’re pulling for Navarro and his team to get the redevelopment right in coming years with public access, public space, affordable housing and an area that celebrates Charleston. It is, as Mayor William Cogswell noted, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that “can and should be a project that makes all of Charleston proud” with a resident-focused vision.
Navarro is smart to outline his values early for the property: no cruise ships, transformation of the terminal, reduction in density, public waterfront access, a place that “feels like Charleston,” open space, resilience, solid structures and a boost for affordable housing.
The biggest danger about the project’s future may be that it is being done privately. There’s a sense that we, as residents, may lose control, even if it has only been the veneer of control. So we encourage Navarro and Beemok to be transparent about future plans, and to work closely with the current team of planners and advocates to flesh out the project. There surely will be hiccups along the way. But if his team collaborates with residents to redevelop the pier at scale with a serious nod to Charleston’s past, we should have a healthy process that will focus on the community and doesn’t create a new section of a historic but Disneyesque resort.
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