Several Charleston City Council members were blindsided by news that employees at city-rented downtown office space rely on electric blankets to keep warm, noise-canceling headphones to drown out construction racket and alternative working spaces to continue semi-normal functioning.
“I have not gotten a direct call or communication from anybody working over there,” said Councilman Mike Seekings, who oversees District 8, which includes the office space at 200 Meeting St. undergoing renovations.
- Read the March 20 story about how the city is paying $600,000 a year for the rental space
Seekings added he was concerned about working conditions after he read emails from a city source identified in the original story as Rita.
“I certainly want to go take a look and see what the issues are and what’s going on over there with my own eyes,” he said. “We want our employees to be in the best position they can be in, obviously. Just having seen this for the first time, I want to go and see for myself.”
Councilman William Tinkler said the reports were troubling, and he said he was surprised that this was the first he was hearing of the conditions.
“No employee has reached out to me about this issue directly, but these concerns should be taken seriously, investigated thoroughly and remedied,” he told the City Paper.
Three other council members were surprised by the information, but offered no formal reaction. Two other council members did not respond to requests for comment.
When city spokesman Deja Knight McMillan was asked for a comment today about what the mayor’s office thought about the working conditions at 200 Meeting St, she declined comment.
Empty desks, a noisy hallway
The city moved seven front-facing departments to almost 20,000 square feet of office space in the building in July. But renovations soon started taking their toll, forcing scores of employees to find other places to work. As many as 80% of the estimated 75 employees originally assigned to the space are not there on a day-to-day basis, the City Paper learned from Rita, who asked not to be identified.
City leaders offered “courtesies” to employees working in the space.
“Do not hesitate to step outside and take a walk when the noise becomes overwhelming,” city of Charleston Chief of Staff Elizabeth Dieck wrote in an October 2025 email addressed to city staffers. “We are lucky to work in such a beautiful city — use it to reset when needed.”
Earlier this week, McMillan told the City Paper in an email that employees were given the option to work in other city offices. However, Rita told the newspaper that employees were “strongly encouraged” to continue working at 200 Meeting St., despite the poor conditions.
Ongoing construction, no clear timeline
Since July 2025, the city of Charleston has been paying $50,000 a month to rent more than 19,000 square feet of third-floor office space at 200 Meeting St., according to a finalized May 5, 2025, lease agreement obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. As of this week on any given day, only about 15 people work in the rented offices.
Ongoing construction has driven the rest elsewhere, leaving the majority of the desks, and some entire suites, mostly vacant. At best, an estimated 80% of staffers are not in the space. That’s the equivalent of about $40,000 per month potentially going to waste.
“It’s not unusual for such a large building with multiple offices to have uplift work going on,” Seekings said, adding that when city council voted in April 2025 to lease the space, he was unaware of any planned construction. “I would like to put it in context and understand it. This is certainly something that should be addressed.”
The city of Charleston was forced to rent the space for seven front-facing departments after it had to move them out of its space at 75 Calhoun St. as part of an agreement with the Charleston County School District to approve a new tax-increment finance district to aid the redevelopment of Union Pier.
“We were certainly in need of space for our employees,” Seekings said. “200 Meeting St. seemed like and still seems like a good option until we get something more permanent. But given that there’s construction challenges, I certainly want to make sure they get addressed.”
Since construction started, employees complained about foul smells, low temperatures and, of course, the noise. According to emails obtained by the City Paper, employees struggled with HVAC issues that began in October 2025 and were still ongoing in March of this year.
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