Driving School in Ravenel, SC

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Town of Ravenel leaders are eying about 11 acres of land to add affordable housing.

Town leaders will soon close the deal to own acres of land off Martin Street on Friday. The plan is to add 23 affordable homes on 11 acres of the land that sits behind the Palmetto Terrace neighborhood.

Plans are designing the homes to be 12,500 square feet and larger on the lot. Town Mayor Stephen Tumbleston says the home sizes are because of the area’s low sewer capacity.

He says that acquiring the land for affordable housing began when he first took office.

“Land is so expensive, it’s the most important thing we can do to try to help with affordable housing is to acquire and then bank the land. And then we’ll find a partner that actually goes vertical with building the homes.”

He says the aim is to give families the ability of home ownership that may not be possible otherwise.

“When a $350,000 home is considered in the affordable range for young people starting out, there’s some folks that can’t swing that,” Tumbleston says. “So we see the missing part there, with folks that make 80% or less of the annual median income for the area.”

The project falls in line with the county’s Affordable Housing Land Acquisition program as part of the 2023 initiative. The program partners with the county’s Charleston Redevelopment Corporation to distribute grant funds to nonprofit and for-profit organizations.

More than $2 million was awarded to the program through the Federal American Rescue Plan Act more than one year ago.

The program has a total fund balance of $1.4 million for the second round of applications in 2025. Program leaders are recommending that county council members approve more than $600,000 in funding offers to three applicants so far.

Charleston County Director of Housing Development and Land Management Eric Davis says the program works on partnerships to develop land for housing. The initiative aims to meet families across the county where they are financially.

“It (Housing our Future initiative) noted that around half of all families that are renting in Charleston County are stressed on making those rent payments, and around a third of homeowners are experiencing that hardship in making their mortgage payments.”

Davis says the town’s application is recommended as the opportunity for homeownership falls in line with the program’s mission.

“We need all kinds of units, both rental and home ownership, across the spectrum of affordability,” Davis says. “So, we‘re just trying to check all those boxes and spread it out across all housing types and AMI ranges.”

County council leaders are considering approving the award amount to the applicants, including the Town of Ravenel, on Thursday night.

Tumbleston says the dollars would reimburse the Ravenel for the land purchase.

Other funding sources for the project are coming from additional land banking and affordable housing fees from some neighborhoods. Tumbleston says about $200,000 is added to the pot as each home in a “non-steward” neighborhood pays $2,000 in fees.

Tumbleston says they are applying for grant funds through the county Greenbelt program.

The property runs through freshwater wetlands. Plans for the acres of land also include adding a park. The mayor says the dollars would help fund park and wetland development.

Tumbleston expects construction to begin on the project in about two years from now.

A public hearing for community input is expected to take place during the project’s planning and zoning process.