Groups leading Union Pier development efforts react to sale | News
Though it remains unclear how much of the property along the Cooper River might be set aside for public use, the city “controls much of the process going forward,” Cogswell said in a statement immediately after the sale was announced.
The public was invited during the Union Pier site tour on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 in Charleston.
Any redevelopment plans will require substantive city input regarding zoning and code changes, environmental cleanup and more. Cogswell made it clear that he would pull those regulatory strings to ensure the eventual plan is “an amenity that every resident in Charleston can enjoy.”
Cogswell also has said that he plans to lean on connections in Columbia, where he served for six years in the House of Representatives, and on lawmakers in Washington, DC, to bring state and federal dollars to Bill Stern, chairman of the SPA’s board , called “probably the most valuable piece of oceanfront property on the East Coast.”
Members of the advisory committee helping to guide the Riley Center’s decision-making for what should and what should not be built on the site said they were surprised by the sale, too, although they remained eager to carry on