Union Pier is a 65-acre waterfront property on the Cooper River side of downtown Charleston used in the past for port and cruise operations including docks, warehouses and parking lots. Before cruise ships were told to take a hike, they belched smoke (from engines required to be on 24 hrs. a day) into high-end neighborhoods like Ansonborough. Cruise passengers, were usually in Charleston about a half-day and spent less money than your Aunt Patootie who would only buy something if it came with Green Stamps.
The Union Pier was cobbled together from eight wharves dating back a couple hundred years: Bennett’s North and South Wharves, Patton’s Wharf, Knox’s Wharf, Marsh’s Wharf, Union Wharf, William’s Wharf, Fitzsimon’s Wharf, and a public landing. In the 1940s, Union Pier became one large wharf, controlled by the Ports Authority, which, by 1951, consolidated the smaller finger-like wharves into larger concrete piers. Ugly was frequently used to describe Union Pier.
A plan to convert the pier into a more interesting urban area was signed in March 2020 with LA-based building consultants, Lowe. While not a household name, privately owned Lowe had developed or managed more than $32 billion worth of real estate projects such as Wild Dunes Resort on Isle of Palms. The deal also gave Lowe a right of first refusal to match any offers from other potential buyers once the property hit the market. The SPA paid about $520,000 to Lowe retaining all of the work that was produced under the agreement, such as planning and zoning documents and conceptual drawings.
But just about everyone hated their ideas and Charleston gave Lowe a LOT of money ($9.9 million) to go away. In stepped Ben Navarro, Charleston resident, businessman and philanthropist who bought the rights to develop the Pier. “Union Pier will be a vibrant waterfront space that enhances the quality of life for those who live in Charleston now and for generations to come,” says Mr. Navarro.
All along words and phrases like: vibrant, resilient, “Charleston’s rich cultural and maritime heritage,” vital, historic have been tossed back and forth like bean bags. But at this point we have yet to see Mr. Navarro’s plan. Meanwhile, here are some great ideas on what to build on Union Pier:
Ferris Wheel
Among the global cities with a landmark Ferris wheel are Dubai (currently the world's tallest, reaching 820 ft high) Las Vegas, Singapore, Nanchang (China); London; even - for Christ’s sake -Da Nang in Vietnam - which was bombed back into the Paleolithic era during the war - has one!
Football Stadium
While NFL stadiums top out at about 85,000, a bunch of colleges have seating in excess of 100,000 including Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, Texas A&M, LSU and Tennessee. Just because the College of Charleston is too wimpy to have a football team, doesn’t mean it can’t have a world-class stadium (Hello Taylor Swift!?!).
Botanical Gardens
The world's biggest botanical gardens are in Sydney, Australia; British Columbia, Canada; and the Royal Botanic Gardens, in London. But you have to figure that one built in Zone 9 would result in annuals turning perennial (saving a few bucks). And, it would only take a year or two for the Confederate jasmine to creep all the way through the Wappoo cut over to the Stono River. Kudzu or Japanese Honeysuckle could cover the entire peninsula from the Battery to Park Circle in a soft green blanket within about six months.
Motel
Surely Charleston can use a budget place to stay, say like the Bates Motel. Any time you see a motel in a movie, you know somebody is about to die but, ruthless stabbings and drug dealing are a small price to pay for affordability. Great climate for a kidney-shaped pool deck!
Museum of Northern Aggression
For years we have done nothing but tear down or dig up monuments to the Civil War. Finally, we will have a Greek Revival edifice to stick all those trail markers and statues in one place with Calhoun Street as its southern border. If President Trump keeps complaining that Smithsonian museums focus too much on "how bad slavery was" (implying a dismissal or downplaying of slavery's brutality), we can name it after him.