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What is Noisette?
Noisette is a 3,000-acre, sustainable urban redevelopment
effort in North Charleston, South Carolina, one of the
state’s largest and fastest growing cities.The Noisette redevelopment includes 350 acres that were once part of the Charleston Naval Complex, which are being transformed into a new mixed-use urban community called the Navy Yard at Noisette. Noisette is the product of a unique public-private
partnership between the Noisette Company, the City of North
Charleston, and the 13,000 residents who live inside the
Noisette footprint.
Working with community groups, city
representatives, and leading architecture and land-planning
firms, the company created a redevelopment master plan
detailing environmental restoration, infrastructure improvements,
expansion of parks and recreation areas, improvements to
retail and mixed use areas, school improvements, integration
of arts and culture, and other facets of a truly sustainable
community.
What is meant by sustainability?
Sustainability means creating the good life in
ways that don’t compromise the ability of future
generations to do the same. It is a growing trend in urban
redevelopment based on the triple bottom line: people-planet-prosperity.
Truly sustainable communities are socially just, environmentally
responsible and economically viable. They are durable,
efficient, healthful and comfortable places to live, work
and play. They embrace their heritage while celebrating
their roles as ecosystems, marketplaces and communities.
What will be built at Noisette?
In addition to environmental restoration, expansion of
parks and recreation, massive renovation and redesign of infrastructure; along with other major sustainability initiatives, plans call for up to 40 percent open space, with approval for up to 7,000 housing units and a maximum of 8,000,000 square feet of office, retail, incubator, and light industrial space.
The Noisette Company is responsible for developing the 340-acre Navy Yard at Noisette, as the New American City, a living laboratory for the study and application of sustainable revitalization principles on an urban scale. The Navy Yard will serve as an urban core for North Charleston, including roughly 75 percent of its new housing, and 40 percent of the region’s commercial space.
In a span of two years, The Navy Yard has included construction of the North Charleston Riverfront Park, the Building Arts and Design Center at 10 Storehouse Row, rehabilitation of some 1.5 million square feet of existing building, in addition to new office and commercial buildings now underway. Adjacent to the Navy Yard, a 200-acre preserve is under development with the restoration of Noisette Creek.
How long will development take?
Overall, the Noisette redevelopment is expected to take up to 20 years, with a combined public-private revitalization effort. The Noisette Company has outlined three “chapters” for development:
•Initiation of planning and revitalizing the 3,000-acre Noisette area, with preliminary Navy Yard agreements and transfers;
•Major Planning and Acquisition, and initial redevelopment for 340-acre Navy Yard with continued revitalization of the 3,000-acre Noisette area;
•Major redevelopment of the Navy Yard, including major infrastructure engineering and implementation.
Currently, work is progressing on the revitalization of infrastructure at the Navy Yard, including revolutionary storm water management systems, and new, aesthetically-driven guidelines for streetscapes.
In addition, there are a number of developments ongoing outside the Navy Yard, including the sustainable developments of Oak Terrace Preserve, Mixson Avenue, and Hunley Waters. The City of North Charleston East Montague Business Corridor has witnessed a renaissance, with urban design elements integrated into the public realm.
How will it be financed?
There are three main sources of financial support for the
project:
• The Noisette Company, LLC, is an equity-funded, private
development company,
• Debt financing for the project is limited to income-producing
properties that generate returns to amortize the debt.
• The
project includes two Tax Increment Financing districts – an
on-base TIF and an off-base TIF – which are funded
when the public infrastructure is built.
• Bridge financing
for the tax districts is arranged by the Noisette Company
until the TIF bonds are sold by the City of North Charleston.
What is a Tax Increment Financing
District?
The TIF district is a tool that allows the City of North
Charleston to invest in public infrastructure improvement
through separately designated TIF districts that comprise
no more than five percent of the City’s municipal
land area. Once an area has been designated as a TIF district
under South Carolina law, all future increases in property
taxes – based on appreciation or additional investment
in that district – go into a special tax pool, not
the general fund. These increased tax revenues are used
to repay the bonds that fund public infrastructure improvements
in each TIF district. Historically, TIF districts have
been successful in revitalizing depressed, damaged, or
blighted inner-city neighborhoods.
What makes Noisette
different from other urban projects?
A key difference is that the master plan incorporates the
public sector, private investors, corporate sponsors and
non-profit organizations within the framework of a public-private
partnership receiving no funding from any government source.
Other major differences:
• Although the Noisette Company is directly responsible
only for developing 340 acres on the former base property,
the Noisette project master plan for urban revitalization
covers the entire community.
• Instead of displacing
current residents with an influx of affluent newcomers, promoting
diversity at Noisette is a key goal. Development includes
a range of housing options to meet the needs of various socioeconomic
groups, and there are many efforts in place to help strengthen
long-standing roots within the area.
• The Noisette Project
is a true “brown-field” restoration,
one being created within an existing community. About 13,000
people live in the district, and the fabric of many historic
neighborhoods remains intact. This is a departure from urban
redevelopment projects in which residential and commercial
buildings are vacant.
• The on-base Tax Increment Financing
district will allocate 25 percent of its revenues to public
schools within the Noisette redevelopment, on the condition
that the Charleston County School District implements sustainable
design practices in school building improvements.
• The Noisette Institutional Framework – which consists of nonprofit organizations the Noisette Foundation, Michaux Conservancy, Sustainability Institute of South Carolina and Navy Yard Community Association – is designed to provide initiatives to overcome social and economic problems within the community. Under the Noisette Foundation umbrella, educational programs emphasize sustainable principles for citizens of modest means, job training and skills improvement, prisoner reentry programs, and the ecological restoration of wetlands at Noisette Creek, among a number of other community-based programs.
• The City of North Charleston is following the guidelines of the Noisette Community Master Plan: the construction of the LEED-certified North Charleston Elementary School, the renovation of the East Montague Business Corridor, and the proliferation of green, entrepreneurial companies in the City are making it the most sustainable municipality in South Carolina.
Has a prototype for a Noisette-style
development ever been built?
No. Although different parts of the Noisette master plan have been implemented in different urban renewal programs, nothing approaches the scale of a revitalization that combines social justice and environmental renewal initiatives as part of an overall redevelopment effort.
According to the jurors who awarded Noisette the 2005 American Society of Landscape Architects Award of Excellence for urban design, the master plan is "a great example at every scale of investigation,” that addresses “important issues for our time. Together, these elements form the integrated planning basis for establishing the Noisette Community of North Charleston as the leading sustainable redevelopment in the United States."
What qualifications and experience
does the Noisette project team offer?
The design team includes some of the world’s leading
urban design and planning firms. Their support team includes
leaders in urban redevelopment, energy systems, eco-system
restoration and public park design: Burt Hill Kosar Rittlemann
of Washington, DC; BNIM Architects, Kansas City, Missouri;
Urban Design Associates, of Pittsburgh, PA; Rolf Sauer Associates
of Philadelphia, PA; and Applied Ecological Concepts, of
Wisconsin.
What about Noisette Company expertise?
On the corporate level, the executive management team of
the Noisette Company has decades of experience in some
of the nation’s leading residential, mixed-use and
industrial projects. In addition, they bring an extensive
background in historic preservation, as well as sustainable
urban redevelopment. Noisette Company investors include
individuals who formerly held senior executive positions
with leading Fortune 500 companies.
Are there other private companies
supporting Noisette?
The Noisette Company’s operational partner, EQA Landmark
Communities of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has organized a
supporting consortium of companies called the Noisette Urban
Alliance. Alliance members include the world’s leaders
in sustainable manufacturing: Andersen Windows, Carrier,
Hanson Building Materials North America, Hearth & Home
Technologies, Herman Miller, Hubbell Lighting, Interface,
James Hardie Building Products, Kohler, Owens Corning, Sherwin
Williams, ThermaTru Doors, Universal Forrest Products, USG
and Whirlpool.
In 2007, Cushman & Wakefield, the world’s preeminent real estate services firm, was appointed consultant for the 340-acre Navy Yard at Noisette redevelopment. Founded in 1917, firm has 201 offices in 55 countries throughout the globe, employing more than 11,000 professionals.
What role do the arts and non-profit
initiatives play in the Noisette Project?
The visual and performing arts should be available to citizens
of all economic levels, not just the affluent members of
our society. That’s why visual and performing arts
venues will be carefully integrated into the urban fabric
of the Noisette community. Planning is inspired by two leading
examples of cities that integrate public art into civic life:
Florence, Italy, and Vancouver, British Columbia. In the
United States, arts are not a part of the suburban citizen’s
daily experience and are often neglected as a critical component
of contemporary urban design. At Noisette, the goal is to
create a public visual and performing arts environment through
urban planning, building and architectural design which is
intricately woven into the cityscape. Also, the public should
have access to creative arts, as an aesthetic experience,
either planned or accidental, that brings richness to daily
life.
What is the status of government land transfers to Noisette at the Navy Yard?
The Navy Yard’s land transfer process has been completed with the City of North Charleston and the Charleston Naval Complex Redevelopment Authority, with the announcement in 2006 of a $23,775,000 mortgage loan to Noisette by Capmark Finance, Inc., which allowed Noisette to pay the City $4,189,584 to satisfy the City’s note and mortgage with Noisette. The payoff was approved by North Charleston City Council on July 31, 2006.
In a move that equates to paying off a home mortgage seven years ahead of schedule, Noisette is now working intensively on the land sales and urban redevelopment process at the Navy Yard.
What’s
happening at Noisette today?
Efforts by the City of North Charleston and the Noisette Company, have led to the reinvention of the 3,000-acre redevelopment area in six years:
• New businesses, like the Half Moon Outfitters Platinum LEED certified headquarters, Southeast Biodiesel, and Fisher Recycling, Inc. are locating throughout the 3,000-acre Noisette Community, building a critical mass of sustainable businesses for the area.
• New housing developments, including the first homes at City of North Charleston’s fully sustainable, 55-acre, 375-home Oak Terrace Preserve neighborhood near historic Park Circle are being occupied, with Phase One construction continuing.
• Major sustainable developments Mixson Avenue and Hunley Waters are now in the initial stages of development;
• Thousands of new residents have moved into historic North Charleston, as property values have increased to $140 per square foot, compared to pre-Noisette figures of $54 per square foot;
• The percentage of homeowners was once a lowly 32 percent, and has now risen to 45 percent.
• The Charleston County School District has adopted Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design, and completed the LEED-certified North Charleston Elementary School.
• The Charleston County Magnet High School was rated tenth best in the nation by Newsweek Magazine for 2006 and 2007;
• On the Cooper River, Clemson University is developing an 82-acre research campus adjacent to the Navy Yard;
• The Building Arts and Design Center at 10 Storehouse Row has become a center for visual arts in the Lowcountry, and continues to hold community-based arts events, including gallery exhibits, film festivals, and public sculpture;
• The Navy Yard is undergoing a major transformation, with demolition of old Navy buildings, preservation of historic buildings at Chicora Gardens, the construction of new office buildings, and the revitalization of infrastructure.
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