Historic Charmer - Formerly inaccessible island now complements Charleston, S.C.
By Barbara Ballinger
For decades, 4,000-acre Daniel Island was accessible only by boat and used for farming and ranching. But a confluence of smart decisions turned the island, which boasts 23 miles of shoreline, into a bustling mixed-use, sustainable town.
Located off the coast of Charleston, S.C., and surrounded by the Wando and Cooper rivers, Daniel Island was annexed by the city of Charleston in 1991. The city’s mayor, Joseph P. Riley Jr., envisioned a live/work/play setting with green features and affordable housing. “We aggressively went after developing the island,” Riley says. “It could easily have become a gated resort … it’s a physically beautiful waterfront site. But we felt a new town would be a far better use of the land and better complement to Charleston’s celebration of urbanism.”
In 1993, the former one-hour trip from Daniel Island to downtown Charleston was shortened to 20 minutes when the tri-county area’s Metropolitan Planning Organization pushed for an interstate highway to connect the remote island to Charleston on one side and suburban Mt. Pleasant on the other. I-526, also known as the Mark Clark Expressway, was constructed and now bisects the island.
Just four years later, the island was sold to Daniel Island Co. by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, which had owned the island since 1947 and used it as a fishing and hunting retreat. The new owner envisioned a town that would complement downtown Charleston.
After a national search, the Guggenheim Foundation hired New York City-based Cooper, Robertson & Partners to lead the master-planning process. The goal was to create a walkable town inspired by older communities such as Windsor Farms in Richmond, Va., and Shaker Heights in Cleveland, Ohio. “We wanted neighbors to interact on sidewalks; children to roam through the streets,” says Matt Sloan, president of Daniel Island Co., who had been affiliated with the Foundation before.
With the critical pieces in place, development slowly got underway and still continues. “The island went from being remote to what’s now perceived as very central in the region,” Sloan says.
PERFECT BLEND
Because Daniel Island Co. wanted to respect the island’s natural beauty and encourage recreation, 400 acres of open space were set aside. Twelve acres became the Smythe Lake and 20 miles of trails and paths were laid. Native plants and grasses were planted, live oaks were saved, and each street was planted with a single deciduous species such as pistachio, red maple, or southern red oak trees to give it a distinct look. This site work helped attract 100 species of birds and a variety of wildlife.
Meanwhile, 1,200 acres were dedicated to housing. Construction on the first charm, single-family homes began in 1996, with 3,000 of the 6,000 now completed. They reflect a diverse mix of styles, influenced primarily by low-country and traditional new development architecture. Prices for single-family homes start at $300,000 and go well beyond $1 million; condos begin at $200,000. There are also apartments and affordable housing, the latter a component which Riley is passionate about and has included in other projects.
“What’s different about Daniel Island is the range of housing prices,” says Josh Martin, Charleston’s director of planning, preservation, and economic innovation. “So often, communities like this elevate the housing.”
Out and About: (Above) Daniel Island is divided into north and south areas, with the downtown commercial district at its center, near where I-526 intersects the island. Throughout are eight residential neighborhoods, individual parks and golf courses, a soccer stadium, a tennis center, schools, churches, and shops.
To give the island its small-town charm, single family houses were arranged in a series of walkable residential neighborhoods, each with a distinct park or playground. Currently, there are eight but more could be established as development continues. A greenway system with bike trails links the neighborhoods. “We wanted the residential areas to read as part of a park system, so you would walk through the community and see green,” Riley says.
Some details, such as plant palettes, cast-stone columns or walls, Charleston-style benches, signs in “Daniel Island blue,” historic markers, and even vertical mailboxes, were repeated throughout neighborhoods for continuity, says Jeff Elliott, a landscape architect and Daniel Island Co.’s senior project manager.
Homes were set close to the street to emphasize walkability and social interaction, especially for young children on bikes, says landscape architect Steve Dudash, whose DesignWorks firm has been involved in Daniel Island.
“It’s … a community where, when children are let out of school, they congregate at the general store,” Sloan says. “I’ll see a pack of kids on bicycles, blowing their allowances on candy. They can ride downtown without parental supervision. It’s really a small-town American experience.”
Jennifer Carrigan, cultural events and special projects manager for Daniel Island and mother of two young children, loves the child-friendly environment. “It’s the closest to what I grew up with in Indiana,” she says. “Kids can ride their bikes in front of the house, and you don’t worry. The school is part of the community. There’s plenty to do such as Park Day [and] a festival with food vendors and entertainment that works with local nonprofits to raise funds and awareness.”- John and Pat Dietz are equally enthusiastic, but came to the island for a different reason: retirement in a community with a mix of ages. “There are so many things to do here, such as the wine-and-dine monthly group that started with eight people and now averages 50,” says 71-year-old John. “We go to the supermarket to buy 10 items and are there for 1 ½ hours because everybody you know is [also there].”
Many who live on the island also work there. Blackbaud, a software firm focused on the nonprofit sector, relocated its headquarters from Long Island, N.Y., to the island’s downtown and built a striking four-story, 220,000-square-foot modern office building with a palm-filled atrium overlooking a patio, a pond with an alligator, and walking trails surrounded by a marsh.
The company has found the building and island provide a quality-of-life benefit as well as recruiting tool for staff and clients. “People want to work for us,” says John Mistretta, senior vice president of human resources, who commutes 12 minutes to work without “any traffic,” he says. Clients also are brought in daily for training at the firm’s “Blackbaud University,” often staying at the island for three days at a time.
The downtown also includes other office buildings and retail space totaling more than 1 million square feet, a medical center, shops, churches and schools, condos, apartments, assisted living, and 200 affordable housing units, with more planned.
ISLAND ACTIVITIES
Recreational facilities play a major role on Daniel Island. Besides golf courses and pools, island life benefits from a soccer stadium that is sponsored by Blackbaud for the Charleston Battery team, and the Family Circle Tennis Center, which hosts an annual women’s professional championship. Civic activities are also important, and Charleston has held city council meetings on the island.
There’s plenty of development still on the drawing board including more housing, retail, a marina with 500 boat slips, and a 60-acre waterfront park. There are also plans to finish the 2-mile river walk along the Wando River, with more public dock space to come.
The remaining challenges center on attracting more businesses and building the right housing stock. “The nature of the business community is small business, and it’s not growing at a huge clip,” Sloan says. “The 6,000 people who live and work here are not enough to support a broad range of shops and restaurants. The most successful retailers draw off the island and offer what doesn’t exist in Charleston.”
An effort is being made to attract a mix of national retailers that would create a shopping destination on Daniel Island rather than just local Mom-and-Pop businesses. Plans for multifamily housing have been scaled back due to the deterioration of that market, but replaced by plans for more single-family homes, he adds.
Charleston’s projected population growth—doubling from 500,000 to 1 million over the next 15 years—is expected to help bring more people to reside, work, vote, and pay taxes throughout the city. And much of that growth will head to Daniel Island, which has become a major attraction for the city. The Urban Land Institute agreed and awarded the island one of its 2007 Awards for Excellence.
