The base’s closing compounded the problems of a community already beset by challenges, including higher-thanaverage unemployment and lower-than-average education and income. Home ownership was low; crime was high. Heavy industry and petroleum processing choked the air. Natural resources were trashed; watersheds had been cleared and paved. Stormwater runoff caused flooding and degraded water quality, and most upland systems were overrun with non-native weeds and grasses. Yet developer John Knott, who had recently spearheaded Dewees Island off the Charleston coast (see “Dewees Island: ASustainable Paradise,” page 60), saw pure potential. Knott fixed his sights on the vacated naval base and surrounding neighborhoods, envisioning a community based on the triple bottom line—a balance among people, planet, and prosperity. He formed the Noisette Company (named for a creek in the area) and partnered with the City of North Charleston on the Noisette Project, a billion-dollar, 3,000-acre, sustainable redevelopment plan that includes 350 acres of the former Charleston Naval Base. The Noisette Project is the one of largest urban reclamation projects ever to be undertaken in the United States—and it leaves the area poised on the verge of another boom. Real estate prices in North Charleston have increased 35 to 100 percent in the past two years. Seeking to meet the “economic, functional, aesthetic, social, and spiritual needs” of the North Charleston community, the Noisette Project is the result of a five-year discovery process that included citizens and community leaders now documented in a comprehensive plan that sets forth goals for housing, economic development, natural and cultural resources, and land use. The plan calls for 7,000 new housing units, 5,000 rehabbed houses, 10 million squarefeet of newretail space, and, at the former naval base, a park and urban preserve. In a New Urbanist sort of way,the ambitious plan addresses issues of scale, streetscape, and density, allowing for livelier sidewalks and moremixed-use development. Its launch point is a City Center district on the former naval base, home to cultural and recreational amenities, a conference and research center, and a historic residential area. Referring to the area’s natural resources as the “heart of the community,” the plan calls for habitat restoration, stormwater management, and recreation corridors. Reconnecting people to the Cooper River is key. “The vision of Noisette is to create a sense of place where one can access the river either on foot or bicycle, through a series of connected greenways,” the plan states. While the Noisette Company is responsible only for developing the 350 acres of former naval base that it has purchased (the city and private developers will develop an additional 2,600 acres ), Knott and his partners understand that the surrounding neighborhoods will play a crucial role. To that end, the company supports the nonprofit Sustainability Institute, which includes a GreenHouse demonstration home. At the GreenHouse, residents can see durable, resource-efficient building materials in use and learnabout recycling, water and energy conservation, and organic gardening. Noisette has also pulled together the Noisette Urban Alliance, a fifteen-member network of corporate manufacturers that will assist in the district’s sustainable development. The alliance of companies such as Herman Miller, Interface, and Kohler—all committed to sustainable development principles— will be housed at the Noisette River Center, a place for educational and certification programs for professional builders and the public—local and national. Alliance members will test market green products on residents, placing North Charleston at the cutting edge of the green movement. “The early movers have always been the ones to show us what is possible by doing it,” says Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface. “Noisette ‘does it’ this time by bringing the principles of sustainable development to the people of North Charleston, along with the manifold benefits—healthier homes, schools, shops, and offices.”
(Attached Jan/Feb 2005 Natural Home Magazine article pdf.)
