Charleston is Incubating Innovation through Preservation

Posted: January 9, 2020

By Cashion Drolet, Chief Advocacy Officer

The New York Times recently published a national report by The Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program identifying “innovation industries” (which account for 6% of the nation’s economic output), the resulting concentration of prosperity, and the cities that are gaining the most attention from this coveted sector.  Predictably, San Francisco, Seattle and Silicon Valley top the list of cities gaining the most jobs in this sought-after arena, yet Charleston – the smallest city to be included – has ranked as number ten.

Charleston’s inclusion on this list means that we have become a hub for technological entrepreneurship. Local and state leaders, in government and business, have created an environment in Charleston to attract the right people to our city to nurture innovation and provide job opportunities. It is important that Charleston continues to position itself not just as a port city or tourist city, but a city that focuses on diverse business incubation.

What the article does not highlight, and what I view as a key element of Charleston’s presence on this esteemed list, is the City itself. Charleston has the right mix of culture, history, and quality of life to attract educated, motivated entrepreneurs. Land use policy in Charleston has traditionally reinforced a diversity of uses—so essentially, the “live, work, play” concept has existed here for a long time.

Further, the preservation of Charleston’s historic buildings is an important contributor to the land use mix that makes the City a desirable incubator. As the National Trust for Historic Preservation has shown in their research in Older, Smaller, Better, there is a direct correlation between a higher concentration of creative, entrepreneurial jobs and older, smaller-scaled buildings and blocks. This important research examines older neighborhoods and blocks in San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC and provides an empirical illustration of why keeping smaller, older and diverse-age buildings in active use is important to local economies.

As the data in Older, Smaller, Better demonstrates, historic and smaller-scaled city blocks with diverse-age buildings have a higher concentration of local businesses and non-chain restaurants and retailers; and further, they boast significantly more jobs per commercial square foot than new, large buildings. Dollars spent in these local, entrepreneurial businesses typically stay local and are recirculated into other local businesses and new job opportunities for locals. Older city blocks are essentially efficient economic incubators that foster and sustain growth of the local economy.

While innovation jobs are certainly important, we must also acknowledge perhaps the largest economic contributor to our City, the tourism sector. Many in the Charleston region rely on jobs tied to tourism. Tourism, admittedly, has been both a blessing and a curse. We love the tax revenue, first-class restaurants, and cultural opportunities that have accompanied tourism; however, we struggle with the congestion, diminished quality of life and proliferation of hotels that come along as well.

At present, we face a crossroads. One path features out-of-state interests leading us to a monoculture of land uses that caters to visitors and the other path (the one we’ve largely traveled for 350 years) reflecting an interesting and diverse mix of uses that vibrant cities require. That’s why our Mayor was wise to appoint a Hotel Task Force earlier this year to study how hotels impact the City. HCF is a proud member of the Hotel Task Force and is pleased with the body of work accomplished. The Task Force’s work resulted in a sweeping change to accommodations land use policy for the City to ensure that a varied mix of uses continues to contribute to the unique fabric of Charleston. In adopting the new Ordinance, City Council acknowledged the need for a balance of uses to ensure we are incorporating offices, housing and retail into our urban core.

If we want to see continued growth in the innovation sector, attract people to Charleston with the degrees to support innovation and foster an environment where advancement thrives, our land use policies must continue to seek balances, avoiding a proliferation of hotels catering to just one sector of our burgeoning economy in Charleston. Attracting additional high tech businesses and jobs to Charleston requires land use policy that augments the quality of life of residents.

Featured image: The former General Asbestos and Rubber Co. plant (Garco) at Park Circle North Charleston is being rehabilitated with Historic Tax Credits and is envisioned to become a bustling hub for businesses, with tenants such as Serendipity Labs, which will offer unique open-span work spaces for entrepreneurs.