RECAP: Advocacy Forum, Stitching Together Growth and Opportunities
On Monday, May 18, Historic Charleston Foundation hosted Charleston’s Future: Stitching Together Growth and Opportunities Forum at The Charleston Museum's Arthur Wilcox Auditorium. Speakers included Mayor William Cogswell, Andrea Ostrodka, Christian Sottile, Jared Bramblett, and moderator Scott Parker.
The forum comes at a pivotal moment for the city. Charleston is preparing a new peninsula plan, a comprehensive zoning update, and a coordinated affordable housing initiative expected to bring thousands of new housing units online. The decisions made over the next year will play a critical role in shaping the peninsula’s historic character, overall livability, and long-term resilience for decades to come.
As part of the evening’s program, attendees were introduced to a newly unveiled video (embedded below) offering a visual overview of major infrastructure and development projects planned for the Charleston peninsula. Featured projects included the Battery Extension, Lowcountry Rapid Transit, the Lowline, Union Pier, and emerging mixed-use developments across the peninsula.
The video highlighted how these initiatives connect and overlap, framing them as part of a broader wave of growth and investment shaping the city’s future. By illustrating these relationships, the presentation helped set the stage for the discussion, emphasizing the importance of coordinated planning and a holistic approach to Charleston’s continued evolution.
For more information about this animation, visit the Development & Opportunities page.
To further illustrate this growth, Historic Charleston Foundation has created an interactive GIS development map, available on its website. The map highlights projects of six stories and above that have entered the design or construction process since 2017, including new hotels, apartment buildings, and mixed-use developments shaping the peninsula today. By including each site with detailed descriptions, the map serves as a valuable tool for residents and stakeholders to better understand the scale and impact of ongoing development across Charleston.
The discussion brought forward a range of perspectives on how Charleston can manage growth while preserving its identity.
Some key takeaways from the presentations include:
Mayor Cogswell emphasized the future of affordable housing and the importance of aligning tourism management with Charleston’s long-term vision.
"There’s a lot happening right now, a lot happening. So, this is an appropriate time for us as a community, and I want to be clear as a community, to come together and really analyze what we want in our city. Not just for the next five years, not just for the next ten years, but really for the next hundred years. We are at that pivotal of a time.” - Mayor William Cogswell
He outlined five priorities:
- Putting residents first
- Using City-driven data to guide decisions
- Expanding tourism beyond the peninsula
- Strengthening enforcement and management tools
- Identifying new revenue sources to address tourism impacts
Andrea Ostrodka, AICP
“Great streets reflect local culture and identity. Charleston is one of the places in this country that has some of the most unique and special aspects to its history and identity, and it’s also a place that’s growing and responding to modern pressures. So, thinking about the next twenty, thirty, fifty, or one hundred years and what you want to be, what your values are, what you want to leave to the next generation as you make investments today.” - Andrea Ostrodka, AICP
- VIEW SLIDES
- Andrea Ostrodka highlighted the importance of transportation and mobility, emphasizing how street design shapes the vibrancy of cities like Charleston.
- Drawing on examples from Copenhagen, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Melbourne, she illustrated how well-designed streets support public life and shared spaces and noted that the way Charleston preserves its historic streets and creates new ones will directly influence the city’s future livability.
Christian B. Sottile, AIA
“Above all, The City is Human. And this city is a gift. And it is a living body.” - Christian Sottile, AIA
- VIEW SLIDES
- Christian Sottile emphasized the importance of humanizing urban design, highlighting the importance of connectivity, maintaining Charleston’s historic fabric, and creating visually appealing spaces.
- As the city continues to grow, he stressed that beauty and thoughtful design must remain central. He also pointed to strong street frontages, incremental development, and varied scales of ownership as key elements to consider in shaping the Peninsula Plan.
Jared Bramblett
“It’s not if these projects are going to happen. They’re already underway. It’s if they are going to happen in a coordinated way that thinks about flood resilience together and builds on it, or if they happen in isolation and do not think about or are not grounded in the water that is here and the water that is coming.” - Jared Bramblett
- VIEW SLIDES
- Jared Bramblett focused on the importance of resilience and climate adaptation in development, particularly as it relates to water. In a low-lying city like Charleston that is highly prone to flooding, he emphasized the need to build in ways that proactively mitigate water-related challenges.
- He noted that much of Charleston is built over historic creeks and waterways, helping to explain the city’s frequent flooding and reinforcing the importance of water-informed planning.
Watch the 2026 Advocacy Forum on our YouTube here: