The staff at 3Dwalkthroughs.com is currently visiting Charleston, South Carolina to meet with one of the top real estate agents in the nation. During our down time we were able to check out some of the sights and sounds of downtown Charleston. We became friendly with former New Yorkers and current owners of the contemporary clothing and accessories store BZAR. It must have been our lucky day as it turned out the owners were hosting a huge party at the site of a very ambitious new development project. The party featured artists, DJ's and breakdancers (the breakdancers were certainly not from New York).
After returning home from the party we investigated this development project further. The project entitled Noisette, is being developed on a 3,000 acre plot of land in North Charleston. The website provides intimate details of the project including some 3D Renderings and video. In an effort to make sure all the details of this impressive project are explained correctly, please read the description below taken directly from their website. For such a large project they are the perfect candidate for our 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Renderings and 3D Floor Plans.
Here is the description of the project. Source: Noisettesc.com website.
What is Noisette?
Noisette is a 3,000 acre city-within-a-city. It is an area of North Charleston, South Carolina targeted for integrated restoration as a sustainable community – modeled on the belief that cities must be equally responsive to social needs, environmental responsibility and economic vitality (the philosophy embodied by people, planet, prosperity).
The Noisette community boundaries are roughly those that defined North Charleston when that community was incorporated in 1973. However, in the last 30 years, through annexation and “green-field” subdivision development, North Charleston has expanded into one of the state’s largest cities. Today, the Noisette area represents only a small corner of its parent city.
What’s Noisette like today?
Located beside the Cooper River, the main tributary of the South’s most famous harbor, the Noisette area supports a racially and economically diverse population of 13,000 people, plus a daily influx of thousands of workers, shoppers, students and others. It includes a wide mix of neighborhoods, retail areas, industries, schools, municipal buildings and parks, many of which have remained relatively stable in profile despite the rapid development of the Charleston/North Charleston metropolitan area.
For example, historic Noisette neighborhoods like Liberty Hill – founded in 1878 as a community of freed slaves – include many homes occupied by fifth generation owners. The layout of Park Circle, a mixed-use recreation center designed in the late 19th century, still reflects its original vision as a leisurely melting pot for residents and visitors. The East Montague Avenue business district looks much as it did in the days of two-dollar haircuts.
Other assets of interest include a network of tidal creeks, marshes and protected wetlands bordering the Cooper River. There’s also a range of well-preserved architectural structures and details, especially on property developed by the U.S. Navy. Their engineers arrived in 1901 to build a major base and shipyard, then the Navy’s collection of residential and industrial structures was vacated during the base closures of 1995. That base closure was the trigger for development of the Noisette concept.
Who’s behind the Noisette project?
In a unique public-private partnership, the Noisette Company and the City of North Charleston teamed up in the late 1990s to revitalize the Noisette area. In exchange for the right to purchase 400 acres of old Navy base property at the city-appriased fair market value – a small portion of the land promised to the city after the Navy’s departure – Noisette Company principal John Knott agreed to launch a master planning effort on an unprecedented scale.
The master plan would:
Outline Noisette Company plans for the development of their proprietary section of the old Navy base, and help guide the city’s efforts to redevelop the adjacent 2,600 acres of private residential neighborhoods, private commercial structures, and municipal property.
Contracting with two of the country’s premier architectural and land planning firms, and in consultation with an international group of environmental, social and professional organizations, Knott’s team created an outline for restoration of a healthy, sustainable, human-scale community.
The plan seeks to preserve historic architectural styles, neighborhood diversity and the area’s unique social fabric. It also works to restore environmental stability and beauty, attract jobs, improve services like education and healthcare, reduce dependence on car travel, promote recreation, eliminate the foundations of crime and poverty, and strengthen the sense of pride many North Charleston resident feel toward their community.
After years of development, community input and revisions, the master plan was presented to the City of North Charleston in December 2003. It was reviewed in community meetings, neighborhood gatherings and private one-on-one sessions. And it was accepted by the City as satisfaction of the Noisette Company’s contractual agreement in early 2004.
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