The Charleston Housing Authority is working on two kinds of deals this fall. One would replace two aging complexes on the upper peninsula. The other would refinance the debt on properties it already runs.
On the first, authority leaders are reviewing a revised master development agreement with Atlanta-based developer Integral for Morrison Station, the planned replacement of Cooper River Courts and Meeting Street Manor, according to a project pipeline dated Oct. 14. Meetings are set for Oct. 27 and Oct. 30, and due diligence will start once the agreement is signed, the report says.
The pipeline, part of the packet for the authority’s Oct. 26 board meeting, lists four phases and a projected closing in February 2028. The packet puts the estimated total development cost at $600 million for 1,545 homes, financed by the developer “through private equity and debt.” The authority plans to use the federal Section 18 demolition and disposition process for the sites.
Negotiations with Integral “remain focused on finalizing the ROFO and business-terms reopener language,” a project update in the same packet says. ROFO refers to the authority’s right of first offer under the agreement.
What changed in August
The authority’s board voted unanimously Aug. 18 to amend its contract with Integral, The Post and Courier reported, clearing the local firm Ramos Architecture and Design to start designs. Because the Aug. 18 meeting’s notice and agenda had not been posted as the state’s Freedom of Information Act requires, the board voted again at a properly noticed Aug. 31 meeting, and the amendment passed with Chairman Gregory Voigt dissenting, according to the minutes of that meeting.
The planned unit count has grown from 1,119 under the original contract, and the authority and Integral are each now expected to net roughly $54 million over 10 years, The Post and Courier reported, citing financial information presented Aug. 18. Earlier projections had Integral netting nearly $50 million and the authority about $28 million.
The cost estimate is also higher than earlier figures. WCSC-TV reported in August that the projected cost was about $400 million when the parties discussed terms in January.
CEO Nathan Simms Jr. said after the Aug. 18 vote that it “is a major step in the right direction of certainty and it allows us to advance the project forward,” The Post and Courier reported. He said he hoped to return for final approvals in 12 to 18 months.
The city is keeping its own options open. Mayor William Cogswell asked the authority in January to back out of the Integral contract, and on Aug. 10 the city sought design proposals for affordable housing on nearly 60 acres across the peninsula, including the two authority sites, the newspaper reported.
“It’s just a way to have that cushion and to have that fallback plan just in case,” city spokesperson Deja McMillan told the newspaper.
The refinancing
The second deal is closer. The authority is refinancing about $29 million in Bank of America loans tied to Grace Homes, Williams Terrace, Project 2000 and a Magnolia Downs line of credit, according to draft minutes of the board’s Sept. 28 meeting. Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Erling told the board the move would provide long-term fixed-rate financing and remove certain existing debt restrictions.
At that meeting, the board authorized staff to finish negotiations and sign an engagement letter with KeyBank Capital Markets for underwriting and banking services, the draft minutes say. After reviewing completed renovations at Magnolia Downs, Erling discussed about $2 million in proposed additional financing for future improvements and about $825,000 for parking lot work at Ashley Oaks, according to the draft minutes.
The Oct. 26 agenda includes a resolution to issue essential function bonds to refinance the Bank of America loans, with additional capital for improvements at Magnolia Downs and Ashley Oaks. An Oct. 18 memo from Erling in the packet puts the proposed issuance at about $32 million plus closing costs and fees: $29.2 million to refinance four Bank of America loans, $2 million for Magnolia Downs renovations and $825,000 to rebuild the Ashley Oaks parking lot.
Erling also floated a possible $20 million line of credit to cover cash flow, property insurance, deferred maintenance, redevelopment and predevelopment costs, the draft minutes say. His October memo says the line would come from KeyBank and that a resolution to approve it, along with a policy limiting its use, will go to the board in November.
Projects already moving
Charleston County Council approved a tax exemption for the authority’s planned historic renovation of Robert Mills Manor on third and final reading Sept. 22, according to the draft minutes. The pipeline report puts that project at an estimated $74.6 million and lists a December 2026 closing.
Renovations at Kiawah Homes cost about $14.7 million, including a $1.3 million developer fee, the draft minutes say. The authority cut the ribbon Sept. 12 on the 61 duplex units, first built in 1942, WCSC-TV reported, and 32 units were still in lease-up as of mid-October, according to the pipeline.
Across its portfolio, the authority reported 1,482 units and 93.5% occupancy in September.
Review of the CEO
Simms, who took over in May, previously ran the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority in Virginia, whose board voted in November 2025 to fire him, WHRO Public Media reported. In May, the Charleston authority said it would hire an outside firm to review allegations, first reported by a Virginia news outlet, that he had steered no-bid contracts to former associates in Norfolk, the Charleston City Paper reported. Simms said he “welcomes the board’s review,” the paper reported. He has said the Norfolk board wanted to move in a different direction, which he said was within its rights, ABC News 4 reported.
Voigt has said the board set no deadline for the review because it wants the process to be thorough, and at the Aug. 31 meeting he said he intended to make as much of the final report public as possible, ABC News 4 reported. The law firm Parker Poe is conducting the review, according to the minutes of that meeting. The Oct. 26 agenda includes a closed session to discuss legal matters related to due diligence being conducted by Parker Poe.
