Places

Boundary Street Redevelopment

Beaufort, South Carolina

A new master plan and code is transforming the Boundary Street Redevelopment District, the gateway to the historic city of Beaufort.

The Project
Boundary Street is the entrance to the city of Beaufort. As a typical commercial strip corridor, it does not enhance Beaufort’s overall character and charm but rather serves as a poor gateway to the historic city. A comprehensive strategy for growth and redevelopment of the corridor seeks to improve the safety and operational efficiency for all modes of travel while creating a more economically productive address. Dover, Kohl, & Partners served as the lead consultants for the project with assistance from the following consultants: Sottile & Sottile, Hall Planning & Engineering, Seamon, Whiteside & Associates, MACTEC, and UrbanAdvantage.

Plan Principles
Transformation of the corridor will not happen overnight, so the Plan is designed to be broken down into small components that can be redeveloped as the market demands. However, plan principles create a cohesiveness that guides each phase of development, and integrated concepts ensure that growth of the corridor is consistent in terms of design and sustainability. The Plan addresses opportunities for waterfront redevelopment and provides a scenic drive to run along Albergotti Creek, adding marsh views and a more complete street network north of Boundary Street. A continuous marshfront park should also be created along Battery Creek to help establish a green network. Other features include the addition of roundabouts at the intersections with Ribaut Road and Robert Smalls Parkway, which will improve traffic flow and safety at these special intersections, and a parallel road network along Boundary Street will integrate multiple options for travel and disperse everyday trips. Lastly, new civic buildings should be added in prominent positions along the corridor, while strategic infill along vacant parcels will provide a variety of housing types and mix of uses and also help increase the tax base. Meanwhile, street trees and proper sidewalks along existing and new streets create desirable addresses and enhance the pedestrian environment.

Status
The Boundary Street Master Plan was adopted as part of the City’s Comprehensive Plan on August 28,
2006.  A form-based code, the Boundary Street Redevelopment District Code, was created for the corridor to stimulate redevelopment and to ensure the proper implementation of the Plan. The Code was
adopted by City Council on February 6, 2007. At last, a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District was created to fund the public realm improvements of the master plan. The first redevelopment projects are underwayand the City and County are working together on the initial street improvements.

For Additional Information:  http://www.cityofbeaufort.org/Default.aspx