Charleston’s Apartment Boom vs. Infrastructure Reality

Why Charleston, Mount Pleasant, and the Wando–Clements Ferry Road corridor need more quality single-family and “missing middle” housing

Across Charleston County, and especially in the Wando / Cainhoy / Clements Ferry Road growth corridor (within the City of Charleston) and parts of Mount Pleasant, multifamily construction has expanded faster than the supporting road network. Residents feel it every day: longer commutes, bottlenecks at key intersections, and a growing mismatch between housing approvals and infrastructure capacity.

What’s being built in the Clements Ferry–Wando corridor

Public and industry pipeline sources show substantial multifamily and multifamily-adjacent projects planned or underway along Clements Ferry Road / Point Hope / Daniel Island:

• A proposed Point Hope Capstone development listed at 323 units at 1260 Clements Ferry Road.

• Point Hope III marketed at 348 units.

• Goddard Point Hope listed at 224 units (pipeline reporting).

• Hawthorne at Daniel Island listed at 210 units (pipeline reporting).

• A City of Charleston TRC agenda item shows Atlantic – St. Thomas at 2815 Clements Ferry Rd with 71 townhome units (single-family attached—often the “missing middle” sellers and buyers want more of).

At the metro level, professional research still shows thousands of multifamily units under construction in the Charleston market (e.g., Colliers reporting 3,891 units under construction for 50+ unit projects at that time).

Why “too many apartments” can overwhelm roads

The issue is not that apartments are inherently bad—it’s that delivery volume + location + road capacity must be aligned.

Two credible data points help frame the traffic impact:

• A Mount Pleasant planning discussion cited a traffic analysis estimating ~700 daily trips per 100 residential units (order-of-magnitude guidance that illustrates how quickly trips add up).

• Standard transportation references used in traffic studies (ITE) show apartments generate measurable daily trip rates per unit (used nationally in impact analysis).

Now combine that with existing corridor volumes. SCDOT’s published traffic count tables show heavy AADT on key regional links like I-526 near the Clements Ferry interchange (context for how close to capacity the system can feel during peak periods).
And corridor planning reporting has warned of major growth in traffic demand along the Clements Ferry area over time, putting more pressure on connectivity and throughput.

The case for more quality single-family and single-family attached

Charleston’s housing future can’t be “all apartments or nothing.” What many communities need is more quality single-family and single-family attached options (townhomes, cottage clusters, small-lot homes)—the “missing middle” that:

• Adds attainable ownership inventory (not just rentals)

• Spreads trip patterns differently than large apartment concentrations

• Supports schools, stability, and long-term neighborhood health

• Matches what many relocating families and move-up buyers actually want

Notably, Mount Pleasant has grappled publicly with growth controls and housing type decisions, including policy changes around apartments/townhomes.

The question voters are asking: who benefits when approvals outpace infrastructure?

It’s fair—and healthy—for citizens to ask whether approvals are being made with adequate infrastructure analysis, and whether decision-making is transparent. But it’s important to be precise: concerns about “profit” or “bribes” should be treated as questions for oversight and disclosure—not assumptions. The constructive path is demanding:

• Transparent traffic studies and assumptions

• Public performance metrics (intersection level-of-service, crash data, peak delay)

• Clear proffers/impact mitigation and timelines

• Conflict-of-interest disclosures and enforcement

Bottom line for Charleston County

If we keep concentrating large multifamily approvals in the Wando / Clements Ferry Road area and other constrained corridors without synchronized road and transit upgrades, congestion and quality-of-life friction will continue. A healthier strategy is a balanced housing mix with more high-quality single-family and single-family attached development—paired with infrastructure that’s actually ready.