RFP-2026-3500-PEN-01 Project 3500 Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings Architect of Record
| Location: | South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Posted: | Aug 10, 2026 |
| Due: | Sep 21, 2026 |
| Agency: | City of Charleston |
| Type of Government: | State & Local |
| Category: |
|
| Solicitation No: | RFP-2026-3500-PEN-01 |
| Publication URL: | To access bid details, please log in. |
| Bid Number: |
RFP-2026-3500-PEN-01
|
| Bid Title: |
RFP-2026-3500-PEN-01 Project 3500 Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings Architect of Record
|
| Category: | Procurement Bids |
| Status: | Open |
|
Attachment Preview
CITY OF CHARLESTON
Project 3500 — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings
CITY OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
Office of the Mayor
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Architect of Record Services
Project 3500 — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings
INVITATION TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL
OPEN TO QUALIFIED ARCHITECTURE FIRMS
Finalization of Housing Designs and Site Plans Emerging from the City of Charleston’s Affordable
Housing Design Charrette
Eastern Peninsula — Primary: 899 Morrison Drive | Alt E-1: 993 + 995 Morrison Drive | Alt E-2: Cooper
River Court + Meeting Street Manor Western Peninsula — Primary: WestEdge Redevelopment Parcels |
Alt W-1: Gadsden Green
RFP Number
Issuance Date
Response Deadline
Submission Method
Response Limit
City Contact
Email
Phone
Contact Address
Deliver Proposals
To
RFP-2026-3500-PEN-01
August 10, 2026
September 21, 2026 | 2:00 PM Eastern
Sealed Hard Copy Only — Mailed or Hand-Delivered
20 Pages per Offering; 28 Pages Maximum if Both Offerings Proposed
(Exhibits per Section 10.2 are excluded)
Gary Cooper, Director of Procurement
COOPERG@charleston-sc.gov
843.724.7312
2 George Street, Suite 3600, Charleston, SC 29401
City of Charleston Procurement Division, 2 George Street, Suite 3600,
Charleston, SC 29401
This RFP is issued as part of Project 3500, the largest affordable housing initiative in Charleston’s history,
targeting 3,500 net new affordable units by 2032.
Issued: August 10, 2026 | City of Charleston, South Carolina | Project 3500 — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings Page 1
CITY OF CHARLESTON
Project 3500 — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings
Issued: August 10, 2026 | City of Charleston, South Carolina | Project 3500 — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings Page 2
CITY OF CHARLESTON
Project 3500 — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings
1. Overview and Invitation
The City of Charleston, South Carolina, through its Office of the Mayor, hereby invites qualified
architecture firms to submit comprehensive proposals to provide Architect of Record services for
the Eastern Peninsula Offering, the Western Peninsula Offering, or both, under Project 3500.
This solicitation combines into a single procurement the Architect of Record services previously
contemplated under separate solicitations for each Offering. Each Offering comprises one required
Primary Site and one or more optional Alternate Sites, as described in Section 3. Respondents may
propose on either Offering individually or on both. A proposal that addresses an Offering must
address that Offering’s Primary Site; Alternates within an Offering are optional and must be
separately scoped, scheduled, and priced. The City may award both Offerings to a single firm or
award each Offering separately.
The selected Architect of Record — or Architects of Record, if the City awards the Offerings
separately — will be responsible for finalizing the housing designs and site plans produced during
the City of Charleston’s Affordable Housing Design Charrette, advancing those conceptual designs
through design development and construction documents, managing all regulatory approvals, and
providing full Architect of Record services through construction administration and certificate of
occupancy.
Project 3500 has attracted nationwide attention as a potentially replicable model for how cities can
produce beautiful, permanently affordable housing at scale. As reported by the Congress for the
New Urbanism in May 2026, the City’s approach — pre-designing and pre-permitting sites on city-
owned land, driven by private capital, rooted in Classical architecture and community engagement
— is “nationally unprecedented.” The Architect of Record for these Offerings will be a visible
participant in a nationally significant project.
2. Project 3500 Context: The Affordability Crisis and the City’s
Response
Charleston faces a housing affordability crisis that threatens the economic diversity and social fabric
of one of America’s most storied cities. A comprehensive assessment conducted by Bloomberg
Associates documented the structural forces driving displacement: rising Area Median Income
levels that exclude working families from existing affordable housing programs, escalating market
rents, loss of naturally occurring affordable housing, and a persistent gap between housing supply
and workforce demand. At the time of assessment, more than 621 homeless school children were
enrolled in Charleston County schools, and essential workforce employees — teachers, nurses,
firefighters, hospitality and service workers — were increasingly unable to live in the communities
they serve.
Project 3500 is Mayor William Cogswell’s response: the largest and most ambitious affordable
housing initiative in the City’s history, targeting 3,500 net new affordable units by 2032 on 100+
acres of Charleston Housing Authority-owned land on and near the historic peninsula. The program
is not an aspirational framework — it is a fully executable strategy with site-specific plans, identified
financing pathways, and federal partnership commitments.
Project 3500 is structured as a modernized version of the HOPE VI program — one that adds
turnkey design and permitting by the City in partnership with HUD to the New Urbanist, mixed-
Issued: August 10, 2026 | City of Charleston, South Carolina | Project 3500 — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings Page 3
CITY OF CHARLESTON
Project 3500 — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings
income neighborhood framework that HOPE VI pioneered. A landmark Harvard study published in
2026 confirmed that HOPE VI-style redevelopments improved upward mobility and reduced
intergenerational poverty among children who grew up in public housing, providing powerful
evidence for the long-term community benefit of this approach.
The Affordable Housing Design Charrette from which this RFP emerges was the design engine of
Project 3500’s Eastern and Western Peninsula sites. The charrette brought together the City’s
design team — including Sottile & Sottile, Ben Pentreath, and Hugh Petter, all CNU Charter Award
recipients with extensive experience in Classical architecture and affordable housing — alongside
community residents, neighborhood leaders, CHA staff, and City officials. The resulting designs
reflect both design excellence and community voice. The Architect of Record will carry that
foundation forward.
3. Site Descriptions — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings
This solicitation covers two Offerings. Each Offering has one Primary Site, which must be
addressed by any proposal that includes that Offering, and one or more optional Alternate Sites.
Respondents may propose on the Eastern Peninsula Offering, the Western Peninsula Offering, or
both. Each Alternate elected must be scoped, designed, and priced separately and in addition to
the Primary Site of its Offering. Proposals must demonstrate sufficient team capacity to serve every
site proposed, simultaneously or in defined sequential phases.
3.1 Eastern Peninsula Offering — Primary Site: 899 Morrison Drive, Charleston, SC
899 Morrison Drive is the required and central component of any proposal that includes the Eastern
Peninsula Offering. This City-owned parcel on the Charleston peninsula is targeted for a mixed-
income residential community consistent with Project 3500’s design standards. The site benefits
from proximity to major employment centers, public transit, waterfront amenities, and established
neighborhood infrastructure. Charrette design concepts for this site — including site layout, building
typologies, architectural character, and open space framework — will be provided to respondents
through the RFP Data Room. The selected Architect of Record will be responsible for translating
these charrette concepts into fully permitted, construction-ready documents.
All work at 899 Morrison Drive must conform to the City’s design standards and achieve Board of
Architectural Review (BAR) approval. The firm’s proposal must demonstrate a clear understanding
of the BAR process and a commitment to the Classical architectural language established during
the charrette.
3.2 Eastern Peninsula Offering — Alternate E-1: 993 + 995 Morrison Drive,
Charleston, SC
This Alternate consists of two adjacent parcels. Respondents electing Alternate E-1 must provide a
separate scope, schedule, and fee for these parcels — independent from and in addition to 899
Morrison Drive. Proposals must demonstrate sufficient team capacity to serve as Architect of
Record for both 899 Morrison Drive and Alternate E-1 simultaneously or in defined sequential
phases.
Issued: August 10, 2026 | City of Charleston, South Carolina | Project 3500 — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings Page 4
CITY OF CHARLESTON
Project 3500 — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings
3.3 Eastern Peninsula Offering — Alternate E-2: Cooper River Court + Meeting Street
Manor, Charleston, SC
This Alternate comprises two CHA-associated properties on the Eastern Peninsula. Each property
must be addressed separately within the Alternate E-2 section of the proposal, with independent
scope, schedule, and fee narratives. Respondents may elect both Alternate E-1 and Alternate E-2
but must address each site distinctly. Charrette design materials for Alternate E-2 properties will be
provided through the RFP Data Room.
3.4 Western Peninsula Offering — Primary Site: WestEdge Redevelopment Parcels,
Charleston, SC
The WestEdge Redevelopment Parcels are the required and central component of any proposal
that includes the Western Peninsula Offering. These City of Charleston-owned parcels on the
Western Peninsula — comprising approximately 15 acres adjacent to the WestEdge district along
the Ashley River — are targeted for a cohesive, mixed-income, mixed-use residential community
consistent with Project 3500’s design standards. The site benefits from proximity to major
employment and medical centers, public transit, Brittlebank Park and the Ashley River waterfront,
and established neighborhood infrastructure. Charrette design concepts for this site — including
site layout, building typologies, architectural character, and open space framework — will be
provided to respondents through the RFP Data Room. The selected Architect of Record will be
responsible for translating these charrette concepts into fully permitted, construction-ready
documents.
All work at the WestEdge Redevelopment Parcels must conform to the City’s design standards and
achieve Board of Architectural Review (BAR) approval. The firm’s proposal must demonstrate a
clear understanding of the BAR process and a commitment to the Classical architectural language
established during the charrette.
3.5 Western Peninsula Offering — Alternate W-1: Gadsden Green, Charleston, SC
This Alternate comprises the Gadsden Green properties, a Charleston Housing Authority-owned
community of approximately 11.3 acres on the Western Peninsula. Respondents electing Alternate
W-1 must provide a separate scope, schedule, and fee for these parcels — independent from and
in addition to the WestEdge Redevelopment Parcels. Proposals must demonstrate sufficient team
capacity to serve as Architect of Record for both the WestEdge Redevelopment Parcels and
Gadsden Green simultaneously or in defined sequential phases. Charrette design materials for the
Gadsden Green properties will be provided through the RFP Data Room.
RFP Data Room for all Sites:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ydx2jdwby0ui4gdq83zfn/AGmds9sWGCkOdRPz1Lq78NI?rlkey=cd
sqz75fh16nwzsgrhnd4d5c0&dl=0
4. Scope of Architect of Record Services
The following scope applies to all sites included in the awarded contract and applies separately to
each Offering awarded. The City will negotiate a final scope and fee schedule with the selected firm
or firms prior to contract execution. The anticipated scope includes:
Issued: August 10, 2026 | City of Charleston, South Carolina | Project 3500 — Eastern and Western Peninsula Offerings Page 5
This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.
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