Entry Title: Port Unity
Team Code: 2023-8968
School: Harvard University

Overview (Narrative Excerpt from Original Project Submission):

Port Unity is a $2.2 billion mixed-use development that offers a place to work and live and create along the water while helping correct historical inequities. It is a 4.5 million sq ft development that will focus on residential living with creative industrial and retail serving as stabilizers. The project will deliver 2,488 units residential, of which 24% are affordable, along a dynamic waterfront while supplying a more equitable development strategy for the community. In partnership with the city, the project will deliver $90m worth of green resilient infrastructure and streetscape improvements across all sites. The maritime industries demand for labor will be met by providing collaborating, mentorship spaces that connect area youth to South Carolina’s HBCUs to foster industrial apprenticeships, mentorships, and other educational opportunities with university and business partners in the area. Connectivity is imagined through land and water, with a bike path to the new BRT line and a ferry service to Charleston. Channels cut into the site will allow water to gather after a storm, and the site will serve as a refuge from powerful hurricanes when necessary.