The technology center planned for Charleston’s rapidly developing Neck area secured the final blessing it needed from the city last week.
The Board of Architectural Review on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve the Charleston Tech Center, which includes an office building and a parking deck at 999 Morrison Drive. The spot is tucked just east of Interstate 26 and north of an exit from the Ravenel Bridge.
The Charleston Digital Corridor will be a permanent tenant and will likely take two floors of the building, Ernest Andrade, the corridor’s director, said. The ground floor is set aside for restaurant space.
Renderings show a structure more akin to the Daniel Island campuses of the software firms Blackbaud and Benefitfocus. But for the quickly developing district in downtown Charleston, it will look different than what passersby are used to.
The office building will be six stories high with a covered rooftop terrace. Walking along Conroy Street, pedestrians will see an exterior wall with a design reading “Charleston Technology Center” in both English and binary code etched into its face.
“It was an opportunity and a responsibility to set the stage for the development in that area,” said John Hand, managing partner of Iron Bridge Capital, the developer of the project.
The designer, Eddie Bello of Bello Garris Architects, said approval flew through the three stages required by the Board of Architectural Review. Bello said he hopes the structure strikes a tone for the rest of the upper peninsula.
The top five floors will be able to hold about 500 employees. No other tenants have been set in stone to occupy the new space yet.