Historic, rundown jail in Beaufort’s Northwest Quadrant to be developed into housing

Just a few years ago, the former Beaufort County Jail, or the “Old Jail,” seemed doomed to crumble into the ground when Beaufort’s Historic District Review Board green-lighted its demolition at the request of a developer.

Now the 86-year-old boxy building known for its art deco architecture is on the verge of being reborn as condominiums with construction possibly beginning early next year.

The project is one of the most highly visible and anticipated redevelopments in the city’s historic district. Rehabbing the old jail is just one part of a grander vision by Columbia-based developer Wheeler and Wheeler Properties. It’s planning a justice-themed $15 million infill housing development spanning two blocks. The three-pronged housing plan, anchored by the old jail, includes market-rate housing and the possibility of up to three dozen affordably priced “workforce housing” units.

When the jail condo plan was announced in September 2023, Wheeler and Wheeler said the jail condos would be available by late summer 2024.

On Tuesday, Jeff Wheeler, a Wheeler and Wheeler partner, told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet the project has encountered delays but that it is still moving ahead. He hopes to see construction begin in the first quarter of 2025. He remains as enthusiastic about the project, he said, as he was when he first got involved four years ago.

“This will really be a landmark,” Wheeler said.

Jail converted into condos

Inside cells will be gutted, but jail bars and the hallways will be incorporated into the housing units, according to Wheeler and Wheeler plans.

Nine condos will be offered for rent with six, one-bedroom units all under 735-square feet and three, two-bedroom units ranging from 900-1,050-square feet. It’s name: Justice Place.

The retrofit of the historic but deteriorating jail will allow the developer to “adapt it for another use while preserving the historic character of the structure,” Wheeler said. Five units will be on the first floor and four on the second.

Plans also call for building 12 single-family homes along the remainder of the block bounded by King, Monson, Prince and Wilmington streets.

On the adjacent block bounded by King, Wilmington, Prince and Harrington streets, the city has approved up to 39 for-rent workforce housing units for people whose incomes range from 50% to 100% of Beaufort County’s median income.

Project increases in scope

The jail was built in 1938 and has been empty since 1992. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a contributing structure to the city’s National Historic District. The original jail was designed by Beaufort architect Jules D. Levin. It’s an example of art deco/moderne architecture.

However, the building has sat vacant and deteriorating for several decades and has become an eyesore in the Northwest Quadrant neighborhood, Wheeler says. The only condition to the demolition approved by the city in 2017 was that the front panel — “Beaufort County Jail” — be saved and used on the site.

“It allows us to take a deteriorating property and adapt it for another use while preserving the historic character of the structure, a structure that might well have been torn down and lost,” Wheeler said.

A number of rehabilitation projects at the site have been discussed over the years, but none have moved forward.

Wheeler, who has sunk $1.3 million in cash into the project since first getting involved, initially planned to redevelop only the jail. He purchased that property from Esther Shavers, who once envisioned a restaurant with outdoor dining and rooftop garden at the site.

But the project later ballooned to two city blocks when Wheeler and Wheeler purchased additional land near the jail from Beaufort County at 1407 King Street ($275,000) and 600 Wilmington Street. ($780,000).

The estimated cost of the entire project is expected to surpass $15 million, Wheeler said.

Project delayed but still moving ahead

It’s taken longer than anticipated to get the project off the ground because of a few factors, Wheeler said.

One reason involves the two buildings on the former county property. Those structures, leased to state agencies, need to be torn down to make way for the King and Wilmington street housing plans, he said. But state employees working in those buildings needed to be relocated to different facilities first before that work can proceed.

Also, the developer is still awaiting approval from South Carolina Housing Finance and Development Authority of its plans to build the workforce housing. The purchase of the land from the county stipulated that a portion of the housing be workforce housing, which is housing that typically serves individuals or who still can’t afford market-rate housing. Wheeler and Wheeler submitted a funding application to SC Housing for the workforce housing portion of the project under the Small Rental Development Program. Applications are still under review and conditional awards are expected by the end of the year.

“We have a number of moving parts,” Wheeler said

This story was originally published November 20, 2024 at 3:19 PM.