By Robert Behre
Nov 1, 2019

Charleston’s homeless shelter, originally called Crisis Ministries, began 35 years ago inside a former auto parts shop at 573 Meeting St.

Today, the building has been torn down, and the nonprofit homeless shelter, now called One80 Place, plans to turn the half-acre site into a $24 million, six-story affordable housing complex with 70 new apartments for the formerly homeless.

The project will tackle this reality: The average downtown rent is $1,700 a month. That’s $500 more than what a minimum wage worker would earn.

These are some of Charleston’s first housing in years built for residents on the lowest economic rungs, and it’s also unique because its residents will have access to One80′s support services, including its health clinic, legal services, employment and education services and community kitchen.

One80 Place has a kitchen that not only prepares meals for residents but also serves as a space for a culinary training program. File

Still, tenants in the 70 units will be on their own, said Stacey Denaux, One80 Place’s CEO.

“You have a lease. You have a right to privacy, and we’re not checking on you every day like you were in the shelter,” she said. “We don’t want to make this feel like Shelter 2.0.”

The building’s design, which is undergoing Board of Architectural Review scrutiny, includes two smaller, three-story portions facing Meeting Street and a six-story rear. Architect Richard Gowe of LS3P said the goal is to make the apartments look and feel just as nice as if they were on the market, though there’s no swimming pool.