The term “Missing Middle Housing” has crept up in real estate conversations a lot lately, but when asking around in Charleston, few knew what the phrase truly means.
Is it housing for the middle class? Is it a price range for the middle-income, somewhere between subsidized and luxury housing?
The answer is yes — and also not exactly.
“Missing Middle Housing” was coined in 2010 by Daniel Parolek, founder of architecture firm Opticos Design, to define a range of multi-unit or clustered housing types — similar in scale with detached single-family homes — that help meet the growing demand for walkable urban living. Think duplexes, triplexes, cottages and more that add density with character at achievable prices.
Single-family homes are the most dominant inventory in the region, but if Charleston is going to solve its affordability crisis for its own residents, its first responders, young families and first-time buyers, regional leaders and developers need to think differently about what types of property are added, said Josh Dix, vice president of advocacy with Charleston Trident Association of Realtors.
“People want that feel of a single-family home but maybe need the affordability of a duplex or triplex,” Dix said at a recent association event. “Maybe that’s where their entry point is to the market. Missing middle provides that scale we can achieve in our area.”
Missing Middle Housing consists of property types in between single-family housing and large apartment complexes, such as duplexes or cottages.
In April, the trade group wrapped a year-long study on the local housing crisis and how Missing Middle Housing can solve affordability issues using the infrastructure already in place and by rezoning land from single-family only. In addition to presenting the results to agents, Dix went before the city of Charleston’s Community Planning Committee on May 15 to present the data.
The study, in coordination with Opticos, revealed the cost of housing in Charleston County from 2012 to 2022 has gone up 87 percent while the median wage has increased 27 percent.
In figures, the median income as of April was $83,891 while a median home in Charleston County was $699,000, according to association data.
“If we are serious about getting people into housing, if we want them to start the pathway to homeownership, we need to create better options for people,” Dix said. “Housing cost burden is when you spend more than 30 percent of your income on housing costs. The goal is to have a community where those costs are lower than 30 percent.”
In North Charleston for example, the median income is $58,534, and an “attainable” home would run about $200,000 to $250,000 as an owner or $1,256 as renter. Dix has already begun conversations with the city. He said the talks are going well.
For years, locals have been opposing more apartments being built, and out-of-range costs for single-family homes are pushing people further from the peninsula — out to Ravenel and Goose Creek.
To find a solution, the realtors group first looked at where they can grow with an ocean to the east, the ACE Basin to the south and Francis Marion National Forest to the north. The only way is west through Interstate 26, but sprawl is not the answer, Dix said.
Developers need to focus instead on infill where the infrastructure already exists, he said. The addition of accessory dwelling units, which he noted Hanahan has successfully done, is another solution.
“We need to go back to that type of zoning to allow that entry-level housing that is going to be necessary as our region continues to grow,” Dix said. “You can use your lot a lot smarter than we currently are using our land.”
The housing study in particular looks at growth along the future Lowcountry Rapid Transit Line. Within a quarter of a mile of the proposed rail stretching from downtown to Summerville, development would be the most dense, with more moderately dense projects about a half-mile to a mile out, Dix said.
Denser, more walkable properties are in fact what people want, he said. Currently, baby boomers and millennials are the two largest demographic of buyers in the United States and neither want to spend Saturdays mowing the lawn.
“This generation doesn’t want the white picket fence and a yard. They want a dense, walkable community that’s near transit, that’s near amenities like restaurants and shops,” he said.
At the May 15 city meeting, Charleston city councilman and committee member Jim McBride said the study had pertinent information and was very needed given the “insane cost of living” in Charleston where first responders can’t even afford to live.
He had two concerns. First, what if demand drops as the city and developers invest in this housing in the next few years? Dix seemed unworried about the possibility, given Charleston is a dynamic region.
“I don’t see our demand going down any time soon and we’re so far behind on inventory that it’s going to take a decade plus to build our way out of this,” Dix said.
The Charleston metro area’s population is expected to reach nearly 800,000 by 2030.
McBride further worried about depending on the state’s Department of Transportation providing the infrastructure for these projects when the agency is already years behind. Infill projects would solve this, Dix said. And the committee ran through a number of incentives for developers to start these projects.
“The solution is not about adding more complexity and layering on more zoning …” Council member Ross Appel commented after the presentation.
He said cities need to loosen control on what’s built, and reiterated that eliminating single-family zoning doesn’t mean those types of homes can’t be built. It just means those aren’t the only types.
“The city of Charleston had missing middle figured out in the 1800s, in the early 1900s, in the mid-20th century,” he added. “It’s only once we dropped suburban cookie-cutter zoning on top of the peninsula that all of a sudden it became impossible to do what humans have been doing for centuries. Mainly, get creative with housing.”