Former Charleston Pepsi Site Gets Preliminary Approval for 332 Apartments and Retail

A long-vacant former Pepsi bottling site on Meeting Street in Charleston’s Upper Peninsula is finally moving toward redevelopment.

Atlanta-based Catalyst Development Partners are advancing plans to renovate the space at 1450 Meeting St. with 332 apartments and a mix of retail after receiving preliminary approval from Charleston’s Design and Review Board on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026.

Total cost for the project, comprising of two one-story retail buildings facing Meeting Street and a five-story residential building behind them, is expected to reach $13.5 million.

Anna-Catherine Alexander, director of advocacy initiatives for the Preservation Society of Charleston, called the project a “major opportunity” to activate the Upper Peninsula and improve pedestrian connectivity at a review board meeting on April 6, when Catalyst received conceptual approval for the mixed-use project.

During the meeting on Oct. 5, DRB staff members did voice concerns about the project’s proximity to Monrovia Cemetery, an African American burial ground established in the 19th century.

The DRB said the applicant’s renderings show masonry walls that are not proposed or existing, and should be removed, and that it would only support the wall details shown in drawings that mimic the existing adjacent cemetery walls.

At the same time, DRB staff members suggested the proposed dog park fence measure five feet in height for added screening, with mature shrubs planted in this location to screen from the adjacent graveyard.

Out of respect, the DRB also said the five-story apartment building, built in place of the old Pepsi bottling warehouse, would not be as close to the cemetery.