At 4 p.m. on a weekday, Smithey Ironware closes on the old Naval Base. Smithey makes cast iron and carbon steel cookware in North Charleston and lists its hours as Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. That's also the hour Riva Mare opens upstairs at Storehouse Nine, a short drive down Noisette Boulevard, and starts seating its first dinner guests on a rooftop that looks out over the Cooper River.
For most of the years since the base closed, North Charleston knew the Navy Yard by its daytime uses: workshops, showrooms and studios, busy during business hours and quiet after. In 2026, a coffee shop on Storehouse Row, a full-service restaurant atop Storehouse Nine and a few walk-in makers stretched those hours into evenings and Saturdays along one stretch of Noisette Boulevard.
Thirty years for a dinner reservation
The Charleston Naval Base closed in 1996. According to the Post and Courier, Riva Mare is the first full-service restaurant at Navy Yard Charleston, the redevelopment of that base. Charleston City Paper gives Aug. 21, 2026, as the opening date.
The restaurant belongs to Indigo Road Hospitality Group, whose Charleston roster includes Oak Steakhouse, Indaco, O-Ku and Brasserie La Banque. Riva Mare is a new concept for the group. Guests ride an elevator to the top floor of Storehouse Nine, walk past the kitchen, and come out in an indoor-outdoor room facing the Cooper River.
Executive chef Sean McMullen came from Luminosa in Asheville, North Carolina, where he was chef de cuisine. The Post and Courier reports that Luminosa earned a Michelin Green Star for sustainability and a Bib Gourmand in Michelin's American South guide while he was there. The Riva Mare menu centers on seafood and handmade pasta:
- Raw and cooked starters, including head-on shrimp, hamachi crudo and grilled octopus
- Pastas from corn-filled agnolotti to spaghetti with whole lobster
- Pizza and shareable sides
- A short list of entrees, including whole fish and a half chicken with salsa verde
Riva Mare serves dinner only, from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Those hours begin as the rest of the base's working day ends.
The coffee shop that held the morning
The base's morning business opened a few months before the restaurant. Second State Coffee announced its Navy Yard location in September 2025 and described the space as a 900-square-foot glass box on Storehouse Row, "surrounded by beautiful architecture & incredibly talented neighbors." In the company's own updates, the target opening moved from late 2025 or early 2026 to a mid-April soft opening, and then to a stretch in late April and May while the shop waited on its Certificate of Occupancy. Holy City Sinner's running list of 2026 openings has it opening in May as the brand's fifth area location.
Second State calls the shop a flagship "just down the street from our Roastery & Lab" and says it hopes the space will be "a true community hub." The menu includes single-origin pour-overs, house syrups, rotating drip coffees, a house espresso, a decaf espresso and a rotating third featured coffee. Second State also said the location would carry home-brewing equipment and items sold only at the Navy Yard.
With coffee in the morning and dinner in the evening, this stretch of Noisette Boulevard has business at both ends of the day. The tenants in between explain why someone would stay.
Who keeps which hours
The Navy Yard directory lists dozens of tenants. Most are design showrooms and creative studios, and several are tied to the Charleston Design District. A smaller group welcomes visitors who come in to buy something. Their posted schedules show when the base is open to the public:
| Business | What it is | Where | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second State Coffee | Specialty coffee, flagship café | Storehouse Row, Noisette Blvd. | Open; see the shop for current hours |
| Smithey Ironware Co. | Cast iron and carbon steel cookware made on the base | 1061 Everglades Ave. | Mon–Fri, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Middleton Made Knives | Knife shop | 2154 Noisette Blvd., Suite 131 | Thu–Sat, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. |
| Nidum Gallery | Rotating local and regional artists | 2154 Noisette Blvd., Suite 138 | By appointment |
| Dwell Somatic Studio | Clinical somatics and therapeutic yoga | 2154 Noisette Blvd., Suite 136 | By appointment |
| Riva Mare | Rooftop coastal Italian | 2154 Noisette Blvd., Suite 500 | Mon–Thu 4–9 p.m., Fri–Sat 4–10 p.m. |
The schedules overlap from Thursday through Saturday. Middleton Made Knives keeps its door open until 6 p.m. on those days, and Riva Mare starts serving at 4. For two hours on each of those afternoons, a visitor can shop one floor of Storehouse Nine and then go upstairs to eat. According to the Post and Courier, the shop sells knives and also offers sharpening.
Smithey Ironware is the clearest example of the base's earlier daytime use. Its Navy Yard listing says the company is "located and manufactured at the historic Naval Base," and it keeps weekday working hours. The showroom side keeps growing too. The Navy Yard homepage currently lists Phillip Jeffries as the newest showroom in the Charleston Design District, joining names already in the directory such as Kravet, Schumacher, Holland & Sherry, The Shade Store and The Urban Electric Co.
What the October calendar packed in
The last week of October put something on the calendar almost every day. Saturday, Oct. 24, was set for Charleston Beer Fest at Riverfront Park, 1061 Everglades Ave., from 2 to 7 p.m., with VIP entry at 1 p.m. The festival raises money for people in the community living with HIV/AIDS. That same evening, the Navy Yard's events calendar listed Building 64: Skinful Halloween at 7 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 25, was set for the Celadon x Navy Yard CHS Boulevard Bazaar, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Its event page describes local food vendors, live music, artists and makers lining Noisette Boulevard. Wednesday, Oct. 28, was set for Elements of a Well-Designed Life, a 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Charleston Design District program with speakers on interiors, wellness, architecture and lifestyle.
That's a beer festival, a Halloween night, a street market and a design program scheduled within five days.
The next date to circle
After the October run, the next event on the Navy Yard events calendar is Saturday, Dec. 5. That's the date of Nidum Gallery's Small Works Big Impact holiday art show, 5 to 9 p.m. in Storehouse Nine, Suite 138. Riva Mare's Saturday hours run until 10 p.m., so the show and dinner fit in one trip to the building. The City of North Charleston also lists its Christmas Festival and Parade for Dec. 5.
The building has another tenant coming. The Navy Yard homepage lists Zuma Imports as "coming fall 2026," and the directory places it in Suite 105 at 2154 Noisette Blvd., selling handmade, fairly traded goods including Turkish rugs and vintage pottery.
Getting there on foot
Riverfront Park and the base are linked by more than an address. The Noisette Creek Pedestrian Bridge carries Riverfront Park across to the north side of Noisette Creek. Live 5 News covered the city's grand opening on Nov. 9, 2022, after two years of design and construction. The city's longer-range plan for the riverfront is Battery Park, a planned 50-acre mixed-use district with parks, public spaces and a waterfront pavilion with a market hall and event space. The city's project page doesn't give a schedule.
On a Thursday, Friday or Saturday, one evening can cover a walk through Riverfront Park and across the creek, a stop at Middleton Made Knives before 6 p.m., and a table on the Storehouse Nine roof from 4 p.m. Riva Mare's rooftop has been open since Aug. 21, the first full-service restaurant on a base that closed in 1996.
When you're out at the Navy Yard and start wondering what it's like to live a short drive from Noisette Boulevard, the North Charleston team at Synergy Group Properties can tell you how these new businesses fit into daily life nearby and answer your questions quickly. Contact Us.
