The Borough Project helped put The Borough Houses on the map (their existence threatened, they did not appear on city planning documents at that time).

In fall 2002 Clemson Architecture Center (CAC) undertook a site study “Envisaging The Borough” with Spoleto, bringing the City Planning Dept. and Civic Design Center into the process. With an ad-hoc TBHP Board and the sister-owners, students proposed 7 plans for the houses' future and brought these houses to the attention of city planners, politicians, and influential local architects. In effect, through the on-going student projects and civic discourse provoked by CAC and professors Rob Miller and Ken Huggins, The Borough Houses have now risen to a place on the civic agenda.

Through the work of CAC and Spoleto, The Borough Houses are a known entity and will not be able to be quietly “erased”—a danger more palpable as developments, such as a new condomium complex, continue in the immediate vicinity. These previously overlooked houses are at the epicenter of a new Ansonborough redevelopment, with its projected condominiums, retail businesses, parks, tourist attractions, and an international museum commemorating African American history (IMAAH). Located at the port and a center of Charleston’s tourism, TBHP could play an important role in the area’s redevelopment.