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The two- and three-bedroom apartments in the 72-unit complex on Bluffton's Haigler Boulevard are scheduled to be finished Nov. 1, according to the developer.
County officials are hoping the project will reduce the scarcity of affordable rental property south of the Broad River, which has been compounded by the Town of Hilton Head Island's recent scrapping of its affordable housing program.
The county's affordable housing director, Shirley Wilkins, pointed to the droves of workers taking long rides to work on the Palmetto Breeze into parts of southern Beaufort County where they can't afford to live.
"They get up at 4 o'clock to get to a job by 8. They don't get home until 7 ... and they turn around the next day and do it again."
The project, Hallmark Homes at Bluffton, is being developed by Louisville, Ky.-based developer Aslan Ventures, a company associated with projects that blend in with their surrounding communities. The Haigler Boulevard complex will include a swimming pool, covered picnic area and a computer center.
Sarah Niemann, a consultant and Aslan's point person for the project, said the developers want to attract hourly workers, newly-married couples and new teachers, among others. To qualify, prospective renters must be employed and meet income requirements.
The county provided a $75,000 grant for the development, which complemented $4.6 million in state funding acquired through South Carolina's affordable housing program.
County Council Chairman Weston Newton, who represents Bluffton, said the county council started its affordable housing program in 2001 as the price of land in the county pushed rents and home prices through the roof.
Beaufort County is unique among South Carolina's 52 counties in that it employs an affordable housing director and officially stakes out a "pro-affordable housing" stance.
Niemann called the county "by far the most welcoming when it comes to a developer wanting to build this type of housing." In other counties or out of state, a developer of affordable housing is lucky to get its building permit fees waived, she said.
In addition to the Haigler Boulevard complex, Wilkins and the county have been involved with a second affordable housing project, also in Bluffton and also developed by Aslan. The 32-unit complex, at the corner of Malphrus and Pine Forest roads, is slated to begin its construction in the next couple of months.
According to the county's 2004 Affordable Housing Needs Assessment Study, the Bluffton area needs 25 additional affordable housing apartments per year. Wilkins said the new projects will fulfill that goal for the next two years.
