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The project still is in the early stages of negotiations. Town officials would not identify the developer.
Hamilton, town manager Anthony Barrett, town attorney Terry Finger and a representative from the development company outlined the project and how it might move forward at a meeting Thursday morning at Town Hall. The next step is to present the outline to Town Council during an executive session Tuesday.
“What interests me is the potential for 800 jobs,” Hamilton said of the proposal, dubbed Project East. “The Town Council does not know enough to make an educated decision. Right now, there are too many moving parts for us to do anything.”
The project would be built on the Buckwalter Tract, near the intersection of Buckwalter Parkway and Bluffton Parkway, an area zoned for commercial development, he said.
Thursday’s meeting was called to discuss Project East with local media. The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette did not attend the meeting, which the town had described as “an opportunity for the developer to speak confidentially,” because the newspapers could not obligate themselves to keep information that would be disclosed confidential.
After the meeting, however, Hamilton discussed Project East in a telephone interview.
The town and the developer have drafted an outline of how Project East might proceed, called a “memorandum of understanding.” It will be presented to the Town Council during a closed session on Tuesday.
“This type of memorandum is something we use on many proposals,” Hamilton said. “The language in it is something that both parties have an understanding of. It lays out how the process moves forward.”
If council members decide to sign the memorandum, more information about the plan will be made public, he said.
“We want the developer to understand that even if we pass a memorandum, we can still back out of it,” Hamilton said.
If the council supports the development, he said, Project East would include a public-private partnership, and federal economic stimulus money would be used to fund some of it.
“If it goes down right,” he said, “the town would have some ownership in it.”
The developer proposes a partnership with the University of South Carolina Beaufort to build “a culinary school for Italian cuisine” with a four-year degree program, Hamilton said. The university would provide staff, and the degree program would be part of the curriculum, he said. The school would start with about 150 students and ultimately could have about 500, he said.
“The school could provide opportunities for scholarships for local underprivileged kids,” Hamilton said. “I think it’s a good component because it could offer kids a career in their local setting.”
Attempts to reach USCB Chancellor Jane Upshaw for comment on Thursday were unsuccessful.
The project might also include an indoor amusement park for children under the age of 11 and a mixed-use pavilion that would seat 250. The different parts of the project would be built simultaneously, Hamilton said.
“The project is a model that they’ve found successful in other places, like Ohio,” Hamilton said. “But the developer isn’t ready to go public yet.” Council member Charlie Wetmore said the plan was too preliminary to discuss publicly, and negotiations were still under way.
“It becomes a sensitive matter because of the negotiations,” Wetmore said. “No one wants people’s hopes to get too high in wanting something to happen and then it doesn’t go through.”
Wetmore said the public would have opportunities to comment on the project before the council makes a final decision.
Town manager Barrett said the proposal “describes what would have to happen — from the town’s standpoint — before making any decisions.” “It could have a very positive effect on the town and the county,” Barrett said. “The developer has to satisfy the Town Council. It’s a major project with a lot of moving parts that need to come together.”
