Shelter Cove switching up plans for once-debated apartment building
A change of plans is in the works for once-debated luxury apartments along Broad Creek at Shelter Cove Towne Centre on Hilton Head Island.
The revisions scale back the one large apartment complex planned for the north end of the shopping center and split it into two slightly smaller buildings that will flank Veterans Memorial Park, according to development and town leaders.
The proposal advocated by Mayor David Bennett ultimately shrinks the apartment complex's footprint and could address some of area residents' prior concerns about the planned five-story apartment building, Bennett said Tuesday.
A planned land swap between the town and Shelter Cove developer Blanchard & Calhoun Commercial that is part of the new proposal also would give the town a chance to nearly double the size of the increasingly popular creekside Shelter Cove Community Park, which was completed earlier this spring, officials added.
The apartments will be the final piece of the Shelter Cove puzzle that already has become a bustling mid-island hub for retail and entertainment activity.
"Long term, we want to do the best project possible for not only us but everybody there, and I'm sincere in that," said Mark Senn, president of Blanchard & Calhoun. "You only get one time to make a good first impression, and we want to make a great impression with this project."
NEW APARTMENT PLANS
Just a few weeks after taking oath as Hilton Head's new mayor, Bennett was on the phone with one of the island's largest developers to pitch changes to a plan for luxury apartments that had been approved only a month earlier.
At the time, the Shelter Cove development was still a hot issue from the debate it drew from mayoral candidates during the election -- especially between Bennett and then-Mayor Drew Laughlin, one of the development's most vocal proponents.
But Bennett wasn't deterred, and he wanted to pitch his Shelter Cove idea as one of his first acts as mayor, he said.
"I simply gave (Senn) a phone call," Bennett said. "I had an idea that I believe improves the center, and I'm simply trying to do what's in the best interest of the community."
In November, Town Council had approved the developer's plan to build a five-story, 210-apartment building along the creek with another 30 residential units on the south end of the new community park.
The height and size of that north-end building had drawn the ire of many residents, including Bennett, throughout the year, but the plan was approved with little opposition after a series of design changes from Blanchard & Calhoun.
Then, Bennett pitched a new alternative to split all 240 apartments into two smaller buildings on either side of Veterans Memorial Park.
"All of that came with the caveat that, if he didn't like the idea, I wasn't going to hold him up in any way," Bennett said. "He already had approval for one project, and I was not trying to be a roadblock."
But after reviewing the idea this spring and exchanging design ideas with Bennett, Blanchard & Calhoun agreed last month that the plan could work, Senn said.
With the new design, both buildings would be four stories tall, Senn said. One would have about 130 to 140 units, and the other would have 100 to 110, he added. Each would have its own parking, according to the plans.
In a land swap that is part of the new proposal, Blanchard & Calhoun would get 4.6 acres on which to build one of the apartment buildings, and the town would get 4.6 acres to nearly double the new community park along the creek. The park expansion would include a second pavilion, a picnic shelter and 60 new parking spaces.
To initiate the changes, Blanchard & Calhoun wants a portion of town-owned land in the area rezoned and to amend its development agreement, town manager Steve Riley said. Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday to permit the developer to submit applications for the changes.
Once submitted, the rezoning application and amended development agreement will be reviewed by town staff, the Planning Commission and Town Council at future public meetings, Bennett and Riley said.
There, town leaders can hash out whether they prefer the new details or whether Blanchard & Calhoun should stick to last year's plans, Bennett said.
A BUSTLING CENTER
The luxury apartments would be the final piece of the Shelter Cove development that has filled quickly in the year and half since the Kroger that anchors the center opened in late 2013.
The center has only a few remaining retail and entertainment spaces available, with new additions Jake's Wayback Burgers and The French Bakery set to open in the coming weeks, according to mall manager Roni Allbritton.
"Already what we've seen from spring till now has been tremendous compared to last year," she said. "Having more spaces open for business and having the park open have been a huge help."
Allbritton doesn't track visitor numbers, but lines have been forming at the restaurants and newest shops in the center as the summer season begins, she said. Parking demand also led Allbritton to set up a free golf-cart shuttle to help chauffeur visitors.
Despite some of the initial opposition to the development, town leaders say the nearly complete center has become the hub they hoped it would be.
On Tuesday afternoon, Laughlin said he smiles every time he goes past the mall and sees it busy.
"I think it's doing exactly what we hoped it would do," he said. "The park has come out really nice. It's going to be exactly the kind of mixed-use type of place that it was designed to be."
Follow reporter Zach Murdock on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Zach and on Facebook at facebook.com/IPBGZach.
Related content:
- Plan for taller Shelter Cove Towne Centre apartments progresses, Nov. 5, 2014
- Veterans, birders satisfied with Shelter Cove apartments on Hilton Head, Oct. 21, 2014
- Town panel OKs taller apartments at Shelter Cove, Oct. 1, 2014
This story was originally published June 9, 2015 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Shelter Cove switching up plans for once-debated apartment building."