Hilton Head approves 166-unit timeshare resort near Islanders Beach Park. What we know
A new 166-unit timeshare resort is coming to Hilton Head Island.
The town’s Design Review Board on Tuesday granted final approval for the project in a 5-0 vote.
The mid-island resort will be located near Islanders Beach Park on 8.4 acres that the developer, HH Island Acquisition Partners LLC, purchased for roughly $4.2 million in 2017, records show.
The company, based in Myrtle Beach, will build the resort along Folly Field Road at 15 Wimbledon Court, according to documents submitted to the DRB.
Brett Callaghan, the general contractor and owner’s representative, in a Thursday interview said he hopes to break ground on the resort in early February 2022.
Construction could take up to two years, Callaghan said. The project’s initial budget is still being negotiated, he said.
The new resort will replace the Port Royal Racquet Club Tract, with three four-story buildings and four three-story buildings, according to the developer.
The structures will contain a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. There will be 166 units in total, including lockout units. Lockouts divide housing units into two or more units by locking or sealing a door. Documents submitted to the DRB do not list the timeshare prices.
The resort will include about 221 parking spaces, documents show.
The developer also plans to preserve a live oak and cork oak on the property; build a pool, spa and clubhouse; and create walking paths with common areas that connect to an adjacent town bicycle path.
Mid-island residents are familiar with the project.
The resort originally secured final approval from the DRB in September 2018, but the resort never was built. The DRB’s approval expired after a year.
The Folly Field area was rezoned to allow resort development in 2015. The rezoning plan, at the time, drew the ire of hundreds of property owners and divided town leaders in a series of votes and public hearings.
Controversial plan
Since the DRB must approve projects that comply with the island’s land management ordinance, and can merely make suggestions on design aspects, former DRB chairman Michael Gentemann wrote in March that his board had no choice but to approve three specific projects it felt were obtrusive to surrounding neighborhoods. One of those projects was the resort at 15 Wimbledon Court, according to previous reporting from The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
“The DRB had no true authority to limit the overall height and scale of the structures,” Gentemann wrote in a letter to the Planning Commission and Town Council.
He also argued that buildings going up on Hilton Head are getting too tall. The DRB’s “hands are tied” on big development projects, he wrote.
Osprey nest
An active osprey nest previously has been documented in a tree at 15 Wimbledon Court, Callaghan said.
Ospreys are migratory birds that are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
The developer plans to cut the tree down because it is old and “very unsafe.”
“There is a danger to residents,” Callaghan said.
The project must prove that the nest is inactive for a certain period of time before the tree is cut down, Callaghan said.
This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 2:40 PM.
