Looking for an affordable home near Hardeeville? You soon may have 105 new options

Hardeeville — already home to the future site of Latitude Margaritaville, a highly anticipated Jimmy Buffett-themed development — is looking to continue its growth by expanding the University Park neighborhood near the University of South Carolina Beaufort campus off U.S. 278.

Plans call for the construction of 105 new homes on a roughly 63-acre site on University Parkway.

Jared Osako, project manager with developer D.R. Horton, said Thursday that the company envisions roughly 2,000-square-foot homes priced from the high $100,000s to the low $200,000s.

The builder hopes to market the houses “toward local people just trying to get started” in home ownership, he said.

The parcel slated for development straddles both Beaufort and Jasper counties outside of city limits, so the Hardeeville City Council must now approve an annexation request from builder D.R. Horton, along with a zoning change.

The council enthusiastically and unanimously granted initial approval to both measures Thursday night, with a final vote likely to happen next month.

There is currently no concrete time line for groundbreaking, and city planning director Brana Snowden said the developer “will have to go through our engineering and development permit process before these lots can be (built on).”

Unlike Latitude Margaritaville — just a stone’s throw west on U.S 278 — the University Park expansion is not expected to be gated or age-restricted.

“We are looking at providing diverse housing stocking, and one of the niches we are trying to fill is workforce housing,” Hardeeville city manager Michael Czymbor said earlier this week.

Mayor Harry Williams agreed, saying, “The addition of workforce housing is what we are hoping to accomplish here.”

The lack of opposition to the proposed development comes in stark contrast to recent attempts to build on parcels off U.S. 278 a bit farther east in greater Bluffton.

Proposed developments that have recently stalled in the face of heavy opposition from local residents and Beaufort County elected officials include Pepper Hall and Hilton Head National Golf Club.

Meanwhile, Hardeeville is apt to “welcome (developers) with open arms,” Czymbor said.

Hardeeville Councilman David Spisso said at Thursday’s council meeting, “Let’s bring ’em all in.”

Williams said, “All of us who are part of Hardeeville have to be very excited that Latitude Margaritaville and D.R. Horton see the future of the city and want to be a part of it.”

This story was originally published July 7, 2017 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Looking for an affordable home near Hardeeville? You soon may have 105 new options."