Something new and bigger is coming to this Hilton Head gated community

Port Royal Plantation plans to demolish its beach house next month to begin construction of a nearly 6,000-square-foot replacement.

Lance Pyle, the plantation’s general manager, said demolition of the beach house at 45 S. Port Royal Drive will start in mid-September. Simultaneous construction of the new beach house, pool restrooms and pump house is expected to begin in October and last about 12 to 15 months, he said.

“This new beach house was designed with residents in mind,” Pyle said Friday. “I think this is an exciting project for our landowners, and we’re excited to get it started.”

The most recent Port Royal Plantation newsletter says the plantation hopes to review bids from as many as six contractors for the project during the first week of September.

The pool will close to plantation residents after Labor Day but will reopen around May 2018 while the new beach house is still being constructed, Pyle said.

According to documents available on Port Royal Plantation’s website, the existing beach house has been around for about 40 years and has “serious shortcomings,” including being below federal flood-elevation requirements and not having adequate access for the disabled. The same documents show the plantation considered repairing and renovating the building, in addition to constructing a new one.

Documents from May 2016 estimated that the demolition and construction would cost about $2.75 million. The new building will be 5,900 square feet, according to Hilton Head town records, which would be more than 2,000 square feet larger than the existing facility.

Pyle said the new beach house will overlook the Port Royal Sound and Atlantic Ocean, and will include a community room for residents, increased decking, a large screened porch, and an “ocean room” that residents can reserve.

The project is expected to be completed between November 2018 and January 2019, he said.

The landscaping around the new beach house will have a “beach side theme” and include a mix of “coastal grasses and shrubs, flowering ornamental plantings and palms that provide a strong sense of place,” according to town documents.

The building materials will be “keeping with Low Country architecture and island character,” according to documents, and will include tabby stucco, asphalt shingles and “standing seam metal roof accents,” among other things.

Residents of the plantation voted 612 to 198 in June 2016 in favor of demolishing the existing beach house and replacing it, along with paying a special assessment to fund the project, according to the plantation’s website. Residents with improved lots were charged $2,822, and those with unimproved lots were billed $2,398.

This story was originally published August 18, 2017 at 10:45 AM with the headline "Something new and bigger is coming to this Hilton Head gated community."