‘Eclectic’ but ‘quiet’ Port Royal sees a building boom. Here’s how the town is changing

Richard Jones stood on what will be the porch of his home under construction in Port Royal and took in the breeze and quiet while not letting go of his cigar.

Visiting the work site on 14th Street and escaping the temporary 600-square-foot apartment where he and his wife are staying is like “getting out of jail,” Jones said. He is moving to Port Royal from downtown Beaufort and, before that, had lived aboard a sailboat for years.

“It’s just eclectic,” said Jones, 65. “It’s quieter than downtown Beaufort. Beaufort started getting too busy.”

Jones’ new home is one of more than 100 homes permitted to be built in the town so far this year. The numbers are on pace to rival or surpass the 121 single-family home permits issued in 2017, which was the most in 10 years.

The numbers are fueled by ongoing new construction in Shadow Moss, a major development by builder Centex off of Robert Smalls Parkway, and similar developments. New homes are just being built in Shell Point Farm, a Mungo Homes community off of Savannah Highway.

While not yet permitted, plans for two apartment complexes totaling about 500 units have been approved by Port Royal’s design panel.

“Obviously the market is doing well in a lot of places, but I think there is a great deal of focus and attention on Port Royal,” said real estate broker White Suber, who is part of a group developing the Port of Port Royal on Battery Creek.

Some new business, too

Employees at Port Royal Veterinary Hospital are accustomed to telling new customers to look for the little blue building on Paris Avenue.

Pet owners will soon have to look for the BIG blue building as the almost 10-year-old business expands. A 4,000-square-foot addition is being built next to the vet clinic’s current building and will bring the total square footage to more than 5,000.

The extra space will allow the veterinarians five exam rooms instead of two, room for new technology like dental X-rays and an expanded waiting room with separate spaces for dogs and cats.

The bright blue, two-story building is now a landmark on the town’s main thoroughfare in the Old Village. Owners Marikay Campbell — the lead veterinarian — Shelia Ellis and Bob Ellis bought the practice in 2009 and gave the business its current name.

“We wanted to identify with the town,” Bob Ellis said.

A new self-storage facility is being built on Savannah Highway, and a preschool is permitted for a new building. Bridges Preparatory School is set to build its new facility off of Robert Smalls Parkway on a tract in the town.

A new office and sales display are being built at Butler Marine on Battery Creek. A new waterfront seafood restaurant, Fishcamp at 11th Street, opened at the town docks last month, and another new restaurant, Madison’s, filled a vacated restaurant space downtown this year.

Port plans

The activity coincides with the sale of the previously state-owned Port of Port Royal last year to private developers.

Butler Marine’s boat storage and sales and the restaurant are the first activity on the property, but new homes are also part of the plans.

A waterfront neighborhood is planned on the north end of the 51-acre property. Home sites are also planned along the marsh on Sands Beach Road.

The total will probably be fewer than 100 home lots, Suber said.

While big builders in planned communities are responsible for many of the new homes being built, new construction is filling vacant lots in old Port Royal near the port development with colorful cottages and custom homes.

“All of that has happened within the past year,” town planning director Linda Bridges said, ticking off the various home projects in town.

Two trailers were cleared from a lot near the vet clinic where a new home is under construction. A cottage just behind the clinic was recently renovated and a similar renovation planned nearby, Ellis said.

Outside his 1,600-square-foot home expected to be complete early next year, Jones said he was glad the construction on the block would happen during the same time period to avoid ongoing construction noise and noted he was on the other side of town from expected development at the port.

It’s the couple’s forever home, he said.

“As you can see, it’s quiet,” Jones said. “And it’s like this all day long and especially at night.”

This story was originally published October 19, 2018 at 10:45 AM.