Deal closes on new waterfront park for Beaufort County. Here’s what else is planned
A prime waterfront property in Beaufort County will forever be preserved as a public park and the remaining property is set to be developed after a major deal recently closed.
The Beaufort County Open Land Trust, via a county land preservation program, bought a 9.72-acre tract on Lady’s Island across from downtown Beaufort from developers for $5.45 million, a Land Trust news release said.
Of that, $4.371 million came from the taxpayer-funded Beaufort County Rural and Critical Lands Program and the rest from donations, including a $1 million grant from the Felburn Foundation and money from the Land Trust.
The deal means the riverfront vista across from downtown Beaufort will always remain a passive park.
“We are thrilled that this magnificent and iconic property will now be permanently protected for free public access, recreation and education,” Barbara Holmes, land protection director for the Land Trust, said in a statement.
The park deal covers almost the entire cost of the 19-acre Whitehall property purchased by developers last month, records show.
Whitehall Point Holdings, which includes Beaufort developer Sam Levin, bought the property in September for $5.5 million from Savannah-based First Chatham Bank, county property records show.
After the park, the remaining 10 acres bordered by Sea Island Parkway and Meridian Road are slated for an independent living facility with a pool, commercial space and home sites, plans show. Drawings could go before the city by the end of the year, Levin said in July.
Developers have agreed to initial infrastructure and maintenance of the park, with the city of Beaufort eventually responsible for maintaining the park property.
The county land preservation program administered by the Land Trust had about $5.8 million remaining for land purchases before Whitehall from a 2014 bond referendum, Holmes said previously. Beaufort County voters will decide Nov. 6 whether to pump another $25 million into the program.
A park at Whitehall was met with widespread public support, with a grassroots organization Friends of Whitehall Park packing public meetings and collecting more than 6,000 signatures on an online petition.