A new 166-unit timeshare resort is planned for Hilton Head’s north end. What we know
A Myrtle Beach company is planning to build a new 166-unit timeshare resort on Hilton Head Island’s north end.
The resort would 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, wants to build the resort along Folly Field Road at 15 Wimbledon Court, according to documents submitted to the town’s Design Review Board.
The new resort would replace the Port Royal Racquet Club Tract, with three four-story buildings and four three-story buildings, according to the developer.
The structures would contain a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. There would be 166 units in total, including lockout units. Lockouts divide housing units into two or more units by locking or sealing a door.
The resort would include about 207 parking spaces, documents show.
The timeshare project obtained conceptual approval from the island’s Design Review Board on Tuesday, said Chris Darnell, the town’s urban designer.
North-end residents are familiar with the resort plans.
The project originally secured final approval from the DRB in September 2018, but the resort never was built. The DRB’s approval expired after a year.
That’s why the project is now seeking DRB approval again, Darnell said.
Some parts of the project have changed since 2018. Lockouts are now planned at the site. And the number of units has increased from 132 to 166. The number of parking spaces has also jumped from 167 to about 207.
The project is in compliance with density rules, Darnell said. (He stressed that most of the proposal has not changed in the past few years.)
The developer still 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.
Two entrances will connect the site to Folly Field Road.
It’s unclear why the project was delayed. Darnell said he does not know what happened. The project’s owner did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Documents submitted to the DRB do not list the resort’s timeshare prices.
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.
Contentious 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 in a March letter wrote 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.
“The DRB had no true authority to limit the overall height and scale of the structures,” Gentemann wrote in his 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.
What’s next?
The proposed resort still needs to get final approval from the DRB. And it’s unclear what the project’s construction timeline is.
None of the Tuesday application documents listed the cost of the project.
This story was originally published July 29, 2021 at 2:27 PM.
