More than 50 townhomes planned for Bluffton square along Buckwalter. What we know
A 6.9-acre plot of undeveloped land within a planned walkable village along Bluffton’s Buckwalter Parkway is being targeted for 58 luxury townhomes.
The townhomes, proposed by developer Logan Homes, are expected to complement the Washington Square development in the town’s bustling Buckwalter corridor.
The rest of the square, to be built on the west side of Buckwalter near Berkeley Place, will feature retail, residential and office spaces with apartments on the top floors, said David Johnson, of Speyside Partners, which is developing the entire project.
The project is already home to Lowcountry Fresh Market and Cafe, which includes a farmer’s market-like grocery store and gift shop under the same roof as a local-ingredient cafe. The market opened last May.
Johnson, reached by phone Friday, said the townhomes will add to the development’s “village atmosphere.” The townhomes are planned behind Lowcountry Fresh Market along the newly built Bleecker Street.
“It’s going to feel like a real village because they’re going to be facing (Bleecker Street) with porches,” he said. “We’re excited. (Logan Homes has) done some great stuff around here. They’re a very good home builder. Very high quality.”
The town of Bluffton’s Planning Commission unanimously approved the preliminary plans for the townhomes in late January, despite some concerns about the look of the project.
Planning Commission member Kathleen Duncan, in January, said the proposed sides of the townhomes looked like “the broadside of a barn.” She encouraged Logan Homes to add more detail and landscaping to the architecture.
“This is a high-quality development and it’s going to be a gem for the town of Bluffton,” she said. “To have something ... that just looks like it’s meeting the bare minimum standards is such a struggle for me.”
Dan Keefer, with architecture firm Witmer Jones Keefer, spoke on behalf of the applicant and said each townhome features a two-car driveway and a one-car garage. He said guests will be able to park on the street.
Johnson, from Speyside Partners, told a reporter Friday that Logan Homes now plans to get final development approval from the town to receive a building permit. If approved, he said the company hopes to start horizontal construction this summer.
Vertical construction, he said, will start by the end of this year.
Washington Square
Johnson previously told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette that the the square is loosely modeled after the Oglethorpe Plan — the layout of the city of Savannah that emphasizes central town squares.
He said the first phase of the project — five buildings east of the square between Mott and Ludlow streets — is underway.
The first will be an L-shaped building at 25 Minetta Lane, which will have retail shops on the first floor and 20 apartments on the top two floors, he said. Construction of this building will start as soon as the site work is completed, he said.
Johnson did not divulge which companies will be located in the buildings.
