Developer buys 2,600-acre Hardeeville property for millions. What are the plans?
Real estate experts often advise that buying property requires time and patience. The sale of this 2,600-acre Hardeeville property required over two decades of it. But not anymore.
Hoyer Investment Company Land purchased the Morgan Tract along U.S. Route 278 for $36 million after local and national developers attempted to purchase it unsuccessfully for more than 25 years, according to a press release Monday. It was purchased directly from the Morgan family, who have had the tract for over 100 years.
The land neighbors Latitude Margaritaville and is between U.S. Route 278 and Interstate 95. HIC Land plans to build homes, commercial spaces, amenities, parks, nature trails and sidewalks, according to the press release. It expects to break ground in 2024 and complete the project in 2044.
The tract’s development follows recent growth and development in Hardeeville, showing that homeowners aren’t just purchasing near the beach as developments pop up and pending sales stay high in areas farther from Hilton Head and the coast, like Okatie and Hardeeville. Housing and traffic impacts are unclear as the city and last owner created the most recent Planned Development District and Master Plan for the tract in 2006.
Those plans allow for 6,700 residential units and 969 acres of commercial and industrial use. In comparison, Latitude Margaritaville is able to develop up to 3,888 units. At that time, the city and developer also did environmental and cultural impact studies. The new owner is legally bound to the plan according to Hardeeville City Manager Michael Czymbor, but is in the process of proposing plan amendments to the city.
“Things have changed (since 2006),” he said. “The economy has changed, the development environment has changed.”
The city’s population increased 248% from 2,952 in 2020 to 10,283 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Developments such as West Argent and Lattitude Margaritaville continue to add homes to the area. In 2022, Hardeeville had a record year for building and planning permits with 1,800 permits, according to their website.
Czymbor said the proposed amendments span from zoning, which shows where each of the uses is going to go, to the development agreement, which decides whether the city or the owner is responsible for public improvements and infrastructure. Czymbor predicts they’ll be submitted to the planning commission and then City Council for approval during the first quarter of next year.
He said traffic improvements will be an especially important piece of the amendments. The 2006 agreement contains millions of dollars in road improvements the developer would be responsible for.
“Two or three of the major tracks surrounding them are in various phases of development, which is going to necessitate significant improvements to the roads,” he said. “They’re going to have some obligations paying for traffic improvements as well.”
Czymbor declined to say what the actual proposed amendments were. He said there will be new environmental and cultural studies as part of the amendments.
HIC Land is a Charleston-based real estate investment company and land developer that focuses on land throughout the Southeastern U.S. This will be its first project in Jasper County, though many of its current projects are in South Carolina including Myrtle Beach and Berkeley County. It is are partnering with Texas-based builder D.R. Horton to develop the land.
HIC Land representatives weren’t immediately available for comment.
This story was originally published December 13, 2023 at 11:47 AM.
