Town-owned property could be sold, developed

With Bluffton’s Town Hall set for a $3.5-million facelift, town leaders are working toward shedding a piece of publicly owned property where a new municipal headquarters was once planned.

The Bluffton Town Council granted preliminary approval Tuesday evening to sell the empty parcel, which likely will be turned into a private mixed-use development.

The property, a little larger than a half-acre, sits in the heart of Bluffton Village just off S.C. 46 between the post office and the Bluffton library.

If given final approval next month, the town will sell the lot to developer Dolnik Properties LLC for $591,000, town manager Marc Orlando said Tuesday.

The town purchased the land in 2013 for about $387,000. Including the purchase price, Bluffton has invested $487,000 in the property, according to town documents.

No brokers were involved in negotiations and no commission will be paid, those documents say.

The developer would be allowed to build about 35,000 square feet of residential or commercial space on the land.

According to preliminary plans established in town documents, the developer would like to build a two- or three-story structure to house, among other potential businesses, a “prominent Bluffton restaurant and catering company; (and) architectural, accounting, engineering and development offices.”

Standard permitting and development plan reviews would have to take place before any shovels touch dirt.

Regardless of what Dolnik Properties ultimately builds, no businesses on the property would be allowed to sell alcohol, according to terms of the sales agreement.

While new developments in Bluffton, particularly in the town’s historic Old Town area, have stirred up concerns with residents and business owners about lack of parking, Mayor Lisa Sulka said similar concerns would likely be unfounded in the Bluffton Village area.

“There is a lot of parking just behind and on both sides (of the town-owned property),” she said. “Even if this were to be developed, there would still be parking available for a while longer.”

Staying put

After several years of consideration, town leaders decided in February to stay put at the current Town Hall at 20 Bridge St.

The 27,000-square-foot structure — known formally as the Theodore D. Washington Municipal Building — was built in 1976.

Formerly home to H.E. McCracken Middle School, the building is owned by the Beaufort County School District. It became Town Hall in 1992, and the town leases it for $1 per year.

Bluffton has paid for several rounds of renovations over the years, including roughly $750,000 in upgrades since 2000.

The newly approved 2017 fiscal year budget includes $2.5 million in capital improvement funds earmarked for Town Hall projects. Another $500,000 for building improvements is leftover from last year’s budget.

Upcoming renovations are expected to include replacement of the heating and cooling systems with more efficient models, modernization of the fire sprinklers and alarm systems, remediation of asbestos, and the addition of more windows.

Town manager Marc Orlando told council members earlier this year that improvements at Town Hall are expected to start by November.

This story was originally published July 12, 2016 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Town-owned property could be sold, developed."