‘Corridor of opportunity’? Hardeeville’s ‘Exit 3’ plans get millions in state funding
By the end of the year, Interstate 95’s planned Exit 3 in Hardeeville, long a dream to connect the Jasper Ocean Terminal, could be under construction if the state gives final approval for over $56 million in funding.
The plans for Exit 3 and the surrounding developments are Hardeeville and Jasper County’s hope to revitalize the doorway to the Lowcountry and compete with the expansive growth in neighboring Beaufort County and across the border in Savannah.
On Tuesday, the S.C. Transportation Infrastructure Bank approved Jasper County and the city of Hardeeville’s request for a $28.1 million grant and a $28.1 million loan to help build the new interchange at Purrysburg Road and I-95.
In the same meeting, the state approved $120 million in funding for Beaufort County’s U.S. 278 corridor project, which will overhaul the bridges that lead to Hilton Head Island.
The $82.4 million interchange is planned in an area teeming with future growth opportunities and is closely connected to the RiverPort development and the highly anticipated Jasper Ocean Terminal.
The interchange would connect to a 5,136-acre tract owned by Stratford Land Fund. The land includes RiverPort Business Park, home to a 25,000-square-foot Waste Management facility.
Development of Exit 3 and Riverport Parkway will “turn the ‘Corridor of Shame’ into the ‘Corridor of Opportunity,’” Hardeeville Mayor Harry Williams told the State Infrastructure Bank on Monday.
For the funding to be available, the South Carolina Joint Bond Review Committee will have to approve the request and sign an intergovernmental agreement with the State Infrastructure Bank.
Once that happens, Williams said, construction could start as early as the end of this year.
In January 2019, state transportation officials approved a project to widen I-95 from Yemassee to Georgia in the hopes of alleviating traffic congestion and standstills caused by accidents.
“The plan is to be complete by the time I-95 begins widening which is scheduled to begin in three years,” he said.
The planned interchange and the connected developments could create 26,000 new jobs and $1.1 billion in new wages, according to the presentation to the state this week.
In March, Gramling Brothers Real Estate & Development, a Charleston-based real estate firm, announced that it would start to develop the RiverPort property.
The RiverPort development is in a Qualified Opportunity Zone — a population consensus tract with either a poverty rate of at least 20% or a median family income that does not exceed 80% of the area’s median income.
“The people that live in these poor, rural areas could never even conceive the lives that we enjoy,” Williams said during his presentation. “We have the opportunity to do more good and help people raise the quality of their lives.”
Who’s paying for it?
The $82.4 million project will be funded by both state and local contributions, Williams said.
The land that is being donated for the project from landowner Stratford Land Fund is valued at $26.2 million, according to the presentation to the state.
The $28.1 million loan from the state will be paid back through Tax Increment Financing over 30 years.
“We’re estimating it will be five years before things get built there and we start generating tax revenue,” Williams said.
This story was originally published July 12, 2020 at 6:30 AM.
