Apartment boom in Beaufort: 1,600 units going up. $73M project begins next week
Five apartment complexes are either under construction or in the pipeline that will add more than 1,600 apartment units to Beaufort’s rental market - including some that will target lower-income residents. The new rental options come as rents in the city are on the rise.
Construction of one of the apartment complexes, the $73 million Preserve at Hanover Park at 139 Robert Smalls Parkway, is scheduled to begin next week while the highly visible Pintail Pointe project on Boundary Street has been underway for weeks.
Portage Real Estate is developing the $73.5 million Preserve at Hanover Park, across from the Harbor Freight Store, with partners Piedmont Private Equity of Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic Capital of Charleston and American South Real Estate Fund.
“The acute shortage of rental housing continues to attract capital into this space,” said John Cattano of Portage Real Estate LLC, a development company based in Columbia.
Construction is scheduled to begin next week and take 18 months to complete, Cattano said.
Preserve at Hanover Park will feature 280 units and a number of amenities including pickleball courts and three- to four-story buildings, some of which will have elevators. A commercial component is planned as well, but those details still need to be worked out, Cattano said.
“We think it’s an under-served market,” Cattano says, “or it has been for housing in general.”
Average rent at the market-rate apartment complex will be about $1,900 a month, Cattano said.
The median cost of a one bedroom apartment in Beaufort is now $1,688, up 1% from last year, according to Zumper, the largest privately held rental marketplace in the country.
Other apartment developers are taking advantage of federal tax incentives to build housing that targets lower-income households.
That includes:
▪ Pintail Pointe Apartments, 2233 Boundary St. Connelly Builders Inc. of Lexington is building the 84-unit rental community next door to the Holiday Inn and SpringHill Suites. A market study commissioned by Connelly said rents would range from $290 to $1,197 depending on income — but that study was done in 2021 so those estimates have surely gone up. Construction is well underway and the apartments are scheduled to open this fall.
▪ Carrington Manor is planned at 2247 Boundary St., just a few doors down from Pintaile Point. It’s a 64-unit senior living facility for residents over 55 who earn below the median household income. Developers have begun site work.
▪ Garden Oaks Apartments, 2000 Salem Road, is a multifamily rental complex with 288 units. Construction is nearing completion. The developer still needs a certificate of occupancy from the city.
Pointe Grand Apartments also have been approved for 135 Burton Hill Road. Site work has occurred but no construction. The project on 21 acres will feature 336 residential units in 14 three- and four-story buildings. Commercial businesses are planned as well.
