National home builder buying coastal SC land. First projects planned in Beaufort, Bluffton
A national home builder, citing increasing housing demand due to continued growth, is entering the coastal South Carolina market, beginning with two projects in the Lowcountry of Beaufort County that will create 75 single-family houses and townhomes.
The two local projects — in Beaufort and Bluffton — mark Tri Pointe Homes’ first land acquisitions in South Carolina, said Gray Shell, who heads the company’s Coastal Carolina Division. Tri Pointe Homes is a publicly traded home builder based in Orange County California that is expanding in North and South Carolina with its Coastal Carolina office located in Charlotte.
“We think they will be growth markets with a lot of housing demand,” Shell said of the Carolinas.
Migration in the Hilton Head, Bluffton and Beaufort markets along with Charleston and Savannah is creating housing demand, says Gray. He sees tremendous potential in the Savannah area in particular because of investments in that area by Hyundai Motor Co., Gulf Stream Aerospace Corp. and the Port of Savannah.
The Beaufort project includes up to 50 for-sale townhouses along Highway 170, or Robert Smalls Parkway, just southwest of the area’s newest retail area called Beaufort Station. The project, Shell said, will bring “relative affordability” that does not currently exist in the Beaufort market. The Highway 170 corridor is one of the busiest of areas of housing and commercial growth in Beaufort and Port Royal.
In Bluffton, Tri Point Homes is planning 26 single-family home sites west of the walkable downtown Promenade, a popular outdoor shopping and dining destination in the heart of Old Town Bluffton. The homes will feature of a mix of attached and detached “rear load” garages located along alleys behind the townhouses, with a focus on “courtyard outdoor living.”
The land for both projects is under contract with the sales expected to be finalized once the proposals receive approvals from local governments, Shell said.
If all goes as planned, the first homes sales will likely occur in 2027, Shell said. The company, he said, offers various price points but considers itself a “premium lifestyle brand.”
Shell says the company has several additional housing communities in various stages of design in the region but those projects are not under contract at this time.
This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 11:26 AM.
