With ‘monumental’ vote, Port Royal moves to remake waterfront. ‘I have goosebumps’

At long last, the dark skies hanging over Safe Harbor Marina’s waterfront redevelopment plans in the town of Port Royal have cleared.

At Tuesday’s Town Council meeting, council members were almost giddy as they approved key amendments to development agreements between the town and Safe Harbor along with an important land swap. Those moves, they say, amend the once-fractured partnership and pave the way for a “reset” so construction can begin this year. Plans call for a marina-centered residential and retail development for one of the most recognizable properties in northern Beaufort County.

Town officials called ratification of the development changes a new day in the relationship — and even a critical point in the town’s history, which was incorporated in 1874 and dates to 1562. The 300 acres along Battery Creek serves as the town’s front porch and can be seen by thousands of motorists daily who cross the Bell Bridge. The picturesque property sits adjacent to heavily-used Sands Beach and a boardwalk.

The remake of the waterfront is expected to boost the population of the community of 16,000 by as many as a 1,000 residents while attracting boats including yachts traveling between northeastern states and Florida.

“This is a monumental moment for Port Royal,” Councilman Darryl Owens said. “I’m sitting here now and I actually have goosebumps.”

Town Council members unanimously approved amendments to two key documents known as a development and planned unit development agreements. Those papers spell out what will get built and when and how and where. Council members also approved a land swap that clears the way for key pieces of the development, including a promenade through the marsh.

A promising relationship soured quickly

The South Carolina Ports Authority once owned the land where it ran the Port of Port Royal marine terminal from 1959 to 2004 before selling in 2017 to Grey Ghost Properties, which, in turn, sold the land to Safe Harbor in 2021. The relationship between Safe Harbor, a world-wide marina operator, and the town quickly soured over a litany of issues. But in February, the two sides reached a settlement agreement resolving their differences.

The amendments to the planned unit development and development agreements “codified” that settlement allowing the Port project to finally get off the ground more than 20 years after the state sold the property and redevelopment discussions began.

“This is the paperwork part that gets everybody to go to work,” Mayor Kevin Phillips said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Safe Harbor and town officials traded niceties as if they had not been butting heads for months or residents had not paraded through Town Council chambers toting signs protesting the state of the development in 2023 and demanding a better outcome.

The two sides spent spent countless hours of time “hammering out” the issues to get to this point, Phillips said. “I just thank God I get to be here while it’s happening and I get to be a part of it,” Phillips said Tuesday.

More than a decade of stops and starts

Safe Harbor’s Colby Cooper was also upbeat and marveled at how long the project had been under discussion, which came long before Safe Harbor arrived on the scene.

“Many of us were teenagers when this process started,” said Colby, drawing a few laughs.

The town’s first ordinance related to the redevelopment was approved in 2011 — then amended in 2017, 2021 and now 2025, Cooper noted.

He characterized the latest amendments to the development plans as a “reset.”

Ron Gift, a regional Safe Harbor vice president, said last week, when the town gave preliminary approval to the changes, that the company has the permits needed to begin construction on a marina permitted for up to 300 slips. But he added that the company is focused on quality not speed.

The location of the marina benefits both Safe Harbor and the town, he said.

“With proximity to the coastal waterway, it is traffic-centric for the general boating public and frankly will be the premier waterfront anchor for the town,” Gift said.

Safe Harbor is planning a “world-class marina” that will include spaces for yachts, sail boats and other vessels. The marina will be flanked by a few hundred units of housing. Retail is in the mix as well. Public components include a park, shrimp docks and promenade through the marsh.

Here are highlights of the amendments and land swap:

▪ The construction timeline is clarified: The initial build-out will be three to five years, with work beginning later this year and continuing through 2028. Besides work on building docks, various mixed-use land parcels and buildings will be prepared that will be available for sale by the middle to latter part of 2026. Also during this phase, park sites and a pedestrian promenade system will be designed to accommodate and link future phases of development.

The dry stack boat storage facility that’s already in place will expand and development of residential areas will start after properties are sold. The park sites, pedestrian promenade, and additional open space will be completed and conveyed to the Town. The estimated population is expected to grow to 500 during this time period.

The period between 2028 and 2030 will be considered the close-out phase, during which much of the property will be available and major infrastructure will be complete. By this time, the estimated population will be 1,000.

▪ Safe Harbor will transfer land known as the “beer garden,” and adjacent areas of the marsh and its dry-stack boat storage facility, to the town.

The property is now used as a parking area for those visiting Sands Beach or the boardwalk.

The land is critical to a plan to build an elevated public promenade across the marsh that will stretch between the existing boardwalk viewing tower and the beer garden.

The town will give Safe Harbor five in-town townhouse lots in exchange.

▪ Safe Harbor is granting an easement to the town to operate the town-owned Henry Robinson Boardwalk which is located on Safe Harbor property.

▪ The town will also receive land between the Fishcamp on 11th Street restaurant and Shellring Ale Works where it plans to build new shrimp docks and a seafood processing facility. In return for that land, the town plans to waive a $150,000 contribution from Safe Harbor toward the fish processing facility.

▪ Safe Harbor will agree to cap the number of rental units in its housing plans at 15%. That issue arose when residents opposed an initial plan to build mostly rentals.

▪ The town will issue a temporary use permit to Safe Harbor for up to 18 months to build the docks for the marina. Long-term, however, it can’t use the area as a construction site to build docks. This settles a dispute over construction activities on the site.

▪ Safe Harbor is granting an easement that allows the extension of the Spanish Moss Trail.

This story was originally published June 12, 2025 at 1:57 PM.

Karl Puckett

The Island Packet

843-256-3420

Karl Puckett covers the city of Beaufort, town of Port Royal and other communities north of the Broad River for The Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet. The Minnesota native also has worked at newspapers in his home state, Alaska, Wisconsin and Montana.