New neighborhood rising in heart of Port Royal. Here’s what homes cost
A new neighborhood is rising in the old village part of Port Royal, known for its remarkable history, Lowcountry architecture, moss-draped trees and salt marshes.
London Square is the first residential development in the village portion of the community of 16,000 residents in decades, said Whit Suber, a broker who is marketing the property.
The original village, which dates to 1563, is near the mouth of Port Royal Sound and located closest to the town’s deepwater port. There isn’t much land left in this area for larger developments, Suber said.
“There are minimal opportunities to pull this off in the village,” Suber said.
The development is also the first built to the standards of the town’s strict new tree ordinance, Suber said. Developers say the design of the 17-cottage London Square on the 2.3-acre site meets the town’s wishes for high-end housing that fits in with its coastal charm and doesn’t harm the environment.
Construction on the two- and three-bedroom homes has begun, with framing expected to begin next week. The first five houses should be completed by summer.
The houses, ranging from 970 to 1,400 square feet, are priced between $589,000 and $895,000, and will be bordered by London and Richmond avenues and 14th street.
Lauren Kelly of MK Design Group, builder Dan Anderson of Hilton Head-based Sea Level Construction and Suber say the elevated level of architecture and design will make the neighborhood stand out compared to standard designs offered in larger developments.
“I’d call this semi-custom,” Anderson says of the houses.
The architecture has a Lowcountry feel, Anderson adds, with the houses featuring large porches with welcoming gas lanterns in the front.
The site’s native live oaks trees, magnolias and dogwoods, and “gorgeous” wetland, are being marketed as much as the design of the houses.
Those trees, some of them 200 to 400 years old, were saved as a result of a tree ordinance the town passed in 2023. The ordinance contains some of the stiffest fees in South Carolina for removing trees.
“This development is an excellent example of what the town was trying to achieve with its tree ordinance,” Noah Krepps, the town’s director of planning, previously told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet.
Kelly, of MK Design Group, which designed the houses, says removing all trees on the 2-acre property would have cost $1 million. Several mature live oak trees nearly 50 inches in diameter remain on the site.
Anderson says he had to pay for the town’s arborist to be on the site to witness any tree removal or pruning. Kelly called that next level. Other communities don’t require that, she said.
“You have to be here monitoring what they do,” she said.
Kelly had to design the houses based on the location of the trees. As a result, some of the lots and houses are smaller. But the smaller houses are drawing strong interest, she says.
“Oftentimes you don’t have that square footage size unless you live in an apartment,” Kelly said. “The need for smaller two- and two-and-a-half bedroom houses is just there.”
One of the neat parts about living in Port Royal, Kelly said, is you can live in town but still have a lot of environment around you. The trail to Cypress wetlands is located across the street from London Square, which is also within walking distance to Battery Creek.
Working under the town’s new design rules was challenging, Suber says. But ultimately, he said, the high standards added value to the development. Suber sees Port Royal as one of the last unspoiled towns in South Carolina and worthy of careful attention to detail.
“You don’t want to ruin the best thing you’ve got,” Suber said.
