Sea Eagle Market moving down Boundary Street, adding restaurant

Sea Eagle Market is moving and its owners are getting back into the restaurant business.

The Beaufort seafood establishment on Boundary Street will move down the road to the former Mexican restaurant behind Kmart. Owner Craig Reaves said he hopes to be moved into the new building by September.

The new location, at 2149 Boundary, will be renovated to include the same retail and catering operation and will allow Sea Eagle to add a restaurant, Reaves said Thursday. The eatery initially will only serve lunch, he said.

“The move really made the opportunity,” Reaves said. “Initially, we were just going to go into a smaller retail space; there’s not a whole lot of spaces on Boundary.

“We really like the traffic flow.”

With a contract approved this week, the city is buying Sea Eagle’s current property at 2242 Boundary. The purchase is part of a plan with Beaufort County and the Beaufort County Open Land Trust to create a public park along the stretch of road.

The county has secured the nearby Huddle House, and the Open Land Trust has secured the United Way property. Wendy’s, a gas station and an old fire station property are still on the targeted list.

As part of the contract, Sea Eagle has six months to be out of its current location. The new building needs a new roof and will be outfitted with drainage and space for coolers and freezers to accommodate the seafood market.

The Reaves family has operated restaurants in the past. The most recent was Reaves Fish Camp, off Salem Road, where Duke’s Barbecue has since returned.

The Boundary Street move will continue a big year for the family business, which includes a wholesale operation and CJ Seafood Express, a small retail outfit operating in Port Royal since 2006.

Sea Eagle bought Dopson Seafood on St. Helena Island in February. The location will be known as Sea Eagle at Village Creek and will include seafood processing, a retail operation and event space.

Shrimp is moving off the dock at the new location, but the store won’t be open to the public until early June, Reaves said. Work is being done to the dock, a seawall is being installed and a structure is being built to house shrimp processing.

“We’re going to preserve working waterfront for future generations,” Reaves said in February. “It gives us security in the Beaufort area.”

The Boundary Street project has limited access to Sea Eagle and a planned raised median in front of the store probably hastened the sale, Reaves said. But the traffic flow, paved parking lot and room to expand made the new spot attractive, he added.

“And the city is going to get their vista,” he said. “We’re glad we could work together and help that dream be a reality one day.”

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Sea Eagle Market moving down Boundary Street, adding restaurant."