Beaufort County to buy land in one of Bluffton’s fastest-growing areas. Here’s what is planned

(Editor’s note: This story has been changed to reflect who owned the land to be purchased by the county.)

Affordable housing is planned along Bluffton’s busy Buckwalter Parkway, but that doesn’t necessarily mean apartments.

The Beaufort County Council on Monday night authorized the purchase of two parcels of land equaling 10 acres next to the Lord of Life Lutheran Church, in Bluffton, but owned by St Andrews by the Sea. The county plans to establish affordable or workforce housing on the land.

At the moment, the county is only moving forward with the purchase of the land, which will cost them $3.6 million from the General Fund. County officials say it’s too early to say what sort of properties would be best suited for those 10 acres.

Councilman Logan Cunningham, whose district includes the Buckwalter area, said he would prefer the properties not be rentals. Instead, Cunningham would like to see single-family or starter homes that can be purchased rather than rented.

“It’s got to be more than just rental properties because the rental properties just keep jacking their prices up,” said Cunningham. “People can actually reinvest in themselves instead of paying the money to a big company that’s running and managing the property or one [owner] that owns 20 things.”

However, the advantage of apartments, according to County Administrator Eric Greenway, is a potential to reduce traffic while using the land more densely. About 140-150 apartment units could fit on the property compared with about 70-80 townhouses or a dozen or more homes.

Greenway sees advantages and disadvantages to both options.

“Of course, apartments are going to get a large number of units, you’re going to help more people, but it’s not very long-term,” he said. “A [property] that they can buy outright might be a better situation for this bigger property, in this location, than anything else.”

Cunningham said he’ll hold a town hall forum later about the project to educate and gauge how his district would like the property handled.

The County Council will make the final decision on the project. The purchase is expected to close at the end of April and Greenway doesn’t expect anything to be done with the property until early next year.

A very appealing location

The 10 acres’ proximity to Buckwalter would give the future residents easy access to the many amenities of Buckwalter Place, something the county says makes the location very appealing for a housing project.

Buckwalter Place has grown a lot since it was established nearly a decade ago. It’s added the culinary institute of the south, medical facilities, two grocery stores and multiple businesses and restaurants.

“This is kind of one of those internal opportunities where the folks can live there and shop and go to restaurants and usually go to work without having to travel,” Greenway said. “There’s a lot of employment opportunities there.”

This is one of the first strides the county has made this year toward affordable housing. More is expected to come as the multi-government regional housing trust fund comes online.

The trust will see local towns, cities and counties create a joint fund to create and promote affordable housing across the southern Lowcountry. Beaufort County will be the largest contributor giving more than $3.4 million in 10 years.

“This highlights our commitment to actually meeting the need of affordable housing,” said Greenway.