How much do you know about Market Common? The Myrtle Beach shopping mecca opened in 2008
It’s almost hard to imagine a Myrtle Beach before a Market Common existed.
With nationally recognized brands including Barnes & Noble, P.F. Chang’s and Pottery Barn alongside dozens of boutique shops and half-million dollar homes, the development occupying part of what once an Air Force base has helped fuel the city’s modern economy for more than decade.
Market Common was never designed for a single type of use
Even before a single mound of dirt was turned over, developers had a clear idea of what they wanted to see on the 109-acre site, according to specifications included in the project’s 2007 master plan:
Up to 1,680 residential units split between apartments, condominiums and town homes
1,088 parking spaces
More than 4.3 million square feet of total building area
More than 524,000 square feet of commercial space
1,350-square-foot fitness center
From the beginning, Market Common was imagined as a self-contained “urban village” with a mix of higher end shops and versatile zoning to enable new uses as demand and population increased.
For example, amendments to the master plan over the years have added animal boarding facilities, veterinary clinics and even a hotel as permitted uses.
“The plan envisions a vibrant new pedestrian-oriented community, a short distance from the Atlantic Ocean and downtown Myrtle Beach, creating unique retail, residential, recreational, and occupational opportunities for its residents, within an integrated “urban village” environment,” project architects wrote in a vision statement.
Market Common is a nationally recognized redevelopment project
The Environmental Protection Agency in 2019 named Market Common as one of the most successful military base transformations in the nation’s history. That year alone, Market Common employed nearly 26,000 people and contributed almost $3 billion worth of economic impact to Horry County.
In the middle of World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corps assumed operations of the city’s municipal airport, handing it back for civilian use in November 1947.
Officials then donated property that included the airport to the U.S. Air Force in 1954. Within two years, it was a military air base and would remain so until 1993.
Almost immediately, talks began about how the 3,970-acre base could be put back into use to complement the region’s tourism and resort-driven economies.
An initial master plan for what became Market Common was completed in 1998 after two years of work, going through several changes until a final, 200-page document was finished in 2007.
A planned Market Common school led to a court battle and dozens of new, smaller projects
In July 2021, Myrtle Beach city leaders voted to approve a settlement agreement with Horry County Schools and Horry County, stemming from a 2018 lawsuit seeking to prevent any more municipal borrowing linked to Market Common redevelopment.
County and school district officials accused the city and base redevelopment authority of misusing tax increment financing funds on a venture they said had already been completed. Tax revenues on properties within the former base have been frozen since 2004, while the assessed land value has increased nearly tenfold, from $4.2 million to $38.2 million.
The original 1998 master plan included a $20 million set aside for construction of a new school, but the project was formally scrapped in in 2017.
As a result of the settlement, projects funded by $15 million in existing funds and $2.25 million annually in future TIF collections included parking structures, improvements to Grand Park, a new fire station and more than $7.8 million for rehabilitation, reconstruction, repair and remodeling.
Market Common is rich in military history
Many of Market Common’s streets are named in honor of former Air Force pilots, and its Warbird Park includes a wall of service paying tribute to soldiers stationed at the base throughout its lifespan.
Shine Avenue — a key artery through Market Common — is named after Lt. Col. Anthony Shine, a fighter pilot whose A-7D bomber was shot down over North Vietnam in 1972 after taking off from Myrtle Beach.
The government declared Shine dead in 1980 and it wouldn’t be until 1995 that his remains were repatriated and identified, ultimately laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
More than 150 markers have been installed across the former base remembering people, places and planes tied to its legacy.
And plans are in place to bring a World War II memorial into Market Common, with a community meeting set for Jan. 17 to give an update on its status.
Myrtle Beach, once home to 600 German POWs, to celebrate its WWII role. Here’s how.
