By Tony Kukulich
A developer of an apartment complex planned for Beaufort received conceptual approval of the project when he appeared before the City of Beaufort Design Review Board (DRB) on Thursday, Sept. 8.
It is the first of three approvals that Hillpointe, LLC, a Winter Park, Fla.-based developer, needs from the DRB. In the future, Hillpointe will need to seek design and final approvals.
“We try to put a class-A apartment building on the ground that really caters to the young professional, people that are trying to start out their careers,” said Marcus Wiedower, vice president of external affairs for Hillpointe. “We find that there is a huge gap in the market right now of affordable, quality housing that people are actually looking to rent and start a family before they go on to home ownership.”
The project called Pointe Grand Beaufort is planned for the east side of Burton Hill Road between Robert Smalls Parkway and Old Salem Road. It will occupy 17 acres of a 24-acre parcel that is currently an empty lot. The development will consist of 328 residential units in 14 three- and four-story buildings. The project’s three-story buildings will house either 12 or 24 units, while the four-story buildings will house either 16 or 32 units. All of the apartments will feature two bedrooms.
The DRB questioned Hillpointe’s sole focus on two-bedroom apartments, and asked if Hillpointe had considered a mix of studio apartments along with two- and three-bedroom units.
“Our focus is to build something that is more likely for roommate situations, young people trying to get on their feet,” Wiedower said. “The other reason that we don’t do three or four bedrooms is that we have a historically a very, very low population of children because of that set up. A lot of times what you hear about apartments is that people get worried about schools. This setup has always been very successful for us not having an impact on schools.”
The Pointe Grande Beaufort property will also include a clubhouse, pool, management office, garages and 25,200-square feet of retail space. Several other parcels will be used for the future development of commercial space. The Hillpointe is focused solely on the residential portion of the project, and the company is not expected to be involved in any of the commercial or retail development. The DRB approval pertains only to residential aspects of the development.
The project was last reviewed by the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) during its July 18 meeting. It was approved at that time, which allowed the project to progress to the DRB.
Along with the approval, the MRB issued a variance to allow Hillpointe to allocate space for fewer parking spaces than are called for according to city guidelines.
“An administrative adjustment of 10% is hereby granted to the applicant to reduce the parking requirements to 478 on-site parking spaces,” wrote Riccardo Giani, interim community development director for the City of Beaufort. “The rationale for this adjustment is to provide more green space, a 2.08-acre tree protection zone, shorter block lengths, and establish a more coherent grid within the development.”
The Hillpointe project first appeared before the MPC in April of this year and ended up withdrawing their request for sketch approval after the commission expressed a number of concerns including the fact that a traffic study had not been completed. While a traffic study was not a required part of the process, then-MPC Chair Michael Tomy implied that getting an approval without the study would be unlikely. Rather than risk having the project denied, Hillpointe withdrew their request and worked with city staff to prepare for the July meeting.
“We took three of four months and worked through a lot of the details,” Wiedower said. “We obviously got it to the point where everybody was much happier with it.”
The exact timing of future steps is unclear, but Wiedower hopes the project will break ground sometime in 2023.
“We’re excited to be here and put a good product on the ground,” he added. “We certainly look forward to continuing to work through this.”
Tony Kukulich is a recent transplant to the Lowcountry. A native of Wilmington, Del., he comes to The Island News from the San Francisco Bay Area where he spent seven years as a reporter and photographer for several publications. He can be reached at tony.theislandnews@gmail.com.
