Developer buys Pine Island, plans for 3 separate 6-hole golf courses, gated community
By Tony Kukulich
The Post And Courier
BEAUFORT
The cheery sign decorated with flowers no longer marks the entrance to the Pine Island Plantation on the north shore of St. Helena Island.
Its absence was the first indication that something had changed.
Since 1960, Pine Island Plantation has been owned by the Hanna family from Estill. The nearly 500-acre property went up for sale in 2021, with an asking price of $28.5 million, according to the website Land.com.
Late that year, developer Elvio Tropeano executed a contract for an option to buy the property for $21 million.
Since then, the property that has been at the center of an existential struggle for the soul of St. Helena Island. Tropeano made clear his intentions to develop a gated, residential community with an 18-hole golf course, both of which are prohibited by a cultural protection overlay.
