A large landowner in Georgetown County plans to bring thousands of single- and multifamily homes to an area that saw a steep drop in real estate transactions in 2001 because of a lack of supply.
Lucille Vanderbilt Pate of Arcadia Plantation is in the early stages of developing 3,600 acres of her property, which also will include office space and commercial areas. Most of the property — 2,038 of the 3,600 acres — will remain open space to preserve the area’s natural landscape, according to Kenneth Mitchum, Pate’s attorney.
“She wants to ensure that this property is done correctly, with the proper considerations given to conservation and preservation,” Mitchum said.
The development is in its earliest stages, with a pending request to change the land’s zoning from forest agriculture to a planned development district. Initial construction won’t begin for at least two years, Pate said, and the project will be developed over the next 30 years.
“I would think just based on our growth, those kinds of numbers would seem feasible at this point,” said Tom Maeser, president of the Fortune School of Real Estate. “Based on price range and number of units — and a lot will depend on land cost, if all that’s reasonable — 100 and some sales a year wouldn’t scare me.”
The project, with a working title of “Arcadia East,” is being designed to bring 3,392 single-family and multifamily homes to the Waccamaw Neck. About 73 percent of the growth in Georgetown County between 1990 and 2000 occurred in that area. But the Waccamaw Neck contributed to a down year in Georgetown real estate sales in 2001 because there was a lack of available homes, said E.F. “Buddy” Hucks, whose Hucks & Associates appraisal firm conducts real estate studies on the Grand Strand. Sales nation ally and in Horry County last year increased to all-time highs.
New condominium sales in Georgetown County, however, were down 43 percent from the previous year; existing single-family home sales were down 20 percent; and sales of existing condominiums were off 15 percent.
Pate and her attorneys have been discussing developing the 3,600 acres for about five years, Mitchum said. But it still is a developing project without an engineering or architectural plan or an identified targeted market or price range.
The early plans include: 1.26 million square feet of office space; 400,000 square feet of commercial space; two 18-hole golf course; a “village center” that will include a mixture of stores and restaurants; a retirement village with an assisted living facility; and a hotel.
The developers hope to attract high-tech industry to the development.
“No smoke-stack industries,” Mitchum said.
