Hardeeville hears updated Riverport Exit 3 plan; revised IGA and financing scheduled for council vote

Hardeeville City Council workshop, Jan. 9 — Developers and city staff reviewed the conceptual plan and updated financing for the Riverport development at I‑95 Exit 3 and said the council will be asked next week to approve revised financing documents, a revised intergovernmental agreement (IGA) and related development documents.

The updates matter because the State Infrastructure Bank provided an additional $35 million grant to help close a funding gap for the new Exit 3 interchange and Spine Road. The city and Jasper County will take on a loan as part of the package; developers said the local loan payoff period was revised from 15 years to 25 years and the first five years are interest‑only under the proposed terms.

Developers and staff outlined what remains conceptual and what is more advanced. SCDOT has submitted a bid package to widen I‑95 and reconstruct interchanges, with bids expected Feb. 12 and construction anticipated to start within weeks after award; SCDOT’s schedule presented to the developers envisions a roughly 3–3.5 year timeline for the overall widening work. Developers said they are on the “one‑yard line” for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 404 wetlands permit that they expect in January for a limited crossing; that permit is described as the last major federal entitlement for the project.

What developers described

Michael Harper and other members of the development team said the Riverport project is large and phased. Key items they described include: - A TIF (tax increment financing) “Mid” district of roughly 1,600 acres that would be used to repay the loan portion of the SIB package; non‑TIF portions of the land (including the 4,000,000‑square‑foot Riverport Commerce Park industrial phase and Riverport North residential components) could be developed earlier and are not included in the TIF repayment base. - Parkway South and Parkway North (the Spine Road network tying Exit 3 into Highway 17 and Church Road); Parkway South was described as an 18‑month build once permitted, and Parkway North/CSX flyover pieces as part of the longer sequence. - A planned 4,000,000‑square‑foot industrial Phase 3 (Riverport Commerce Park), residential in Riverport North, a 600‑unit RV park along Parkway South, and significant multifamily and general commercial on parcels abutting Exit 3. Developers also showed aspirational conceptual placeholders (hotel/convention center) that they said are not used in repayment assumptions. - Financial structure described: a $28 million local match previously estimated to build Parkway South; the SIB package now includes $28 million grant + $28 million local match initially, and an additional $35 million grant from the state has been added to the package; the revised IGA would incorporate the new grant, revised loan term (25 years) and bank conditions.

Council concerns and clarifications

Council members raised resident concerns about clearing and construction impacts on Church Road and asked developers to be respectful of nearby homeowners. The mayor and staff explained that certain non‑TIF parcels would be developed before Spine Road and Exit 3 are complete so that some revenue generation can begin earlier, while the TIF district will begin repayment after infrastructure is in place. Staff and developers emphasized that the conceptual master plan is just that — conceptual — and that later master site plans and IMP (infrastructure/master plan) approvals would be required before vertical construction on specific parcels.

Developers told council the repayment model used conservative assumptions — for example, they said they use roughly 600 hotel keys across the project in their repayment models rather than the very large hotel placeholders shown on the illustrative master plan.

Permitting and timing

Developers said SCDOT expects bids back Feb. 12 and hopes to begin work in March; they estimated an SCDOT schedule of about 3–3.5 years. They said they expect the Army Corps 404 permit tied to an existing logging/temporary crossing to be issued soon (developers said they expected Corps action within 2–3 weeks of the Jan. 9 workshop). The developers plan to begin work on Parkway South and certain non‑TIF parcels as soon as relevant land‑disturbance permits are issued.

What council will vote on

City staff and the developers said the council agenda for next week will include revised financing documents and a revised IGA incorporating the additional $35 million grant and the extended loan term, and possibly an updated development agreement. Because those documents were not acted on at the workshop, no formal council vote on those documents was recorded at the Jan. 9 session.

Ending

Developers encouraged council and the public to view the materials as conceptual and to expect follow‑on entitlements, IMPs and master plan submissions as the project proceeds. Staff said the county has already adopted its portion of the IGA, and the city would see updated documents the following week for formal consideration.