Committee forwards conveyance of Buckwalter parcels for 120-unit affordable housing project

The Community Services and Land Use Committee voted Thursday to forward to full county council a recommendation to authorize the county administrator to convey two Buckwalter Parkway parcels for development of workforce and affordable housing with a small primary-care building.

Staff and partners described a proposal led by Beaufort Memorial in partnership with Woda Cooper Companies, which the presenters said applied for and received state housing tax credits, ranking in the top four of submissions. Russell Baxley, president and CEO of Beaufort Memorial, told the committee the team envisions roughly 120 affordable housing units targeted to households at approximately 40, 60 and 80 percent of area median income (AMI) and a small medical space of about 5,000 square feet to support primary care.

Baxley said the developer will manage the housing application and compliance tied to the tax-credit financing. "They submitted on our behalf ... an application to the state for a housing tax credit. They were successful in that," he said. The project remains subject to land planning, architecture and town approvals in Bluffton, and staff said final unit mix, bedroom counts and exact pricing will be determined as the project advances.

Committee members asked whether typical entry-level positions (including some hospital and teacher roles) would qualify for units targeted at 40–80% AMI; presenters said many entry-level roles would fall within those ranges, though not all positions would qualify. Members also discussed local market rents for one-bedroom units nearby (reported by a member to be about $1,900–$2,000 at new nearby complexes) and compared those market rents to expected tax-credit pricing.

The committee motioned to forward the ordinance authorizing the conveyance to full council so the county administrator can complete conveyance documents and allow the developer to proceed with town-level planning and land-use approvals. Staff told the committee the county has closed on the parcels and that the final purchase price was reduced from an earlier appraisal and authorization; presenters said the purchase closed at $3.2 million and that an earlier ordinance had listed $3.6 million while an original appraisal had been $4.0 million.

The committee did not adopt the ordinance itself; the item will go to full council for final action.