Owner pushes for plan changes to make way for 500 homes near The Market Common

Two national builders are poised to build about 500 houses near The Market Common if the Myrtle Beach planning commission and City Council approve changes to the style and type of properties that were planned for the area.

Farrow Parkway Investments LLC, a group of local investors, bought the Withers Preserve tract, about 240 acres on both sides of Farrow Parkway near the intersection of U.S. 17 Bypass in April. The company bought the property from the bankruptcy receiver with plans to sell pieces to other developers, said Roger Grigg, a managing partner of Farrow Parkway Investments.

Two pieces of the property are now under contract with national builders – Kolter Homes and Beazer Homes, he said. Kolter plans to build an active-adult community geared to residents 55 years old and older, Grigg said. Beazer Homes has plans to build single-family homes, he said.

To sell the property, Farrow Parkway Investments needed to change some of the plans in the Centre Pointe planned unit development to adapt to current market conditions, Grigg said. Developers use what’s called a planned unit development to ensure that all buildings within the area are built using the same standards. Other developers in the Centre Pointe PUD have changed the original plan, which was approved in 2000.

“Market conditions have changed from the original plan,” Grigg said. The market research the company did said that townhomes aren’t selling very well and that the primary demand for new homes in this area is going to be for single-family homes that retirees can live in, he said.

The current plans call for mixed-use, walkable communities with some commercial spaces, some townhomes and Lowcountry-style homes that have garages on alleys and large front porches, said Myrtle Beach city planner Allison Hardin.

At a meeting this week, the planning commission heard about the proposed design standards changes and changes to the level of commercial and residential properties, she said. The planning department staff told the planning commission that it prefers the existing design standards, but they do want houses to be built there, Hardin said.

The planning commission supported the changes to allow the projects to move forward but did not vote on the matter this week, she said. The planning commission will likely approve the changes at its next meeting, after some technical changes are made to the documents, Hardin said.

In this case, the developer said that they had to make changes to adapt to market conditions, but a nearby development, Sweetgrass Square, has the Lowcountry style, with garages on alleys and front porches that encourage interaction, she said.

David Wilkes, the vice president of Dock Street Communities, which owns Sweetgrass Square, said the homes are selling quickly. In the past year, 42 of the 66 homes have been sold and he expects the rest will sell by the end of the year.

“We would like to see the city stick to what they originally planned and not fall to short-term thinking for what is a long-term project,” he said, adding that he personally doesn’t want to see a neat neighborhood cheapened for immediate success.

Grigg said the plan changes aren’t that significant and while they do call for more traditional houses with garages in front, many of the characteristics, like the front porches, sidewalks and walking trails, are being preserved. The new plans also call for a 50-foot buffer of trees along Farrow Parkway and are in line with other single-family developments in the area, he said.

Farrow Parkway Investments will develop the commercial property, about 50 acres, near U.S. 17 Bypass with a partner. The company already has an anchor tenant under contract, but Grigg said he couldn’t say who it will be.

The builders are ready to go as soon as all the changes are approved and the permits are obtained, Grigg said. Beazer Homes is ready to start work this spring, with the commercial development likely to start construction in the fall, he said.

Kolter Homes would start building its Cresswind Active Adult community with amenities, walking trails and lakes in 2013, said Steven Check, the company’s vice president of land acquisitions. House prices are still being considered but will likely range from low $200,000 to mid $300,000, he said in an email. This would be the company’s first development in South Carolina and while it differs from the current plan requirements, it is what active adults are looking for, Check said in the email.