Grande Dunes owners seek north side building blitz

One of Myrtle Beach’s signature gated residential communities is due to receive some new neighbors.

LStar Management, the owner of Grande Dunes Golf Resort, unveiled plans this week that could bring hundreds of new homes to the corridor along Grande Dunes Boulevard and the undeveloped tract of land between the Intracoastal Waterway, U.S. 17, Robert M. Grissom Parkway and the marina north of 82nd Parkway.

“It’s a very rare opportunity, and I would tell you it’s one that our firm is more excited about than perhaps any other project we have, due to that broad expanse of undeveloped land,” LStar’s Chief Operating Officer Hampton Pitts told city council Tuesday.

Grande Dunes, the waterway tract and the Grande Dunes Boulevard corridor were all part of a special development agreement passed by Myrtle Beach in 1999, when Burroughs & Chapin owned the land. Because of that agreement, any new development within that area does not need to be approved by city council directly, unless it presents a substantial change from the original agreement.

In the next two years, projects that developers hope to begin on that land include houses, apartments and a big box retail project around the intersection of U.S. 17 and 62nd Avenue North; 800 units spread across an oceanfront hotel, condo and timeshare project with a restaurant next to the Ocean Club; residential development and a senior living complex between North Kings Highway and Cipriana Drive; and 136 single-family homes in a neighborhood that will partially front the waterway.

The centerpiece of LStar’s development in the near term will be a “marina village” that will wrap around the existing marina off of Grande Dunes Boulevard. Pitts said the $200 million village would include 500,000 square feet of residential projects and “restaurants, retail, experiential providers, and also the arts.”

Long-term plans suggest that within completion, which Pitts said could take six to eight years, LStar will have filled nearly all of the undeveloped land in the original development agreement. City Council expressed concerns, however, about ensuring that the development did not stretch municipal services.

“I suggest to you that this development agreement would not be agreed to today, with the number of ERUs [residential units] that’s available in it and the level of density,” Councilman Wayne Gray cautioned developers at the end of their presentation.

Councilwoman Mary Jeffcoat and Mayor John Rhodes both quizzed LStar representatives on the ratio of residential to commercial square footage, and how many homes would be bought by residents versus how many would be attractive to second-home owners. New residential development, which stresses water, sewer and transportation infrastructure, must usually be offset with commercial properties, which generate more revenue for the city. Second-home owners also use fewer services and do not stretch the property tax allowances reserved for permanent residents.

“As the city has to walk arm and arm with LStar at this project, looking at LStar, what can they do to help the city overcome some of of these costs?” Rhodes said.

Pitts did not offer specific numbers Tuesday, but said his company also finds commercial development more lucrative and understands the need for it.

“We’re your biggest fans of retail and commercial,” he said.

In a phone call Thursday, Gray said he took LStar’s plans as their “best case scenario” and that he was not overly concerned about the effect of new developments on local infrastructure or roads.

“It is intended to be kind of a self-enclosed development,” he said.

The plan represents a significant investment for LStar, which is a national company with projects in 12 states. The developer is also attempting to build Grande Dunes North, a similar project that North Myrtle Beach annexed this summer but that is being held up by a road access dispute with Myrtle Beach.

Though the new development in Myrtle Beach mostly centers on land east of the Intracoastal Waterway, LStar’s presentation also included 59 single-family timeshare units to be constructed on the west side, next to the Grande Dunes clubhouse.

This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Grande Dunes owners seek north side building blitz."