Construction could begin in 6 to 18 months

Despite the downturn in the housing market, the Bees Ferry Road area on Charleston’s northwestern edge continues to be a hot spot for new development.

A Virginia-based real estate company has laid out plans to develop a new community called Verdier Pointe, with up to 468 homes and 180,000 square feet of commercial space, on the west side of Bees Ferry Road adjacent to the Grand Oaks development.

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“It creates a mixed-use kind of Main Street area off of Bees Ferry Road that would have commercial and residential units above stores,” said Christopher Morgan, director of Charleston’s Planning Division. “It would have things like drug stores and restaurants.”

The “commercial village district” in the plan would feature on-street parking and public plazas and squares. The development plan also calls for an apartment complex with up to 304 units, and up to 124 single-family homes.

The Charleston City Council has given initial approval to the plan and could sign off on the development as early as next week, clearing the way for the 102-acre property to be annexed into the city. If final approval is granted, construction could start in six to 18 months.

The development is the latest in a parade of large developments planned along the city’s edge in West Ashley. The largest of those, Long Savannah, could eventually have 4,600 new homes and a town-size commercial area, which would sit at the end of a planned extension of the Glenn McConnell Parkway.

“People are looking at being ready to go when the housing market picks up again, which it will,” Morgan said.

The city has been working with developers to ensure that the new developments would be connected to one another so that people could travel between homes, shops, schools and parks using neighborhood streets. Verdier Pointe, for example, would eventually have two roads connecting to Grand Oaks, and Long Savannah is likewise expected to connect to Grand Oaks, allowing travel between the developments and alternate routes out to Bees Ferry Road.

“One of the things we liked about (Verdier Pointe) was it gives the people in Grand Oaks more ways to get to Bees Ferry Road,” Morgan said.

The development plan was submitted by H.H. Hunt, a Virginia company that has locally developed the 212-unit Abberly at West Ashley apartments and the Spring Arbor at Daniel Island senior living complex. Company officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The Verdier Pointe plan calls for phased construction, with most of the commercial area to come only after a planned widening of Bees Ferry Road has started. That Charleston County project is scheduled to begin late next year.

When the plan was first presented to the City Council on Nov. 25, West Ashley Councilwoman Deb Morinelli expressed concern that the new construction could worsen flooding problems along Church Creek.

An engineer representing the developer said Church Creek wouldn’t be impacted, but she remained skeptical.

Morgan said any new development would have to meet regulations meant to ensure they don’t create flooding problems.

“All of our standards make sure that drainage from projects like this don’t exacerbate existing conditions,” he said Tuesday.

The City Council next meets at 5 p.m. Dec. 9 in Charleston City Hall.

Reach David Slade at 937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com.

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