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Seabrook on verge of $31M capital improvement plan
By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer
If Seabrook Island residents and property owners approve an island referendum this month, Seabrook will undergo a $31 million transformation to meet the needs of the growing and changing island community, whose residents increasingly are young families with children.
The Horizon Plan, the referendum’s subject, will create new and revamped amenities for the island.
Conceived by the Seabrook Island Club and the Property Owners Association, the plan calls for the construction of a community-center complex at Palmetto Lake, located in the island’s interior, and a new beach club complex to be built a little farther inland and across from the existing beachside facility, which will be demolished.
Reaction to the Horizon Plan has been “very positive” among property owners, according to John Thompson, executive vice president of the island’s property owners association.
Seabrook Island Club membership fees, which range from $8,000 to $30,000, and a percentage from each property sale collected by the Property Owners Association will finance the Horizon Plan. The average Seabrook Island property sale is $775,000.
If the plan is approved, construction could begin in spring 2007 and be completed in about three years, after architectural drawings and other details are finalized.
Changing Seabrook
Seabrook Island was created in the early 1970s as a resort catering mainly to retirees. Retirees, including baby boomers, still form a substantial segment of the island’s residents and property owners.
But in more recent years, as the Lowcountry’s population has grown, bringing an influx of affluent families, Seabrook has evolved into a quiet island community with little resort-like commercialism. There are no hotels, no retail outlets other than a golf shop, and the island’s amenities are open only to property owners, residents and their guests. However, the general public can book the island for wedding parties held at its beach facilities.
“When I came here in 1989, the only kids were grandkids,” said Tom Prevost, president of the Seabrook Island Club, which has about 1,650 members.
Now, with more young families on the island, Prevost estimates there are 60 to 70 children on the island.
More doctors, lawyers and other professionals who work in Charleston are moving to Seabrook and rearing children there, Prevost noted.
“We’re trying to encourage more people to move out to this island on a permanent basis,” he added.
The Palmetto Lake site reflects Seabrook’s changing demographics.
Plans for the 14-acre Palmetto Lake site feature four swimming pools, including an indoor pool; a multi-purpose facility with meeting space, a community kitchen and rooms for art classes and other activities; a 6,000-square-foot fitness center; a covered pavilion; a lawn where events can be held; a playground; and a fishing pier. A wellness center, spa and other recreational amenities could be added.
The site will include walkways and bicycle paths, and the buildings will blend with the environment.
The beach club complex will include a new clubhouse, an events center, and a pool and restaurant component. The road leading to the complex will be realigned to help slow traffic and create a safer pedestrian environment. A new bicycle path will be created to further remove pedestrians and cyclists from this congested area. Parking lots will be constructed around the site.
In addition to new construction, the Horizon Plan calls for the upgrade of existing facilities, such as the tennis center and the equestrian stables. The island’s gated entrance will also be improved.
Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.
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