“It’s our time. Charleston is filling up, Summerville is filling up, Dorchester is filling up and the next step when you come in that direction is Orangeburg and Holly Hill,” Administrator Harold Young said.
Orangeburg County Council approved a resolution and ordinance in May re-designating property owned by Holly Hill Land LLC located at Eutaw Road and Academy Lane from the forest agricultural district to the rural community district.
The 106.24-acre property will yield approximately 108 single-family homes in the Holly Hill area.
The development will most likely set a trend and attract more housing developers to Orangeburg County due to its close proximity to Charleston and Dorchester counties, Young said.
Young cited the rapid growth in the Lowcountry counties, along with the constantly increasing cost of building housing developments as a major factor in the location of the new development.
Young noted that the 106.24 acres were purchased at $3,500 per acre.
“You take that same 106 and you go to Charleston and Summerville and you’re going to be paying $15,000, $20,000 an acre. So for them to have that price point already in the bank as a savings, that’s tremendous and they should be able to do well,” Young stated.
The price range of the homes has not been determined by the developer, according to Orangeburg County Planning Director Amanda Seivers.
The development will receive the county’s water services but will not receive wastewater services.
Young said the developer has “talked about a commercial self-contained system that they would have to put in.
The Town of Holly Hill wants to provide sewer services to the project, but doesn’t have the capacity, Young said. The county has been discussing options for upgrading the town’s sewer system.
Young said, “Our strategy is to help them get theirs upgraded so that they can serve more people, so that we can serve more houses and residential developments that are coming.”
