Duct Cleaning in Hardeeville, SC

It’s no secret that Hardeeville is booming.

Located about 20 miles from Hilton Head Island, this once quaint and quiet South Carolina city was noted as one of the fastest growing municipalities last year – and the construction popping up across town makes it clear why.

From new neighborhoods and multi-use developments to a Buc-ee’s and major statewide projects like Interstate 95 improvements, Hardeeville is starting to shed its small-town image and staking a claim on the map.

But amid these other big-ticket projects, smaller but critical improvements are also underway on Argent Boulevard, a key connector road linking Beaufort and Jasper Counties’ major routes, S.C. 170 and U.S. 278.

While this two-lane road may not seem like much, it’s classified as a major collector, carrying up to 14,800 vehicles per day, according to a 2023 traffic study by Kimley-Horn, a national engineering and design consulting firm.

To accommodate the city’s rapid growth and improve safety and traffic flow, construction began to improve this corridor in September, aiming to keep the road – and the city – moving forward.

Here’s what folks can expect as this project continues and what upgrades it will bring to this major connecting road.

Why is the construction needed?

The main focus of this $6.6 million project on Argent Boulevard happens at the intersection of Short Cut Road and Jasper Station Road.

Currently, Short Cut Road does not line up with Jasper Station Road, where both approach the busy corridor. Because of this offset intersection, the South Carolina Department of Transportation has been unable to install a traffic signal there, said Josh Gruber, city manager for the City of Hardeeville.

Without those roads being aligned, the SCDOT can’t install a traffic signal.

To solve this, the City of Hardeeville is realigning Short Cut Road, shifting it slightly south so it lines up cleanly with Jasper Station Road.

As folks travel through, the ongoing tree clearing, groundbreaking and cone placements at this intersection reflect this planned shift.

Once the city completes the realignment, which is set to conclude by June 2026, SCDOT will install a fully signalized four-way intersection, easing the flow of traffic and making it easier for drivers to cross or turn in a given direction.

What drivers can expect

Drivers should expect ongoing work in the area, largely occurring in the evenings, to minimize traffic impact.

This schedule will continue until the city completes the realignment. Afterward, SCDOT will follow with the installation of the traffic signal equipment, but a specific timeline for that portion has not yet been released.

Another traffic signal coming to Argent & U.S. 278

In addition to the Short Cut Road improvements, Gruber confirmed that SCDOT is moving forward on a new signal at the intersection of Argent Boulevard and U.S. 278.

While also in early stages, he states that the SCDOT recently put that project out to bid to select a contractor. Once that step is complete, construction on that light will follow.

Once both projects are finished and the signals are installed, drivers are expected to have a much safer and more efficient travel through the corridor – something local residents have long requested.

No widening of Argent this time around

As the city continues with its piece of the project to realign the roads, one aspect that remains open is whether lane widening will take place.

As a part of this project with road realignment and light installation, Gruber clarified that Argent Boulevard will not be widened.

“We’re still at the very beginning of what that entire corridor improvement is going to look like,” he said.

Any future changes to the broader Argent corridor fall under the new Jasper County Transportation Sales Tax program, which only began collecting this year. Surveys and feasibility studies are still needed due to the wetland areas surrounding Argent, meaning that there’s still a lot to uncover about what’s going to be possible in terms of improvements, Gruber states.

What other projects are happening in Hardeeville?

A handful of other projects are currently taking place in the Hardeeville area, ranging from road updates, new developments and more.

Notable construction that folks will see stretching from Argent Boulevard, down to Exit 8 on I-95 includes:

More than 650 new homes are coming to the Lowcountry after a Georgia-based developer acquired land in growing areas.

Trilogy Investment Co., an investor and residential real estate developer based in Alpharetta, Georgia, said that it plans to deliver home sites to homebuilder NVR, Inc. through its land development platform, Tierra Development. NVR will then build hundreds of homes on Trilogy’s two new Lowcountry properties, both in Jasper County.

“By identifying high-quality land opportunities and aligning with exceptional builder and capital partners, we are helping deliver much-needed housing supply in the southeast while driving strong outcomes for our investors,” Jason Joseph, CEO and managing partner of Trilogy, said in a press release.

The two Jasper County projects

The first project, which is currently under construction, will include 414 homes in a Hardeeville development called Heron Pointe, south of Interstate 95 and east of Speedway Boulevard. Work is underway on phase one, which will include 174 homes, Trilogy said. Construction on phase two is expected to begin next summer.

Jasper County property records show that Trilogy purchased the 118-acre site for about $6.8 million in June of this year. The land is currently valued at about $3.2 million, records show, and phase one of the project is financed by Charlotte-based Harvest Capital through an acquisition and development loan, Harvest Capital said on its website.

The second project, called East Argent, is part of a project billed as the largest residential development in the history of Hardeeville. Trilogy said in its press release that the project is in Bluffton, but it is technically in Jasper County near the Beaufort County border.

East Argent is a Planned Development District (PDD) put in place by the city of Hardeeville in the early 2000s. It will include homes, apartments, commercial space and a new YMCA, which broke ground earlier this year. A 312-unit apartment complex, Waterford Pointe Apartments, is scheduled to come online in 2027, and Publix owns a 17-acre site in the southwest corner of Highway 170 and East Argent Parkway, records show.

D.R. Horton is developing a 245-acre, 630-home resort-style community in East Argent called The Retreat.

Trilogy’s 92-acre property sits in the northeast corner of Jasper Station Road and East Argent Parkway, across from Heartwood Community Preschool. Records show a sale date of Sept. 12 and a price of $10.

The area’s housing and population growth

Jasper County’s housing stock is growing faster than anywhere else in the U.S. The county’s housing stock grew by 8.4% between 2023 and 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hardeeville’s population jumped from about 7,000 residents in 2020 to 13,000 by 2024, making it the fastest-growing municipality in the state.

The new Carolina Station development off U.S. 278 is expected to bring 3,800 homes to Hardeeville, plus recreational areas and commercial space.

HARDEEVILLE, S.C. — HIC Land has begun construction on Carolina Station, a $300 million master-planned development in Hardeeville, about 17 miles north of Savannah, Ga. Situated along U.S. Highway 278, the project will span 2,600 acres in the state’s Lowcountry region.

HIC Land, which originally acquired the historic Morgan tract for $36 million, has partnered with homebuilder D.R. Horton for the development of an undisclosed number of single-family homes within the campus. Carolina Station will also feature more than 650 multifamily units and 95 acres of commercial space, including shops, restaurants and service retailers.

D.R. Horton has committed to invest $8 million to improve the intersection at U.S. Highway 278 and John Smith Road as part of the Carolina Station master plan. The construction timeline of the multi-phase development was not released.

FRISCO, TEXAS — Locally based developer JPI has completed Jefferson Railhead and Jefferson Parkhouse, two apartment communities totaling 903 units in Frisco, located north of Dallas. The projects represent the first and second multifamily phases of Frisco Railhead, a $3 billion mixed-use development. Jefferson Railhead offers studio-, one- and two-bedroom units that are now 60 percent occupied. Jefferson Parkhouse offers similar floor plans, as well as three-bedroom units, and is now 17 percent occupied. Amenities at both properties include pools with cabanas and sundecks, fitness centers and coworking lounges with private conference and whisper rooms. Frisco Railhead will ultimately comprise 1,300 multifamily units, a 17-story hotel with condominiums on the top two floors, 36,000 square feet of retail space, a 1.5 million-square-foot office campus and a 5-acre central park.

BALTIMORE — MAG Partners has announced its exit from the master development team of Baltimore Peninsula, a $5.5 billion mixed-use development underway in south Baltimore. The multi-phase, 235-acre development, formerly branded as Port Covington, is led by Sagamore Ventures, a developer founded by Under Armour’s CEO Kevin Plank, as well as Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group and the City of Baltimore.

MacFarlane Partners has also been a member of the development team since joining alongside MAG Partners in 2022, but the San Francisco-based firm has also left the project, according to the Baltimore Business Journal. The news outlet also reported that MAG Partners will stay involved in several office leases in the works alongside leasing agent Courtenay Jenkins of Cushman & Wakefield.

In its departure statement, MAG Partners says the firm was involved in opening 1.1 million square feet of commercial space at Baltimore Peninsula and stabilizing 450 apartments since joining the development team in May 2022. The Baltimore Business Journal reports that Sagamore Ventures is seeking out development partners for the remaining phases of Baltimore Peninsula.

The developer behind a brand-new residential community in Hardeeville is being sued in Florida for allegedly lowballing buyers on their total monthly costs.

Texas-based D.R. Horton is being sued by five plaintiffs for allegedly giving buyers quotes that were lower than their payments. The plaintiffs allege that D.R. Horton and its mortgage arm, DHI Mortgage (DHIM), knowingly suppressed anticipated property tax estimates, leading to monthly payments that were actually about $1,000 more than initially laid out.

One plaintiff, Frankie Santiago, said he was promised a $2,164.68 monthly payment by the company, but ended up paying $3,136.33 less than a year after closing when a new servicer conducted an escrow analysis. The four other plaintiffs said they were promised a $2,602.47 monthly payment; they paid $2,597.84 for almost two years, but after an escrow analysis that payment increased to $3,439.07.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that D.R. Horton and DHIM knowingly misrepresented the actual monthly costs. Through a spokesperson, D.R. Horton said the allegations are untrue.

“D.R. Horton and DHI Mortgage strongly disagree with the claims made in the lawsuit, and we intend to vigorously defend against them,” spokeswoman Jessica L. Hansen said in an emailed statement. “D.R. Horton and DHIM have been, and will continue to be, unwavering in our commitment towards transparency with our customers.”

D.R. Horton bills itself as the largest homebuilder in the U.S., and has a sizable presence in the Lowcountry and the rest of South Carolina. The company is building the new Carolina Station development in Hardeeville, a planned 2,600 acre mixed-use community designed to usher a new wave of buyers into the growing city. It is also one of the contractors in a statewide program designed to build more workforce housing.

The company focuses on starter homes, move-ups, active adult and luxury houses. Homebuilding operations accounted for 92% of the company’s consolidated revenues in 2024; the company has homebuilding operations in Hilton Head, Charleston, Columbia, Myrtle Beach and Greenville/Spartanburg, according to its 2024 annual report.

This is not the first time D.R. Horton has faced legal trouble. In January, the State newspaper reported that about 60 lawsuits were filed against the company in Richland, Lexington and Horry counties, alleging major flaws in D.R. Horton-built homes.

The lawsuit comes at a time when many Americans are concerned about housing costs.

Goldman Sachs analysts found that the U.S. home price-to-income ratio is 4.42, higher than its peak of 4.1 in 2006 during the early 21st century housing boom. The average monthly mortgage payment has gone from less than 20% of a potential buyer’s income before the pandemic to more than 30% since 2022.

Mortgage rates hit a 20-year high in 2022 and have sustained ever since, the financial firm said. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.22% on Nov. 6, lower than this time last year, but significantly higher than 3.87% ten years ago and 3.11% as recently as December 2021, according to Freddie Mac.

The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point in September. Some experts said it could lead to a feeling of financial flexibility among consumers, but mortgage rates and interest rates don’t go hand in hand.