A new 328-unit apartment complex offering below-average market rents opened Friday in Beaufort, South Carolina. Pointe Grand, located at 135 Hillpointe Circle across from the Lowe’s on Burton Hill Road, targets renters earning around $50,000 annually who do not qualify for subsidized housing but cannot afford luxury units, developers said.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., visited the project’s opening. He is sponsoring the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act, which aims to reduce regulatory barriers for new housing. The bill, he said, has bipartisan support, including from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
“When she and I can come together and work on reducing the price of housing across America, it’s because it’s not a Democrat issue, it’s not a Republican issue,” Scott said. “It’s an American dream issue.”
Developers from Hillpointe, a real estate firm based in Winter Park, Florida, said rents at Pointe Grand are about 20%—or $300 to $400—below the Beaufort average. Units are all two-bedroom, two-bath layouts, designed to be shareable by roommates, according to Hillpointe executives Steven Campisi and Kelly Mahoney.
Hillpointe officials said they first identified a need for “attainable” housing in Beaufort about six or seven years ago due to the rising cost of living. The Pointe Grand project took about two years to complete, including one year for city approval. Company officials said zoning processes and special local requirements significantly delayed the project and added costs that are difficult to pass on in workforce housing developments.
Scott noted the project was privately funded with no public dollars. He said it illustrates how private investment could help increase the housing supply without extensive government involvement. He cited his mother, a former nurse’s aide, as an example of why quality housing near employment is important. “We forgot the human cost of having to live so far from work,” he said.
Beaufort officials have taken steps since 2022 to streamline permitting, including eliminating the Design Review Board and Metropolitan Planning Commission in favor of a single Planning Commission. A revised code now allows just two required meetings: one conceptual and one final.
Since 2020, Beaufort has approved 2,410 apartment units and completed 1,258, according to the city’s Community Development Department. The growth has raised concerns among residents about traffic and the loss of natural spaces.
At a Nov. 18 City Council meeting, resident Kimberly McGuire said construction near Old Salem Road has significantly altered the area’s environment. Pointe Grand is located just north of that section.
“If this further development is inevitable, I strongly urge the city council to please protect the natural environment and lessen the negative impacts on current residents,” McGuire said. She cited increased traffic and commute times as concerns.
Scott said he hopes the housing legislation passes this year, which he characterized as a politically important time to address affordability.
