Charleston suburbs poised for growth
An area of Berkeley County that sits in the middle of a triangle between Summerville, Goose Creek and Moncks Corner will be developing rapidly in the years to come. 3 major developments have been approved by Berkeley County and a new city of almost 100,000 residents will developed over the next 30 years.
Cane Bay is the first development to get started and building has already commenced with Centex Homes beginning construction. A Del Webb active retirement community has also been announced. Finally, land was donated by the developer and a new High School is being built and is scheduled to open in the fall of 2008.
The Parks of Berkeley will be even larger than Cane Bay and it will be developed by Crescent Communities, a unit of Duke Energy of Charlotte. No specific plans have been outlined other than significant infrastructure work will be needed to accommodate the many homes scheduled. At the very least, a new freeway exit off I-26 will be needed to handle the extra traffic.
Both of these developments are north of the intersection of US 17A and Highway 176. At that very corner, the third development scheduled will be built by the Daniel Island Company. Carnes Crossing will be in the city of Goose Creek and will be a mixed use development with a combination of residential and commercial construction and it likely will become the new downtown of Goose Creek.
One of the highlights of all the developments will be the preservation of green space. While this once rural part of the county becomes more urban, the developers recognize their responsibility to preserve green space and offer parks, recreation, walking trails, etc. in the neighborhoods and to cluster the homes so as to preserve some of the rural feeling. They intend to create livable communities including amenities so residents will not have to travel outside of the community for their everyday needs like groceries, banking, etc. Please read more about this story from the Charleston Regional Business Journal.
In a separate development, a large land transaction recently took place with rumors linking Google with the purchase of 520 acres in Goose Creek. While Google has recently confirmed its intention to build a large data center in Lenoir North Carolina, a spokesman for Google confirmed that Google is at least considering an expansion into Berkeley County. Please read more about this story from the Charleston Regional Business Journal.