The developer of Cane Bay Plantation has bought the 2,031-acre tract next door, land that already carries approvals for thousands of homes.
Companies led by Ben Gramling of Charleston-based Gramling Brothers Real Estate and Development paid $21 million in late December for the Wildcat Tract off U.S. 176 along Black Tom Road, The Post and Courier reported today. The seller was PCCR LLC, an affiliate of Charlotte land developer Crescent Communities.
Development agreements on the property allow up to 5,778 homes and 65 acres of commercial buildings, according to the newspaper.
The tract abuts Cane Bay, the 4,500-acre Berkeley County community Gramling began developing in 2007. Cane Bay is permitted for up to 10,000 homes and has about 3,500 rooftops, with land for another 3,000 homes sold or under contract, The Post and Courier reported.
Gramling told the newspaper he has no immediate plans for the Wildcat Tract and described the purchase as “a land hold.” He said the land “fits like a glove” with Cane Bay and will eventually include homes, shops, apartments, commercial space and school sites, in a layout still to be decided.
“We are going to let it evolve,” Gramling said, according to the newspaper.
He pointed to growth in the area, including the $500 million Volvo car plant under construction southwest of the tract near Interstate 26, which is set to open in late 2018.
Crescent Resources, as the seller’s parent was then known, bought the site in 2007 for $7.875 million, The Post and Courier reported. The company went bankrupt during the recession, emerged in 2010 and planned a mixed-use development that never materialized. It changed its name to Crescent Communities in 2013.
