Big Rock, Kiawah Partners to Develop $125M Community Near Charleston, South Carolina

by Jeff Shaw

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Big Rock Partners, in a joint venture with Kiawah Partners, has unveiled plans to develop a $125 million seniors housing community on Kiawah Island, a barrier island located 21 miles southwest of Charleston.

The 200-unit community will be for residents ages 55 and older and will include independent living, assisted living and memory care units. The unnamed project will be built overlooking a lake next to the Freshfields Village shopping center. 

“There’s been exponential growth in the active senior population in the Charleston area,” says Richard Ackerman, senior managing partner at Big Rock. “We wanted to bring a state-of-the-art senior living experience to the Lowcountry.”

The community will feature its own movie facility, multiple pools, a fitness center with a yoga studio, and multiple food and beverage options. 

“There are current Kiawah homeowners who are aging, who want to downsize and require higher degrees of service levels,” says Chris Randolph, partner at Kiawah Partners. “They don’t want to lose touch with their social circles by moving off the island. Senior living on Kiawah allows them to keep their ties to the island, and for many, to the Kiawah Island Club.”

Kiawah Partners is the master developer of Kiawah Island and owner of the private Kiawah Island Club, which is home to golf courses, a spa, sporting club and private restaurants. 

Big Rock and Kiawah Partners plan to break ground on the community in the fourth quarter. The project team includes architect LS3P, landscape architect SGA Architecture and general contractor Balfour Beatty. Life Care Services will manage the new community upon completion, planned for the first quarter of 2020. 

Based out of Delray Beach, Fla., and Beverly Hills, Calif., Big Rock has opened two similar seniors housing communities in Florida in the past year. Over the past 30 years, the private real estate investment and management firm has acquired, developed, financed and operated commercial real estate and seniors housing assets valued at more then $3 billion.

—  Camren Skelton 

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