Partnership acquires 15 notable Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head properties.
RALEIGH, North Carolina, December 30, 2010— One of the Carolina's leading real estate development groups including owners of Hilton Head Lakes and Stratford Land have formed a joint venture which acquired 15 Coastal Carolina residential and commercial real estate assets in the coastal Carolina region. The real estate portfolio includes over 7390 acres of fully-entitled land with a large amount of infrastructure already in place and 725 developed lots, 7245 partially developed lots, and 15,519 permitted lots within popular master-planned communities in Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach and one undeveloped parcel in North Myrtle Beach. The portfolio also includes two commercial loans secured by in-service assets such as a golf course, several office buildings, residential lots, and a beachfront property. A purchase price and immediate plans for the properties have not been revealed for the transaction that closed on December 22, 2010.
In the Hilton Head area, the joint ventures' assets include Hilton Head Lakes – a fully entitled, 2700-acre master-planned development halfway between Savannah and Hilton Head, and Tradition – a 1900-acre, fully entitled, master-planned development with a Tommy Fazio championship golf course in play.
In the Myrtle Beach area, the acquired properties are: Wild Wing Plantation – a 1,000 acre development with a 27-hole golf course community; Sandridge – a 1,600-acre undeveloped parcel of land bordering the Intracoastal Waterway in North Myrtle Beach; Grey Plantation Parcel – one of the last undeveloped parcels in the 8,000-acre master planned Carolina Forest development that is popular with national homebuilders; and Windsor Plantation – a 300-lot development located seven minutes from the ocean with active home building underway.
The Private Investor Group is lead by managing members, Ralph Teal, Carson Benton and Lawton Benton, known for their successful development of Wild Wing Plantation, Plantation Lakes and Cypress River Plantation, among numerous other developments over several decades.
Hilton Head-based managing member, Joe Brinn noted the joint venture's local expertise, "Selection of these choice assets was based upon our having detailed knowledge of the properties and their markets, gained from more than 40 years of development experience."
Brinn added, "We are gratified that, in taking responsibility for these Class A properties, our partnership adds significant stability and value, not only to the assets we are acquiring, but also to the entire marketplace."
Ralph Teal, Myrtle Beach-based managing member of the joint venture, commented on the importance of securing a strong capital partner.
"After hand picking properties for acquisition, our goal was to find the strongest capital partner possible that would be a good fit for us and the portfolio we had assembled. We are delighted Stratford Land is joining us as a partner and long-term investor in this region," Teal said. "The financial strengths of both groups combine to give this joint venture the staying power to ensure that each of these properties is developed to its highest potential at the perfect time."
"Stratford Land is pleased to have the opportunity to partner with this development team, with decades of proven success in the Carolinas, in acquiring well-located assets in an area that enjoys such strong growth prospects," said Mark MacDonald, Stratford Land's Raleigh-based managing director for the Carolinas, Virginia, and Washington D.C.
"Bolstered by the favorable demographics in South Carolina's coastal region, these fullyentitled properties are poised to benefit as the national economy and regional real estate markets recover," MacDonald added.
Stratford Land's MacDonald explained, "We were able to acquire these properties outright, unencumbered of debt, giving our partnership the competitive advantage and flexibility to develop and market prime properties as the market is ready for them." Stratford Land has decades of proven land investment success and astute financing practices as land investment managers. Stratford always seeks to secure entitlements in a way that leaves the community satisfied with the result. The company's financial strength enables it to acquire and hold land during various economic cycles and to reposition land to its highest and best use.
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SB Investment/Development SBID is a partnership of many talented individuals with a proven 40 plus years of real estate development success in the Carolinas. The company is based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A list of successful developments that include Governors Club in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Carolina Trace and Carolina Lakes in Sanford, North Carolina; River Landing, Wallace, North Carolina; Plantation Lakes, Cypress River Plantation and Wild Wing Plantation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. www.HiltonHeadLakes.com
About Stratford Land Stratford Land has 25 years of successful land investment management on behalf of institutional investors. Based in Dallas, Texas, the fund focuses on acquiring properties in high-growth corridors in Texas, Arizona, southern California, Colorado, Tennessee and the eastern seaboard from Virginia to Florida. Regional offices are currently located in Phoenix, Atlanta, Denver, Jacksonville and Raleigh. www.stratfordland.com
For more information, contact: Cynthia Pharr Lee, C. Pharr & Company for Stratford Land Cynthia@pharrpr.com Office 972-931-7576, ext. 24 Cell 214-529-5555