Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone. The saying might be “Time flies,” but for me, it seems to move at the speed of light these days.
When I think about everything the town accomplished in the past year, and what we’ve got coming in 2026, it’s a little overwhelming, and for all the right reasons. For now, I want to focus on some updates regarding a huge milestone in workforce housing for the island and some major progress regarding the town’s efforts to manage growth and redevelopment.
On Dec. 10, Town Manager Marc Orlando and I, on behalf of town council, signed a 65-year ground lease for Northpoint at Jarvis Creek – a new, multifamily workforce housing neighborhood offering activities, programs and amenities designed to help its residents connect with each other, with proximity to the Island Recreation Center, the Boys and Girls Club, our public schools, as well as town parks and pathways.
Northpoint is unique among workforce housing-related developments nationwide because it will consist entirely of workforce housing and residents must be employed on Hilton Head Island to live there. As part of the public-private partnership with OneStreet Residential LLC, the town provides the ground lease, $1 million to support eligible site work with contributions secured from the American Rescue Plan Fund, affordability covenants to maintain a workforce neighborhood in perpetuity, zoning entitlements, long-term programming support, and overall vision.
OneStreet’s role involves design, permitting, financing, project management, construction, lease-up, long-term programming, and property management. There will be 157 units, composed of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments with rental rates attainable for households with incomes ranging from 60% to 150% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Teachers, first responders, law enforcement, hospitality workers, skilled tradesmen, and health care providers are just some examples of who will live there; the eligibility criteria ensures accessibility for a wide range of essential workers on the island. We will break ground on this exciting development in February, and it will be reflective of the development and design principles that our community desires.
Our town team has never been more committed to protecting the island’s natural beauty, cultural heritage, and community character. You may recall that the town’s top priority for the next several years of our strategic plan is to “protect island character through managing growth.” By carefully shaping how and where development occurs, we ensure that Hilton Head Island remains a place where residents, businesses, our workforce, and visitors can enjoy a high quality of life. One major way we do that is by continuing to modernize our development code through the ongoing land management ordinance (LMO) rewrite and public review process.
Town council recently appointed 21 individuals from the community to a new LMO Task Force, representing a cross section of stakeholders including residents, industry experts, elected officials, community leaders, and community general managers. This group is charged with helping the town ensure that the new code is better aligned with the growth management goals and objectives of the island today – namely, that it evolves to meet today’s needs, changing development patterns, and incorporates best practices in modern land use regulation.
The task force will make recommendations to town staff, the Planning Commission, and town council, ensuring that ordinance revisions strike a balance across community character, economic vitality, and environmental stewardship. Meetings commence this month.
It’s important to note that various LMO and municipal code amendments adopted to date already position the town to better regulate growth and enforce the rules governing it during the past 18 months. Since 2023, the town has taken almost 20 specific actions to address some of the issues related to growth management, such as beach parking, variance limitations, traffic reporting standards, amended height calculations, construction management and noise standards, and more. In the interest of word count, I encourage you to review the October 13, 2025, news release on the town’s website for additional details.
So, as we look forward to 2026 and reflect on 2025, I’m optimistic about what’s in front of us. I know that all of us who love this island want to make certain that there is a positive future for it, and we understand the collaboration it will take us to get there.
