Chimney Cove can’t be saved, Hilton Head says. But can the evictions be less painful?

Plans to develop long-term apartment rentals have been submitted to the Town of Hilton Head for Chimney Cove, one of few “affordable” housing complexes available on the island that was at the center of local outcry over failed mass evictions last August.

The complex’s developer has filed a pre-application detailing plans to turn its short-term apartment units into long-term condominium rentals with luxury amenities called “Le Vinage.”

Almost all of the current 52 short-term apartment units are less expensive than the island’s average rent and are used as a housing option for low-income islanders, many employed in the service industry. If the plan goes through, the development will displace nearly 300 people into a market where affordable housing is already scarce.

One woman, who asked not to be named for fear of being evicted or be hit with a retaliatory rent increase, said in an interview translated from Spanish that she’s constantly on the lookout for a new apartment but hasn’t found one that would work.

“I want something better for us, but I can’t afford it,” she said. “We have to see. What else can we do? They’re the owners.”

The woman said her rent has already been raised since August when most residents found eviction notices taped to their doors. Some families were able to relocate. For others, nothing is available or the rents elsewhere are prohibitively expensive.

“I’m nervous because I don’t know what will happen,” she said while on the front stoop of her apartment. “I have young kids; that affects them in school.”

The woman said she works hard clearing houses and has never been late on her rent. An ample warning before they would have to leave would make the world of a difference.

Saving for a move, including the cost of the first and last month’s rent plus a deposit, has been weighing on her. Her lease, which is month-to-month, means the possibility of having to move is always looming in the background of her family’s day-to-day life. As she watches her grandchild and prepares for her other child’s middle school graduation, she worries — where will they go?

Will the developer uphold its promises?

In the pre-application, Wood+Partners Inc., a Hilton Head-based landscape architecture and planning firm, acknowledged that they are “acutely aware of the public’s reaction to the past developers’ handling of the current tenants.” The plan said they’re committed to provide tenants with long termination notices that occur in phases, but didn’t specify what that meant.

The woman and other neighbors who spoke with Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reporters Thursday said they had not heard anything about the pre-application proposal nor had they been contacted by the owner of the complex.

County records show the land remains owned by California Chimney Cove LLC, registered under Harinder Johal. He and his cousin, Sam Johal, have renovated hotels across Hilton Head Island. The pair declined to speak with reporters after the August 2022 eviction notices were issued, and later rescinded. As of Thursday afternoon, the owners did not respond to an emailed request for comment on this story.

The developers also promise to provide “solutions for affordable housing, including an affordable housing fee applied to new development.”

“That’s the real crux of it, is there are so few long-term rentals on Hilton Head already to suddenly have dozens and dozens of families all being (moved) out at the same time, competing for the same scarcity of units is just really horrifying,” said Sandy Gillis of the Deep Well Project, a nonprofit group that provides food and housing aid to islanders in need.

Gillis said many leases at Chimney Cove have been raised hundreds of dollars since August to $2,000 for essentially “an extended stay hotel.” Rent on Hilton Head Island is 84% higher than the national median, according to Zillow, and the median monthly rent is $3,950.

According to the town’s workforce housing framework, affordable monthly rent for a single person working in food service or accommodations is around $566.

Town officials and community leaders said there’s little Hilton Head can do to preserve the complex as it exists. However, there is hope the developer will give the residents ample notice and time to find new housing, unlike in August, when they presented nearly 300 residents with eviction notices. Many only received 30 days to find new housing. The eviction notices were printed in English, despite many of Chimney Cove’s tenants being native Spanish speakers.

At the time, Chimney Cove residents told Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reporters they received no notice the property was for sale. The first time they learned it was being sold was when they returned home to find eviction notices pinned to their doors. Backlash from local politicians, community leaders and citizens stopped the evictions temporarily.

The plan proposes Wood+Partners build 102 condos in Chimney Cove’s place. The pre-application is the first step in the building process, and the Town of Hilton Head will hold a public meeting May 30 at 9 a.m. to discuss the project.

The proposed building will be three floors and accommodate two and three-bedroom units. The plan says they envision “a pool, dog park, putting green, and pickleball court.”

“Just the fact that there was a thought and a plan about the current residents is a huge improvement from where we were a year ago,” Gillis said.

And Pastor June Wilkins, of the Christ Lutheran Church next door, agreed, saying that she wants the tenants to stay on the island and within the community they have forged.

“My concern is for the people there; I’m not sure how this will all end up,” Wilkins said.

What are officials saying?

Ward 5 Councilman Steve Alfred said near the end of 2022, the town approached Johal, the owner, and negotiated to buy the property, but was refused.

Mayor Alan Perry confirmed the town made an effort to purchase Chimney Cove after the initial eviction crisis. Failing that, staff has worked since then to compile a database of potential workforce housing properties across the 2,000 acres of town-owned property on Hilton Head.

The Chimney Cove emergency last August was a catalyst for the creation of Hilton Head’s new workforce housing framework, the town’s decision to join the Beaufort and Jasper County Regional Housing Trust, and a plan by SERG Restaurant Group to convert empty office spaces near the island’s USCB campus into dormitory and studio housing options.

“The immediate need is great, and time is not on our side,” Perry said at a May 19 forum on affordable housing.

At that forum, Perry said Hilton Head Regional Medical Center management told him that lack of affordable and workforce housing led to the hospital losing 46 nurses. He also emphasized the housing need to forum attendees by pointing out that his wife, a public school teacher, could not afford to live on Hilton Head if she was trying to move to the island today.

In an emergency meeting last September, former island Councilman Bill Harkins predicted that, although the original sale that prompted the mass eviction notices failed, the issue would resurface down the line.

“It’s unfortunate, but we probably all knew it was coming. What we’ve been doing, since that property is not an option to acquire, is looking at other properties and how to address the workforce housing issue,” Perry said. “Unfortunately we don’t have a lot of information besides that pre-application, and again it is a pre-application, they have not made formal application. Within it, they do say that they’re going to address the people that live at Chimney Cove. I don’t know what that entails yet, so there’s still a lot to be learned about this proposal.”

The pricing of the proposed new units remains unknown, and town staff will be able to send feedback on the project after the May 30 pre-application meeting.

Some apartments in the Hilton Head and Bluffton area set aside a certain number of their units to serve as affordable or workforce housing, but developers are under no obligation to do so.

“There’s no code that requires that,” Ward 1 Councilman Alex Brown said. “That’s a whole other ball of wax as far as overhauling our land ordinance. ... We need to be readily working on relocation and displacement strategies, and that’s not germane just to chimney cove. There are other places on HHI currently supplying folks with housing that is affordable, but unfortunately, with the market the way it is, those could be converted as well.”

Affordable housing help is coming from the state level, with last week’s passage of Senate Bill 284. The bill allows up to 50% of the town’s local accommodations tax revenue to be used for workforce housing projects.

School board member Ingrid Boatright represents constituents in District 11, which includes Chimney Cove. If families are asked to leave mid-year, the district won’t ask students to change schools as long as they have transportation.

“If these kids move off the island, in-land, getting them here would be logistically difficult,” she said.

If students move before the start of the school year, they will go to their normally zoned school unless their guardians request otherwise.

“It’s pretty upsetting,” she said.