Environmental group to protect 4,400-acre SC waterfront property with $35M purchase

In an effort to protect over 4,000 acres of Jasper County waterfront property that was publicly listed for sale in July, The Nature Conservancy purchased it for $35 million and will place it under a conservation easement.

Known as Gregorie Neck, the property spans 4,409 acres, covers 8 miles of waterfront and marsh front land, and has a rich ecosystem. It is considered one of the largest undeveloped waterfront properties in the state, The Nature Conservancy in South Carolina’s news release said Thursday.

Dale Threatt-Taylor, the conservancy’s executive director, said with Jasper County’s rapid growth, the purchase was an opportunity to protect the sprawling property from development. Had it been developed, it would have had a “huge impact on this region’s nature and wildlife, as well as its infrastructure needs and traffic,” Threatt-Taylor said.

Gregorie Neck, sitting on a peninsula, has deep-water access of the Coosawhatchie and Tulifiny Rivers, and is surrounded by nearly 19,000 acres of permanently protected lands. Interstate 95 bisects Gregorie Neck. The property is named for Alexander Gregorie, who purchased the plantation in 1798. For the past 30 years, Robert and Alice Jepson have owned the property.

Charleston-based Holcombe, Fair & Lane’s initial July listing noted the Yemassee property would be a “prime candidate” for a conservation easement, which would permanently limit development on the land.

Currently, the historic property has on it a 6,000-square-foot estate, three houses and a horse stable. Once under the conservation easement agreement with the Open Land Trust, only six homesteads would be allowed.

David Bishop, the conservancy’s coastal and Midlands conservation director, said the variety and condition of Gregorie Neck’s ecosystem is “remarkable.”

The land is marked with dense upland forests of pine and hardwood trees, fishing ponds full of bass and bluegill, 30 acres of shrimp ponds, and impoundments that are home to migratory waterfowl and wading birds, the conservancy said.

“This property fits into the growing green band connecting the undeveloped lands in the Savannah River Basin with those in the ACE Basin,” Bishop said. “That band is under intense development pressure and is critical to protect water quality in Port Royal Sound and ensure wildlife have enough healthy habitat.”