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More than 650 new homes are coming to the Lowcountry after a Georgia-based developer acquired land in growing areas.

Trilogy Investment Co., an investor and residential real estate developer based in Alpharetta, Georgia, said that it plans to deliver home sites to homebuilder NVR, Inc. through its land development platform, Tierra Development. NVR will then build hundreds of homes on Trilogy’s two new Lowcountry properties, both in Jasper County.

“By identifying high-quality land opportunities and aligning with exceptional builder and capital partners, we are helping deliver much-needed housing supply in the southeast while driving strong outcomes for our investors,” Jason Joseph, CEO and managing partner of Trilogy, said in a press release.

The two Jasper County projects

The first project, which is currently under construction, will include 414 homes in a Hardeeville development called Heron Pointe, south of Interstate 95 and east of Speedway Boulevard. Work is underway on phase one, which will include 174 homes, Trilogy said. Construction on phase two is expected to begin next summer.

Jasper County property records show that Trilogy purchased the 118-acre site for about $6.8 million in June of this year. The land is currently valued at about $3.2 million, records show, and phase one of the project is financed by Charlotte-based Harvest Capital through an acquisition and development loan, Harvest Capital said on its website.

The second project, called East Argent, is part of a project billed as the largest residential development in the history of Hardeeville. Trilogy said in its press release that the project is in Bluffton, but it is technically in Jasper County near the Beaufort County border.

East Argent is a Planned Development District (PDD) put in place by the city of Hardeeville in the early 2000s. It will include homes, apartments, commercial space and a new YMCA, which broke ground earlier this year. A 312-unit apartment complex, Waterford Pointe Apartments, is scheduled to come online in 2027, and Publix owns a 17-acre site in the southwest corner of Highway 170 and East Argent Parkway, records show.

D.R. Horton is developing a 245-acre, 630-home resort-style community in East Argent called The Retreat.

Trilogy’s 92-acre property sits in the northeast corner of Jasper Station Road and East Argent Parkway, across from Heartwood Community Preschool. Records show a sale date of Sept. 12 and a price of $10.

The area’s housing and population growth

Jasper County’s housing stock is growing faster than anywhere else in the U.S. The county’s housing stock grew by 8.4% between 2023 and 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hardeeville’s population jumped from about 7,000 residents in 2020 to 13,000 by 2024, making it the fastest-growing municipality in the state.

The new Carolina Station development off U.S. 278 is expected to bring 3,800 homes to Hardeeville, plus recreational areas and commercial space.

It is Week 3 of the SCHSL and SCISA high school football playoffs.

Class 5A Division I

Upper State

Dutch Fork 21, Byrnes 0

Dorman 35, Ridge View 14

Lower State

Summerville 29, Carolina Forest 28

James Island 45, Stratford 42

Nov. 28

Upper State

(2) Dorman at (1) Dutch Fork

Lower State

(6) James Island at (5) Summerville

Class 5A Division II

Upper State

Northwestern 52, Gaffney 45

Indian Land 43, TL Hanna 41

Lower State

Irmo 28, White Knoll 14

Berkeley 61, Myrtle Beach 13

Nov. 28

Upper State

(3) Indian Land at (1) Northwestern

Lower State

(2) Berkeley at (1) Irmo

Class 4A

Upper State

South Pointe 56, AC Flora 14

Westside 24, Camden 21

Lower State

South Florence 49, North Augusta 14

Gray Collegiate 31, Hilton Head Island 28

Nov. 28

Upper State

(3) Westside at (1) South Pointe

Lower State

(3) Gray Collegiate at (1) South Florence

Class 3A

Upper State

Powdersville 52, Mountain View Prep 30

Belton-Honea Path 13, Woodruff 3

Lower State

Oceanside Collegiate 42, Dillon 0

Loris 51, Newberry 21

Nov. 28

Upper State

(3) Belton-Honea Path at (1) Powdersville

Lower State

(3) Loris at (1) Oceanside Collegiate

Class 2A

Upper State

Fairfield Central 42, Clinton 7

Strom Thurmond 31, Chester 8

Lower State

Hampton County 56, Manning 6

Central 57, Philip Simmons 47

Nov. 28

Upper State

Fairfield Central at Strom Thurmond

Lower State

Central at Hampton County

Class A

Upper State

Lewisville 42, CA Johnson 14

Lamar 44, Hunter-Kinard Tyler 22

Lower State

Cross 42, Johnsonville 14

Bamberg-Ehrhardt 48, Carvers Bay 20

Nov. 28

Upper State

Lewisville at Lamar

Lower State

Cross at Bamberg-Ehrhardt

SCISA Championships

Friday

8-Man: WW King 50, Laurens Academy 36

Class 4A: Northwood 61, Heathwood Hall 7

Saturday

Class 2A: Bethesda 54, Pee Dee Academy 15

Class A: Colleton Prep vs. Williamsburg Academy, 3:30 p.m. (at SC State)

Class 3A: Wilson Hall vs. Pinewood Prep, 7:30 p.m. (at SC State)

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WTOC) - A medical facility that combines an emergency room with an urgent care is coming to Hilton Head Island.

Officials with Beaufort Memorial and the town broke ground on the $16 million project off William Hilton Parkway on Thursday.

The facility will be one of the first of its kind in South Carolina, offering urgent care alongside emergency care.

It will bring another emergency department to one of the fastest-growing areas in the state.

CEO and President of Beaufort Memorial, Russell Baxley, says the facility will answer two big needs for the residents.

Another healthcare facility in Beaufort County and another healthcare option on the island.

“Patients want access to care, and they want options for care,” Baxley said. “They also need access to care 24/7, as the island, obviously, emergency rooms become overcrowded, and this is another option for preventing overcrowding in urgent care and emergency care centers.”

It will feature multiple exam rooms, imaging, a testing lab, and other rooms for patients to get the care they need.

Intuitive Health is partnering with Beaufort Memorial on this project and says they already have more than 30 of these facilities spread out across the country.

They say they are excited to bring one to the Lowcountry.

“We’re bringing the ER level of services right into the community,” Intuitive Health Market President Jared Stark said. “It’s very easy to access, it’s easier to park next to the facility, it’s very efficient, so you can get what you need and then get on with your day, get back to your life.”

Baxley says the project should be completed and start accepting patients by early 2027, if not earlier.

Some beachgoers were in for a surprise on Wednesday when a bizarre looking prehistoric fish washed ashore on a local Beaufort County beach. The rare Atlantic sturgeon was found Wednesday afternoon and shown on Facebook for identification by John Billings.

A sturgeon washing up on a beach is pretty rare because sturgeon are pretty rare.

“We see them maybe a few times a year at best,” said Mike Wagner of Shore Beach Service on Hilton Head when one washed ashore there awhile back. “They’re not what people typically see washed up on the beach.”

They are quite rare indeed. To see this one washed ashore at Islanders Beach Park must have been a sight for Hilton Head beachgoers.

Known to live to be over 60 years old, grow to 14 feet in length and weigh up to 800 pounds, the sturgeon is indeed a prehistoric species. They appear in the fossil record more than 200 million years ago and are commonly referred to as ‘a living fossil’.

A century ago, in the late 1890s, there was a huge fishery for sturgeon all over the East Coast revolving around harvesting of the eggs for caviar. It was so popular, it was dubbed ‘The Black Gold Rush’.

According to NOAA Fisheries, Atlantic sturgeon were once found in great abundance, but their populations have declined greatly due to over-fishing and habitat loss. Atlantic sturgeon were prized for their eggs, which were valued as high-quality caviar. During the late 1800s, people flocked to the Eastern United States in search of caviar riches from the sturgeon fishery.

By the beginning of the 1900s, sturgeon populations had declined drastically. Close to 7 million pounds of sturgeon were reportedly caught in 1887, but by 1905 the catch declined to only 20,000 pounds. By 1989 only 400 pounds of sturgeon were recorded.

Sturgeon are born in the freshwater or brackish water estuaries along the SC coast, particularly in the Edisto, Savannah and Pee Dee Rivers, and head to the ocean after a few years to mature. Atlantic sturgeon are the largest fish living in freshwater on the entire Atlantic coast.

During the mid-1970s, half of the US landings of Atlantic sturgeon came from South Carolina. The sturgeon fishery in South Carolina was officially closed in 1985

Today, all five U.S. Atlantic sturgeon population segments are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

You’ve heard the term, “a dinosaur washed up on the beach.” This Atlantic sturgeon on Hilton Head Island is the real deal.

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A prehistoric visitor washed ashore on Hilton Head on Nov. 19.

The fish, identified as a sturgeon, was first spotted by beach goers in front of the Islanders Beach Club. Shore Beach Services removed it and then turned it over to marine biologist Amber Kuehn, executive director of Sea Turtle Patrol Hilton Head Island.

Kuehn froze the fish at the request of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and will deliver it to the agency’s office in Charleston.

From there, the SCDNR Diadromous Fishes Program will measure it, take samples and photos, and submit a record to the National Marine Fisheries Service, according to Ellen Waldrop, a biologist with the program.

The discovery drew immediate attention because sturgeon sightings on Hilton Head are few and far between.

Waldrop confirmed that the fish has been identified as a juvenile Atlantic sturgeon — one of two species found in South Carolina waters, alongside the smaller shortnose sturgeon. Both species are federally protected, making it illegal to harm or keep them. Even a dead or stranded sturgeon should be reported.

A species built for the long haul

Atlantic sturgeon are known for their impressive lifespan and size.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says that sturgeons have a long fossil record, dating back 120 million years. Sturgeon ancestors even roamed the earth with dinosaurs 245 million years ago.

Adults can reach up to 14 feet and weigh up to 800 pounds, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.

South Carolina’s populations tend to live anywhere from 25 to 30 years long and take five to 19 years to mature. These fish hatch in freshwater rivers, then spend much of their lives in coastal waters and return to their birthplace to spawn.

NOAA states that tagging data indicate that young Atlantic sturgeon travel widely up and down the East Coast.

The two types of sturgeons can appear similar, but Atlantic sturgeons can be distinguished by their larger size, smaller mouth, different snout shape, and tail scute pattern.

Once abundant, now endangered

Sturgeon populations were once abundant, but their numbers have plummeted due to overfishing and habitat loss. During the late 1800s, in what’s sometimes known as the “Black Gold Rush,” sturgeon eggs were a prized find and fueled a booming caviar trade.

Today, all U.S. Atlantic sturgeon population segments are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Sturgeons are bottom feeders, sifting through riverbeds and coastal shallows for crustaceans, worms, mollusks, and bottom-dwelling fish.

Officials urge anyone who finds a dead or stranded sturgeon — or catches one accidentally — to report it to NOAA or the SCDNR.

Friendly reminder that when you swim in the ocean off Hilton Head your little legs are sharing the habitat of GIANT STURGEON you're welcome pic.twitter.com/6q7I6Qwb2r

— Kati Kokal (@katikokal) December 4, 2020