South Carolina Ports Authority asking $22.5M for former Beaufort County terminal

The State Ports Authority’s long-shuttered marine terminal in Beaufort County is back on the market at a higher price, after several previous attempts to sell the site fell through.

A real estate firm working with the Charleston-based maritime agency said Tuesday that it has launched a new website to drum up interest in the former Port of Port Royal.

The asking price is $22.5 million, or nearly one-third more than what the last prospective buyer offered to pay for the 51 acres of high land and 266 acres of marsh on Battery Creek.

The SPA has been trying to sell the Port Royal property since 2004.

Columbia-based commercial real estate firm NAI Avant’s last asking price was $20.4 million, and the most recent purchase offer was for $17 million.

The last would-be buyer, Port Royal Redevelopment Group, had trouble getting its bid financed, and it received four extensions to close on the sale before the final deadline passed in September.

At that time, the SPA said it would have the value of the property re-appraised and put it back on the sales block.

The SPA commissioned the appraisal in the fall and hired a firm to clean up the property.

The General Assembly ordered the Port of Port Royal closed in 2004, and the SPA put the land up for sale in 2005.

Three different groups have tried to buy it for residential and commercial development since then.