Beach nearly done with Cantey Bay planning

More than two years after taking ownership of the tract, the Beach Co. is putting the finishing touches on a master plan for its nearly 4,000-acre Cantey Bay Plantation property on Lake Marion.

The Charleston-based real estate development firm has scheduled a public meeting for Tuesday at the Summerton Cultural Arts Center from 5-7 p.m. to show how it's proposing to build out the Clarendon County property.

The Beach Co. acquired the rural forest and farmland in October 2005 from Springs Co., a textile maker based in Lancaster, for about $9.7 million. The tract includes 1.5 miles of lakefront property and two miles along either side of U.S. Interstate 95. It is buffered to the west by a federal wildlife preserve.

The company has said the property would likely be developed into a mix of residential, commercial and recreational uses that could take a decade or more to complete.

According to Web site set up for the project, canteybay.com, the proposed amenities will include an 18-hole golf course, a lakefront clubhouse, a marina, a waterfront restaurant, swimming pools, walking trails, ball fields, parks and tennis courts.

The company bought the property in part because it felt the central location would likely appeal to buyers of weekend lake getaways and even primary residences, especially as development pushes out from some of the state's urban centers, such as Charleston and Columbia.

A new factor that could give the Beach Co.'s lake project a boost is the coming wave of industrial development that's expected to break at I-95 and I-26 in nearby Orangeburg.

Cantey Bay takes its name from a property that was submerged during the man-made formation of Lake Marion.

Planting a stake

A growing Florida-based nursery business has expanded into the Charleston region, picking the Summerville area for its first local green goods emporium. The 7-acre site on Jedburg Road is the third Palmetto State location for Skinner Nurseries, which already has locations in Myrtle Beach and the Hilton Head Island area.

The Jacksonville company specializes in sales of trees, shrubs, ground covers, vines, annuals, perennials and specialty plants. Skinner mainly caters to wholesalers, although it does not turn away walk-in business.

'We've been serving the market on a direct basis for the past eight years, but the amount of growth the area has experienced demands our further investment in personnel, facility and inventory,' said

Chuck Easton, special asset manager for Skinner, which now has 21 locations in the Southeast. The Summerville nursery is run by Rusty Reeder.

Contact John McDermott at 937-5572 or jmcdermott@postandcourier.com.