Development Value now at $1.5 Billion

Keith Lang

The Brunswick News

Real estate buyers across the country have put down $300 million in faith toward the proposed Liberty Harbor development on the Brunswick waterfront, backers of the project said Monday.

The money came in via the purchase of homes and condominiums in the 110 acre luxury urban village that is to be built in the shadow of the Sidney Lanier Bridge during the project's first sales event this weekend, said Gary Waxman, president of WW Group Holdings, the group developing Liberty Harbor.

Developers are calling the sales total one of the largest in state history, he said.

"The response to our first Liberty Harbor sales event has been truly amazing," Waxman said. "while we built a significant reservation list of more than 1,300 over the past several months, the pace of translating that interest into sales has far exceeded our expectations."

Developers reported Monday that individual sales ranged from $270,000 to more than $2 million for condominiums and $175,000 to $695,000 for homes.

Waxman said the sales boon pushed the value of the Liberty Harbor project from the $1 billion developers estimated when the project was announced last July up to $1.5 billion. Waxman said developers hope to break ground on the project this year.

Developers will continue to focus on the residential aspects of Liberty Harbor, Waxman said, though the project is also slated to feature a 350-slip boat marina, a private beach club on Jekyll Island, a marina boardwalk, access to a championship golf course, an aquatic center and a spa.

"We really aren't going to deal with the commercial stuff until later in the year," he said. "We've been approached by a lot of folks that want to come on our site, but that has not been our focus."

Previously, international luxury hotel chain Hyatt Regency agreed to operate a hotel as part of the development.

Brunswick Mayor Bryan Thompson hailed the sales total as a positive sign for Liberty Harbor's impact on the city economy. It is estimated the development will pump an additional $5 million in property taxes into the city and that more than 1,000 jobs will be created as part of the development's construction and operation.

We're very glad that the last year of planning Liberty Harbor has done (well) and the efforts put out in marketing the site and our community are starting to show some results," Thompson said.

"This is the first step in a series of planned and orchestrated steps that will be able to give developers a return on their investment and give our community another new neighborhood we can welcome into the fold, and the city coffers can grow with it."

Buyers echoed the mayor's excitement about Liberty Harbor.

One out-of-town purchase, Gary Crawford, said he, too, is hoping for a financial windfall from Liberty Harbor.

Crawford, who purchased a condominium for $450,000, said he thought he got a good deal.

"I was looking for an opportunity to invest in something that will increase in value and appreciate," said Crawford, a south Georgia entrepreneur. "There's nothing like this available in Brunswick. Everything on St. Simons of comparable value is going to be twice as much money. . . .