Planned development on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base could change Myrtle Beach more than any single effort in the city's 50-year-history.

Live-and-work communities, together totaling 920 acres, are making headway for the first time on previously undeveloped land. Developers have collaborated to create a model for projects that will incorporate retail shopping, residences, parks and an urban-village concept that officials say promotes a healthful lifestyle.

The former base is the last major undeveloped parcel within city limits and gives the Grand Strand, sometimes dubbed the "Redneck Riviera," the chance to compete with the type of high-end restaurants and shops found in Charleston.

"Geographically, it's the single biggest piece that we've done," City Manager Tom Leath said. "It's going to force other areas to stay competitive."

Nationally, planners and developers are keeping an eye on the smart-growth initiative in Myrtle Beach. Locally, the redevelopment could be an economic boon, creating jobs and generating taxes. It's also an example of the city's efforts to clean up the south end of Myrtle Beach, where residents complain of crime and lower property values than their north-end neighbors. City leaders say the sole problem they foresee is increased traffic.

The 3,800-acre former base has seen little development because of several high-profile failures since it closed in 1993, but in recent months, a flurry of development has taken place. Developers estimate it could eventually house 15,000 residents.

"Although it's becoming a reality as we speak today, the seeds of that, the real framework, were established in the mid-'90s," Myrtle Beach Planning Director Jack Walker said. "Everybody's dream was realized twice or three times. The airport is going to be bigger than they thought it would be, there's going to be more housing out there than we ever thought, more parkland."

Of the former base's total land area, the Myrtle Beach International Airport occupies 2,100 acres. McCaffery Interests has stepped up to build an urban village on 113 acres, RWO Acquisitions will build retail, hotels and residences on 560 acres, and Lennar Corp. has residential plans for 250 acres of the Ross Tract.

The effect of three

The Air Base Redevelopment Authority funded massive improvements to the former base, installing infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer lines soon after it closed.

Last year, elected officials approved a method in which some public funds will help create the urban village that residents requested a decade ago. Some property taxes generated on the former base will be diverted from the city, county and school coffers to help pay for The Market Common's improved roads, lighting and parks that will be open to everyone in a town-center style.

City officials say the timing of the three projects will compound the effect on the city, geographically and financially.

"In the decades between 1995 to 2015, there is nothing that will probably be able to compare," Walker said.

When the base was open between 1941 to 1993, it generated no property taxes and 800 civilian jobs. Now, the area has about 2,500 residents, produces $2 million in taxes a year and has created 1,500 jobs. Those numbers will quickly increase when developments open, said Buddy Styers, executive director of the Air Base Redevelopment Authority, the group pegged to oversee much of the land.

"I don't want people to ever forget that the Air Force was here," Styers said. "[But] once the property becomes an integral part of the community, it will easily replace the jobs and the tax base."

The effect will stretch beyond the base's and city's borders, "enhancing the property values of the south end, the quality of life in Myrtle Beach and the quality of life for everyone," he said.

Leath said one of the benefits residents have already received from the former base is the amount of recreation space.

As part of the division of the base land, Myrtle Beach was granted the former base golf course, Whispering Pines, to operate as a public course. The current park area on the former base will be expanded to 350 acres - nearly half the size of New York's Central Park.

Working together

Gov. Mark Sanford has praised the developers for working together to incorporate new urbanism - an idea that's the polar opposite of the urban sprawl that plagues some major cities.

"This is not a new thing," he said. "It's going back to what worked a long time ago."

Styers said all three developers have the financial ability to sidestep problems of previous efforts and to complete these projects. McCaffery Interests developed a similar urban village in Arlington, Va. Lennar Corp. is the third-largest U.S. homebuilder by stock market value. RWO Acquisitions CEO Robert O'Neel III said he has overseen $500 million in residential and retail real estate, including 3,000 homes in Northern California and Nevada.

Developers say The Market Common, Withers Preserve and Lennar projects aren't simply competitors: They say the three projects will complement one another.

The urban village drew RWO Acquisitions, which will develop a similar style of coexisting housing and retail in Withers Preserve. RWO Acquisitions and Lennar will also develop neighborhoods of modern housing, which Walker said is a key component because not all residents want to live near commercial areas.

"We're glad to be part of that," said Greg Hobbs, Withers Preserve's project manger. RWO Acquisitions' purchase of 560 acres makes the company the largest private landholder on the former base.

The 113-acre Market Common will usher in an era of new sophistication for the Grand Strand, said Clayton McCaffery, vice president of leasing for McCaffery Interests.

"We are the primary social core. The city of Myrtle Beach has invested significant capital over the past decade or so to create this special environment," McCaffery said in an e-mail to The Sun News. "Others will surround it, but all roads will lead to The Market Common."

In order to make the project financially feasible, developers worked with the city to secure public funding for the improved roads, parks, water and sewer. The city approved a $45 million tax-increment finance district, which diverts property taxes over a certain cap to pay for the list of predetermined projects.

"Such a large parcel is a unique opportunity for any company," McCaffery said. "In particular, we see the chance to enhance in a very positive manner the physical attributes of the city. We see the opportunity to create a place that can be called the heart of Myrtle Beach."

Lennar Corp. has kept quiet about the details of the neotraditional residential development planned for 250 acres of the former base.

The Miami-based company announced a 501-acre residential project in September 2004, but it recently sold half its land to RWO Acquisitions to develop. Lennar now plans to build 900 homes and townhomes, said Donnie Long, Myrtle Beach division president for Lennar.

"We're looking to make a pretty big presence here," Long said. "It's a great city, great market."

History of the base

Myrtle Beach incorporated as a town in 1938 and became a city in 1957. At that time, the Air Force base was functional and shared its airport facilities with the municipalities.

"Myrtle Beach's relationship with the base was different than a lot of cities' and bases' relationships would go," said Leath, Myrtle Beach's city manager since 1985. "Myrtle Beach had its own identity as a tourist resort, so I don't think we ever got that military-town feel."

The Department of Defense's Base Closure and Realignment Commission, commonly known as BRAC, ordered closure for Myrtle Beach's base in 1991 to save money. It was too small for expansion, so the U.S. Air Force divided the land among the redevelopment authority, Santee Cooper, Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach International Airport, the Horry County Red Cross, the Cathedral Bible College and Horry-Georgetown Technical College.

Most of the former base sat undeveloped for years while property owners and community leaders searched for the right developers. When BRAC closed Myrtle Beach's base, a city-created commission determined the community wanted an urban village. Styers was hired in 1995 to lead the redevelopment authority, made up of appointed volunteers, who decided to create that urban village. The retired Air Force colonel had the chance to sell off small parcels but held out for a master developer to realize the city's vision.

Around the time Styers took the reins, one key issue with former base land was finding a successful developer for the section known as the Ross Tract, which is now being developed primarily as Withers Preserve.

First, Timberland Properties Inc. bought the land from Santee Cooper in 1995, which controlled that part of the base, with plans for an amusement park. It failed, Santee Cooper reclaimed the land, and TPI went bankrupt.

N.C. developer Bill Burk planned a mixed-use neighborhood on the same land in 1999, then rechristened Centre Pointe. Burk defaulted on his mortgage and the lender foreclosed. Lastly, Coastal Arena LLC hoped to build an arena. The city balked at a request for tax rebates and the plan fell apart.

The south end

The planned development on the former base is part of a renewed interest in the city's south end.

"It's going to help the south end really compete with the rest of the city," Leath said. "A lot of the redevelopment has been occurring in the middle to north end."

Some residents complain that the north end of the city gets more attention because of wealthy neighborhoods such as Pine Lakes and Grande Dunes. City Council has lacked a resident from south of 16th Avenue North since the 2003 election, when longtime Councilman Wilson Cain was defeated.

The council has recently asked the city to focus on cleaning up the city's oldest neighborhoods, many of which are near U.S. 501. Residents of Cedar Street, Canal Street and the Booker T. Washington neighborhoods there have complained about crime and dilapidated buildings that keep property values and morale low.

The empty base has likely contributed to the lack of development on the city's south end because of its proximity to those neighborhoods, Walker said.

"Because it was so large and gated when it was here, it kept parts of the city on the south end from ever being connected to each other," he said. "Farrow Parkway and all the other roads that will be made a part of this are going to open up ways for people to move around and for neighborhoods to develop."

Urban sprawl and BRAC

The availability of 900 acres of land in the middle of an already growing community was a unique experiment for Myrtle Beach's planners to create a modern, environmentally friendly model for other communities to follow, Walker said.

"We look at this opportunity on the base as a way of creating models for neighborhoods, for commercial, for parks that can be replicated later throughout the region," Walker said. "We're investing a lot of time and a certain amount of money so what we end up with [at the former base] is as close to a perfect model as we can create."

A National Association of Realtors survey of home-buyer preferences found that one-third of respondents have a strong preference for new urbanism housing options, and up to half may be attracted to such options after they've been exposed to them.

The developments will be a turnaround for the city, which has been moving toward urban sprawl, officials said.

And other communities are paying attention.

Walker said national, regional and state conferences have addressed the Myrtle Beach project and are taking note of the lessons learned in the BRAC process. Walker said he spoke about BRAC at the national conferences of groups such as the American Planning Association and the National Association of Installation Developers.

Several other communities have rebounded from base closure by building urban villages. In Florida, 1,100 acres of the former Orlando Naval Training Center has been made into Baldwin Park, a mixed-use retail and residential area. In Colorado, a former airport in Denver has been transformed into 3,000 acres of residential and commercial infill development.

Walker said the city has also shared its experiences nationally to help improve the efficiency of the BRAC process. BRAC announced last year additional base closures and cost cutting across the nation to reduce expenditures by at least 20 percent. South Carolina escaped with a net gain in jobs.

Foreseeing problems

Donald and Ann Murphy moved into the former base's military housing at Seagate Village when they bought a home in Myrtle Beach almost three years ago. Originally from Boston, Donald Murphy said he hopes the base redevelopment will mimic the urban feel of his hometown.

"It will be a little upscale, which should definitely make this [house] worth more, but that doesn't matter to me because I'm not planning to leave," he said. "We absolutely love it here."

Murphy said his one concern is the potential traffic, which already clogs the intersection by the back gate at U.S. 17 Bypass and Farrow Parkway. The Redevelopment Authority will likely vote in May to fund $300,000 in improvements to the intersection that will add an acceleration lane and expand the turn lanes. Styers projects the improvements will be done by Easter 2007.

Large residential or commercial development can strain existing infrastructure, causing traffic problems such as those faced in the Carolina Forest area.

Walker said that because the base development encourages walking, the traffic problems could be lessened.

"We want you to be able to live at the air base and walk to the grocery store," to school or to work, he said. "Any of those relationships require a car in Carolina Forest. We can't continue to do that kind of development."

Adding roads that provide more travel options and more connectivity could reduce traffic on the main roads, he said.

"The significance of the things that are happening out there on the Air Force base are much greater than the sum of their parts," Walker said. "The things that are happening out there will influence things that are happening all over this region. The impact of it is well beyond the limits of the property itself, so measuring it will take several decades because of the rippling effect."

That's why it's worth the city's investment in infrastructure, he said.

Myrtle Beach's future

There's not much left to purchase and develop on the former base. The redevelopment authority has four parcels of land left to sell that are less than 30 acres combined. Those pieces are under contract to be sold.

The U.S. Air Force must decontaminate the final parcels before sale. At that time, which Styers said could be in late 2007, the authority will give out the last of its money. Then the authority will cease to exist.

Many changes are occurring in Myrtle Beach, including the demolition of Myrtle Square Mall. The city could see major changes to its downtown entertainment district with the announcement last month that the 11-acre Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park will close after this tourist season.

But Styers said the base redevelopment surpasses everything else.

"Myrtle Square Mall, Broadway at the Beach, Coastal Grand, this transcends all of those projects because this is a new town," Styers said. "If you've got 5,000 families living out here, 15,000 people between [U.S. 17] Bypass and Kings Highway, it's a big deal. It's going to create a community."