Sanctuary Pointe Development Moving Forward

Photo: MJ Kneiser, WLHR News

In Oconee County, South Carolina, nearly 250 people squeezed into the South Union Baptist Church for the first public meeting on the Sanctuary Pointe project just inside the state line off I-85.

Developer Elmon Henry, identified as one of the five principals in the project, explained his group’s master plan during a 90-minute meeting this week, the last part of which was devoted to a lively q-and-a with the audience. 

Henry and his associates are planning a mixed-use development adjacent to the South Carolina Welcome Center off Exit 1 on the Interstate.  Plans are for boat facilities, a golf course, restaurant, and two hotels overlooking Hartwell Lake.

And Henry used college basketball’s March Madness as an analogy to describe the stage of the project.  He said his development group has made it to the Sweet Sixteen, but there’s a good way to go before the championship or the finish line. 

“Be patient, that’s all I ask. We’ve been very patient for five years and we’re really starting to get into what is really important now,” he said. 

In answer to a question, Henry said the first visible signs of Sanctuary Pointe will be converting what is a logging road into a tree-lined entrance to run two miles deep into the Lake Hartwell peninsula. 

While the entrance road is built, Henry says his group will be actively pursuing a four-star hotel, which the development group believes will be a magnet for I-85 motorists between Atlanta and Charlotte.

Joel Thrift is the chair of the Oconee County Council.   Thrift said the county is excited about the project and sees it as a great economic opportunity.

 “I look forward to being partners with Sanctuary Pointe. It’s been a long process and I certainly appreciate them hanging in there to get this thing accomplished,” Thrift said.

 Henry projected Oconee County and South Carolina will enjoy a $38 million benefit over ten years from sales and accommodations taxes, not including, he said, real estate taxes.

He also predicted a minimum of 450 construction jobs and between 500 – 600 permanent jobs as a result of the project.