Andy White, Walter Taylor, and Bill Theus, Developers of the Saluda River Club

MidlandsBiz:
Discuss the origins of Saluda River Club. 

Andy White:
We twice tried to buy this property.  Initially, we lost out to a national home builder, but when they left town, we were fortunate enough to get a second opportunity to put an offer in.   

MidlandsBiz:
Why this piece of property?

Walter Taylor:
From the drive along Corley Mill Road with its the beautiful, treed arches, to the entrance of our development, to the slow drive back through the property to the river, it’s other-worldly compared to typical Columbia neighborhoods.  The topography is different, the trees are different, and the river is spectacular.  In terms of the natural beauty, it just could not be a prettier setting.

 

Andy White:
Corley Mill Road has been designated by the Lexington planning commission as a scenic highway so that tree-lined, shaded feel that you get driving down the road will be protected forever.  The drive in along Corley Mill Road is an amenity in and of itself. 

The main reason we sought this property was its superior location.

Access to transportation:  We are on the other side of the Lexington traffic.  Highway 20 is five minutes down the road so it’s easy to access commercial and retail services, and if you work downtown, it’s a much shorter commute.  With the dam finished, it’s 12 minutes to Harbison and drive five minutes down Highway 378 and you’re in Lexington.     

Access to top schools: Midway Elementary School (which is less than five minutes away) feeds into Lexington Middle School which in turn feeds into Lexington High School.  You are in one of the top- ranked school systems in the state. 
Access to the Saluda River:  Name another neighborhood in Columbia that has 235 acres and one mile of unlimited access to a riverfront.

MidlandsBiz:
What has been your vision with this development?

Andy White:
We wanted to go beyond the conventional suburban development with an endless series of cul-de-sacs with no sidewalks.  Our vision is to produce a residential development where the natural and built amenities can be enjoyed by single professionals, young couples, families, empty-nesters – everybody.  We have a great diversity of product available at prices that range from the $180s to $1M so this development is affordable to anyone.  We wanted a walkable, safe neighborhood where folks could have plenty of opportunity to meet each other casually and incidentally. 

 

Bill Theus:
Sales appointment, or no sales appointment, we invite people to just come on out and enjoy the property.  If you’re moving to this area, or if you’re living in Columbia and currently looking to either upgrade or downsize, you cannot buy without first visiting this neighborhood. 

 

 

MidlandsBiz:
What are some of the challenges that you faced in a development of this size?

Walter Taylor:
One challenge was the condition of the property and dealing with what the previous builder had already started.  They had planned to build a commodity neighborhood on what we thought was a spectacular piece of property.  Not a good match.  Our challenge was to convert the ordinary to the extraordinary.

A second challenge was that many of the unique design elements such as alleyways and on-street parking that we wanted to include were not allowed in the Lexington County ordinances. 

Andy White:
I can’t speak highly enough about the folks over at Lexington County. They have been incredibly supportive and really been a key partner in helping us move this development forward. 

The last challenge has been how to blend the different design elements and the range of price points that we wanted into a cohesive look and feel to the property.

MidlandsBiz:
How did you accomplish the planning and design component? 

Andy White:
The Saluda River Club is comprised of two distinct areas:  The Village District and The River District.  The Village District, at the front of the community, has 212 dwelling units and mixed product types from townhouses, to condominiums (planned), to 900-square-foot cottages, to single-family homes.  The River District has 125 single-family and estate homes on large wooded lots and includes our flagship Chickawa Outdoor Center.  Located close to the river, the Chickawa features an interior fireplace, an infinity pool, a deck, a screened porch, and even an elevated outdoor fire pit.  Our goal with the eclectic architectural elements of the Outdoor Center was to make it look as though it had been there for years.  From Chickawa Outdoor Center, residents have access to the riverfront and to our nature trail system.  An adjacent riverfront observation deck offers spectacular views of the Saluda. 

With two neighborhoods, we decided to use two distinct planners.  Cooter Ramsey, one of the principals at Allison Ramsey Architects in Beaufort who I knew through some earlier projects, was a great fit for the conception of The Village District.  We tied the whole development together with common architectural elements such as similar landscaping, stacked stone walls and pergolas.  

We selected a group of five builders who gave us exactly what we looked for in The River District: great diversity in the choice of homes. 

Between the two districts, we built a central meeting place with workout room, post office and an area for people over the age of 21 to socialize and just chill out and host some friends.  These amenities are finished and ready use. 

MidlandsBiz:
What is the total zoned number of homes that you can put in this development?

Andy White:
575 home sites. Phases 4 and 5 will offer an additional 242 homes.  

MidlandsBiz:
How did you enter into the residential real estate development business?  How did you meet?

Bill Theus:
Walter and I had been working together for 20 some odd years in the lot development business and that’s how we met Andy. 

Andy White:
After graduating in finance from Clemson, I went to work for large, national homebuilding company before starting a company called Palmetto Traditional Homes with Walter and Bill in 1997.  We eventually sold that company. 

Walter Taylor:
I was born and raised here and my dad was in the real estate business so after school I just sort of followed in his footsteps. &
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MidlandsBiz:
Don’t you have connections back to the naming of Taylor Street here in town?

Walter Taylor:
When they decided back in 1760 to move the state capital from Charleston, the architects of what was destined to become the planned city of Columbia bought 10,000 acres from my great, great, great grandfather. 

MidlandsBiz:
What is your current organizational structure?

Andy White:
Recently, we formed a company called Lifestone Communities, LLC to develop not only this property here at the Saluda River Club, but also other unique communities with an attractive lifestyle for targeted groups of people. 

We know each other well and we have confidence in each other.  You are not looking at one typical company with a hierarchy of CEOs, Presidents and Vice Presidents, but rather a series of companies.  I am involved in projects on my own without Walter and Bill, and similarly, they have projects that they do on their own. 

Bill Theus:
With Lifestone, we look to move beyond typical suburban development and take on projects that we can be really passionate about.  It’s more challenging, but also more fun. 

MidlandsBiz:
What are some of the major projects that you have worked on prior to Saluda River? 

Bill Theus:
We have done over 50 communities throughout the Carolinas.  Walter and I developed the lots in behind the VA hospital that eventually became the Hampton Crest neighborhood.  We bought the land from a local family and through some creative land planning we turned it into a very nice place to live and a great community.  The properties sold well because it was a great location.  Folks have seen a steady appreciation in their home values because resales have continued to be good through the years.  

Walter Taylor:
Lakeside at Ballentine was also a fun development project and one that offered us the opportunity to test the concept of preserving an amenity for an entire neighborhood to use.  There was a limited amount of frontage on the lake, so instead of carving up lots and restricting access to the lake for the majority of residences, we built a pool and clubhouse and decided to give everybody access to the water.  The vast majority of Lake Murray developments (and some that we have done, for that matter) have followed the strategy of selling off expensive lake lots to get the cash flowing, and subsequently trying to move the interior lots. Guess what?  Those interior lots don’t look so attractive after the lake lots are gone. 

The Saluda River Club follows the Lakeside at Ballentine strategy – everybody will have access to the water.

MidlandsBiz:
You have built on Lake Murray and now the Saluda River.  Is water a key part of what you are looking for when considering a development project?

Walter Taylor:
Water is certainly one great way to enhance lifestyle, and here in the Midlands, assets such as Lake Murray and the Saluda River are attractive options if you are looking to build a differentiated lifestyle community.  But we are looking to take advantage of something unique, not necessarily water. 

MidlandsBiz:
What are some of the key drivers of successful real estate development?

Bill Theus:
Residential development is about learning how to match the design of homes with a target market in mind. 

MidlandsBiz:
Discuss the importance of environmentally friendly, green design to the Saluda River Club.

Andy White:
85 out of the total 235 acres are set aside for open space.  The greenest strategy we could employ would be to keep the property green. 

You can’t create a community where people will want to come and spend the rest of their lives without treating Mother Nature with great care.   We have taken extraordinary lengths to ensure that the river is handled gently.  When kayakers traveling down the Saluda paddle past our development, they will see a couple of access points for other kayakers and maybe a few rooftops beyond the trees, but other than that, nothing!  By preserving all of the trees along the river, we wanted this development to be almost invisible to the people already using the river. 

Also, our builders have used some unbelievable state-of-the-art green design elements in their houses. 

MidlandsBiz:
Tough time to be selling houses.  How is the economy affecting this development? 

Andy White:
From initial conception to completion, a large, master-planned community like the Saluda River Club will necessitate our direct involvement for anywhere from 12-15 years.  We will go through more than one economic cycle during that time.  Sure the market has been less than robust, but we have sold 10 houses and 41 properties during the worst quarter in the economy in almost 30 years.  We sold three of the six higher priced homes that were part of the Parade of Homes.  We are happy with our sales thus far and feel as though we are well positioned going forward. 

MidlandsBiz:
Who are some other developers that you have admired? 

Walter Taylor:
Edwin Cooper, who was responsible for top notch neighborhoods such as Spring Valley and Woodcreek here in town, was a local developer that I always admired.  He always did quality work, but more importantly, he was just a great guy to be around.  His son and grandson are continuing on in the development business with a company called Forest Land Company. 

 

MidlandsBiz:
What advice would you give to entrepreneurs?

Bill Theus: 
Thinking that it would be a good stable place to work, the risk avoiders of our generation went to work for the banks.  So much has changed over these past six months that it’s hard to define stability.  For me, it was a liberating feeling going out on my own and moving away from the idea of always reporting to somebody else.  Be courageous and just do it. 

Walter Taylor:
There is no job security being an entrepreneur either and in that sense, it can be a daunting experience.  But the freedom and the opportunity it gives you to be creative more than makes up for the challenges. 

Andy White:
I just grew tired of working for a large company and being moved around all the time. When I worked for the national builder, Lexington was our 7th city in 14 years.  Being your own boss gives you the freedom to choose. 

MidlandsBiz:
Have you ventured into other lines of business?

Bill Theus: 
We are all involved in other ventures and not necessarily with each other.  Walter and I bought an old Target store on Decker Boulevard and converted it to a storage facility.  That’s another advantage of being your own boss.  You can jump into other new business opportunities when they present themselves. 

It’s fun to learn about different business models, but for 15 years, our core business has been residential development.  We are all extremely proud of this development, the Saluda River Club.