Lugoff-Elgin – Market Overview

Overview

The Lugoff-Elgin market area is located in the northeast portion of the Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area. It includes the entire portion of Kershaw County west of the Wateree River. It is adjacent to the fastest growing suburban market in the region, Northeast Columbia. Accordingly, the market is beginning to capture an increasing share of the region’s growth.

The Lugoff-Elgin market is comprised of two growing areas. Lugoff is an unincorporated community centered around the US 601 & US 1 Corridor. It originally developed as a suburban area adjacent to the county seat and employment center of Camden. Today, it serves as a bedroom community for Camden and the Columbia market and as a center of commercial activity and employment. The Town of Elgin is an incorporated area to the southwest of Lugoff that primarily serves as a bedroom community.

Land Pricing and Rents

Tracts for single family residential development have traded between $2,500 and $9,000 an acre. Sites for single use retail or banks have been selling for $2.00 to $9.50 per square foot.

Population

During the last nine years, the population of the Lugoff-Elgin area expanded by 27.8% to nearly 28,000 persons. By 2014, nearly 32,000 persons are projected to live in the market.

Geographically, the population is concentrated around the US 1 and I-20 corridors. This area has municipal water and sewer service and is near the area’s schools. It is also within a 30 minute drive of the major employers of Northeast Richland, Camden, Fort Jackson, and Downtown Columbia.

Nearly 30% of the market population is under 20 years of age while 7.6% are 70 years or older.

Approximately 15% of the market’s population 25 years or older possess at least a bachelors degree. 80% of adults are high school graduates.

Residential Development

Between 1999 and 2003, an annual average of 289 homes were constructed in Kershaw County with 90% located in the Lugoff-Elgin market. Since 2004, an average of 455 homes were permitted annually.

Most site built residential development was concentrated in a growing number of subdivisions located between the Town of Elgin, Lugoff and Interstate 20. Given the availability of municipal water and sewer, proximity to the schools and the regional transportation system, this area seems likely to absorb the majority of new site built development. Augmenting this trend is the rapid growth (2,000 housing units a year) in the adjacent Northeast Richland market.

There are 12 residential subdivisions currently active in the Lugoff-Elgin market. Notably, most large national and regional housing developers are absent from the market. However, given the upward trend of residential development, a growing scarcity of development tracts in Northeast Richland, and a growing employment base in Kershaw County, their entrance in the market should not be too far in the future.

Income

The average household income in the Lugoff-Elgin market is estimated at nearly $49,000.

One in six households had incomes $75,000 or greater in 2009. Another quarter were between $50,000 and $75,000.

Employment

Most major employers in Kershaw County are located near Interstate 20 around the Elgin and Camden interchanges making the Lugoff-Elgin market an ideal residential location. Residents can take advantage of the full range of employers with less than 30 minute commutes to Downtown Columbia, Camden, Fort Jackson, and Northeast Richland as well as the local employers.

Several of the county’s major employers are located in the Lugoff-Elgin market area. Target recently opened a distribution warehouse at the Heritage Point Industrial Park and Haier announced the five fold expansion of their appliance factory at the US 521 interchange. Invista operates a nylon plant in the US 1 & US 601 corridor and the Kershaw County Medical Center operates a satellite facility, which employs the equivalent of approximately 25 full time persons, near the high school in Lugoff. Most of their remaining employees work at the campus in Camden.

Commercial Activity

The US 1 and Springdale intersection is the established commercial hub of the Camden area. In the past few years, Wal-Mart relocated to a Supercenter and Belk department store back filled their vacated space, and Lowe’s Home Improvement opened its first Kershaw County store. Given the available land at that intersection, this area is likely to see continued growth which will serve both the Lugoff-Elgin and Camden markets.

The Town of Elgin is currently the focus of several residential developments and an extension of sewer service from Lugoff via US 1 to Interstate 20 is under construction. Food Lion and Auto Zone recently opened locations in the town and other retailers should follow to capture the growing residential market.

The US 601 corridor is the center of the Lugoff community. Additional residential growth should support the continued development of the corridor.

The White Pond Road interchange with I-20 will soon have a satellite facility of the Kerhsaw County Medical Center inside a new business park – the Wateree Executive Center.