Kiawah Development Partners
Development Overview of Kiawah Island
Kiawah Island is a 10,000-acre barrier island with an exceptional residential-resort community on the Atlantic coast 21 miles south of historic Charleston, South Carolina. The name Kiawah (pronounced Key-a-wah) comes from the Native American tribe that hunted and fished on these lands during the 1600s. Today Kiawah Island is home to some 2,700 villas, cottages, and single-family residences plus a world-class resort, accommodating more than 400,000 visitors annually.
Preserving Natural Beauty
Development began on Kiawah in the mid-1970s when a multi-disciplined planning team was assembled and charged with a single overriding premise – protect the Island's spectacular natural beauty. This team of scientists, historians, and environmentalists conducted a $1.3 million study over the course of 16 months. From the study's findings, a plan was crafted to balance the social, recreational, and commercial needs of Kiawah's future residents with nature.
Kiawah Resort Associates purchased the Island in 1988 and furthered environmental aspects of the master plan for development. Deciding to focus on how best to provide residential, club, and architectural aspects of Kiawah's future, rather than the day-to-day operation of a resort, KRA sold the resort accommodation and public golf amenities the following year. Subsequently, KRA established Kiawah Development Partners to oversee all operational details of the island's development.
Kiawah's development plan remains the model for conservation, enhancement of open space, and preservation of the Island's environmental integrity. It incorporates substantial ocean setbacks to protect the dunes, plus a comprehensive greenbelt system that includes 305 acres of lakes and ponds, 123 acres of parks and common land, and nearly 5,000 acres of marshland. As important as anything else have been the careful architectural controls, density limits, size and height limits and landscaping guidelines which, collectively, make Kiawah feel so "private."
