BLUFFTON, SC () – Bluffton Town Council is moving forward with a new plan to tackle the need for additional healthcare and housing options in their area.

At a special meeting Tuesday, they approved three new motions that will ultimately lead to the construction of 120 units of affordable housing for healthcare workers. The multi-family units will be geared primarily toward those who come to work at the Beaufort Memorial facility being built off Buckwalter Parkway.

“Beaufort County actually purchased it and donated the land to the hospital,” Bluffton Town Manager Stephen Steese said. “The land only had commercial rights on it. So, what we’re doing is we’re providing the residential rights for them to be able to build the units.”

The council’s plan is also expected to take multiple acres of land off the market for commercial development.

“They’re going to donate back whatever commercial they don’t need,” Steese said. “That commercial will come back so it can’t be built some place in the future. So, we’re still trying to restrict how much growth can occur in the future.”

To qualify for affordable housing, households can make up to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

In Bluffton, that’s just about $61,000 for a single person and about $88,000 for a family of four.

“Who it’s targeted for are those who would struggle to find affordable housing in the Lowcountry area, and those would be your first responders,” President & CEO of Beaufort Memorial Hospital Russell Baxley said. “As we grow obviously as a community, as a county, and as a town, you need this infrastructure to support that, and it’s hard to recruit to this area if those that you’re recruiting can’t afford to live here.”

The second reading of the motions that were approved Tuesday will be in August.

Then, the project will have to go through the Planning Commission, with the goal of beginning construction by October.