The City of Myrtle Beach purchased the property located at 706 North Kings Highway for $1.4 million this week. Auto Money Title Loans resides at that location. Auto Money has been given a one year lease to remain at that location.
Afterwards, the City of Myrtle Beach plans to bulldoze the property making way for downtown redevelopment.
The city is completing the process of purchasing all properties in the square block that runs from 7th North to 8th North from Ocean Boulevard west to business Highway 17.
When completed, the city will have invested as much as possibly $100 million, counting the monies needed for the new structure(s) built in that sector. The price of new construction will be contingent upon requests made by the private sector investor who partners with the city.
The city passed a 1% midtax to reimburse itself for these upfront expenditures.
To date:
- The city spent $15 million purchasing the Oasis and Fountainblue Hotels. These were bulldozed.
- The city spent $8.2 million purchasing the Midtown Motel.
- The city spent approximately $1.8 million on associated parcels
- The city purchased the former Nance residence in that block for $1.95 million
“This is a continuation of our efforts in that area to buy up some of that property and prepare it for its next life as a new and improved, reinvigorated downtown,” said Myrtle Beach Assistant City Manager Brian Tucker.
“Obviously, the more mass we have in that area, the larger the development plan can be,” Tucker added.
Myrtle Beach Plan explained in video
As MyrtleBeachSC News reported above, this effort is entirely led by city government. The most successful commercial investments in America have been historically led by private enterprise.
The city is still waiting for the right private partner to create a private-public partnership in the area.
The realignment of Highway 501 down 7th Avenue North will take approximately 2 years to complete. This area will likely remain in flux while all of these changes transpire.