News Title:163-Home Meritage Homes Neighborhood Proposed on Historic Weehaw Plantation Property
A new residential development is being proposed on approximately 65 acres at the corner of U.S. Highway 701 and Wedgefield Road, bringing a potential 163 new single-family homes to an area with deep historical roots and an established residential and golf community nearby.
On September 17, 2026, the Georgetown County Planning Commission will review a request to rezone the Weehaw Plantation Planned Development (PD) tract to a Flexible Design District (FDD).
The purpose of the rezoning is to allow the property to be developed as a planned residential neighborhood consisting of single-family homesites and associated amenities.
Preliminary plans show Meritage Homes proposing approximately 163 single-family homes on the roughly 65-acre property.
A property with ties to historic Weehaw Plantation
The proposed development site has a direct connection to Weehaw Plantation, one of Georgetown County's historic rice plantations.
The property should not be confused with the historic plantation house or interpreted as the location of the surviving historic core of Weehaw. Rather, the approximately 65-acre tract is a portion of the larger historic Weehaw Plantation property.
Weehaw was one of the historic rice plantations along the Black River and was part of the extensive rice-growing economy that made Georgetown County one of the country's leading rice-producing regions during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Historical records identify Francis Kinloch as an early owner of Weehaw, with the plantation later associated with his son, Cleland Kinloch. A historic rice-mill chimney associated with Weehaw also remains among the documented remnants of Georgetown County's rice-plantation era.
The history is an important part of the story of this property, but the proposed development is taking place on a portion of the larger plantation tract rather than at a documented historic plantation house site.
Wedgefield Plantation is just up the road
The location is also notable because another well-known Georgetown plantation property is immediately nearby.
Wedgefield Plantation is located just up Wedgefield Road from the proposed Weehaw development. Like Weehaw, Wedgefield has its origins as an 18th-century rice plantation and is an important part of Georgetown County's Lowcountry history.
Today, however, Wedgefield is best known as an established residential and golf community.
Wedgefield Plantation developed into a residential community beginning in the early 1970s and now includes more than 550 residences. The community retains much of the mature Lowcountry landscape associated with the area, including large live oaks, ponds and waterways.
At the center of the community is Wedgefield Country Club, an 18-hole golf course that opened in 1972. The course was designed by Porter Gibson and Bob Toski and follows the natural Lowcountry landscape, with mature trees, ponds and views toward the Black River.
That places the proposed Meritage Homes neighborhood in an interesting setting. The 65-acre property sits at the intersection of Highway 701 and Wedgefield Road, with the established Wedgefield community and golf course just up the road, while the development tract itself carries a connection to the much older Weehaw Plantation.
163 homes on approximately 65 acres
The preliminary plans call for 163 single-family homes on the approximately 65-acre property.
On a gross acreage basis, that works out to roughly 2.5 homes per acre across the entire tract. That does not represent the eventual individual lot sizes, however, since the development will also have to accommodate roads, stormwater facilities, buffers, open space and other associated improvements.
The proposed FDD zoning would provide the development framework for the residential neighborhood and its associated amenities.
If the project moves forward as currently proposed, the 163 homes would represent a substantial addition to the housing inventory in this part of Georgetown County.
Another Georgetown project for Meritage Homes
The Weehaw proposal is also noteworthy because it would give Meritage Homes another significant project in the Georgetown area.
Meritage Homes is already selling new homes at Crown Pointe, a large master-planned development located north of Georgetown. The builder's initial phase at Crown Pointe includes more than 70 single-family homes, with additional development planned as the larger project moves forward.
Crown Pointe is planned across more than 1,700 acres and is expected to eventually include a combination of residential, commercial and other uses. Meritage's involvement in the project has therefore already established the builder as an increasingly visible participant in Georgetown County's residential growth.
The timing of the Weehaw proposal is also interesting given Meritage's broader expansion.
During its second-quarter 2026 earnings discussion, Meritage reported 340 active communities nationwide as of June 30, 2026, compared with 312 a year earlier. The company said it expected its active community count to increase another 5% to 10% during 2026.
Company executives have also identified the Coastal Carolinas as one of Meritage Homes' stronger-performing geographic areas, making the proposed Weehaw community part of a broader expansion by the builder in the region.
Meritage Homes has been emphasizing entry-level and first-move-up housing as part of its current strategy. At Crown Pointe, the builder is currently offering primarily single-story homes with pricing beginning in the low $300s. The company has said it is working toward a product mix of approximately two-thirds entry-level homes and one-third first-move-up homes.
The eventual floor plans and pricing for Weehaw have not yet been established, but the project's proposed size would make it another substantial Meritage community in the Georgetown market.
A new neighborhood in a historic setting
If approved and ultimately developed as currently proposed, the Weehaw project would bring 163 new single-family homes to a property that has seen a very different history over the centuries.
The tract is part of the larger historic Weehaw Plantation property, while the established Wedgefield Plantation community and golf course are immediately nearby. At the same time, its location along Highway 701 puts the proposed neighborhood along one of the primary approaches to Georgetown.
For Meritage Homes, the project would represent another sizable foothold in Georgetown County at a time when the builder is expanding its presence throughout the Coastal Carolinas.
For the Georgetown area, it would be another example of the continued transformation of former large tracts of land into residential communities — in this case, 163 proposed homes on approximately 65 acres of property with a documented connection to one of Georgetown County's historic rice plantations.
The Georgetown County Planning Commission's September 17 meeting will be the next step in the review of the proposed rezoning.