News Title:Arcadia East: A Potentially Historic Change for the Pawleys Island and DeBordieu Area
A major change may be taking shape along the South Carolina coast between Pawleys Island and Georgetown.
On September 8, 2026, Georgetown County Council unanimously approved a resolution supporting the proposed acquisition and permanent protection of approximately 3,492 acres known as Arcadia East. The property sits along the east side of Highway 17, between DeBordieu Colony and the Prince George community, and includes a large stretch of undeveloped coastal land.
For someone who may not be familiar with the area, this is part of what locals call the Waccamaw Neck. In simple terms, the Waccamaw Neck is the relatively narrow coastal portion of Georgetown County stretching from the Winyah Bay area north toward the Horry County line, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Waccamaw River to the west. It includes communities such as Pawleys Island, Litchfield, DeBordieu and surrounding areas.
The significance of Arcadia East is not simply its size. It is what could happen to the property if the conservation effort is completed.
Land That Was Once Planned for Thousands of Homes
Arcadia East has been approved for development for many years.
The property was previously approved as the Arcadia East Planned Development, a very large mixed-use project. The previously approved plan included over 3,000 residential units, along with over a million square feet of office space, 400,000 square feet of commercial space, a hotel, a village center, a corporate park, retirement housing, golf-related development and other uses. The plans for this property have evolved over time, but the important point is consistent: Arcadia East was approved for a very substantial development that never actually got built.
That makes the current conservation effort particularly significant.
If the acquisition is completed, the property would effectively be removed from the future development market. Instead of eventually becoming another large residential and resort development, the land would remain primarily a natural coastal landscape.
What Does "Permanent Protection" Actually Mean?
For the layperson, "conservation" or "permanent protection" can sound somewhat vague.
In practical terms, it means the land's future use would be restricted so that it cannot simply be divided up and developed into thousands of homes, commercial buildings, hotels and other conventional real estate projects.
A primary goal of this “protection” is to retain the property's forests, wetlands, beaches and wildlife habitat rather than convert the land to a large-scale development.
That does not necessarily mean every acre would become a public park or that the public would have unrestricted access to the property. Conservation properties can have different ownership and management arrangements. For example, a conservation easement can leave land in private ownership while permanently restricting development rights.
Arcadia East is expected to follow a different path, with nonprofit conservation organizations initially acquiring and holding the property before the state completes its approval and funding process.
Ultimately, the property is expected to be acquired by a state partner for permanent conservation.
The DeBordieu Connection Is Particularly Important
Of all the established communities surrounding Arcadia East, DeBordieu Colony may have the most direct connection to what happens to this property.
DeBordieu is one of South Carolina's most prestigious and exclusive coastal communities, known for its large private residences, extensive natural surroundings, beach, golf and private-club amenities.
Arcadia East sits immediately adjacent to DeBordieu.
That creates an interesting contrast. On one side is an established, highly exclusive coastal community whose character is closely tied to privacy and its natural surroundings. On the other side is a 3,492-acre property that for years represented the possibility of a massive new development.
Had the Arcadia East development eventually been built, DeBordieu would have had thousands of new residences and substantial commercial, resort and other development immediately alongside it.
The conservation proposal represents a very different possibility.
Instead of another major development being built next door, the land could remain largely undeveloped and natural.
That does not mean the conservation effort automatically changes property values in DeBordieu or guarantees any particular outcome for homeowners. But from a land-use perspective, it would remove the possibility of one of the largest remaining development projects in this part of Georgetown County being constructed immediately beside one of the most upscale communities in all of South Carolina.
What About Prince George?
The other major community bordering Arcadia East is Prince George.
It is worth clarifying that Prince George is its own private, gated residential community, not a larger area containing a collection of separate communities.
Prince George encompasses approximately 1,900 acres and was planned for only about 150 single-family homesites, with large portions of the property remaining natural. The community stretches from the Atlantic Ocean west toward the Waccamaw River and is generally described as having an Ocean Side and a River Side, with the two sections sharing the overall Prince George community identity.
That means the Arcadia East property essentially sits between two very different but highly distinctive coastal communities: DeBordieu Colony to the south of this tract and Prince George to the north of this tract.
Both communities were once part of the larger historic Arcadia Plantation holdings.
Arcadia West: The Other Half of the Story
One of the most interesting parts of this story is that Arcadia East would not be an isolated conservation effort.
Directly across Highway 17 is another enormous portion of the historic Arcadia property known as Arcadia West.
Nearly 4,000 acres of Arcadia West are already protected through conservation easements. The Balding-Pate family placed conservation easements on the property in 2007 and 2015, with Ducks Unlimited holding the easements.
This is an important distinction.
Arcadia West was not simply "sold to the government." Conservation easements allow land to remain in private ownership while placing permanent legal restrictions on certain development rights. The easement runs with the property, meaning future owners are also subject to those restrictions. Typical restrictions can include subdivision and commercial or industrial development that would compromise the property's conservation values.
So when looking at a map of the area, there is already a huge protected Arcadia property west of Highway 17.
Arcadia East is the enormous piece on the east side of Highway 17 that could now follow a similar conservation path.
If that happens, the two properties together would create a remarkable expanse of protected natural land in this part of Georgetown County.
Why This Matters Beyond DeBordieu and Prince George
The significance extends beyond the two communities immediately bordering the property.
The Waccamaw Neck is already one of the most land-constrained areas of Georgetown County. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Waccamaw River on the other, leaving relatively limited room for continued large-scale development.
A project the size of the original Arcadia East development would have brought thousands of additional residents, homes and businesses into the area.
It also would have increased traffic and pressure on Highway 17 and surrounding infrastructure.
Georgetown County specifically noted that permanent protection of Arcadia East would help avoid the burden that major development could place on Highway 17 while protecting the property's coastline, wetlands and wildlife habitat.
From a real estate perspective, this is therefore more than a conservation story.
It is also a story about future development potential being removed from one of the most desirable and land-constrained areas of the South Carolina coast.
What Happens Next?
The September 8 vote was an important step, but the deal is not finished yet.
Georgetown County Council has now formally given its support. The next steps, however, involve the state approval and funding process.
As currently proposed, Ducks Unlimited and the Open Space Institute would initially purchase and hold the property as an interim step while the remaining state approvals and funding are secured. The property would ultimately be acquired by a state partner.
The proposal must continue through the state's approval process, including review by the South Carolina Joint Legislative Bond Review Committee. The county's approval was one of the required steps in that process.
This is where the proposal could still encounter delays or other complications. The acquisition has to be funded, the required state approvals must be obtained, and the transaction itself must ultimately close.
So, while the September 8 vote was significant, it is best described as the county giving the green light for the conservation effort to move forward—not the final purchase of the property.
A Very Different Future May Be Taking Shape
The story of Arcadia East is remarkable because of what the property represents.
For decades, this enormous tract of coastal Georgetown County was viewed as a potential location for a massive new development. Plans contemplated thousands of homes, a resort, golf-related development, commercial space, offices and other uses.
Now, the direction may be completely different.
If the acquisition is successfully completed, Arcadia East would become permanently protected rather than developed on that scale.
And when viewed together with the nearly 4,000 acres of Arcadia West that have already been protected, the significance becomes even clearer.
A huge portion of the historic Arcadia Plantation landscape could remain as forests, wetlands, beaches and wildlife habitat rather than becoming another large coastal development.
For DeBordieu Colony, it could mean permanently preserving a massive natural buffer along its boundary.
For Prince George, it could mean maintaining the undeveloped character of the land immediately to its south.
For Pawleys Island and the surrounding coastal communities, it could mean that one of the largest remaining development opportunities in this part of Georgetown County is taken off the table.
And for the South Carolina coast as a whole, the potential protection of Arcadia East would add another extraordinary piece to an already significant network of conserved coastal land.
The outcome is not final yet, but the September 8 Georgetown County Council vote moved the proposal one important step closer to making Arcadia East a permanently protected part of the South Carolina coast rather than the massive development it was once planned to become.