Lancaster County would add another 1,500 homes in latest subdivision proposal
Lancaster County’s next growth wave could bring nearly 1,500 homes between Lancaster and Great Falls.
Catawba Ridge Holdings, a company affiliated with Greenville-based Contender America, submitted plans to build 1,490 homes on 840 acres. Contender America is a development company that builds homes, hotels, restaurants and self-storage facilities. The company also has plans for a 90-lot subdivision near Rock Hill.
The Lancaster County homes would go on undeveloped property at Catawba Ridge Boulevard and Great Falls Highway.
The project is the newest phase of Edgewater, a project the county approved in 1999 for up to 16,000 homes. It’s since been broken into several phases.
An original Edgewater development plan from 1999 shows high density residential construction in the area where the latest phase would go, with some commercial construction.
The developer is responsible for extending Catawba Ridge Boulevard south for the project and has been working with builder True Homes on it, according to the county. True Homes is building an adjacent phase of Edgewater to the north and west.
The new homes would continue a growth trend in Lancaster County, which annually outpaces other counties in the Charlotte region and all but a few coastal counties in South Carolina for population growth.
Catawba Ridge growth in Lancaster County
Even in a county that’s seen massive growth in unincorporated areas like Indian Land, the new project will be sizable.
The average household size in Lancaster County is 2.7 residents, but for families living together it’s 3.3 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. One in five Lancaster County homes has four or more people. Even at three people per home, the new Catawba Ridge phase would add nearly 4,500 people.
For comparison, Fort Mill and York have the highest single- and five-year growth rates in the Charlotte metro region. From 2024 to last year, Fort Mill and York grew by a combined 3,253 residents, according to census estimates.
The Lancaster County project would feed into Erwin Elementary, South Middle and Lancaster High schools. Those schools have a combined enrollment of fewer than 2,200 students.
Commercial growth expected to Catawba Ridge project
Not all of the new Edgewater homes would be built at once. A traffic impact document submitted with plans offers some details on the project.
It notes a commercial tract between the homes is expected to add a 75,000-square-foot grocery store in a future phase. Full project build-out isn’t expected until 2039. By then, the project eight miles southwest of Lancaster and three miles from Great Falls will generate an expected 21,000 new vehicle trips per day.
Along with new homes, the project would have 168 acres of open space.
Commercial projects in Lancaster County
Commercial, like residential growth, is becoming common across Lancaster County. The county received several commercial project proposals along with the recent plans for Catawba Ridge.
Barberville Developers offered plans for a seven-parcel business park at Barberville Road and Fort Mill Highway. The site is nearly 10 acres.
A separate proposal would put a commercial development with offices and a community center on 7 acres at 7319 Charlotte Hwy. A 6-acre site on Yarborough Road is up for rezoning to allow a tree service to operate there.
Yet another project would add a 7 Brew coffee shop in Indian Land.