Community & Economic Impact
A Destination With Purpose
Sweetgrass is a luxury hospitality and cultural destination intentionally designed to serve as an economic anchor for the historic Gullah Geechee community of Mitchelville.
Sweetgrass was conceived as more than a restaurant or resort. While rooted in elevated hospitality and cultural excellence, the project is intentionally structured to deliver long-term community benefit through job creation, workforce housing, health access, and cultural preservation. Located within a historically significant and economically distressed census tract, Sweetgrass represents a new model for development—one where luxury, equity, and community stewardship coexist.
Workforce Housing
Sweetgrass includes a dedicated workforce housing component designed to support hospitality, service, and cultural workers critical to the island’s economy. Priority will be given to local and legacy residents, helping ensure that those who contribute to Hilton Head’s success can afford to live and thrive within the community.
Small Business & Cultural Enterprise Development
Dedicated space within the development will support local entrepreneurs, artisans, and cultural practitioners. These spaces are envisioned as incubators for Gullah Geechee heritage-based enterprises, food entrepreneurs, and creative professionals seeking visibility, sustainability, and economic mobility.
Job Creation & Workforce Development
The project will generate permanent and seasonal jobs across hospitality, culinary arts, wellness, cultural programming, and operations. Sweetgrass is committed to workforce training partnerships that create clear pathways to employment, advancement, and living-wage careers for local residents.
Preservation Without Displacement
Sweetgrass is grounded in a firm commitment to anti-gentrification principles and the preservation of generational land ownership. The project seeks to strengthen—not displace—the existing community by aligning development with the expressed needs, history, and future aspirations of Mitchelville residents.
Community Health & Wellness Space
Sweetgrass will reserve space for community-serving health uses, including primary care, behavioral health, and wellness services. This component is designed to help address documented health inequities while increasing access to culturally competent care within Mitchelville and surrounding communities.
Public-Private Partnership Commitment
Sweetgrass is actively pursuing public-private partnerships, mission-aligned capital, and community-based financing tools to support its workforce housing, cultural center, and community-serving components. These partnerships are central to ensuring long-term sustainability, community benefit, and shared value creation.
Sweetgrass represents a new vision for Hilton Head Island—one where destination-driven tourism becomes a catalyst for inclusive economic growth, cultural preservation, and community well-being.