At the corner of Pooler Parkway and Pine Barren Road, roughly 116 acres sit mostly wooded, with one smaller tract already cleared. On the edge of that land, contractor JA Long is working on a city intersection project worth $4,379,597. And since February, Pooler's public meetings have kept returning to one question: what should go on that land?
The proposal is called "The District." If you're a buyer comparing Pooler with Richmond Hill or Rincon, the useful question is what the vote can change. The land already carries commercial zoning, and the dispute centers on one cap on apartments.
The land is already zoned for commerce
The Savannah Morning News reported that the assembled property was rezoned to C-2 Heavy Commercial in April 2024. That rezoning happened inside the Jabot Planned Unit Development, the master plan that governs this part of Pooler. The city staff report lists the existing zoning as "PUD (Jabot PUD – C-2)."
Hotels, retail and restaurants on this site aren't a new idea, then. The PUD has a hard limit on one kind of housing, and that limit is what turned this into a months-long fight.
Here's the arithmetic from the staff report:
| Jabot PUD multifamily figure | Units |
|---|---|
| Multifamily allowance when the PUD was approved | 720 |
| Multifamily units already approved | 632 |
| Multifamily units left under the cap | 88 |
| Multifamily units requested for The District | about 1,060 |
The same PUD allowed 6,510 single-family homes. The tight limit is on apartments. Applicant Robert Forrest of Forrest Places LLC asked to take three parcels out of the Jabot PUD and rezone them to the city's own C-2 district. The Savannah Morning News said directly that the 88-unit balance is what led the developer to request removal from the PUD so it could build 1,060 apartments. Staff flagged the same thing, writing that taking the parcels out of the PUD would remove the density limit that has applied to them.
What the 1,060 apartments would anchor
The apartments matter because the plan depends on them. The City of Pooler's open-house notice lists these components:
- About 1,060 multifamily units
- 440 hotel rooms
- A 100,000-square-foot grocery store
- An amphitheater
- One or two gas stations
- Restaurants and offices
- 12 to 14 outparcels
The Savannah Morning News described a fuller version of the concept. It includes up to 135,000 square feet of retail and dining, 100,000 square feet of offices, a public dog park, a children's play area, walking trails and a central civic space. The paper also reported that the project would be built in phases through 2033.
The developer's pitch to WSAV shows why the housing and the commercial space go together. One developer called it "an 18-hour day thing," a place where "people get up in the morning and walk through to a coffee shop." Morning coffee traffic needs people who live within walking distance, and the residential piece supplies them. That's why removing the apartments, which one Pooler official suggested in August, would change the whole concept and not just its size.
Eight months of postponements
The review has gone back and forth more than most rezonings. Here is the order of events, each tied to the cap:
- February 9, 2026. The city held an open house on the Pine Barren development, with Robert Forrest of Forrest Places LLC as host.
- April 13. The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4–1 to recommend denial. Commissioner Brad Rife made the motion, citing the 1,000-plus units and traffic. Commissioner Wade Simmons cast the one opposing vote. City staff had also recommended denial. Their main objections were density out of scale with nearby development, the multifamily cap, and added traffic on Pooler Parkway, Pine Barren Road and the Galloway Drive and Memorial Drive intersection.
- July. City Council postponed its vote, saying it lacked information.
- August 10. The developers returned to Planning and Zoning with a phased construction plan and a traffic study they said was nearly finished. The commission voted to disapprove a second time.
- September 21. Council voted 4–2 to postpone again so its traffic consultant, Kimley-Horn, could review the revised study. John Wilcher and Michael Carpenter voted against the delay.
Savannah Agenda reported that Mayor Pro Tem Aaron Henry said there were still too many "known unknowns" because Kimley-Horn hadn't reviewed the latest revisions. The city is paying for that independent review because the city attorney advised against having the developer cover it, citing potential ethical concerns.
The agenda for the October 19 council meeting, posted October 14, did not list The District. The October 13 Planning and Zoning agenda didn't list it either. The request is still pending.
Traffic decides the vote, and the corner is already being rebuilt
Every round of this review has come back to traffic. The staff report described Pooler Parkway and Pine Barren Road as already heavily traveled, and it read the developer's first study as confirming unacceptable traffic levels. The applicant told the Savannah Morning News that its study projected better travel times by 2033 once the project's roadway improvements were in place. Kimley-Horn's review is meant to settle the difference between those two readings.
That same intersection is also getting a separate public rebuild that doesn't depend on The District. The city's March notice describes a project of nearly $4.4 million covering about 3,200 linear feet. It includes new signals, sidewalks, a multi-use trail and drainage improvements. WSAV reported in January that widening and signal work were underway near the Wawa. The city's capital projects page lists Kimley-Horn as engineer and a January 2026 notice to proceed for JA Long. The completion date shown on that page comes before the start date, so we're not giving a finish date for this work.
The intersection work is funded and underway whatever council decides about The District. Anyone who drives this corner will be dealing with construction for a while either way.
How to read this corridor as a buyer
The two outcomes lead to different results on this corner, but neither leaves it as woods:
- If council approves the request, expect a phased build through 2033 that adds about 1,060 apartments, two hotels, a large grocery store and an amphitheater next to an intersection where the city's own rebuild is still in progress. If you're looking at homes within a short drive of Pine Barren Road, plan on several years of construction traffic in exchange for a walkable dining and grocery hub close by.
- If council denies it, the parcels stay in the Jabot PUD with C-2 heavy commercial zoning. Only 88 multifamily units remain under the cap. Commercial development is still allowed. Without the apartments, it would likely look less like a mixed-use district and more like the commercial projects already lining Pooler Parkway.
- If council postpones again, the corner keeps getting its public improvements while the private side waits. Four votes have gone against the request or delayed it since April, so another delay wouldn't be unusual.
On a showing, ask how far the home is from Pine Barren Road, and ask your agent to pull the current agenda before you write an offer. Pooler posts council and Planning and Zoning agendas on its CivicClerk meeting portal, usually a few days before each meeting. That's where an approval, denial or revised plan will show up first.
For context on how new construction is competing with resale in Pooler, see our breakdown of what Pooler's flat median isn't telling you and our Pooler neighborhood page.
A short FAQ
Is The District approved? No. As of the October 19 agenda posted October 14, the rezoning was still pending after council's September 21 postponement.
Who is reviewing the traffic study? Kimley-Horn, the city's traffic consultant, at the city's expense.
What concerns have come up at public hearings? WTOC reported that speakers raised traffic, parking and tree removal, among other issues. Supporters said the project would give families more to do in Pooler without driving to downtown Savannah.
If your PCS orders or your search area put you near Pooler Parkway, we'll track The District's next agenda appearance and the intersection work for you, then help you compare homes on either side of Pine Barren Road with those timelines in view. Reach out to Trophy Point Realty Group for a free PCS and relocation consultation.
