A proposed facility on U.S. 17 in Brunswick County near the South Carolina state line would provide more assisted living and memory care beds in the area.

The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners will consider a rezoning request April 3 that would allow Community Real Estate Holding Company to develop 12 acres at 5220 U.S. 17.

The developers want to build an assisted living facility with a maximum size of 55,000 square feet. A certificate of need for the 110-bed project has been issued for what would be called The Brunswick Community, said Sonya Rozier, project manager. The facility would also include a 48-bed memory care unit.

Rozier said if Community Real Estate gets the needed rezoning, which would change the zoning of the 12 acres from commercial low density (C-LD) and low density residential (R-7500) to a commercial low density conditional zoning (C-LDCZ) designation, and fulfills other standard requirements, the developers hope to start construction as soon as possible.

"Time is of the essence because there's such a great need in the county," Rozier said.

Previously, the county's planning panel had voted to recommend denial of the rezoning, but many of the concerns about the project that had been shared by residents appear to have been addressed in the latest plans from the developer, after the developer worked with the the surrounding community on those concerns, according to Brunswick County planning documents.

The operator of the facility would be Hedgehog Healthcare Associates LLC, Rozier said.

Stanley Figlewski, principal with Community Real Estate, said Brunswick County's growth is a major factor driving demand for the kind of facility his company wants to build.

The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners is expected to consider the rezoning request at its meeting at 6 p.m. April 3 in the Commissioners Chambers in the David R. Sandifer Administration Building, 30 Government Center Drive, Bolivia.