A fine place to start

Heartwood is a master-planned community inside the city limits of Richmond Hill, Georgia, just south of Savannah in the Lowcountry. It’s imagined as the new part of a historic town — a place laid out so homes, schools, shops, workplaces, trails and health care sit within reach of one another. It covers roughly 12,000 acres at I-95 Exit 82, part of a 20,000-acre landholding that Raydient Places + Properties is developing across South Bryan County.

Heartwood is in Richmond Hill, Georgia, in Bryan County, at the new I-95 Exit 82 — about twenty minutes south of Savannah. The Outfitters, our welcome center, is half a mile east of the interstate at 35 Outfitters Park Drive. Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport is twenty minutes away, the Port of Savannah is thirty miles, and I-16 is sixteen miles up the road.

Heartwood is being developed by Raydient Places + Properties, a taxable subsidiary of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE: RYN), a timberland real estate investment trust. Raydient masterplans, develops, builds and markets places and properties — from mixed-use communities and industrial parks to rural homesteads.

Three things. It’s health forward: an alliance with St. Joseph’s/Candler puts a Bē Health & Well-Being^® navigator inside the community, not just a gym in a clubhouse. It’s complete: homes, PreK-through-12 schools within walking distance, shops, restaurants, a medical campus and thousands of jobs, all in one place. And it’s rooted: Heartwood is planned as an extension of Richmond Hill’s character, not a subdivision dropped down beside it.

Today Heartwood’s residential neighborhoods are Loblolly, Tupelo, Willis Field, Covey, Del Webb Savannah (55+), and two apartment communities — The Preserve at Heartwood and Allier at Heartwood. More are planned as the community grows.

Single-family homes in one and two stories, with floorplans that include lofts, flex spaces and main-floor primary suites. There’s also a 55+ neighborhood, Del Webb Savannah, with single-story homes, and apartments at The Preserve at Heartwood and Allier at Heartwood. Townhomes are on the way.

Four. Centex Homes and Pulte Homes build in Loblolly, Tupelo and Willis Field. Del Webb builds the 55+ neighborhood, Del Webb Savannah. And Toll Brothers comes to Covey in Spring 2027.

Homes are selling in the Town District from the mid $300s to the $700s. Toll Brothers’ homes in Covey start in the $500s when they open in Spring 2027, and the Wayline District brings more choices in 2027.

Yes — apartments. The Preserve at Heartwood opened in September 2025 with 302 apartments by Atlanta-based Novare Group, and Allier at Heartwood is the second apartment community. Those two are what Heartwood offers for rent today.

The Outfitters is the heart of it: a clubhouse with a resident pool and pavilion, a public playground for ages 3 to 12, The Green — a one-acre lawn for movies, food trucks and gatherings — a lagoon for paddleboarding and kayaking, the public trail system, and “The Hill”. Bleu Coat Kitchen serves breakfast and lunch daily inside the clubhouse, and dinner on Fridays.

The pool and pavilion at The Outfitters are for residents only. The playground, The Green and the trail system are open to the public.

Neighborhoods have their own amenities as well. Pools are open now at Del Webb Savannah, The Preserve and Allier, and Fielders at Willis Field opens soon.

Yes. Heartwood has a public trail system tying the neighborhoods to the parks and The Outfitters, and it grows with the community.

Bē Health is Heartwood’s wellness program, built with St. Joseph’s/Candler. A Bē Health & Well-Being^® navigator connects residents with medical services and with classes and programs across four kinds of well-being: physical, emotional, spiritual and social. Classes are held at The Outfitters, and there’s a monthly fitness calendar, a kids’ camp and an app. More about Bē Health.

Constantly. Founder’s Day each spring, the Run for The Hill 5K each fall — the 2025 race raised $14,000 for the Richmond Hill Schools’ Miler Club — the tree lighting in December, food truck nights, movies on The Green, Green Hour on third Fridays, and Bē Health classes and camps all year. The full calendar lives on the Events page.

Heartwood is served by Bryan County Schools — Frances Meeks Elementary, Richmond Hill Middle School and Richmond Hill High School — and the community is planned so those schools are within walking distance. The new Richmond Hill High School opened in August 2025 right beside Heartwood. More about schools.

Yes. Dues depend on the builder neighborhood you live in, and generally run between $150 and $250 a month.

Homes by Pulte and Centex sit at about $190 a month. Del Webb Savannah, the gated 55+ section, is $250 a month, which includes expanded access to its age-restricted amenities and lifestyle programming.

Any exterior change goes through the Design Review Committee. The homeowner modification guidelines and the fence guidelines are on the Moving Here page, along with the application.

That’s the plan it was built on. Neighborhoods, schools, the trail system and the shops at Outfitters Village and Poplar Place are laid out to be reached on foot or by bike, with the trail system tying them together.

Savannah is about twenty minutes north. Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport is twenty minutes away. The Port of Savannah is thirty miles, and I-16 is sixteen miles. Tybee Island and the barrier islands are an easy drive east.

Start at The Outfitters, where Bleu Coat Kitchen serves breakfast and lunch daily and dinner on Fridays. Poplar Place adds Starbucks and Zaxby’s, and the Kessler Collection’s hotel is now open.

The Row has opened alongside them with six more places to spend an afternoon: Pin High Indoor Golf, Hawg’s Motorsports, The UPS Store, Keller’s Woodfire Pizza, LuFinity Nails and an upscale barbershop — with more on the way. A grocery store is planned for The Arbor Marketplace.

The Nest, Heartwood’s monthly resident and partner newsletter, lands in your inbox with notes from the General Manager, the Lifestyle Coordinator and the Maintenance Department, plus events and new business openings. There’s also the community calendar on the website, and Bē Well Monthly for health programming.

For anything about the community or a home, email marketing@heartwoodlife.com or stop by The Outfitters at 35 Outfitters Park Drive. For association matters, there’s a member portal and a community management contact on the Moving Here page.

Yes. Golf carts are welcome on Heartwood’s streets and trails.

For a short stay at Heartwood, ask The Preserve at Heartwood or Allier at Heartwood.

Most of Heartwood sits in Flood Zone X — FEMA’s designation for areas of minimal flood hazard, outside the 500-year flood level. Standard single-family lots in neighborhoods like Del Webb Savannah and Heartwood by Pulte fall in Zone X, which means lenders don’t federally require flood insurance.

Sitting inland near I-95 Exit 82, Heartwood is generally higher and better protected than the coastal islands or the low-lying neighborhoods along the Ogeechee River. The community spans thousands of acres and several phases, though, so the classification can vary by lot — worth checking the specific address.

Yes — and it will be for a long time. Heartwood is a multi-decade master plan; Raydient has described a twenty- to twenty-five-year horizon for the residential build-out. Neighborhoods, parks, shops and workplaces open in phases.

The scale it’s entitled for: 10,600 homes, 3.15 million square feet of commercial space and 15.8 million square feet of industrial.

Quite a lot. Across from Loblolly, Crosstown Commercial Park is on the way. Outfitters Village is coming, with Hop Atomica among its first names. Fellowship Heartwood will bring assisted living and memory care, and The Warren is a future amenity in the works.

On the housing side, Toll Brothers opens in Covey in Spring 2027 and the Wayline District brings more homes the same year. A new dog park and a 23-acre regional park are also coming.

And beneath the new water tower, in the southeast quadrant of the I-95 Exit 82 interchange, a 95-acre commercial site is planned as grocery-anchored retail with accompanying out parcels — The Arbor Marketplace.

St. Joseph’s/Candler unveiled a new healthcare campus in Richmond Hill in February 2024, next to Heartwood. It’s the physical side of the Bē Health alliance: care inside the community instead of a drive away.

Seven, each with its own job: Outfitters Village (F&B, retail, office), Poplar Place (F&B, retail, hospitality), The Arbor Marketplace (F&B, grocery, retail), Pine Bluff (F&B, retail, big box, flex), Crosstown (neighborhood retail), The Grove (sports and entertainment) and Heartwood Commerce Park (flex industrial). See them all.

Poplar Place is mostly sold out and open, with Starbucks, Zaxby’s, Keller’s Woodfire Pizza, Pin High Indoor Golf, a nail salon, golf cart sales and a barber shop. Bleu Coat Kitchen is open at The Outfitters. On the industrial side, the commerce park is home to Hyundai Mobis, Medline, FedEx, Caesarstone, Xebec, Anatolia and Ascendum.

Yes. Poplar Place has space for retail and dining. The Arbor Marketplace offers leasing and development opportunities with I-95 frontage. And Outfitters Village, Pine Bluff, Crosstown and The Grove are all open for conversations.

Proximity to I-95 and I-16, the Georgia Ports, Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, rail access and a qualified workforce — plus commercial parcels adjacent to I-95, an industrial park with rail access, and Fort Stewart nearby. Heartwood Commerce Park also carries Tier 1 Military Zone status.

Paige Glazer, Real Estate Development at Raydient Places + Properties — Paige.Glazer@Raydient.com, 912.572.1004 — or fill out the form on the Commercial Opportunities page.