What "Approved" Really Means at Calabash's Bayline Development

If you buy one of the first new homes at Bayline, your contract may be written against a lot whose final plat hasn't been approved or recorded. North Carolina allows that, but only under specific conditions, and those conditions show where Calabash's largest planned neighborhood really stands. For buyers comparing Calabash with Sunset Beach, Carolina Shores or Shallotte, the supply that matters is what has reached final plat, and that grows one recorded plat at a time.

A Contract Written Before the Lot Is Final

Bayline is planned for 1,137.62 acres between Old Georgetown Road and Thomasboro Road. In the most recent coverage, six phases had preliminary plat approval and none had a final plat. The Brunswick Beacon reported that in its story on the Sept. 15 phase eight vote.

The difference between those two approvals affects what you sign. Under North Carolina General Statute 160D-807, where a local government has adopted a subdivision regulation, selling land by reference to a subdivision plat before that plat is approved and recorded with the register of deeds is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The same statute carves out an exception. An owner or its agent may sign a contract that references an approved preliminary plat if the contract does four things:

1. Attaches a copy of the preliminary plat and obligates the seller to deliver the recorded plat to the buyer before closing.
2. Tells the buyer plainly and conspicuously that the final plat has not been approved or recorded, that no government body owes the buyer anything about that approval, that the preliminary and final plats may differ, and that the buyer can terminate without breach if the final plat differs in any material respect.
3. Prevents the seller from requiring closing earlier than five days after delivery of the recorded final plat, if that plat doesn't differ materially from the preliminary one.
4. If the recorded plat does differ materially, prevents the seller from requiring closing earlier than 15 days after delivery. During those 15 days the buyer may terminate and get back all earnest money or prepaid purchase price.

This is general information, not legal advice. If you're offered a contract tied to a preliminary plat, a North Carolina real estate attorney can tell you how these provisions apply to your own paperwork.

The statute also explains the pace at Bayline. Homes can be marketed early, but a lot can't be conveyed until its section reaches final plat. Each final plat is a separate decision, so the flow of new homes is limited by how fast sections reach that step.

Where the Big Number Came From

The 2,476 figure came from a 3-2 vote on June 9. Calabash commissioners approved a consolidated master site plan, with Commissioners Forrest King and Shaun Bellamy voting against it. The total surprised some people on the board. The Brunswick Beacon's coverage of that meeting quoted King:

"This is the first time I've seen those two numbers placed together. I thought that there was a reduction in how many units were going in there, and all of a sudden that number has jumped."

According to Town Planner Kelley Currie, the project started with two separate approvals. In June 2021, the Brunswick County Planning Board approved a conceptual plan with 2,159 units in county jurisdiction and an estimated 151 in Calabash. Five months later, the town approved 317 units by special use permit for the land already inside town limits. Calabash annexed the whole property in 2023. The June plan put both approvals into one document for the first time. Commissioner Michael Herring described it as "basically a cleanup of what we had with two different site plans."

The developer's own expectations are lower. The eight phases in the plan assign 1,445 units, which leaves 1,031 units with no phase or plan. Currie told commissioners that Criteria Development Engineering Manager Micah Jones had said at the planning board that the company is "probably actually reasonably only going to get about 800 more units out of the project." Town Administrator Michael Price said future engineering, road layouts, open space requirements and wetlands could limit what is built.

What Has Moved, Phase by Phase

Here are the preliminary plats approved through Sept. 15, based on Brunswick Beacon reporting:

The six phases add up to 974 units. Phase eight shows that the plan can change while it's under review. An earlier version of the master plan put 317 multifamily units in that area. Criteria Development came back with 128 single-family lots instead, and Currie said, "We're kind of doing a lot better at a 128 single-family home density over there." The current master plan still allows up to 2,476 units, while this phase's plat proposes far fewer homes than the earlier allocation.

The Section Closest to Your Front Door

The Brunswick Beacon's August update pointed to the first section of phase four, off Thomasboro Road, as the first to move. Criteria Development representative Chip Pickard said the developer was preparing to seek final plat approval and begin home construction there. The report said water and sewer lines were largely in place and pump station testing and startup were nearly finished. Pickard put it this way: "The plan is the builder is ready to go and get that first [group] of lots to start their houses on."

On Aug. 11, the commissioners also authorized Price to accept a performance guarantee of about $88,000 for that section. The guarantee allows the developer to move toward final plat while the final layer of asphalt waits until after houses are built. Price said holding off on the top layer keeps heavy construction equipment from tearing up finished roads, and he pointed to the town's experience at Beach Walk. For an early buyer, that means the final road surface in the first section is planned to come after the houses around it are built.

As of the Beacon's Oct. 1 report on the Sept. 15 vote, that first final plat hadn't been approved. The town lists its next regular commissioners meeting for Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at 7 p.m.

Criteria Development has named Lennar, NVR/Ryan Homes, Caviness & Cates, New Leaf Builders and Great Southern Homes as planned builders at Bayline. No sales launch or home prices had been announced in the sources available at this writing.

How Bayline Compares With the Market You're Shopping Now

Countywide numbers give a sense of scale. In September 2026, Brunswick County had 2,477 single-family homes for sale, according to the Cape Fear REALTORS Local Market Update. That was 5.3 months of supply, down 17.2% from a year earlier. Homes took a median 75 days to sell, and sellers received 98.4% of list price. The median single-family sales price was $444,953, up 8.5% year over year. These are county figures, not numbers for Calabash's 28467 ZIP code alone.

If all 974 preliminary-approved Bayline units hit the market at once, they would equal almost four in ten of the single-family homes for sale across the entire county that month. They won't arrive that way. They will come in sections, each waiting on its own final plat, starting with a single section of duplexes in phase four.

For a buyer in Calabash, that pacing affects two decisions:

• Buying a resale home near Thomasboro Road. Bayline is likely to bring builder construction traffic for years. According to the Brunswick Beacon's July report on the connector road and phase one, it's also planned to bring a roughly one-mile public connector road, Bayline Boulevard, with signalized intersections between Thomasboro and Old Georgetown roads. Phase one access is planned across from Carolina Farms Boulevard. Herring called that road "a huge bonus for our traffic issues."
• Waiting for new construction at Bayline. The planned amenities, a clubhouse, pool, two pickleball courts and a tot lot on a 6.31-acre site, still needed more site plan review and permits as of the July reporting. Early buyers will move into the first finished section, not into the community shown in the master plan.

Quick Answers

Is Bayline approved for 2,476 homes? That is the maximum the June 9 master plan allows. Only 1,445 units are assigned to phases, and the developer's engineering manager told the planning board the project would more realistically yield about 800 more units.

Can I sign a contract on a Bayline home today? State law permits contracts that reference an approved preliminary plat if they include the protections listed in G.S. 160D-807(b). The lot itself can't be conveyed until the final plat is approved and recorded.

Which part of Bayline comes first? In August reporting, the first section of phase four, off Thomasboro Road, was closest to final plat and home construction.

Will the final plat that gets recorded match the plan I'm shown? Not necessarily. The statute says changes between preliminary and final plats are possible, and it gives buyers a 15-day termination window if the change is material.

If you're weighing a Calabash resale against a spot on a builder's list at Bayline, I'm glad to go through the plat status, the contract terms and the county numbers with you before you commit. Deborah Morgan follows these approvals meeting by meeting. Let's Connect.