SEO Company in Nexton, SC

Sep 2020

Initially, it was difficult for many people to envision. After all, the map showed only thousands of acres of timber tracts surrounding Summerville, but Dexter Rumsey saw it coming. He knew the tract which would ultimately become Cane Bay Plantation on Hwy 176 was under contract, he understood proximity to Interstate 26 offered access and visibility, and he realized there would be demand for land to develop in the years to come.

Now, everyone can see the success of the Nexton community, located between I-26 and Hwy 176. Thousands of homes, dozens of businesses, schools and medical facilities — Nexton has indeed become the “next town” its name signifies, with room for future growth. And commercial real estate leader NAI Charleston has been part of it from the beginning, active in the sale of land for neighborhoods, banks, restaurants and other amenities that serve those who live there.

“At first, people didn’t understand it. It was a timber tract with very poor access,” says Rumsey, partner at NAI Charleston, who found the land when searching for large development sites. “There were only service roads accessing the Sheep Island tract, but I knew what the Cane Bay developer was planning and thought, ‘Well if that project is in the works on Hwy 176, then this tract with interstate frontage is a no-brainer.’ The rest is history.”

The result was a $21 million deal with Crescent Resources, who worked with Berkeley County to record a Development Agreement with entitlements for “The Parks of Berkeley” on the Sheep Island tract. MeadWestvaco was the original seller but ultimately purchased the property back from Crescent and commenced with an aggressive campaign of building roads and installing utilities for what would become the Nexton community.

NAI Charleston’s land brokerage continued beyond the original sale to Crescent, later representing WestRock (formerly MeadWestvaco) in parcel sales totaling over $47 million in closed deals at Nexton, with more still in the works. “The land was originally affordable, and you had the infrastructure in place,” says Thomas Boulware, Partner and Broker-in-Charge at NAI Charleston. “Being right off I-26, with 17-A and highways 176 and 78, you had a lot of access. The foresight of Berkeley County to adopt a Development Agreement allowing the necessary infrastructure and zoning expedited the entire process. We were able to create a place and a community for people looking to move into our market.” NAI Charleston facilitated the land sale for Nexton Square on 17-A and for the future Nexton Town Center between Brighton Park Blvd. and Sigma Drive. Today, the Nexton development continues to grow under the ownership of Newland Communities with plans for years to come.

Residential and retail

With the Atlantic Ocean to the east and protected lands to the north and south, such as the Francis Marion National Forest and ACE Basin, the growth of the Charleston area has always been limited. With Mount Pleasant approaching capacity and outer West Ashley’s drainage issues, growth has been funneled in one direction — up the I-26 corridor, toward Summerville and beyond.

“It’s the most logical direction for growth,” continues Rumsey. “In a pure development model, you follow the transportation route, and we only have a semicircle. We have developers asking us all about land for homes and industrial uses from Ridgeville to St. George and I-95, including areas I never thought would have received that attention.”

That growth, fueled by industrial linchpins like Volvo in Ridgeville and DHL in St. George, has helped make Nexton more centralized. With new residents comes a demand for more supporting businesses — like Carolina Ale House, Rainbow Child Care, CPM Federal Credit Union, Cambria Hotel, a self-storage facility, and other businesses that NAI Charleston has helped introduce to the community.

“As residential starts filling in, retail is going to follow,” says Will Sherrod, a veteran broker at NAI Charleston. “You've got large developers that are looking at parcels close to the interstate — not only the Harris Teeter site that has been public knowledge, but there's also another proposed grocery group looking in the same area. There are multiple convenience store groups that are interested in parcels along Nexton Parkway on both sides of the interstate.” NAI Charleston currently represents the owner of approximately ±100-acres planned for mixed-use development along Nexton Parkway/North Maple, south of I-26.

Although much of Nexton’s commercial development has clustered around U.S. 17, Nexton Parkway offers the potential for further expansion. “It's probably going to be smarter and not as congested as North Main Street,” Sherrod says. “I think it will be a welcome shift. You'll see some of these larger retailers potentially explore the Nexton Parkway side. Post-COVID-19, we’ll have to see what big boxes are looking at in terms of expansion, but I think you’ll see continued growth of retail along that side of the interstate.”

Access is key. The Nexton interchange on I-26, which opened in 2018, was in Crescent’s plans from the start. “They worked hand-in-hand with Berkeley County to adopt a development plan that laid out a long-term set of guidelines for commercial, multifamily, and medical hubs within those 4,500 acres,” Rumsey says. The Nexton Parkway interchange on I-26 was on the master plan back in 2006. Ultimately, it came to fruition 12 years later, reducing congestion on Hwy 17-A and providing direct access to entitled land with utilities.

Accessibility and affordability

The owners of Carolina Ale House saw the potential as well. When they decided to expand to Nexton, they wanted a site with parking that could accommodate 150 cars. “They said, ‘This is going to be the hottest restaurant we have in our portfolio of restaurants throughout the Carolinas,’” Rumsey recalls. NAI Charleston brokered the land for $2.1 million and later sold the Starbucks next door and an adjacent ±1-acre parcel to the same owner. This parcel is currently offered for ground lease as a future bank site.

It was a similar situation for First Citizens Bank, which had searched for two years to find the right spot in the area. When they found Nexton, they bought not just the land for their branch, but an entire 12-acre parcel which sits across the street from a proposed Harris Teeter. “We've had a tremendous amount of interest in it,” says David Grubbs, partner at NAI Charleston. “They've been very methodical about the development of the rest of the 12 acres because they want complementary and compatible uses.”

Jim Rozier, late former Berkeley County supervisor, had a vision to create a commercial base to reduce taxes on homeowners, and he was deeply involved in multiple development agreements for the area. The collaboration of the county, the accessibility of the land, and the opportunities yielded from potential land entitlements allowed Nexton to become a reality. The development has come a long way from that initial $21 million land deal, resulting in a vibrant mixed-use community at the center of the Lowcountry.

Contact NAI Charleston at (843) 720-4944 about any of their available properties at Nexton, or visit their website at NAICharleston.com for further information.

Several new commercial tenants are coming to a large housing development on the edge of Summerville.

Lombardi’s Pizza Kitchen, The Co-op Frosé & Eatery, The Backyard Biergarten, Lowcountry Yoga and children’s gym KidStrong are all lined up to be a part of The Hub in Nexton.

The restaurants and fitness sites are expected to move in by late June or early July, according to Nexton spokeswoman Cassie Cataline.

The Hub is a collection of office and commercial buildings under development on Nexton Parkway and Brighton Park Boulevard near Home Telecom and Refuel convenience store.

Office tenants include Coastal Vascular & Vein Center, Charleston Wound Care, Palmetto Primary and Specialty Care Physicians, Derrington Dermatology and Holliday Ingram law firm.

A new pair of two-story office buildings is expected to be completed in 2024 and 2025. They will be 30,000 square feet and 20,000 square feet, respectively, and be built beside Nexton Parkway.

Nexton is a 5,000-acre, mixed-use development next to Summerville between Interstate 26 and U.S. Highway 176 in Berkeley County. With more than 2,500 homes already sold, the development is expected to have 7,500 residential units at full build-out.

It also could house as many residents as the current populations of Clemson, North Myrtle Beach or West Columbia, roughly between 16,000 and 20,000. That would make it as big as Moncks Corner and Georgetown combined.

Now open

A new pizza restaurant is now open in Mount Pleasant.

BarPizza opened May 12 at 656-G Long Point Road in the revamped former Kiki & Rye space.

It’s part of Free Reign Restaurants owned by Ryan and Kelleanne Jones. They also operate the recently opened Southbound on the Charleston peninsula and Community Table in Mount Pleasant.

Stepping in

A new retail shop that incorporates a clothing item in all of its wares is close to opening in downtown Charleston.

Respoke hopes to open by the weekend at 377 King St. in the former location of Simply J Boutique.

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The shop will offer shoes, clothing and other items that are made in part by repurposing different sections of scarves. Hours will be 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily, but they could change after the shop opens, according to store manager Joseph Fennell.

New threads

Also, coming to downtown Charleston is a new women’s clothing store, now with a shop in Asheville.

Hazel Twenty owner Lexi DiYeso plans to open in August at 73 Wentworth St., formerly part of 269 King St. that was used as back-of-house storage for the former Gap store. The front section houses Aerie, also a clothing shop.

Real Estate

The 3,641-square-foot space is currently under construction behind clothing store Collared Greens and next to The Port Mercantile, part of The Restoration Hotel, according to Blair Hines Gearhart of Oswald Cooke & Associates, who represented the tenant. Charles Constant with Constant Properties represented the landlord.

Fresh return

Ruke’s Produce Stand returns to Mount Pleasant on May 24. Operated by Arthur Brown, the vegetable and fruit vendor will operate 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday through Dec. 31. It’s at 378 Mathis Ferry Road next to Holy Trinity AME Church.

Book it

That Big Book Sale returns for its 41st run May 19-21 at Omar Shrine Auditorium at 176 Patriots Point Road in Mount Pleasant.

More than 60,000 books in all categories will be on sale, starting at $1. Sponsored by Charleston Friends of the Library, the event helps support Charleston County Public Library System.

A pre-sale event for members is 5-8 p.m. May 18. The event is open to the public 9 a.m.-7 p.m. May 19, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. May 20, and 10 a.m-3 p.m. May 21.

Checks, cash, major credit cards and electronic payments, such as ApplePay, will be accepted.

Real Estate

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Ample servings of Champagne coupled with a coastal poolside ambiance served as a fitting backdrop to a favorable economic forecast report during an April 4 Nexton luncheon attended by several local realtors at a sun-splashed Midtown Club in Summerville.

Following a brief synopsis of Nexton’s recent sales and continued growth as a “third job center” in the Charleston market, the mixed-use development’s marketing coordinator Alicia Smith introduced South Carolina Ports Authority Business Development Manager Marion Bull to the podium, as he delved into his group’s efforts of recruiting business activity to the Lowcountry.

The guest speaker sang the praises of Nexton — which is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary as a destination venue in the Summerville community — for its role in providing housing for incoming employees of national and global firms seeking to establish a presence in the Charleston region.

Moving forward, Bull anticipates Nexton continuing to offer corporations an attractive option for its staffers as a source of housing, employment and an ever-expanding array of amenities with new industry emerging in the Jedburg area of Summerville, as well as Ridgeville in the very near future.

“When they want to live somewhere with, you know, a high quality of life that’s affordable, this is a place where business leaders can feel comfortable locating their businesses here,” began the Mount Pleasant resident.

“South Carolina has done a fantastic job as a state, [and] not just as a port, in recruiting business. [We had] $10 billion in investment last year. I think the largest previous year was $3 billion or so. It’s a huge number for our economic development in the state of South Carolina and some of it has happened right here.”

Bull detailed that South Carolina Ports drives about $63 billion in economic impact statewide, with about $8 billion of it emanating from the Lowcountry. In fact, about 30,000 jobs are either directly or indirectly linked to port activity in the immediate surrounding zone — a number that he anticipates will “dramatically” increase due to investments by Volvo, Walmart, Mercedes-Benz and the like.

Luncheon attendees were also treated to a breakdown of expectations for the real estate market in 2023 by President of the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors (CTAR) Katesha Breland.

The Charleston-born real estate broker noted the Charleston region’s remarkable 25 percent population growth over the past decade, along with a 17 percent spurt of newcomers in Summerville over that same 10-year stretch.

“We see changes in our local culture, our restaurant scene, our retail opportunities, and of course, we feel it in our traffic as well,” she stated.

“The local economy is booming. The Nexton development offers something that Summerville residents hadn’t seen before, an intentionally-developed masterplan community that gives residents the ease and opportunity to live, work and play right in their backyards ... that’s just what Nexton does. They haven’t built a neighborhood, they’ve built a community. While local media doesn’t always like to focus on the positives of our real estate market, there’s plenty of good news I can share with you,” added Breland without referencing any specific news media outlet.

On that note, the CTAR leader communicated that closed property sales were down in 2022 by 18 percent, but compared to 2019, that total was actually up six percent.

Breland further spoke of a healthy, sustainable pace of growth, as the overall median sales price increased 14 percent, single-family home prices surged 12 percent and townhouse/condos similarly saw a 22 percent uptick.

Summerville and Moncks Corner, in particular, were two of the top areas in terms of home sales in 2022.

“We expect sales will remain at the pace we’re seeing now, which is a good, healthy pace. Prices will also increase likely at a slower pace than we’ve been seeing. But that’s good news for buyers who are challenged by the affordability of our region.”

Breland concluded her address by lauding Nexton for its development of a wide range of home options (single-family, townhouses, rentals, etc.) and a variety of price points for prospective residents.

Newland, the developers behind the master-planned Summerville community, are being acquired by Brookfield Residential, a company headquarterd in Calgary, Canada. The acquisition won’t affect any current plans, including the groundbreaking of Downtown Nexton.

By Teri Errico Griffis

Brookfield Residential has agreed to acquire Newland, the developers of Nexton, an award-winning master-planned community in Summerville.

Along with the acquisition of the management company on June 1, Brookfield Residential is also acquiring the 5% general partner’s equity interest in 15 of the 20 master-planned communities that Newland is currently developing. Brookfield is headquartered with corporate offices in Calgary, Canada.

Brookfield Residential’s Managing Partner, Real Estate and President, Development Adrian Foley said the investment allows the company to expand as a “large-scale provider of lofts to third-party builders” and potentially expand the Brookfield Residential homebuilding brand.

“The acquisition of Newland adds phenomenal master-planned communities to our portfolio in exciting new markets that are experiencing tremendous growth and a lack of supply of new homes,” Foley said. “It will round out our existing development capabilities making us one of the few companies that has the breadth of resources, capital and operational talent to successfully scale in this area of the market.”

The company said the acquisition broadens’ Brookfield Residential’s footprint across the country and leverages Brookfield Properties’ development capabilities into new markets, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, Tampa, Seattle-Tacoma, Portland, Raleigh-Durham and Wilmington, in addition to Summerville.

Newland is U.S. real estate land development company with 50 years’ experience in real estate developments.

“We are extremely pleased to be able to team up with Brookfield Properties’ development group,” Newland Executive Chairman Bob McLeod said. “This acquisition will provide more opportunities for the continued development of additional mixed-use masterplans well into the future as well as give us significant additional vertical development opportunities. We are looking forward to becoming part of the Brookfield team.”

A spokesperson for Nexton said the acquisition won’t affect any of the current developments, including the $300 million groundbreaking of downtown Nexton.

The urban-inspired mixed-use development will be situated on nearly 100 acres between Sigma Drive and Brighton Park Boulevard, a Nexton release said. Plans include retail, dining, hospitality, residential, service, office and commercial options within walking distance of Nexton’s residential neighborhoods.

In total, 110,000 square feet of office space will be available for lease.

Construction on Downtown Nexton will occur in phases throughout the next few years with the first stage including multifamily units and a mixed-use building that has ground-level retail beneath loft apartments.

The project is developed by New Jersey-based Sharbell Development Corp., a mixed-use developer with more than 37 years experience in the industry.

The New Covenant Church of God has experienced quite a few changes since its inception in 1993 that saw a group of eight “passionate” worshipers expand and grow throughout The Lowcountry, says church administrative assistant Sheila Black.

After relocating from Hanahan, the Pentecostal house of worship moved to Ashley Phosphate Road in 2007, while maintaining a steady presence in Mount Pleasant as well.

But Pastor Marc Campbell and company recently sold the North Charleston property in October 2021, with designs on building a state-of-the-art facility at 1667 Rose Drive in the Nexton mixed-use community in Downtown Summerville.

With shovels hitting the dirt this past Sunday, the projected completion date for construction is about 18 months away in the summer of 2024.

New Covenant’s congregation is presently meeting for 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services at the old Summerville Church of God at 304 Pine Street during the Nexton construction phase. Additionally, the church also has several sub groups that meet separately on Wednesday night, including a a woman’s group, along with boys and girls clusters.

Food distribution services are also part of the mix, as New Covenant collaborates with a North Charleston ministry to donate food to the needy every Thursday.

“Our church will be constructed with future plans to include an outdoor amphitheater and athletic fields,” detailed Black. “Our main goal in the next few months is to have our church ready for worship and facilities for our children’s ministries.”

Campbell, a Hazard, Kentucky native, and his wife, Mary, served abroad as evangelists and pastors in the United Kingdom prior to starting New Covenant out of their living room.

When asked if Pastor Campbell’s sermon style is strictly by-the-book, Black described him as a preacher who will incorporate or relate to the daily lives of his congregants, but also bring his discussion back to the Bible. In short, she depicted him as a “man with a vision.”

It was also noted that Campbell is a member of the Charleston Ecclesiastic Council and heavily involved in training in parts of Europe and Asia.

Unlike lots of new churches featuring gospel bands and singing at their services, however, New Covenant goes down the more traditional music-free route.

“We are a multi-cultural, multi-generational place to worship,” concluded Black, who expounded on the collective enthusiasm provided by church members on a weekly basis.

“On any given Sunday at New Covenant, you will find smiling faces, willing hands and open hearts. There is room here for those who have felt unwanted and neglected. There is room here for those who have never walked through the doors of a church. There is room here for families that are struggling ... for the imperfect. As a matter of fact, this is what New Covenant is made of — come as you are. You’ll see suits and ties right next to shorts and flip flops. It would make our day to see you walk through the doors.”