The company that’s building out a master-planned community in Berkeley County that’s as large as the Charleston peninsula is set to come under new ownership.

California-based Brookfield Residential announced this week that it is acquiring Newland, the developer of the 5,000-acre mixed-use Nexton neighborhood between Interstate 26 and U.S. Highway 176 near Summerville.

The sale of San Diego-based Newland, which is involved in 20 large master-planned projects around the country, is expected to be finalized June 1.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

A Nexton spokeswoman declined to comment on the pending sale.

“No major, significant operational changes are expected,” said Brookfield spokeswoman Krista Ellingson.

She said the company’s specialty is supplying homes and lots in constrained real estate markets such as Charleston, where a scarcity of homes on the market has dropped to less than a one-month supply, triggering bidding wars and pushing up prices.

“We just aren’t a homebuilder, we invest in land to build homes and sell to homebuilders,” Ellingson said. “We want to show our partners that we are in it with them.”

Bob McLeod, Newland’s executive chairman, said the Brookfield deal “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.”

As of this week, Nexton has 1,266 occupied single-family homes in four subdivisions — Brighton Park, Del Webb, Midtown and North Creek. About 200 more are under development within the neighborhoods.

Nexton also has about 900 finished apartments in three complexes, with another 600 rental units on the way.

When build-out is completed in about 10 years, Nexton will have about 7,000 residences with about 17,500 residents. That will make it roughly equal to the current populations of Moncks Corner and Georgetown combined.

Brookfield Residential currently has no real estate operations in the Palmetto State. The Newland acquisition will expand its footprint to eight new markets, including Charleston, Raleigh-Durham and Wilmington in the Carolinas, and five other areas where both companies have projects in the works.

Last year, Brookfield’s revenue from home and land sales was $1.74 billion, about $200 million less than in 2019, mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the company’s annual report.

During the first three months of 2021, total revenue topped $444 million, about 30 percent more than the first quarter last year, when the coronavirus began to spread throughout the overall economy.

Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Brookfield Residential is part of Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management, which oversees investment totaling $600 billion and is headquartered in Toronto.

Newland oversees the development of the Nexton tract for North America Sekisui House LLC. NASH, a subsidiary of Japan’s largest homebuilder, bought the property in 2017 from paper maker WestRock Co.’s former real estate division for $90 million.

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.

Smith topped off the information session by filling in listeners on the imminent additions of Harris Teeter and Publix retail outposts in the Nexton area in Q1 of 2024 and Q2 of 2024 respectively.

Also mentioned were the opening of Pickle Bar, as well as a new hospital and middle school site that are both in the works.

The master-planned Nexton community will soon become a medical destination for Berkeley County.

Medical University of South Carolina has proposed a $130 million hospital within the Summerville community. The 128-patient bed facility will include four operating rooms, eight labor and delivery rooms, diagnostic testing and imaging, and emergency services, MUSC Health Chief Strategy Officer Sarah Bacik said.

“A large percentage of our current patients originate from Berkeley County, and this is going to really allow our patients to have access within our communities,” Bacik said. “It’s not a surprise to anyone that the growth has outpaced some of the infrastructure.”

MUSC has asked the state for approval to build the community hospital through a certificate of need.

The build is expected to take two and a half years.

Nexton’s Vice President of Operations Brent Gibadlo said a hospital offers a service to the surrounding areas and residents because health care options have become a growing priority for homebuyers.

“There are certain basic things that are important for everyone that don’t change,” he said. “Certainly good schools if people have children and then good health care options. So having a world-class hospital in close proximity is always a wonderful compliment to a community."

Downtown Charleston’s MUSC campus will remain the hub for the educational hospital, while the Nexton campus will book end it with satellite campuses and ambulatory services in between, Bacik said.

“We’re full downtown, and we need to make sure that we can continue to have access to those more acute patients,” Bacik said. “It’s really about getting the patients the right level of care at the right place.”

The need for a community hospital in Berkeley County is critical, said Dr. Dave Zaas, CEO of the Charleston division of MUSC. The hospital’s co-location in Nexton will help with the area’s continued growth.

“That is a lot of our strategy not just in tri-county but around the state,” he said. “Not only delivering the highest quality ... but more convenient and ideally at a lower cost. I think that drives our ambulatory growth as well as our statewide strategy.”

Gibadlo said Nexton is just starting to explore the possibilities with MUSC and its idea of community health care, of being more proactive and going out into the community to initiate health and wellness programs. Preventative care could then decrease the need for hospital visits.

“We’ve had conversations with MUSC on how to incorporate some of those programs into Nexton,” Gibadlo said. “That’s everything from community gardens to community fitness programs to even potential opportunities for some of the coordination between MUSC and some of the companies at Nexton.”

Other suggestions include incorporating companies’ health care programs through MUSC and creating wellness programs employees can participate in.

Bacik is already excited for both caregivers and patients because she believes the best care is delivered conveniently to patients, many of whom come from across the state.

“A lot of our patients and staff travel to the peninsula today to receive care or to care for our patients ... so if they could receive care 30 minutes closer, that’s a benefit for the communities as well,” Bacik said.

Gibadlo is going on 13 years at Nexton and said there is has another 13 or 14 years left in the business plan. He still remembers those early years, though, sitting in a Welcome Center trailer praying that builders and homebuyers would think outside the box.

Convincing people to give Nexton a chance was hard a decade ago given the location.

Over time, Gibadlo has found that if he pushes the envelope to create value, the innovation is well-received.

“I think the potential for Nexton is really evolving continuously. What we used to think was possible we’ve exceeded now. Maybe we can take it another step,” he said. “A hospital was something we only dreamed about 10 years ago. Now that’s happening.”

Nexton now receives calls almost daily from groups, retailers and home builders who want to create something exciting at the community. Gibadlo said the biggest challenge is prioritizing. If he reacts to every call, he risks losing focus of the long-term vision that Nexton is systematically moving through.

“At the same time, you have to be flexible enough that if you get a call, like from MUSC, you change track a little bit because that’s a great opportunity,” he said.

A community with a master plan allowed Gibadlo and his team to be deliberate about adding a hospital. They could look at the map of the 5,000 acres to find a plot that was accessible, wouldn’t disrupt homeowners with traffic and had surrounding space for businesses the hospital could bring in. Gibadlo believes they will come.

As an educational institution, MUSC’s research and development could lead to job opportunities and potential spin-off businesses, he said.

Together, Gibadlo and his team’s vision for Nexton stem from a love for the region. He knows, however, that with any growth, there will inevitably be challenges. The objective then is to figure out how to make those obstacles positive.

“We look at it and say hey, we can create this employment center in the Charleston region, take some of the pressure off downtown, 526, everyone commuting and bring some of the great things that people love about this region from a quality of life and bring them to another location that can spread them out a little bit,” he said. “Maybe we can play a small role in helping this region continue to be a great place to live. At the heart of it, that’s what motivates us every day.”

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The Nexton community in Summerville continues to see new growth right off of I-26 and Highway 17A.

Nexton Vice President of Operations Brent Gibadlo says the community can expect to see new restaurants, parks, employments opportunities, offices, and a variety of homes coming in the next few years.

“Nexton is already in a really great location, right off of I-26, so it’s very accessible. I think the other thing is a lot of employment here,” Gibadlo said. “So, this isn’t really just about homes, it’s a lot about businesses. So, it’s this idea of integrating where people work and where people live and getting those things more inter-connected.”

The Midtown area of Nexton opened about six months ago and currently has about 100 homes on site, but within the next 10 to 15 years, Gibadlo says they plan to have around 3,000 homes there.

“I think that’s the biggest thing that we’re trying to do at Midtown Nexton is offer housing options across the board,” Gibadlo. “So whether you’re a young person looking to buy your first home or you’re an empty nester looking to downsize, and everything in between.”

Gibadlo says the Midtown space will have apartments, townhomes, and individual houses. They also just broke ground on the Midtown Club which will have a resort pool, lap pools, exercise facilities, and other amenities.

Downtown Nexton is expected to break ground later this year. It will be separate from the existing Nexton Square with restaurants, stores, and offices. It will be about 100 acres along Sigma Drive. Gibadlo says it will have hotels and apartments in a more urban and city-like area of the community.

He says he’s excited for Nexton to also become a health and wellness hub for the area. That includes new offices already and the anticipation of a MUSC Community Hospital expected to open in 2022.

Gibadlo also says they realize the growth of this area may not seem beneficial for everyone.

“You know, it’s very fair for folks to have concerns about growth. What we always think about is we want to make sure that there’s far more positives than negatives associated with growth,” Gibadlo said. “So I think first it starts with a good, thoughtful master plan. And that’s one thing that we’re lucky in the case of Nexton. This is a plan that’s been in the works now for over 10 years.”

He adds that Nexton has a master plan for the road networks and stormwater plans that come with the rapid growth here.

Copyright 2021 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Contributing Writer

The local master planned community named the best in the nation has begun work on another phase, on the way to 7,500 residences. This new phase of the Nexton community in Summerville and Berkeley County is expected to add apartments for rent, hotel, office space and 150,000 square feet of shopping and dining space when it is completely built out over the next five to seven years.

Nexton has sold nearly 24 acres to Charlotte-based Crosland Southeast, which plans to develop the new One Nexton segment in multiple phases, starting this coming summer. The first phase of One Nexton will include 351 new apartments and 37,500 square feet of retail space anchored by a Publix supermarket.

One Nexton is consistent with the mixed-use development philosophy of the larger Nexton community, which sits between Interstate 26 and U.S. Highway 176 and was named the “Master-Planned Community of the Year” in 2021 by the National Association of Homebuilders.

Nexton sold 456 homes in 2020 and another 576 in 2021 to earn a spot on the RCLCO Real Estate Advisors list of fastest-growing planned communities. More than 1,800 homes currently comprise greater Nexton, including 250 under construction.

Located at the northeast corner of Brighton Park Boulevard and Nexton Parkway, the first phase of One Nexton will break ground in the summer and is expected to be complete in the fall of 2024.

“One Nexton illustrates that Nexton continues to be a national leader in modern community design,” said Brent Gibadlo, vice president and general manager of Nexton. “By fostering thoughtful commercial and residential growth along Charleston’s I-26 growth corridor, we can provide everything our residents want and need while cutting down on commute times and improving quality of life by allowing them to live, work and play and shop all within a short walk or drive from their homes.”

One Nexton will include green space, parks and trails that connect to the rest of Nexton. The master plan for the entire Nexton development calls for 50 miles of walking/biking trails; 2,000 of the total 5,000 acres set aside for woodlands, wetlands and open space; and 400 acres of office, commercial and retail.

One Nexton is the latest phase of the community, built one section at a time over the past decade. Originally developed by WestRock, the real estate company that was formed from lumber giant MeadWestvaco. Today, the development is under development by Brookfield Residential, which acquired the previous developer, Newland, last year.

Nexton’s previous phase to begin development was Midtown, five districts built around a central area of shops, restaurants and a wellness center complete with tennis center, lap pool, yoga studio and more. That followed on the heels last year of Downtown Nexton, 100 acres between Sigma Drive and Brighton Park offering the same amenities and walkability.