Mattress storein Nexton, SC

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.

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.

If it seems like parts of Berkeley County are being invaded by new out-of-state residents, you’re only halfway wrong — or correct.

Almost half of new home buyers in Nexton and Carnes Crossroads — two of the most flocked-to master-planned communities in the Charleston region — are coming from places beyond South Carolina’s borders.

In 2021, this group represented 47 percent of purchasers in Nexton and Carnes Crossroads. The other 53 percent came from within the Palmetto State, with 70 percent of those originating from inside the Charleston area, according to data provided by the developers.

“It’s been that way from the beginning,” said Nexton spokeswoman Cassie Cataline. “Since we’ve opened, the percentage has been about the same – 50-to-60 percent of the buyers have come from South Carolina and the rest from out-of-state. I don’t know if it’s a price-point thing or what.”

The 5,000-acre Nexton property is expected to put about 7,000 homes on the ground with a population of about 17,500 at full buildout over the next decade. Over roughly the same period, the nearby 2,300-acre Carnes Crossroads development could have about 4,500 homes with more than 11,000 residents.

A common misconception among Lowcountry residents is that the majority of buyers are moving from either the Northeast corridor or Ohio.

“No, we are not being invaded by people from Ohio,” Cataline said with a chuckle.

Last year, the largest percentage of out-of-state buyers in Nexton moved in from North Carolina and Georgia, specifically from the Charlotte and Atlanta metropolitan areas.

The other top referring states were New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania as those buyers were made up primarily of retirees.

“It’s not just the home itself anymore that’s important,” said Roni Haskell, a realtor with Keller Williams, who has sold more than two dozen homes in the two mixed-use mega-developments. “Yes, the home and affordability are huge factors, but it’s also the neighborhoods now. More and more buyers are looking for the master-planned communities — what I’d call macro-communities — like Nexton and Carnes Crossroads.

“They don’t want to feel isolated; they want to feel like they are in the heart of things, but they don’t want have to go too far to get that lifestyle,” she added. “They want a community feel.”

Nearly 85 percent of buyers in Nexton were made up of either baby boomers or millennials, although there was a smaller percentage of younger buyers as well.

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• 49 percent are boomers.

• 36 percent are millennials.

• 15 percent are gen-Xers.

Caroline Ayres, 29, grew up in the Hilton Head Island area and had been living in an apartment in Summerville with husband, Lee, since 2018. The couple wanted more space and went in search of a home in early 2020, finally settling on a property in Nexton’s Brighton Park.

“Everything is super convenient and anything we need is about 10 minutes away,” she said. “Summerville is close by, and we can hop on the interstate and get to downtown Charleston pretty quickly. There’s a lot to do, some great restaurants, some great walking trails, there’s green space, we have a dog park near our house, so everything we need is right here. Those factors were huge for us when we were making our decision on where to buy.”

Tucker Martinelli, 61, was stationed at the Navy base in the early 1980s and was familiar with the area. When his wife, Elizabeth, retired as a school teacher in the summer of 2020, the Charlotte coupled moved to Carnes Crossroads.

“South Carolina is a retirement-friendly state with some of its tax policies,” Martinelli said. “I knew the Summerville-Goose Creek area pretty well. We looked at some homes in the Del Webb section of Nexton, but we fell in love with Carnes Crossroads. We’re still pretty active, so we like to get out and do things. That’s very important for us.”

Ayers said the mix of families in her Brighton Park neighborhood offers a unique generational blend.

“We have young families with kids and without kids and also some retired folks,” Ayers said. “I think it’s an interesting mix because most neighborhoods are normally either young families or an older crowd. Nexton offers a little bit of everything to every generation and that gives it a real community feel.”

Nexton sold 576 homes during 2021, giving the community a total of 2,000 sales. At the end of 2021, Nexton had 1,675 occupied homes and another 250 sold and under construction, with 1,258 completed apartments and 602 under development, Cataline said.

Carnes Crossroads had 480 completed homes in 2021 with 57 under construction, 42 in the planning and approval stage and 823 apartments on the ground, said spokeswoman Julie Dombrowski of DI Development Co., the development manager for the project.

Cane Bay, another large housing development in that area of Berkeley County, did not respond to a request for comment.

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.

Tatum here. Did you know there’s a new Viva Chicken location in Nexton? If you love chicken, Peruvian food, or exploring Nexton’s restaurant scene, this spot should be on your radar.

Viva Chicken is a Peruvian rotisserie chicken joint whose co-founder is from Peru. The menu includes bowls, salads, sandwiches, and rotisserie chicken or pollo a la brasa.

I recently got to check out the new location in Summerville. Keep reading for insider tips (read: what to order) + discover how you can Try This.

What we tried (with pricing):

I tried the quarter chicken with yuca + plantains ($9.55), the maracuya juice ($3.25), and a churro ($3.50). My pollo a la brasa was crisped to perfection + I got the huacatay sauce for a bit of a kick.

When I bit into the yuca (which is like a potato) I thought I’d fried + gone to heaven. Pro tip: Dip the yuca in the huancaina cheese sauce or pair it with maracuya for a sweet and tangy complement.

What not to miss:

If you’re craving pollo, order the quarter, half, or whole chicken with sides like cilantro rice, green beans, and plantains. The chicken is charcoal-fired + marinated in spices.The eatery has plenty of healthy options like the Andina Power Food or the Inca Wrap. Plus, the menu is 70% vegetarian with the option to add a protein.

Choose from three sauces (all made in-house daily):

And wet your whistle with one of three signature juices:

What we’re still talking about: I learned that Viva Chicken partnered with No Kid Hungry and donates 50 cents for every churro sold. Talk about a win-win.

Also, the outdoor patio was the perfect spot to eat. If it’s a nice day, order on the app ahead of time + enjoy your food in the sunshine.

How you can experience this:

There are several ways to get your fix — order through the Viva Chicken App, online, curbside, in-store, or over the phone. Pro tip: Download the app, make an account + start earning VivaPoints. Earn 750 points to reach Aji Status and receive $5 off, 2,000 points to reach Haucatay Status and receive $7.50 off, and 3,500 points to reach Rocoto Status and receive $10 off.

Getting there: After turning left onto Nexton Square Drive, turn left again when you see Poogan’s Southern Kitchen + Viva Chicken is up ahead. Luckily, there’s plenty of parking.

Things to know if you go: