Norm Brody: Nexton Update

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April 21, 2015: We were joined this week by Norm Brody, Director of Commercial Development for MWV (formerly Mead Westvaco). Norm is responsible for developing office, multi-family, and retail options for two large scale development projects – East Edisto and Nexton. His comments focused on Nexton, a 5,000 acre development being constructed in Summerville and Berkeley County.

The project generally runs from the intersection of I-26 and Highway 17-A at Exit 199 to a future exit 2 miles northward. In the first stage of a 25-year build-out plan, Nexton will eventually have 2,000 acres of green space and 50 miles of trails, as well as commercial, retail and residential components. Along with the focus on green space, another component getting notice is the Gigabyte Wi-Fi. The entire development will be fiber optic, with 1G at each home site.

The first phase is well underway, with 750,000sf office, 180,000sf mixed use, two hotels, day care, credit union, restaurant, and 320 apartment units on 148 acres. A new headquarters building for MWV will soon be joined by the SC Research Authority and Palmetto Health and Wellness Center.

Subsequent phases will include multi-family and single family homes, grocery center, regional parks, and an elementary school. By 2030 they anticipate 10,000 new houses, 2,000 new apartments, and 8,000,000 square feet of commercial space. Norm estimated the daytime population for Nexton will be 10,000 people when the plan is fully implemented.

The Nexton development is adjacent to several other large-scale projects – Cane Bay, Carnes Crossing, and Wildcat. Together the four projects total 30,000 new residential units. Norm expects a few major long-term agreements for Phase 3 to be announced within the next 90 days.

MWV’s goal with Nexton is a multi-generational community that provides what people need to be healthy and successful. They plan to be an employment center, keeping much traffic and business local with a future transit hub to accommodate mass transit as well.  It has been “designed for life today – fresh, yet authentic; fast internet and slow food; wired, yet walk-able”.

Tammy Coghill