Pressure Washing in Nexton, SC

Billed as South Carolina's "most innovative and walkable community," Nexton has recently announced its designs to build a new commercial property known as Dayrfield Park that will feature office space and residential offerings, as well as retail and service provider options.

Extending across 60 acres connecting to Nexton's Brighton Park, the new project will consist of three phases, each of which will add five buildings to the area. In total, the undertaking — slated to break ground this summer with an expected 2026 completion date — is forecasted to deliver 500 new jobs.

Phase One, as detailed in a corresponding media release, is scheduled to combine about 100,000 square feet of commercial space and 20,000 square feet of retail and restaurant additions.

Some of the businesses on board to set up shop in Deerfield Park include The Goddard School daycare center, HYLO Fitness and Go Dog — a pet daycare, boarding and grooming service with an adjoining bar.

“At Nexton, we strive to think one step beyond what is needed to deliver amenities that will improve the daily lives of our residents and employees,” said Nexton Vice President and General Manager Brent Gibadlo. “Dayfield Park will provide an immersive community experience while eliminating or improving the daily commute to the office.”

Speaking on behalf of the collaborating leasing firm was Bridge Commercial Senior Vice President Daniel Pellegrino, who underscored the project's aim on meeting the needs of Nexton employees.

“Dayfield Park is the first of its kind in the Charleston market to focus on the complete workday beyond the hours of nine to five, further cementing Nexton’s position as the metro region’s third major employment center," he stated.

Architectural services will be furnished by Rush Dixon Architects and Bello Garris Architects, with SeamonWhiteside serving as the engineering company on the grand-scale construction venture.

There are so many new selections released now, and through the fall, it’s hard to pick just three. For more on the selections below and other upcoming events and new book releases, visit Main Street Reads, Summerville’s independent bookstore, your local library or “shop small” from your couch at a special page we built just for your Summerville Reads selections at https://bookshop.org/lists/summerville-reads-as-seen-in-the-summerville-journal-scene– enjoy the reads!

Perfect back-to-school young reader fantasy

The Guardian Test (Legends of Lotus Island #1) by Christina Soontornvat (ISBN 9781339041032, Scholastic Inc., $7.99 paperback, 160 pp).

I am super excited about the “Legends of Lotus Island” series, and the first in this series will be the focus of the Young Reader Book Club at Main Street Reads in September. At a budget-friendly $7.99 (and 10% less with the book club discount), young readers will get 160 pages of fun from three-time Newbery Honor-winning author Christina Soontornvat.

This compelling young middle-grade fantasy series is for readers who love stories about animals and magic and kids like them embracing their power to change the world.

In this first of the series, Young Plum is shocked to discover that she’s been accepted to the Guardian Academy on Lotus Island. In this elite school, kids learn how to transform into Guardians, magical creatures sworn to protect the natural world. The Guardian masters teach Plum and her friends how to communicate with animals and use meditation to strengthen their minds and bodies.

The students also learn to fight, only to protect the defenseless if needed.

But Plum struggles at school. While her classmates begin to transform into amazing creatures, Plum can’t even seem to magic up a single feather. If she can’t embrace her inner animal form soon, she’ll have to leave school – and lose the first group of real friends she’s ever known.

Bookish non-fiction

The Bookshop by Evan Friss (ISBN 9780593299920, Viking, $30 hardcover, 416 pp).

“The New York Times” calls this “a spirited defense of this important, odd and odds-defying American retail category.”

As someone who owns a bookstore, I’m not sure if we’re defying odds so much as serving up connection in a world often grown cold and impersonal, but either way, this is a fascinating book for folks seeking interesting knowledge.

Friss delves into the American bookstore and its central place in our cultural life, from department stores to indies, from highbrow dealers trading in first editions to sidewalk vendors, and from chains to special-interest community destinations.

Bookstores have always been unlike any other kind of store, shaping readers and writers and influencing our sensibilities. Everyone who visits the store (and me) can cite their own experiences growing up around books. They nurture local communities while creating new ones.

Bookshops are powerful spaces, but they are also endangered ones. In “The Bookshop,” we see the stakes: what has been and what might be lost.

Evan Friss’ history of the bookshop draws on oral histories, archival collections, municipal records, diaries, letters, and interviews with leading booksellers to offer a fascinating look at this institution.

The story begins with Benjamin Franklin’s first bookstore in Philadelphia. It takes us to various booksellers, including the Strand, Chicago’s Marshall Field & Company, the Gotham Book Mart, specialty stores like Oscar Wilde and Drum and Spear, sidewalk sellers of used books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon Books and Parnassus.

“The Bookshop” is also a history of the leading figures in American bookselling, often passionate eccentrics, and a history of how books have been marketed and sold over more than two centuries--including, for example, a 3,000-pound elephant who signed books at Marshall Field’s in 1944.

This is a love letter to bookstores, delightful for anyone who cherishes these sanctuaries of literature.

It is essential reading to understand how bookstores have shaped American life and why we still need them!

Near-future fiction

Glass Houses by Madeline Ashby (ISBN 9780765382924, Tor Books, $27.99 paperback, 464 pp).

It is singularly fascinating and a perfect blend of near-future sci-fi, thriller, and mystery. It is a bit of “The White Lotus” meets our generation’s speculative “Brave New World.”

It all begins when a tech tank of employees (including the CEO) celebrates the sale of their emotion-mapping AI algorithm and — a la “Lost” — crashes into a not-quite-deserted island in the tropics.

The lucky survivors of the crash find a surprisingly fully stocked private palace with all the latest tech updates (though with zero connection to the outside world).

The house, however, has more secrets than its newest guests might guess, pointing to a sinister reason for being built and then mysteriously abandoned.

Being a woman in tech has always meant being smarter than anyone expects. So Kristen’s knack for problem-solving and quick thinking has gotten her to the top.

She’s now the tech company’s “chief emotional manager,” dubbed by her billionaire boyfriend and boss. And she is trying to keep her colleagues stable throughout this challenging situation.

But staying sane is as much of an obstacle as staying alive.

Competent or not, it may take more than wits and killer instinct to survive this island adventure.

Author Madeline Ashby is an acclaimed futurist who hits it out of the park with this decadent and unique tale.

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."

The cult classic gas station Buc-ee’s owns land in Anderson County but don’t expect to see the Texas icon anytime soon.

Major improvements — as in a whole new configuration of the access ramps — must be completed before there’s any thought of the gas station being built.

Steve Newton, Anderson County’s governmental affairs director, said traffic is already bad at the Interstate 85 interchange with Liberty Highway and improvements are needed whether Buc-ee’s was coming or not.

Buc-ee’s opened in Florence in May 2022, South Carolina’s first. It was such a big deal Gov. Henry McMaster showed up for the grand opening.

Buc-ee’s founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin told The State the company received 6,000 applications for 300 jobs in Florence, where the minimum pay is $18 an hour and nearly $30 for managers.

Alpin told WYFF recently construction in Anderson wasn’t planned to start for more than a year with a 2026 opening.

Spokesperson Rachel Austin said Alpin confirmed the Anderson store is being designed to be 74,000 square feet, among the largest in the chain. The largest now is in Sevierville, Tennessee, at 74,000 square feet.

“This spring Buc-ee’s will be opening a travel center in Luling, Texas, that will reclaim the title, sitting at 75,000 square feet.,” she said.

Newton said vehicles back up on the ramps now, especially during rush hour and on the southbound ramp which comes from Greenville. The backup sometimes extends onto the highway.

South Carolina Department of Transportation engineers say the current standard ramp design is outdated. Some 22,000 cars flow through there daily.

Newton said a two-lane double diamond configuration is needed to spread the traffic out.

It will cost $60 million to $70 million. The county had hoped to receive funds from the state Infrastructure Bank to bear most of that cost, but herd Thursday they won’t be able to assist in the upcoming funding round.

The funding this year will only be for rural areas and that exit doesn’t qualify.

“We are actively pursuing other funding sources and are confident we can secure the funding we need in a timely manner,” Newton said..

Newton said the interchange includes two manufacturing plants, residences and an under development business park. The land Buc-ees owns is undeveloped.

Alpin started Buc-ee’s in 1982 as a typical small convenience store in his hometown of Lake Jackson an hour south of Houstin. The name comes from his childhood nickname and his dog Buck. Alpin is known as Beaver.

In Texas, where Buc-ee’s has 34 stores, its economic impact is $641 million with 5,000 employees. The company now has 47 stores in the Southeast and Missouri.

Bon Appétit magazine deemed it “the best rest stop in America,”

In 1985, Aplin and Don Wasek joined forces. In 2006, the big stores — 17,000 square feet or so — began and a key advertising slogan was clean restrooms — “cleanest restrooms in America!”

Their motto remains “clean, friendly, and in stock.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2024, 8:45 AM.

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.

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.

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SUMMERVILLE, S.C. – Nexton, the most innovative and walkable community in South Carolina, announced today it was awarded a 2023 Best in American Living Awards (BALA) by The National Association of Home Builders Design Committee in the category of Single-Family Community For Rent for its built-for-rent neighborhood, The Villas at Nexton. BALA is the building industry’s premier residential design awards program that spotlights the most creative and talented industry professionals who redefine design excellence for homes and communities nationally and internationally.

“Built-for-rent communities are rapidly gaining popularity as they offer a unique blend of convenience, flexibility and community living,” says Cassie Cataline, marketing director at Nexton. “This award underscores Nexton’s commitment to providing innovative housing solutions that prioritize modern lifestyles and foster vibrant communities and we are honored to be recognized.”

The Villas at Nexton earned the gold award in the category Single-Family Community for Rent. The Villas at Nexton spans nearly 27 acres and offers 282 single-family and duplex rental homes that cater to young professionals, empty nesters and those transitioning to the Charleston area looking to rent instead of buy. The community features a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom cottages, each with its own private, fenced yard, as well as one-bedroom lofts and carriage units. The homes range from 650 to 1,350 square feet and rental rates start at $1,535 per month.

To create a true neighborhood feel for its residents, the community features open green spaces to host community events, courtyards with pavilions and barbeque stations, a central clubhouse and resort-style pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, dog park and electric car charging stations. The homes offer nine- to 12-foot ceilings, quartz countertops, wood-grain flooring, in-unit washers and dryers, a smart home technology package and have 24/7 on-call maintenance and optional enclosed garage parking.

Nexton is a lifestyle-driven destination that artfully blends the best of live, work and play by offering conveniences such as state-of-the-art schools, modern infrastructure, 20 miles of trails and 2,000 acres of green space. The community’s four residential neighborhoods include apartments, built-for-rent homes, townhomes and a variety of for-sale single-family homes that cater to first-time buyers, executives and 55+ retirees. Nexton has currently sold over 3,000 homes.

For more information on The Villas at Nexton, visit: https://thevillasatnexton.com/. To learn more about Nexton, visit: www.nexton.com.