MeadWestvaco forms partnership with Rockefeller Group in Jedburg deal

MeadWestvaco Corp. has partnered with the Rockefeller Group in that company’s plans to build about 2.7 million square feet of distribution space in the Jedburg area.

“Rockefeller was originally going to purchase the property. Working together, we decided the best thing would be to combine forces and venture the project,” said Ken Seeger, president of MeadWestvaco’s Community Development and Land Management Group.

Terms of the agreement between MeadWestvaco and Rockefeller were not disclosed.

New-York based Rockefeller has been planning to build four buildings for logistics use on roughly 400 acres in Berkeley County, one part of a massive logistics park project off Interstate 26 intended to serve the Port of Charleston. The other regional and national developers involved in the project are Trammell Crow Co. and Hillwood Development Co., both out of Dallas, and Spartanburg-based Johnson Development.

Seeger called the deal “the first arrangement of its kind” for MeadWestvaco. The company is headquartered in Glen Allen, Va., but its land division is based in Summerville. Historically, MeadWestvaco has parceled off its valuable land to others, but the company has shifted its philosophy in recent times and is trying its hand at development, as well.

The decision “was driven by our desire to be more involved in the development of the site, not by any other considerations,” Seeger said.

He called the planned industrial cluster at Jedburg “an important piece of helping provide for jobs in the tri-county region.”

Rockefeller originally planned to start construction on the first building in November 2008. Ed Guiltinan, the company’s vice president and regional director, recently blamed the permitting process for the delay and said Rockefeller will study economic conditions to determine the right time to go vertical.

In the meantime, Seeger said work on improvements to the frontage road, Drop Off Drive, will start in “the next 30 days.”

“We will be preparing the site and making it pad-ready for the first building, which we will build at such time that we secure a tenant,” Seeger said.

In October, MeadWestvaco announced it had purchased and planned to develop the 4,500-acre master-planned community known as Parks of Berkeley, located between Interstate 26 and U.S. Highway 176. MeadWestvaco bought the land from Charlotte-based Crescent Resources, which had originally bought the property from MeadWestvaco

The company also plans a conservation-driven community development on its tract of land along the Edisto River in Charleston and Dorchester counties.