North America Sekisui House LLC, the U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s largest homebuilder, has bought a major portion of Nexton, the master-planned community off Interstate 26 in Summerville, from WestRock Land and Development.

The purchase covers about 4,000 acres, including 400 acres designated for commercial use, according to an announcement today from the buyer, known as NASH, and its development partner, American Newland Communities LP. The announcement did not include a price.

Newland Communities, the development business of San Diego-based Newland, will be the operating developer for NASH. Nexton is the first Charleston-area project for both companies.

What WestRock keeps

WestRock will continue to develop its commercial land fronting I-26 and U.S. 176, including the PPCP Medical Campus, the Nexton town center retail and other commercial and retail projects, the companies said.

“Since 2008, we have enjoyed significant success establishing Nexton as the region’s next job center, and our first residential village, Brighton Park, was named Community of the Year in 2015,” said Kenneth T. Seeger, president of WestRock Land and Development.

“We selected NASH and Newland Communities because we are confident that they will follow through with our plans for Nexton as they were originally conceived,” Seeger said. “We look forward to working beside them on the properties we are continuing to develop.”

Nexton so far

Nexton is approved for up to 13,000 homes, a mix of single-family detached, single-family attached and multifamily units, according to the announcement. More than 200 homes have been sold or are under construction, with prices from the mid-$200,000s to the high $400,000s.

The community bills itself as the first in South Carolina with community-wide gigabit broadband service.

Keith Hurand, Newland’s president and chief operating officer for the East, said Nexton is “the best location in the submarket because it’s in the direct path of growth.”

“Nexton will continue to be a catalyst for economic development and business growth for companies looking to expand, start-up or relocate to the area in order to be near where their employees call home,” Hurand said.

Why WestRock is selling

The sale comes as WestRock works to sell its land holdings faster. The paper and packaging company’s Land and Development segment “develops and sells real estate primarily in the Charleston, SC region,” WestRock said in a quarterly report filed Feb. 7.

In that report, WestRock said the segment’s sales rose to $54 million in the three months that ended Dec. 31, from $15.4 million a year earlier. “The increased sales were a result of accelerating the monetization of our land and development portfolio,” the company said, adding that it expects to finish that program by the end of 2018.

WestRock was formed in 2015 through the combination of RockTenn and MeadWestvaco, according to its filings.

Who is buying

NASH was established in 2010 as the U.S. business operations unit and a full subsidiary of Sekisui House Ltd., a developer since 1960 that has built more than 2 million houses and also operates in Australia, China and Singapore, according to the announcement. NASH, based in Arlington, Va., forms joint ventures to build communities as well as mixed-use, multifamily rental and condominium properties. Sekisui House is based in Osaka.

“We recognize the value created by WestRock in the planning and successful launch of Nexton. They’ve created a great foundation for us to build upon,” said Koji Yamada, NASH’s president and chief operating officer.

NASH and Newland already work together on three North Carolina communities: Briar Chapel in Chapel Hill, Wendell Falls outside Raleigh and RiverLights in Wilmington. Newland, which says it has completed or has underway more than 140 developments in 14 states, said the deal marks its return to South Carolina.