More than just a business deal

After selling off large swaths of timberland for development in the middle of the Lowcountry housing boom, MeadWestvaco announced in 2007 that it would develop the massive East Edisto tract as a "green" community.

Then, this month, the company bought back the 6,000 acres of foreclosed Watson Hill property to develop while maintaining its historic, rural character. The company made a $6 million profit on the land deal.

But it was more than a business decision; it was a reclamation. And the company's move might end up preserving more of the scenic views of Dorchester County and the Lowcountry, where the company still owns more than 350,000 acres.

The developer who ended up with Watson Hill originally had planned to build as many as 5,000 houses and hotel rooms around a golf course. The property sits along S.C. Highway 61, just past the winding stretch of live oaks and Colonial plantations.

A development that dense along the scenic, historic byway ignited public outrage.

"Once we sold it and no longer controlled it, we didn't like the aftermath," said Ken Seeger, president of MeadWestvaco's community development and land management group.

It made sense from a corporate perspective and a shareholder perspective to invest in a sustainable real estate business instead, he said.

The company, he said, is "taking a harder look at what we have." It's operating under a new business plan that considers whether tracts might be more valuable developing rather than selling wholesale.

For years, the largest property owner in the Lowcountry, MeadWestvaco was admired for its conservation-minded practices.

Then it began selling off the pine land in the middle of the housing boom. The sales were part of a company-wide plan to sell 1.1 million acres near rapidly developing areas, trimming assets to bolster profits.

In three years, the company sold the bulk of more than 45,000 acres of former commercial timberland in the Lowcountry, spurring criticism and alarming conservationists that the Lowcountry was about to be transformed into an expanse of traffic gridlocks, strip malls and subdivisions with little green space preserved.

MeadWestvaco now plans to develop Watson Hill alongside the 72,000-acre East Edisto project.

The abutting properties constitute about one-fifth of Dorchester County.

Conservationists like the plan.

"We still don't know what the outcome will be (with Watson Hill and East Edisto). But the progress they have made to date leads me to believe they're sincere," said Dana Beach, Coastal Conservation League executive director.

He recalled a comment made to him by another conservationist: Be realistic. Look for a miracle.

"We pretty much had (a miracle) on the Ashley River," Beach said.

Reach Bo Petersen at 937-5744 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com.