From Botanical Gardens to Boardrooms: Clemson’s Land Deal With Michael Nieri

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by JENN WOOD

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The paper trail connecting Clemson University to embattled developer Michael Nieri — the homebuilder whose companies are at the center of South Carolina’s ongoing development-influence scandal — just got a lot longer.

Property records (.pdf) obtained by FITSNews reveal the Clemson University Foundation – the nonprofit real-estate arm of the school – sold nearly nine acres of land bordering the South Carolina Botanical Garden directly to Nieri in 2017. This deal — executed quietly through a warranty deed and recorded in Pickens County in May of 2017 — conveyed a 9.17-acre tract at 480 Bentbrook Lane to Nieri for “Ten and 00/100 Dollars ($10.00) and other good and valuable consideration.”

This parcel sits on the east side of Bentbrook Lane and the south side of Garden Trail — immediately adjacent to the university’s Botanical Gardens and research corridor, one of Clemson’s most prized natural and educational assets.

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THE DEED AND THE DONOR

The grantor on the document is listed as Clemson University Foundation, Inc., while the grantee is Michael P. Nieri — the chairman of United Homes Group (UHG) and a major Clemson benefactor whose name adorns the Nieri Family Department of Construction Science and Management.

A 1986 Clemson graduate, Nieri built one of the Southeast’s largest residential construction companies and has remained deeply embedded in the university’s ecosystem — funding scholarships, faculty endowments, and facilities tied to Clemson’s growing real estate and construction programs.

In a recent university feature entitled “Building a Legacy,” Clemson credited Nieri and his family with helping shape the “next generation of builders” via multimillion-dollar gifts that expanded the department bearing their name.

According to the deed, the property was transferred “in consideration of ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration,” a common but nonspecific phrase that often signals a low-value or internal conveyance rather than an arm’s-length market sale.

The sale occurred in 2017 — well before the publicly-traded incarnation of United Homes Group (2023) and several years before Clemson president James P. Clements and former governor Nikki Haley — one of the school’s unconstitutional lifetime trustees — joined UHG’s corporate board.

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LOCATION AND OPTICS

The property lies within Clemson’s city limits in “Tax District 5-Clemson” (zoned R-20 residential) and was previously part of a Foundation plat adjustment (.pdf) prepared by Clemson Engineering Services and filed in 2017. That plat defined the tract as “E/SIDE BENTBROOK LN S/SIDE GARDEN TRL TR-C2” – effectively carving off a section of land once integrated with university holdings near the South Carolina Botanical Garden.

While the transaction appears to have been executed lawfully, it is raising fresh questions about transparency and optics in the aftermath of recent revelations. A nonprofit foundation tied to a public university conveyed property adjoining one of Clemson’s most visible landmarks to one of its wealthiest donors — a developer whose business network now overlaps with entities engaged in real-estate projects involving the university and local governments across the Upstate.

In isolation, the sale might appear routine. But in the broader context of Clemson’s expanding development footprint and its close ties to politically connected benefactors, the deal underscores growing concerns about how public assets are managed — and where the boundary between institutional stewardship and private influence begins to blur.

According to its mission statement, the Clemson University Foundation, Inc. exists to “support and promote the welfare and future development of Clemson University” by managing private gifts and assets on the university’s behalf. While the foundation frequently handles real-estate and endowment transactions, as a private nonprofit corporation, the Clemson University Foundation is not governed by the same state open-meetings and full public-agency disclosure requirements that apply to state government bodies.. That structural distinction — common among higher-education foundations — means that certain transfers can occur with minimal public visibility, even when they involve major donors whose business interests overlap with the university.

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WHY IT MATTERS

The newly surfaced property transfer reinforces a pattern that has defined the Clemson development controversy over the past year. University officials — including Clements and Haley — sat on the board of Nieri’s company until their resignations earlier this month. UHG and its subsidiaries have been linked to the proposed 5,200-unit Newry Mill development site in Oconee County, where records and correspondence have revealed shared addresses, overlapping officers, and joint projects connecting Nieri’s companies to university-adjacent land.

Earlier this week, Oconee County chairman Matthew Durham disclosed that Clemson officials, UHG executives, and county staff flew together on a private jet registered to UHG’s corporate address in 2024 to tour a Purdue University research park — a model they reportedly hoped to replicate near Clemson.

Now, this 2017 deed indicates Clemson’s own foundation was directly engaged in land deals with the same developer network long before the denials and distancing statements began — deepening questions about transparency, governance, and how closely public institutions are entwined with private development interests.

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OFFICIAL RESPONSE AND NEXT STEPS

Clemson University issued a formal statement to Upstate Today this week denying any partnership or funding connection to United Homes Group or the now-defunct Newry Mill development. The university characterized its involvement as a “routine review” of an economic development proposal consistent with its land-grant mission — one that included a January 2024 site visit to Purdue University’s Discovery Park alongside Oconee County representatives and South Carolina Department of Commerce officials. After what it described as “due diligence,” Clemson said it opted not to pursue the project.

Durham — whose findings have driven much of the ongoing scrutiny — responded sharply to the university’s remarks.

“First Clemson said my claims were false. Now they’ve admitted the trip happened. Now they call it a ‘routine review,’” Durham said. “But what they still won’t explain is why Clemson’s top executives — including the university’s Chief Financial Officer — were flying on a jet owned by a private developer whose board includes Clemson president Jim Clements and trustee Nikki Haley, both reportedly compensated $350,000 per year by that company.”

“When a public university’s executives share a plane with a developer to scout ideas for future university expansion — on a jet owned by the same company their president and trustee profit from — it crosses a line that ordinary people understand right away,” Durham continued. “This isn’t complicated. It’s a matter of public trust.”

Durham added that until Clemson “stops rewriting its story and starts telling the truth,” South Carolinians will keep asking the same questions: What exactly were they doing on that jet? How often has this happened? And how much influence has this relationship had on university expansion and the surrounding development boom?

As this debate over transparency deepens, FITSNews has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records related to the 2017 Bentbrook Lane property transfer between the Clemson University Foundation and Michael P. Nieri. The results of that request — and any additional disclosures from the university — will help determine whether this was an isolated transaction or part of a broader pattern connecting Clemson’s institutional decisions to its most powerful private benefactors.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

As a private investigator turned journalist, Jenn Wood brings a unique skill set to FITSNews as its research director. Known for her meticulous sourcing and victim-centered approach, she helps shape the newsroom’s most complex investigative stories while producing the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts. Jenn lives in South Carolina with her family, where her work continues to spotlight truth, accountability, and justice.

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