New plan for former Panthers site in Rock Hill

ROCK HILL, S.C. — The city of Rock Hill has taken control of the redevelopment of the failed Carolina Panthers headquarters site with a focus on creating a broad vision targeting economic impact.

It’s familiar territory.

“The economic development creativity down there has been a thread for quite a while,” said Chuck McShane, CoStar Group’s director of market analytics in the Carolinas. “Rock Hill is one of the bigger towns (in the Charlotte region), and they’ve had to reposition themselves after the decline of the textile industry. It has been one of the more successful towns in the region and Carolinas when it comes to redevelopment.”

The city is no longer working with Colliers International to market the site. It is working directly with the S.C. Department of Commerce to build out the development and marketing plan for the 245-acre site, called Rock Hill Overlook, along Interstate 77.

And while the plan isn’t complete, it’s clear the final version will focus on jobs. The previous plan developed by national commercial real estate firm Colliers called for an employment hub and a town center environment like Kingsley in Fort Mill.

Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys and S.C. Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey III are touting Rock Hill Overlook for advanced manufacturing or corporate headquarters campuses — or both. The new plan to remake the site is taking shape two years after Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper paused construction on the team’s headquarters project there, which was eventually abandoned and put into bankruptcy. Rock Hill took ownership of the property through the Chapter 11 process.

The city is once again in a spot where the reimagination of a failed asset could help pave the way for the next generation of growth — much like its turn toward sports tourism after the collapse of the textile industry.

Read more about the city’s vision and efforts around this key property on CBJ’s website here.

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