Projects & Developments in York/Lancaster/Chester Counties

[kyley5]

Wow, that's some great news to kick off the new development on the old Celanese site! I saw the headline today, but thought it was just for a regular old store. How wrong I was!

800,000 sq foot building!

[teshadoh]

Sorry for not sharing your enthusiasm, but having those massive warehouses in a location by the river & on a major road artery is a shame. They should stay on the south side of town, not in valuable property.

[kyley5]

Sorry for not sharing your enthusiasm, but having those massive warehouses in a location by the river & on a major road artery is a shame. They should stay on the south side of town, not in valuable property.

The industrial park will be located well behind the main road artery....That will be where the Birkdale Village type of Development is located.

[kyley5]

300+ more jobs coming to York County... Company's name has not been released, but it's described as a 'major' transportation company...

http://www.heraldonline.com/109/story/157057.html

[kyley5]

300+ more jobs coming to York County... Company's name has not been released, but it's described as a 'major' transportation company...

http://www.heraldonline.com/109/story/157057.html

Looks like it's Freightliner.

[krazeeboi]

^Yep. Nice coup for the county.

[Spartan]

Somewhat off topic here, but still relevant to Rock Hill and York County... This thread in the Charlotte forum is mostly a discussion of Charlotte's transportation future, but one tangent to the discussion is about Commuer Rail or LRT connections to Rock Hill and Fort Mill.

[krazeeboi]

It appears as though commuter rail would be the most feasible option. At this point, there aren't a lot of destinations between Rock Hill/Fort Mill and Charlotte that would warrant light rail.

[rockhilljames]

Went by the old Harris Teeter on Cherry Road today and the Earth Fare sign was in the window.

So I guess it's o-fficial now.

[erm1981]

Its been a few years since I last visited Rock Hill. I'll have to check it out sometime.

[krazeeboi]

Construction on 14 townhomes at the site of the old Red Coach Inn will begin in May. The RHEDC released sketches of the proposed homes last week, following City Council's initial approval of the plans at the end of February.

The 1,800-square-foot homes, to be at the intersection of East Main and Spruce streets, will have rear-loading garages and will be built around a courtyard.

[teshadoh]

Rock Hill is getting big - 64,000 in 2007 according to Census estimates. Nearby Fort Mill has now surpassed York in size, nearing 10,000 (that may have occurred in the past few years, just didn't notice it). Looking forward to revisiting Rock Hill in September to see the changes.

[sonofaque86]

Wow...Rock Hill will most likely be around 75,000 by the next census

[teshadoh]

^ Keep in mind we're only 2 years away from the next census - so 10,000 in 2 years is unlikely.

[krazeeboi]

And more importantly, Rock Hill has reclaimed its rightful place in the MSA designation, having edged out Concord by 205 persons. Give it a few more years, and it will be the Charlotte-Rock Hill-Gastonia (or probably Charlotte-Rock Hill-Concord) MSA.

[teshadoh]

That is great - impressive, Rock Hill keeping up with the NC suburbs in terms of population (& more importantly annexation).

[rockhilljames]

The problem is, Rock Hill is doing it without annexation. If you include the areas just outside of city limits, we'd already be over 70,000.

[sonofaque86]

^ Keep in mind we're only 2 years away from the next census - so 10,000 in 2 years is unlikely.

Those are 2007 estimates. So somewhere between 7-10k in 3 years is more what I was thinking....

Edited July 11, 2008 by sonofaque86

[krazeeboi]

The problem is, Rock Hill is doing it without annexation.

That's a sign of true growth.

[wellington]

Considering the continued/expected growth of Rock Hill and the planned relocation of the Knights to Uptown Charlotte, does anyone think it could support a minor league baseball team? I'd like to see a Class A (i.e. Sally) or High A league (i.e. Carolina League) and a ballpark located in downtown Rock Hill -- something similar to the West End/Fluor Field development in Greenville. I presume a potential stumbling block is the relative proximity of Rock Hill to Charlotte -- would Rock Hill fall within Knights territory? -- there's always the possibility of a new Indy league in the South.

[krazeeboi]

I've thought the same thing. The Knights stadium is a perfectly good stadium, and I don't see any reason why it couldn't be reused by another minor league team in the future. Right now I don't think the York County population base could support it by itself, but in the future it's definitely a possibility.

[rockhilljames]

Yeah, that could happen. It's a little further away, but remember that Kannapolis does have a team as well. Rock Hill has had minor league baseball before. The Rock Hill Wrens, Indians, and Spinners all played in the Sally league. The most famous Rock Hill team was the Rock Hill Cardinals, active from 1964 - 1966. Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson managed the team in 1965.

I see no reason with our growth and the growth in surrounding areas that Rock Hill wouldn't be able to support a minor league team. Unfortunately, with Knights Stadium coming empty, I think Fort Mill is in a better position to get one, although i think a new, smaller stadium in downtown Rock Hill would be more successful. A single A team playing in Knights Castle would not succeed. The crowds would not be enough to operate the team at a profit in that stadium.

[Spartan]

For what its worth, Anderson was not able to support its team, the Joe's, and at this point, Spartanburg has not been able to support a team either (though nobody has tried).

[sonofaque86]

Plans to redevelop former Celanese site moving forward

The complex will take 10 to 15 years to complete. Plans include:

-- An outdoor shopping center facing Cherry Road similar to Birkdale Village in Huntersville, N.C., where stores and restaurants are built around lawns.

-- A business park with roughly 4 million square feet of industrial space, larger than any other park in the Charlotte area. Rock Hill's Waterford Business Park, by comparison, has 124,800 square feet.

-- Homes on wooded land near the Catawba River.

-- Football and baseball fields for youth sports and, potentially, an outdoor bicycle racing track known as a velodrome.

The property is widely considered to be York County's best available place for new companies and one of the best between Charlotte and Columbia. The reason is location -- in full view of I-77 and close to railroad lines, Rock Hill and Fort Mill.

[teshadoh]

Far out - that is huge! That is going to pump enormous amounts of money into the city's coffers. Rock Hill certainly isn't the 'dirty old town' like it once was during the textile hay-days.