Published: Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 / Updated: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 09:39 AM

Rock Hill developer Lynn Stephenson, Bleachery owner, dies

Lynn Stephenson, the ambitious and often feisty developer who sought to transform a run-down textile mill site into a symbol of her hometown's rebirth, died Monday afternoon. She was 43.

The cause was complications from an apparent blood clot, said an official at Environmental Land Augmentation, Stephenson's downtown Rock Hill development company.

Friends and colleagues remembered a fiercely protective wife and mother, devoted Northwestern High School Trojans supporter and businesswoman who didn't shy away from taking on a room full of men.

She broke the glass ceiling in the development world,” friend Lora Holladay said. “You didn't get one over on her — she was a force to be reckoned with.

“She had things she wanted to do here, and I hate they didn't get done.”

Stephenson emerged as a central player in Rock Hill's quest to bring new life to the downtown area.

In 2003, she and her partners bought the 1.2 million-square-foot Rock Hill Printing & Finishing Co., better known as the Bleachery, for $600,000 at a foreclosure auction.

For the next six years, Stephenson worked to turn the blighted property into a mix of shops, restaurants, housing and entertainment. The vision has yet to materialize, as Stephenson and Rock Hill leaders couldn't reach an agreement on how to share the costs.

Mayor Doug Echols credited Stephenson with seeing potential where others saw an undertaking too risky to attempt.

“You have to be a visionary to see the possibilities,” Echols said of the Bleachery redevelopment.

“She wanted to make it happen. Lynn had a really grand concept.”

Several friends expressed shock at the suddenness of Stephenson's death, saying she appeared to be in perfect health.

She kept a treadmill in her office and recently had hiked with friends through the Grand Canyon.

A love for family, Rock Hill

Stephenson's roots are Rock Hill; it's why she sought out locals to bid on her projects. She graduated from Rock Hill High School and the University of South Carolina — the screensaver on her office computer read, “Go Gamecocks.”

Her husband, Will, is a manager at York County Natural Gas Authority. The couple's daughter, Taylor, attends Winthrop University, and their son, Wil, attends Northwestern.

Winthrop president Anthony DiGiorgio said Stephenson kept a balance between family and career, and “believed passionately” in the potential of the Textile Corridor, which borders the university campus.

“Her deep caring in all these areas — most especially her devotion to her children — will be remembered by the Winthrop community and by me personally,” DiGiorgio said, “and I imagine that's just the way she would want to be remembered.”

When she wasn't making business deals, Stephenson often could be found at her children's games and school events. She was an avid supporter of the teams at Northwestern and was a past president of the school's athletic booster club.

“A great loss to Northwestern's family” is how principal James Blake described Stephenson's death. “She was a die-hard Trojan.

“She's not going to be replaced — and not forgotten, either.”

A few years ago, her son's all-star youth baseball team needed a place to take batting practice in bad weather. Stephenson took charge by installing a batting cage on an upstairs floor at the Bleachery.

She belonged to a girls-only book club that met regularly to socialize and take trips together – even though members didn't actually read many books.

“No matter what group she was in, she always became a leader,” Holladay said. “She didn't take a back seat in anything.”

A busy developer

Though best known for her work at the Bleachery and nearby University Place apartments, Stephenson developed subdivisions across York County.

Most recently, she was building an apartment complex off S.C. 160 in Fort Mill.

“She just had so many things going and seemed to keep it all together,” friend Amy Faulkenberry said.

“She took projects that nobody else would undertake,” friend and fellow developer Ralph Norman said. “It wasn't work to her, and in this business, you can tell the difference.”

Rock Hill leaders expressed sadness at Stephenson's death.

“We have lost a very active member of our community,” City Councilman Kevin Sutton said in a prayer before a meeting Monday night.

Relations grew strained between Stephenson and officials at City Hall as talks stalled over a deal at the Bleachery. The frustration deepened this summer after a pair of major fires at the site, later determined to be the work of arsonists.

“There were some tense moments from time to time, but we always put those behind us,” City Manager Carey Smith said. “She really wanted to be part of seeing something meaningful occur in that area. She had a vision and was committed to it.”

Stephenson often talked about how a redeveloped Bleachery site could become a signature piece of Rock Hill's identity in the post-textile era.

“We've got a lot of growth ahead of us,” she said in a 2005 interview. “I'm definitely banking on that growth for the Bleachery project.”

And if she had run into problems?

“I'm not going to give up.”

About Lynn Stephenson

Job: President, Environmental Land Augmentation

Family: Husband, Will; daughter, Taylor; son, Wil

Community involvement: Active in the Junior Welfare League and Northwestern High School booster organizations

Development work: In addition to the Bleachery and University Place, Windsong Estates, Village Green, Hawkins Ridge, Ebenezer Village, Wellsbrook and Mallard Creek are among Stephenson's residential projects

Herald Business Editor Jason Foster contributed.