2005 Herald profile on Lynn Stephenson

By Eileen Bradway - The Herald

EDITOR'S NOTE: This profile of Lynn Stephenson, who died Monday, was published in The Herald on Jan. 16, 2005.

Partners plan to redevelop former Rock Hill printing facility

Lynn Stephenson walks out the front door of the little house that serves as her office and crosses Rose Street to her latest project, University Place, where the final building is under construction.

She's on her way to meet with managers of the apartment complex for college students she built at Winthrop University's back door. They'll decide on marketing materials to attract more residents to the successful project she and others say took sheer force of will to build.

Owner and president of 7-year-old ELA -- short for Environmental Land Augmentation -- Stephenson started out developing subdivisions. She's now a key player in Rock Hill's ambitious plan to turn the Textile Corridor, 246 acres of former mill buildings in the heart of the city, into a mix of shops, restaurants, housing and entertainment.

Stephenson bought the 1.2 million-square-foot Rock Hill Printing & Finishing Co., known as the Bleachery, for $ 600,000 two years ago. Her partners in the venture are businessman Will Simmons of Lake Wylie and Sharon Browne, a commercial real estate agent in Rock Hill.

"I've lived here all my life, and we've always talked about how Rock Hill doesn't have its own identity," Stephenson said. The redevelopment of the Textile Corridor could change that, and the Bleachery -- once the city's lifeblood -- will be a big piece of the puzzle.

"I think it's a fantastic piece of property," Stephenson said. "It's got all the right elements. Most mills are in the middle of nowhere. It's rare to find an old mill in the middle of downtown."

Stephenson's roots are Rock Hill; it's why she seeks 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 says "Go Gamecocks," but she drinks out of a Winthrop mug. She has a brother and a sister -- she's the middle child -- and her father, Johnny Williams, owned a number of rental properties here.

Stephenson's 17-year-old daughter, Taylor, attends Northwestern High School, and so will her 12-year-old son, Will. Her husband, Will Stephenson, is a manager at York County Natural Gas Authority.

Though she may become best known for University Place and the Bleachery projects, Stephenson, 39, has done quite a bit more: Windsong Estates, Village Green, Hawkins Ridge, Ebenezer Village, Wellsbrook and Mallard Creek are all her residential developments.

The certified public accountant loves construction and the financial side of the business. "That's what I do best."

Walt Heinsohn is a local attorney who's known Stephenson for about 12 years.

He's impressed by her willingness to tackle big projects such as University Place, which should be completed in June.

"She has just done very well in an area vastly dominated by men," Heinsohn said. There was roadblock after roadblock in the development of University Place, he said, but she kept at it. "She's very tenacious that way."

Stephenson says she laughs when people ask, "When are we going to get started on the Textile Corridor?"

"We've already started," is her response. People have forgotten that University Place used to be part of the Bleachery, she said. The Grier division of the plant was located on the site until Fabric Resources bought the building in 1983; Fabric Resources later moved.

Between the Courtyard at Winthrop, which the university built, and University Place, almost $ 50 million has been invested to develop the Textile Corridor. University Place alone is now paying $ 140,000 a year in property taxes, Stephenson said. Before the development, taxes on the property were $ 12,000.

Stephenson owns about 26 acres in the downtown-Textile Corridor area and is trying to buy the old Rock Hill Cotton Factory near White Street from the Rock Hill Economic Development Corp. In her plans for redeveloping downtown Rock Hill, "The Bleachery is just a progression of what should be next."