Rock Hill Economic Development Corp. aims to become investor in 2015
The Rock Hill Economic Development Corp. may complete its transition from landlord to investor in 2015, leaders say.
A major transitional step is the projected June transfer of the Woolworth building on East Main Street to the partnership of Tuttle Co. of Rock Hill and Lat Purser & Associates of Charlotte. The partnership plans to spend $3.7 million to build a four-story, 37-unit apartment complex at 139 E. Main St.
Other steps from landlord to investor in 2015 are the likely sale of the speculative building in Waterford Business Park and a possible sale of the Bass and McFadden buildings downtown, say RHEDC officials.
RHEDC hopes to complete its new $2.3 million “spec” building at the corner of Dave Lyle Boulevard and Waterford Drive by April. A company already has signed a letter of intent to buy the site and invested $18,000 to improve the spec building, said Greg Rutherford, RHEDC chairman and president of York Technical College.
The Bass and McFadden buildings have six apartments and two retail spaces that RHEDC leases. The intent is to turn the apartments into condominiums and sell at least three of the condos in 2015.
RHEDC purchased the Bass, McFadden and Woolworth buildings about 25 years ago in an effort to preserve downtown’s character and heritage.
“We want to focus on measurable returns – dollars, jobs, investments,” Rutherford said.
Changing the focus from landlord to investor has been a RHEDC goal for the past four years when then-chairwoman Beverly Carroll challenged the corporation to be more focused on its finances and investments.
The change in focus means the corporation’s goals for 2015 are centered on the city’s Knowledge Park – creating an environment that attracts high-technology jobs, developing that workforce locally, and redeveloping the “textile corridor” between Winthrop University and downtown into a mixed-use development where high-tech workers can live, work and play.
For 2015, RHEDC will continue to invest in jobs development through projects such as the technology incubator, expansion of the Hive into more high-tech training for students of all ages and marketing of the Knowledge Park.
RHEDC and the Knowledge Park Leadership Group of business leaders will continue to lobby for expanding the special tax district centered on the former Rock Hill Printing & Finishing Co. site. Revenue from the tax district is a key component of financing the redevelopment project.
“We want to use the (tax district) to create opportunity and jobs,” Rutherford said. “That’s the intelligent way to go about doing that. Reasonable people will see that.”
RHEDC reviewed its 2015 goals Thursday with the Rock Hill City Council and with York County staff members during a breakfast at the City Club.
This story was originally published January 8, 2015 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Rock Hill Economic Development Corp. aims to become investor in 2015."