Downtown theater conversion coming in Fort Mill

New life is coming to an old theater, which will become office and retail space in downtown Fort Mill.

Beginning next month, redevelopment of The Old Centre Theatre on Main Street will make way for more than 6,000 square feet of loft-style offices, and almost 7,000 square feet of retail or restaurant space. Kuester Commercial is behind the project.

Plans include exposed brick and open ceilings showing off the original architecture. The Main Street location was built in 1947 and operated as a theater until its closing in the 1970s. A fire in the 1990s damaged part of the building.

“The redevelopment of the Old Centre Theatre will be a unique opportunity to save a portion of Fort Mill’s history and position it for its future success,” developer Shaw Kuester said.

EW Process and Insight Business Solutions will move into the building late this year. About 2,000 square feet of retail/restaurant and 3,100 square feet of office remain.

Owner Chip Smith said he is pleased to see new life in the old building.

“As someone who grew up in Fort Mill, I’m so excited to see the Old Centre Theatre re-purposed to once again become a vibrant part of the community,” he said.

The renovation of an historic Fort Mill building may be a sign of redevelopment to come. The state and town have an incentive program for historic properties, which allows property owners to lock in a tax value for a set period of time even after renovations are complete.

Fort Mill has offered the incentive for a while, but it hasn’t seen much use.

Earlier this month Fort Mill Town Council began the process to expand the number of historic properties eligible for the incentive, double how long the tax break lasts and make it generally easier for investors to participate.

Chris Mannix, associate developer with Kuester, believes the town incentive and theater project could help each other. The owner gets the incentive, while the town gets a project it can show other property owners who may want to invest in its historic district.

“In Fort Mill, the bill was adopted some time ago, but no one ever used it,” Mannix said. “When this project gained traction, the (town) took another look at the bill, and updated it with the theatre in mind.”

The Fort Mill Economic Council was instrumental, Mannix said, in getting the incentive in place through the town. Revitalizing downtown, he said, could lead to the county and other surrounding areas adopting and promoting similar incentives.

The tax break is available for historic properties improved for residential use, but largely the older properties are converted to business use. A stated goal for the town — increasing commercial land use compared to residential — through a variety of policy discussions in recent years from rezoning to impact fees to moratoriums.

“Funding in the commercial state world is readily available right now, and there are plenty of investors looking for projects like the theatre,” Mannix said.

“With more support from the local municipalities promoting these types of credits, the potential to revitalize these historic downtown districts could finally be realized.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Downtown theater conversion coming in Fort Mill."