‘Gateway to downtown Rock Hill’: New space will offer tasty treats, brews, relaxation
On a sunny Thursday afternoon, a crew of sign installers firmly strapped eight tall letters to a crane and hoisted them to their perch on the front of a newly-constructed building.
The letters spell “The Perch.”
At one of Rock Hill’s prominent intersections — the corner of Cherry Road and Oakland Avenue — The Perch is a two-story brick building with oversized windows. The site features 28,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space.
The mix of tenants has been intentional with the goal of serving both Rock Hill and Winthrop University, said the development’s director, Warren Norman of Warren Norman Company.
Food and drink spots, such as Off the Tracks Brewing, Another Broken Egg, Nothing Bundt Cakes and Ninety’s Milkshake Bar will occupy spaace there, along with Gray’s Anatomy Med Spa. Next door at the former Rock Hill Coca Cola Bottling Company, Hobo’s opened Thursday as a tenant of The Perch.
The 8,000-square-foot restaurant serves burgers, milkshakes, beer and other entrees. The building dates to 1941 and repurposed woodwork makes up the restaurant’s booths and the bar.
Hobo’s owns Off the Tracks Brewing, which is operated by Armor Artis Brewing of Fort Mill. The site will also serve pizza.
Between Hobo’s and The Perch is a green space that can seat 82 diners with room for children to play.
“The games area is something that’s unique to Rock Hill,” Norman said. “We haven’t seen anything like that.”
Norman said the location is an important corner and a gateway into downtown Rock Hill.
“It’s a development that we put a lot of time and effort into, because we wanted to make sure we did the right thing,” he said. “We’re very happy with the end result.”
Norman said developers worked with Winthrop University marketing students to come up with the development’s name, logo and marketing material as part of a semester project.
“It was neat to be able to connect with Winthrop and have a partnership with them that was beneficial for their students,” he added.
Tenants of The Perch will open their doors later this year.
This story was originally published May 12, 2022 at 8:45 AM.
