See where this new industrial center, trucking, apartments and more may go in Rock Hill
A new 2 million-square-foot industrial center off I-77, near Rock Hill High School, is one of several city plans that took a step forward on Tuesday night.
The Rock Hill planning commission voted to recommend multiple zoning changes. Rock Hill City Council will make the final call on them. A large, and smaller, industrial project are included. But the planning commission made its own decisions — they won’t go to city council — on a new truck center and apartment complex.
Here’s a look at the projects that got favorable votes Tuesday night:
▪ Panattoni Development Company applied to rezone 234 acres east of I-77 and north of Porter Road and Interconnect Drive. The property is just southwest of Castle Heights Middle School and Rock Hill High School. The zoning change would allow the development of a new industrial park, South Creek Industrial Center.
The site is wooded. The land around it is mainly undeveloped. A proposed master plan would allow up to 2 million square feet of new development. Up to 1.9 million square feet would be industrial, the remaining 100,000 square feet commercial.
The applicant asked for sign, buffer and building height changes from what typically is allowed. A max building height of 100 feet was requested rather than the typical 60-foot allowance, for instance, with a possibility of putting a structure at up to 200 feet with documentation of why that height would be needed.
An illustration submitted with the request shows two rectangular buildings. The larger is on the southern part of the property, at 1.3 million square feet. The smaller is just north of and parallel to it, at 600,000 square feet. Parking is on all sides of each, including between the two buildings.
“It could look a lot like this or it could be broken up into several other buildings,” said city planner Dennis Fields. “That depends on the applicant and who he ends up having for tenants.”
Fields showed a graphic Tuesday night that showed some connectivity from the industrial park to another six-building project immediately to the south, off Oak Pond Road.
A disconnected, 3-acre property northwest of the interstate would be donated to the city as part of the South Creek Industrial Park plan.
“The Charlotte market is really under-supplied when it comes to warehouses,” said Drew Nations with Panattoni Development. “It may not feel like that because you see so many projects being developed but currently every building in Charlotte that has been delivered in the last five years is leased, and there’s about 23 million square feet of users looking to be in the Charlotte (area).”
▪ Cohn Construction Services submitted a major site plan review for Charlotte Truck Center. The plan involves almost 18 acres at 1166 and 1210 Porter Road.
That property was annexed into the city and rezoned in August. It’s on the southeast corner of Porter and I-77, across from Interconnect Drive. Several existing buildings will be removed to allow the commercial truck business. Commercial truck sales and repair would be similar to an auto dealership, but for larger semi-truck cabs.
Development will involve two buildings. One would be almost 54,000 square feet, including an almost 9,900-square-foot wash bay. A 7,200-square-foot service bay would be a future addition. A site plan shows two entrances off Porter Road, one for typical vehicles and one for larger trucks.
▪ Charlotte-based Tartan Residential applied for a major site plan to build Johnston Farms Apartments. Roughly 24 acres at 610 and 620 S. Anderson Road, and at 1182 Princeton Road, were rezoned two years ago. A master plan allows 120 workforce apartments and 2 acres for commercial development. Five buildings, each at three stories, are planned.
▪ Simpson Commercial Real Estate applied to rezone more than 9 acres at the corner of Porter Road and Kinghurst Drive. The wooded property would allow a new industrial flex building. A submitted concept plan shows a 64,000-square-foot building fronting Porter. A new road, McCraney Way, would be built.
“We’ve obviously seen a lot of the bigger industrial developments,” said Lauten Crowe, with the applicant. “We think that it’s a good time to target smaller flexible users, somebody like a 10,000- to 20,000-square-foot (company).”
▪ Less than an acre at 136 Pond St. is up for rezoning just outside of downtown Rock Hill to allow parking space for the coworking office across the street at 538 Dave Lyle Boulevard.
This story was originally published September 9, 2022 at 8:01 AM.
