Another downtown Rock Hill historic site will start its major renovation this month
Construction will begin this month on the anticipated first phase of The Thread in Rock Hill.
Partners The Keith Corporation, Springsteen Properties and Capital Broadcasting Company announced on Friday that construction will start Jan. 17. The Thread will revitalize the 1946 mill and warehouse downtown into a 400,000-square-foot mix of office, loft apartments and retail.
In the announcement Friday, Keith Corporation office partner Jay Coleman said history and design will meet in a prime location to offer a real estate option unlike anything in the greater Charlotte market.
“We have a once-in-a-lifetime type of project,” Coleman said.
The project joins close to $500 million in new, nearby Knowledge Park projects from the city sports and event center to The Power House, which will be restaurant and apartment space. Knowledge Park runs from Winthrop University to the city’s historic center.
The first phase at The Thread will have about 170,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 square feet of retail. Construction would run through early 2024. Tenants can begin upfitting their spaces this fall.
Springs Creative is a long-time business operating out of the former mill space. Derick Close, owner and CEO, said the growth of Knowledge Park revealed an opportunity to breath new life into the former textile corridor.
“Given the amount of recent growth within the Charlotte region and the growth still to come,” Close said in the announcement, “we feel the time is right to get this redevelopment underway.”
Springs Creative will be a first-phase anchor tenant. The second phase will start when the first ends, adding almost 200,000 square feet of loft apartment and ground level retail.
The Thread follows a recent trend in reimagining historic Rock Hill properties but keeping much the architecture intact. The Lowenstein Building, former city power plant and several other downtown buildings have done similar work the past several years.
This story was originally published January 6, 2023 at 3:24 PM.
