Knowledge Park team includes local developer, businessman

A group that includes two prominent Rock Hill businessmen is working with the master developer for Knowledge Park, taking the vision and turning it into construction plans for the former textile site.

Sidewalks Rock Hill is a limited liability corporation formed by developer Skip Tuttle, businessman Gary Williams of Rock Hill, Tim Elliott – the designer of the Knowledge Park’s master plan – and Rick Banning, a developer and investor from Charleston.

The corporation is working with Sora-Phelps, the master developer for the site. Sora-Phelps has an agreement with Rock Hill to redevelop the 23-acre site that was once the Rock Hill Printing & Finishing Co., commonly called the Bleachery.

Plans call for 19 buildings at the site with 1.3 million square feet of retail, restaurant, office and residential space that would create more than 1,000 jobs. Sora-Phelps is a partnership between Sora Development of Towson, Md., and Phelps Development of Greeley, Colo.

Elliott developed the Knowledge Park plans for Sora Development. He has since formed Sidewalks Development with Banning. The two formed a separate company with Tuttle and Williams for the Knowledge Park project.

Having local partners involved in developing Knowledge Park has been part of discussions even before Sora-Phelps was selected as the master developer, said Rock Hill Mayor Doug Echols.

Knowing that Tuttle and Williams are the local, on-the-ground team for Sora-Phelps gives a level of comfort to the project, Echols said.

Sora Development’s business model is to use partners on its development projects, Williams said. “The formula has worked well,” he said, noting that Sora’s Tom Fore is the visionary, but not a “ground-level guy.”

Fore, the company’s principal, could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Elliott said while he has started his own company, “the (Knowledge Park) team is the same, it’s just a different structure.”

Elliott, Tuttle and Echols stressed that development control of Knowledge Park rests with Sora-Phelps. Each Knowledge Park development project will likely have its own limited liability company, Elliott and Tuttle said.

Elliott and Tuttle have been working on issues such as where streets will go, where utilities need to be installed, revising property lines and developing specific plans for the city to review as part of a planned urban development.

They also have helped hire architects, engineers and other professionals to evaluate the Lowenstein building for redevelopment. The five-story Lowenstein building is one of last remaining structures from the textile plant which operated from 1929 to 1998. Constructed in 1954, it has 10-inch concrete floors and 18-foot ceilings, and an adjacent one-story structure constructed in 1939. Development of the Lowenstein building is phase one of the master development agreement.

Tuttle and Williams initially made a proposal to the city to redevelop the property before Sora-Phelps was selected as the master developer. Tuttle and Williams said they continue to be interested in developing the Lowenstein building and have had “significant dialogue” with potential tenants, Tuttle said.

Redevelopment of the Lowenstein building could start in early 2016, Tuttle said.

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Knowledge Park team includes local developer, businessman."