Here’s what’s about to happen at the site of the old Knights Stadium in Fort Mill
New townhomes near the former Knights Stadium site in Fort Mill are a step closer to opening day.
The York County planning commission unanimously voted Monday night to approve a preliminary plat for Grahym at Southbridge. The Tri Pointe Homes project on Deerfield Drive involves 95 townhomes on more than 30 acres.
“The old Knights field is just to the south of this along Deerfield, where it makes a right,” said County Planner Marion Ray.
The Charlotte Knights minor league baseball team called Fort Mill home for more than a decade. The team played in York County, off Deerfield and beside the familiar baseball-themed water tower beside I-77, from 1990 until 2014 when the team moved to a new stadium in uptown Charlotte.
The new townhome parcel east of I-77 and south of the Gold Hill Road and Springfield Parkway intersection is across from Daimler Truck office space. It’s on the opposite side of the former baseball site, across from the Fort Mill School District offices.
The property is part of the much larger Southbridge development. There have been changes to what has become Southbridge dating back more than a decade.
Portions of the 355-acre property transitioned to a planned development in 2006. The current Southbridge plan was approved in 2016, for up to 5.2 million square feet of office space along with 600 new residences and 400,000 square feet of retail or service uses.
In 2018, RoundPoint Mortgage announced it would bring $34 million of investment and more than 1,000 jobs to Southbridge Business Park on Deerfield Drive. Overall Southbridge plans at that time included a hotel, retail, restaurants and 4.5 million square feet of office space.
A year ago, property owner Cato Land Development asked for changes to an approved Southbridge development agreement that would take out an internal road for the 355-acre property.
This spring, Tri Pointe applied for and received a county variance to allow the new townhome portion of the project. Monday night’s unanimous vote in support of the townhomes didn’t spark debate.
Ray said the first 50 townhomes along Deerfield will have rear-facing alley lots. Others will load from the front. Sidewalks and multi-use paths will connect to other parts of Southbridge as they come. Townhomes will have two-car garages.
“There is required visitor parking,” Ray said.
