Walkways to Main, retail ... Trader Joe’s? The latest on new Fort Mill apartment plan
If a historic mill site in downtown Fort Mill is redeveloped, it’ll bring more than just apartments. It could bring a small grocery store that’s piqued public interest for years.
The development team behind plans to turn the Williamson Street mill into hundreds of new apartments made their case Monday to Fort Mill Town Council. Among many details still up in the air, there’s the possibility of a Trader Joe’s grocery store.
Here’s more on that possibility, among six details to know about the redevelopment proposal in Fort Mill.
What is Williamson Mill?
Williamson Mill would turn an industrial site dating back to 1892, and buildings that surround it, into 225 apartments. The property at Railroad Avenue, Watson Street and Williamson Street also would have 20,000 to 25,000 square feet of commercial space. Project leaders want to open it by late 2027.
The retail part would go on the bottom floor of a proposed four-story building beside the main mill. The top three floors of the new building would be apartments. That bottom floor retail space is what has discussions about a grocery store in play.
Trader Joe’s in downtown Fort Mill?
The grocery store idea came up a couple months ago during a community meeting. Jerry Gronske, senior director of construction with Unique USA and part of the redevelopment team, then called Trader Joe’s to ask about its interest. Initially he was told no, the Fort Mill site wouldn’t work since traffic counts weren’t high enough there.
Gronske spoke multiple times with the grocer, he told council Monday night.
“A couple of weeks after that she called me back, she goes, ‘I’m going to take ‘no’ off the table,’” Gronske said.
The store would keep an open mind if project leaders kept them informed about progress, he said. Gronske also mentioned Sprouts Farmers Market, a similar smaller-scale grocer. They, too, initially had concerns with traffic counts, he said.
A Trader Joe’s or similar store is nowhere near a done deal, but it is a possibility.
“It’s an open chance,” Gronske said.
That specific grocer is one that constantly comes up when people approach Mayor Guynn Savage.
“We get that question so frequently,” Savage said. “It is just on and on and on, could you do it?”
If not a grocery store, then what?
Even a small grocery store could take up most or all of the commercial square footage at Williamson Mill. Or, there are other options.
Developers commissioned a traffic impact analysis for the project that determines what road improvements they could have to fund. Developers often plug their best guesses, or at least ballpark ideas, of what a project will include into the traffic study to generate movement patterns.
The Williamson Mill study based its commercial projections on 17,500 square feet of strip retail space and 7,500 square feet for a sit-down restaurant.
For perspective, the seven-storefront shopping center half a mile away with Wing King and Catawba River Dentistry is about 11,000 square feet. Or, the south side of Main Street from Improper Pig to Fort Mill Community Playhouse is about 17,000 square feet of retail.
What else is planned?
Williamson Mill would have a pool, gym and other amenities for residents. The former mill building would have about 60,000 square feet of open atrium. The old mill entrance from 1937 would be recreated, and a stone monument there would remain.
One-bedroom apartments would average a little more than 1,000 square feet. Two-bedroom units would top 1,400 square feet. Some studios would be smaller — 900 square feet — and a handful of units would be three-bedroom. All apartments would be market-rate, meaning none set aside for workforce housing or other lower income.
The developer initially proposed a $3.5 million, multi-level parking deck. The town recommended against it. About 400 parking spaces will be surface level in the existing or expanded parking area there now.
If they can work out details with the Norfolk Southern rail company, developers could put in a pedestrian and bike walkway along Railroad Avenue. They’d also like raised walkways over intersections to get from Railroad and Academy Street to Main Street.
Watson Street would be widened for two-way traffic, built to town standards with parallel parking and sidewalks on each side.
“There’s going to be a continuity of design,” Gronske said. “Our intention is to bring the Main Street feel into Watson.”
The development group also applied for historic site designation on Monday. Getting it would allow tax credits for redevelopment, but set rules for how the former mill would look as it’s converted. The developer should know if the site is listed on the historic register in March or April.
Will The Print Shop be impacted?
The Print Shop, the drink and event spot started by Main Street business Amor Artis Brewing, uses parking space that would be impacted by Williamson Mill. The redevelopment group owns the site.
Both sides met Monday, Gronske said. Options include Print Shop using new parking space on the opposite side of where it is now, or even becoming a tenant in Williamson Mill.
“They’re on our radar screen, for sure,” Gronske said.
Will the town let Williamson Mill happen?
Monday’s discussion came as developers look to rezone the property. There are concerns.
“The roads that you’re putting (apartments) on around that are were mill roads that aren’t in the best of shape,” said Councilwoman Lisa Cook.
Unlike most areas where traffic is a weekday concern, several large churches in the area could make weekends tricky at the site. The town doesn’t have a funding source to improve older, narrow roads in the area, Cook said. There’s “ongoing concern” because the state transportation department, not the town, makes decisions on issues like one-way or two-way streets, Savage said.
The mayor also spoke with an attorney on options to make sure large, ambitious projects like the one presented actually happen if the town rezones property for it. She wouldn’t want zoning changed to residential and a site sold off for something less desirable.
“There has to be some way to prohibit future use that isn’t consistent with what’s been presented or worked on,” Savage said.
Council put off an initial decision until the group meets in January. Members weren’t necessarily against the plan. They just weren’t ready to move forward Monday, having just seen it.
“It’s not a ‘no,’” Savage said. “It’s a lot to take in.”
