Charlotte manufacturer details plans for a big machine parts plant in York County
A Charlotte machine parts manufacturer has plans to build a new facility in Fort Mill at Interstate 77 and Gold Hill Road.
Ognibene North America applied to rezone a 17-acre property on Wilson Business Parkway to allow for machinery manufacturing. The vacant, wooded site with a pond on its northern end is behind the Fort Mill Ford and Fort Mill Hyundai auto dealerships. It’s also behind or beside three large distribution centers with 550,000 square feet of combined space.
A sketch plan submitted to York County planners shows a new 144,000-square-foot building off the cul-de-sac end of Wilson Business Parkway. Sonic Automotive owns the property that has interstate frontage, but would be accessed off Wilson Business Parkway and Gold Hill Road.
Phone calls and an email from The Herald to company representatives for Ognibene for additional details were not returned Tuesday. The rezoning application did not indicate the cost of the project.
Ognibene produces steering systems and components. The rezoning in York County would allow steering system production for forklifts, tractors, vans or cars, said county long range planner Thomas Newlin.
The company is part of Italian manufacturer Ognibene Power whose North American sales and manufacturing base is in Charlotte, according to the company website. Its headquarters is in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy.
Ognibene Power has more than 1,700 employees worldwide, according to its website.
What happens next for Ognibene
The York County Planning Commission voted Monday night to rezone the Fort Mill property to allow machinery manufacturing. The recommendation depends on the county working out in the next 90 days a deed restriction for the property to eliminate other manufacturing uses it could allow if plans change for the property.
Ognibene proposed a deed restriction to the county that would take out about two dozen of the roughly 50 potential property uses if the site switches from light to heavier industrial zoning.
“The restricted uses keep them out of a lot of chemical byproducts, a lot of the really, really heavy stuff,” Newlin said. “The allowed uses are typical of a lot of our industrial development here in York County.”
York County Council will make the final decision on the rezoning. That move will require three votes and a public hearing. Those dates haven’t been set.
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 12:05 PM.
