Rock Hill sees more apartments planned for already densely populated area
Rock Hill could soon get a small industrial park and more apartments in one of its most populated areas.
The latest round of projects submitted to the city includes industrial development off Linkwood Road and residential growth on Glenwood Drive. Both projects would grow the city through annexation. The city Planning Commission will hear the case for each project Tuesday night.
Here’s a look at what’s proposed:
▪ Fort Mill company Jacky Properties applied to rezone more than 2 acres on Glenwood Drive in Rock Hill for the apartment project. A nearly 41,000-square-foot building with 29 units would go in at the southeast corner of Glenwood and Constitution Boulevard, south of Piedmont Medical Center. It would have market-rate apartments.
The project is near the 50-apartment Parkwood Villas apartments, and just south of Oakwood Villas. The Piedmont Place apartments are across Glenwood.
Not counting Winthrop University, the Glenwood Drive site is in an area with the second-highest population density in York County, according to a recent Herald review of U.S. Census Bureau data. It’s one mile west of the highest density area, west of the Cherry and Ebinport roads intersection.
The Glenwood Place apartment proposal would remove two homes to make way for construction. New units would be one- to three-bedroom apartments. The property owner agreed to a restriction that the project would pay property taxes, even if it changes owners.
Rock Hill began negotiating those agreements on new apartment proposals after a state law three years ago exempted some apartments from property taxes. Jacky Properties bought both parcels for Glenwood Place in 2021, according to county land records, for $300,000.
A sketch plan for the Glenwood Place apartment proposal shows a 2-story building in an “L” shape, with its point at the intersection. It would have a modern farmhouse design. The road access and an amenity area would be located off Glenwood Drive.
▪ Owners in Pineville, North Carolina, and in Greenville applied to annex more than 9 acres into Rock Hill for a small industrial park. One parcel is at 598 Linkwood Road. The other, beside it, has no address. They’re near Manchester Meadows and the East Gate apartments, off the end of Linkwood near Mount Gallant Road.
The project would have three buildings, each at nearly 12,000 square feet. They’d be spec buildings, meaning the developer would build them and find tenants later. They would be zoned for industrial users.
The site is near Rock Hill Industrial Park but isn’t in any industrial park. That means the project would have to come back to the city for approval of the new buildings. The recent application is just for annexation and rezoning.
A sketch plan shows two access points off Linkwood. One leads to two of the buildings. The other building has its own access.
The developer would have to make road improvements, like a turnaround where Linkwood ends now.
Dellenger Investments, out of Pineville, bought its 3-acre portion of the site last year for $410,000. Greenville-based Forsberg bought its 5 acres in April for $200,000. The rest of the acreage up for annexation is public right-of-way.
▪ Prime Rock Energy Capital applied to annex and rezone more than 1 acre behind its McDow Drive facility. Due to utilities and residences in the area, it’s unlikely the property would add to the industrial development that’s already there, according to city planners.
Pennsylvania-based Prime Rock bought the former Caraustar Industrial property on McDow Drive last July for $5.5 million. The nearly 9-acre McDow Industrial Park had 135,000-square-feet of industrial space. Prime Rock bought nearly 7 acres beside the site last year for $40,000.
Prime Rock has been active in the area.
Two years ago, the company announced plans to purchase a 140,000-square-foot building and add another at 185,000 square feet in Chester County. That project to consolidate operations for roofing material maker GAF comes with an expected $25.3 million investment and 21 new jobs, according to an incentive agreement between the company and Chester County.
The Rock Hill site for Prime Rock is between the Ragin Estates, Oakdale Villas and Catawba Terrace subdivisions. The Prime Rock site has undergone recent upgrades to allow more small industrial users, according to city planners.
