Rock Hill would see more retail, industrial business from new plans. Here’s where
Three vacant, wooded properties in Rock Hill could become industrial and retail space.
All three projects came to the Rock Hill Planning Commission this month. Two of them, a Celanese Road commercial project and an industrial building at Nations Ford and Huey roads, will go to Rock Hill City Council on Oct. 27. City Council would have to approve each project twice, and hold a public hearing.
Here’s a look at where new business is planned in the city:
Commerce Drive industrial building
Charlotte company BGE, Inc. applied for a major site plan approval to build a more than 196,000-square-foot industrial building at 2782 Commerce Dr., west of Red River Road. It would be built for wholesale or warehouse users. It’s a speculative building, meaning there’s no user signed on yet for the building.
Kanawha Land Co. out of Rock Hill owns the nearly 17-acre site.
It was annexed into the city in August. The new single-story building would include about 4,000 square feet of office space, according to the application to the city. Plans show one access off Commerce Drive, with parking along both lengths of the new building.
Warren Norman Company retail development
The Warren Norman Company applied to rezone more than 3 acres on Celanese Road to build a commercial site. It would combine with two other parcels where Celanese meets Dutchman Drive, on the west side.
The city Planning Commission unanimously recommended the rezoning.
The new building would be nearly 10,000 square feet. No tenants have been named. Because the property is close to homes, it would be zoned to allow businesses that are open between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The project is across Dutchman Drive from a similar retail proposal approved last year.
The Enclave at Wild Rose residential subdivision and a reconfiguration of Westminster Catawba Christian School property are also under development off Dutchman Drive. While the latest proposal isn’t large enough to warrant its own traffic study, the larger picture should be considered, said Planning Commission Chairman Randy Graham.
“That concerns me, and I would like to see hopefully a traffic study with the proposed uses likely being retail,” he said.
Industrial construction on Nations Ford Road
Greenville developer Forsberg applied to annex and rezone property at Nations Ford and Huey roads to create a speculative building. But, the project would fall through if Forsberg has to connect Nations Ford and Huey.
“At the end of the day we’re not really clear on who that benefits,” said Josiah Pott with Forsberg, who added the road connection could cost $300,000. “The road extension does make the project cost-prohibitive.”
The city Planning Commission recommended in favor of the rezoning by a 4-1 vote, but it’ll be up to Rock Hill City Council to determine whether Forsberg can bypass the road connection requirement.
Pott and surrounding property owners argue the 230-foot extension of Huey to connect with Nations Ford will create cut-through traffic problems.
Road upgrades are common for development projects and, unless otherwise negotiated with the city, fall to the developer to fund.
“Usually road connectoins are a positive thing,” said Planning Commission Vice Chairman Duane Christopher. “That’s what we don’t have enough of here in Rock Hill. That’s why all the traffic goes on certain streets instead of others, because we don’t have enough parallel streets.”
Forsberg plans to build a 12,000-square-foot building for industrial uses. There are no tenants yet, Pott said.
