Rock Hill could land 1,200 jobs in new $1.5B HQ project at former Panthers site
Construction is expected to start this year on a $1.5 billion corporate headquarters facility in Rock Hill, at the former Carolina Panthers headquarters site off Interstate 77.
York County Council will vote on two items tonight related to a proposal for an unnamed biopharmaceutical company that intends to build in Palmetto Research Park and create more than 1,200 jobs.
The global company would establish its corporate headquarters and a manufacturing site, according to county documents. Headquarters jobs would average more than $141,000 per year, with manufacturing jobs at nearly $103,000. Combined, the average wage would be nearly $61,000 higher than the county average.
Construction would start late this year.
Nearly $1.3 billion of the project would go to the manufacturing facility, with $190 million for the corporate headquarters.
One county decision Monday would begin the process of setting up a fee that the company would pay instead of taxes. Those agreements are common with large economic development projects and necessary, county economic development officials say, to compete with neighboring states for deals.
Details on how much the company would pay in comparison to typical rates haven’t been released. That decision still requires two more county votes and a public hearing.
A second decision Monday related to the project would approve a $65 million state incentive grant for the project.
The deal is code-named Project Palmetto Rock.
The city of Rock Hill gave initial approval to a sale of 50 acres in Palmetto Research Park for a project by that same name in late April, The Herald reported. The city didn’t give details on the buyer or sale price.
Last week, the city finalized a sale of 25 acres at Palmetto Research Park to Novant Health. The North Carolina-based hospital system plans to build a $300 million medical campus at Palmetto Parkway and Mt. Gallant Road.
New business at former Panthers site
Rock Hill owns a 215-acre parcel off Exit 81 that once was slated to become a team headquarters and practice facility for the Carolina Panthers. That plan was announced in 2019 but scrapped by the team three years later amid a dispute between the team and city of how and when public money for the project would be used.
Through bankruptcy for the company set up by the Panthers to handle business related to the project, Rock Hill got the former farm site with a new interstate exit that was built for the team. The city began looking for a new project or projects, aiming at life sciences or advanced manufacturing.
The city advertises Palmetto Research Park as 209 acres of cleared property with 109 acres contiguous to it that could be developed.
This is a developing story