Octapharma update: New details for Rock Hill on building plans for $1.5B project
After months of closed-door negotiations to bring Swiss biomedical company Octapharma to Rock Hill, more details on the site are coming into view.
The Rock Hill Planning Commission will review the $1.5-billion project July 7. Octapharma’s new U.S. headquarters at 3286 Palmetto Parkway is set to bring more than 1,500 jobs, both new ones and 300 relocated positions from Charlotte.
Octapharma plans both an office and manufacturing site off Interstate 77 at Exit 81, at the city-owned site once planned for the Carolina Panthers headquarters and training site. That project fell through four years ago amid a dispute between the city and team on public funding.
Plans submitted to the city ahead of Tuesday’s meeting offer a glimpse of what Octapharma will bring, from a new parking deck to large equipment needed to turn human plasma into medicine and treatments for an array of diseases and disorders.
What will Octapharma build?
The 50-acre site at the intersection of the interstate and Palmetto Parkway will have offices, enclosed manufacturing, laboratories, cold storage, packaging areas, warehouse space and a parking deck. Plans also include amenity areas for employees and visitors.
A master plan shows nearly 2 million square feet of construction that could go on the site.
Outdoor amenities will go at various locations on the property. They could include open space and walking trails. Private indoor amenities could include restaurants, food service and a fitness center or wellness area, according to the city.
Construction should start this year. Private roads will be built first, followed by the office building and then the manufacturing site. The parking deck will come next, with part of the property labeled for future development.
How visible will the Octapharma complex be?
Plans include a minimum 50-foot natural buffer around the Octapharma site.
Office buildings, the parking structure and a future warehouse building on the northern part of the site would be up to 60 feet tall. The manufacturing area, including a distillation column that separates liquids into different parts based on their boiling points, is proposed at up to 75 feet.
The distillation column would be set back 600 feet from the interstate, six times the typical requirement. It would be 150 feet from other properties to the side and rear, above the required 100 feet.
Notably, the site is in Palmetto Research Park in a space intended for manufacturing. The city, for instance, typically requires a neighborhood meeting for the type of rezoning Octapharma is seeking that involves reaching out to private property owners within 300 feet of the site.
There aren’t any here, as the city owns the entire Palmetto Research Park at more than 200 acres.
How will Octapharma be laid out?
The main entrance will to the Octapharma site will be a new private drive aligned with on and off ramp access to the southbound interstate.
Offices will be to the right of that drive as drivers enter. They’ll surround a large open courtyard. The multilevel, 1,000-space parking deck will be to the left of the entrance drive, connected to the offices by a walkway.
Another private drive will be aligned with Hiram Way.
That drive runs between the offices and a space marked for future development. As the road heads south, it passes production, warehouse and utility buildings, along with more space for later expansion.
Want more info on Octapharma?
The Planning Commission meeting Tuesday includes a public hearing on the project.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. It also will stream live and be available online afterward at the cityofrockhill.com.
