Here’s the latest on the senior living plan at the former Herald site, as vote looms.
The once bustling newspaper site at 132 W. Main St. in downtown Rock Hill could move a step closer to new life on Tuesday night.
The city planning commission will hear redevelopment plans at its Feb. 4 meeting. Multiple buildings on almost seven acres bounded by West Main, West White and North Wilson streets, along with Dave Lyle Boulevard, would come down. Senior living, commercial space and a parking deck would replace them.
Plans for the senior living site were announced last summer. The major site plan up for vote Tuesday night reveals the latest details of what would replace the newspaper buildings left vacant when the Herald moved to its current address -- 140 Main St. -- in the fall of 2018.
The proposed development includes five commercial or apartment buildings at more than 830,000 square feet, seven townhomes at 17,500 square feet, and a parking garage with at least four levels. Of all that combined space, 300,000 square feet would be used for senior living.
Plans show two full access drives off West White and another off North Wilson. North Wilson and West Main also would have private-drive access points. West Main would have an access near the railroad beside Dave Lyle, allowing entrance from either direction but only right turns away from the railroad.
A prominent plan feature involves a pedestrian skybridge to connect the site with coming development across Dave Lyle. That bridge is part of a larger linear park planned through downtown Rock Hill known for now as Storyline.
Not all final uses of the new buildings are nailed down.
The site plan shows the largest building fronting West Main, as an eight-story construction with 300 residential units. A building at the corner of West White and North Wilson would have options: three-story apartments with retail or restaurant uses; a three-story office with various business uses; or a five-story hotel.
The townhomes would be three stories each, at the center of the project between a parking garage and a central park area. Overall project plans involve options for one- to eight-story buildings.
Last fall, project developer Aaron Conley with Third Act Solutions spoke at a Rock Hill Economic Development Corporation retreat about his vision for bringing multiple generations together in a senior living concept. Engage at Knowledge Park, he said, could open by 2021 with both independent and assisted living apartments.
The site for decades housed newspaper offices and production. The Herald transitioned in that time from an afternoon to a morning paper, to one with a major online focus in the years right before newspaper staff moved less than half a mile southeast.
The entire block up for development includes 15 lots on 24 land parcels, with seven different owners. The city owns five parcels.
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 11:28 AM.
