Hotel, parking decks, restaurants, lakefront park and more are planned for Rock Hill
Plans are in for a hotel, parking decks, a public waterfront park and construction in Rock Hill.
The city planning commission meets March 3. The commission either will decide or recommend to Rock Hill City Council on half a dozen items that could add restaurants, retail, affordable housing and other land uses.
Here are the items up for consideration:
▪ The next wave of University Center redevelopment downtown is ready. A major site plan approval request is in for two parking decks and an apartment building in an area that already has the Lowenstein Building, 1939 Building, Rock Hill Sports & Event Center and a parking deck done along with The Nest student housing and Cambria Hotel under construction.
The latest request would bring three buildings with 144 apartments and 19,000 square feet of retail space. The apartment building would be four stories, as would one of the parking decks adding 470 spaces. A six-story deck would add 500 spaces.
A transit hub for the city’s bus system would come on the first level of one parking deck on White Street. Submitted sketches show access points off Technology Center and Textile Mill ways.
▪ Westminster Presbyterian Church, Duke Energy, the City of Rock Hill and Thomas Branche applied to annex and rezone property on Mt. Gallant, India Hook and Elks Park roads to allow for a new public park on Lake Wylie.
The site is more than 94 acres, though the part where Duke would put the new park involves two parcels at about 45 acres. There isn’t any development proposed on the rest of the property. The site is on the north part of the city at the end of India Hook and the east side of Elks Park, where Lake Wylie flows back into the Catawba River at the dam.
The new park is part of Duke’s most recent federal hydroelectric relicensing agreement. The company needs a federal license to operate power plants along the Catawba River and its reservoirs. The city will operate and maintain the new park which will have fishing, picnic areas, swimming, restrooms and parking.
There was some resident concern about the park last year related to maintenance and public access at all hours. A February neighborhood meeting allowed city staff to answer questions on the project. Per a meeting summary provided to the planning commission, the gated site will be open dawn to dusk and will have city fire and police service. Natural resource agency operations there now will relocate.
The new park entrance will be a few hundred feet east, also per the meeting summary, of the Westminster Park entrance. Dam access will remain restricted for security reasons. The site will have a kayak launch but no boat launch, and paddling outfitters won’t operate from the park. The park likely won’t open until summer 2021.
▪ Warren Norman Company applied to rezone the corner of Cherry Road and Oakland Avenue, near Winthrop University. Plans for the vacant property include a mix of restaurant, retail and office uses.
The site is more than an acre. The intent, per the application to the city, is to combine the site with properties to the east already zoned for limited commercial uses. The proposal includes three two-story buildings with more than 15,000 square feet of restaurant space and 11,000 square feet of retail or office.
The site would face Cherry, but would have access both from Oakland and College avenues.
▪ A new hotel is proposed at 840 Patriot Parkway. Affordable Suites eyes less than three vacant acres with plans for a two-story, more than 21,000-square-foot hotel with 59 rooms. Access would come off Patriot Parkway, via Cherry Road.
▪ Housing Development Corporation of Rock Hill asked to rezone almost 20 addresses on Osceola and Ellen avenues in the Catawba Terrace neighborhood. The sites would become a mix of homes, townhomes and apartments.
The site is more than 10 acres between Ragin Lane and McDow Drive. Treat Yourself, LLC owns the property. Village at Catawba Terrace would have 10 homes, five townhomes in a single building and 18 two-story stacked duplexes in nine buildings.
Plans are for a mixed-income development. Most would be for rent or sale at affordable housing rates, though some would be sold at market rate. Housing Development Corporation of Rock Hill would manage rentals and inspect them monthly.
Construction would come in one phase. It would include a pocket park.
▪ The city plans to rezone property on Red River Road and Quality Circle to match Manchester Wastewater Treatment Plant and River Park zoning. The move comes ahead of expansion at the wastewater site at 310 Red River Road.
The site also includes a trailhead and parking lot for the Piedmont Medical Center Trail. The Catawba River runs on the east side of the property.
This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 2:06 PM.
