Tega Cay’s mega sports site won’t come until the homes do. This vote could help both.

Residential property isn’t the headliner with Game On, the proposed sportsplex and commercial development in Tega Cay. But it’s key to coming attractions.

“Rooftops need to be in place to support the commercial (aspect),” landowner and majority partner Jerry Grace told Tega Cay City Council Monday night.

Council then voted 4-1 to annex eight acres for use in the residential portion of Game On. The decision still needs another favorable vote to pass. The new acreage won’t allow for more residences. That number is capped by the planned development proposal already approved by the city. It will allow a shift in where the approved townhomes go, which in turn could mean more room for commercial growth.

“The addition of this property will allow the residential portion of the (project) to be located closer to the existing residential along Stonecrest Boulevard,” said Susan Britt, city planning and development manager. “It will also free up acreage in the mixed use villages to be used for more commercial.”

The residential part of Game On includes 160 townhomes and 250 apartments over businesses. The townhomes will be the first construction. Game On is expected next, with sports fields, pools, training sites and more. Part of an overall $200 million project, expected to take five years to complete.

“That then is the game changer that brings everybody else in, from the hotel, to the restaurants to the mixed use with the residential over commercial,” Grace said of the sports site. “Everything falls in place when that happens.”

While the current annexation plan doesn’t add residences, it did bring up a question or two on the project.

“I know that that’s going to be built first,” resident and council candidate Gus Matchunis said of the townhomes. “Is there anything that would keep the developer from building and then not doing the commercial development?”

Charlie Funderburk, city manager, said the ongoing annexation “frees up the rest of what’s already been annexed,” and it’s “very unlikely the developer would stop short of adding all the commercial features. But, is there any guarantee?

“’No,’ is the short answer,” Funderburk said. “On the flip side of that, the zoning is in place currently. So no additional units could be built outside of that.”

Grading, stormwater and other plans are for the entire site, not just the residential piece. Most of the approved residences, though not the townhomes, are apartments over businesses so they couldn’t get off the ground without commercial construction. Plus, Funderburk said, soil will have to be moved from the townhome part of the plan to the commercial, and it would be costly to have to haul it somewhere else rather than completing the project.

Not to mention the money developers would leave on the table by abandoning commercial plans.

“Realistically, the money, the revenues that a developer is going to make the most profit, is on the commercial end,” Funderburk said.

Councilman Ryan Richard said he sees no drawback in the new annexation. When the same number of residential units would be approved with or without it, and project leaders stressing how important the townhomes are to commercial development.

“So if we say ‘yes,’ we get an extra commercial area,” Richard said. “If we say ‘no,’ we still get the houses anyway. So really all we’re voting for is to see if we get more commercial space.”

Councilwoman Dottie Hersey, a candidate for mayor this fall, said she would feel “a whole lot better” about the residential annexation if it could wait a few months. Her understanding is the final properties eyed for commercial should be under contract by the end of the year. About half of the roughly 80-acre project is signed off with the developer now.

Grace, a former city resident who owned his 27 acres within the project for a decade, said waiting isn’t an option. Engineering is ongoing and he “would need to stop that immediately” if there’s a holdup. If the townhomes can’t be adjusted using the new property, the theater and assisted living sites “would be vulnerable” to being left out of the project.

“At the end of the day, if we have to give up something, it would have to be the commercial,” Grace told council.

As a long-time property owner, Grace said he has “turned down many, many offers” from residential developers so the city shouldn’t worry about commercial construction failing to follow residential. It’s just that the residential has to be there to support the commercial.

“We really need to get this started, immediately, to ensure that the rest of it happens,” Grace said.

Despite the what-if scenarios at Monday’s meeting, city leaders are largely confident in what’s been presented to them and the impact it could have on Tega Cay.

“We’re not changing anything in terms of density,” Hersey said of the annexation. “Recognizing that we’re all hopeful that this comes to fruition as it’s been presented in terms of the entire package.”

This story was originally published October 20, 2017 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Tega Cay’s mega sports site won’t come until the homes do. This vote could help both.."