New 3-D Development Map

The Development Action Team has now reviewed eight of ten development opportunities in Knowledge Park (see earlier post showing map of development opportunities). Following the review and discussion of each development opportunity, the team completes a survey designed to prioritize each project based on factors like: 1) How important is the particular development project to the overall success of Knowledge Park? 2) Are the necessary ingredients in place for the project to be successful (i.e. are there environmental issues? Is the property in the ownership/control of a motivated owner/developer? Is there a clear plan? etc.) 3) Can significant development progress be achieved within the next 5 years? (Remember, this is an ACTION plan!) 4) Is it likely that this project will happen without assistance from the City or RHEDC? (If so, that's great. However, we want to focus the community's attention on high value projects that need some extra support to become successful.) This survey process has resulted in the following rankings thus far: 1. Towncenter sites (City-owned land at the corners of Main/Dave Lyle and White/Dave Lyle) 2. (Tie) Good Motors site and The Herald site 4. Fountain Park area 5. University Center 6. West Main-West Black corridors 7. Oakland Avenue 8. Saluda/Johnston Streets These rankings may not reflect the final recommendations of the Development Action Team. They do provide a snapshot of the projects that the Team found compelling. It's interesting that a number the highly ranked opportunities have not previously been included in conversations about important economic development priorities in Rock Hill. Change is coming!

The Development Action Team is reviewing development opportunities within 10 different sites in the Knowledge Park area.  The goal is to position the Knowledge Park area for continued development/redevelopment by focusing planning and attention in areas that may be difficult for private developers to attack without some assistance.  A map of these targeted areas is below. The Development Action Team will prioritize these development areas by looking at factors like: The potential for new investment and the importance of that new investment to the success of Knowledge Park (are the opportunities obvious and clearly supportive of current Knowledge Park projects and investments?) How quickly new investment could be realized within the area (sooner is better) Whether private developers would be likely to make future investments in the area without support from the City or RHEDC (we place a higher priority on areas where conditions are not ripe for developers to invest immediately) Some areas, like University Center and Fountain Park, have clear development plans, committed developers, initial successes and strong momentum for future growth.  Other areas, like The Herald site, the West Main/West Black corridors, and the Saluda/Johnston area, are not well understood, do not have development plans and have no interest at present from developers.  How do we strike an appropriate balance between supporting the success of current projects and beginning the challenge of spreading that success to nearby sites?  Stay tuned: the Development Action Team clearly has some hard decisions to make.

At the March 27 meeting of the Development Action Team information was presented on two future development opportunities in Knowledge Park: 1) the former Good Motors site and 2) Oakland Avenue, between White Street and Wilson Street. The former Good Motors site is now the subject of an agreement between RHEDC and York County (current owner) whereby RHEDC is beginning environmental investigations leading to future remediation and marketing of the site. The Oakland Avenue area is the focus of a new planning effort by the City intended to create a vision for how Oakland Avenue can become a dynamic contributor to the success of Knowledge Park (more developments like Legal Remedy and ROCO!). Lat Purser and Associates, the Charlotte developer who recently completed the two apartment projects on Main Street, now has a contract on 119 Oakland Avenue, a former car dealership and body shop. Attached is the marketing package for the proposed development. Very exciting!