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!