Rock Hill wants to sell failed Panthers HQ site — and it’s OK with splitting land up
The city of Rock Hill plans to sell the site of the failed Carolina Panthers headquarters and it’s willing to break up the huge property, according to Rock Hill’s mayor and city manager.
The 245-acre site off Mount Gallant Road along Interstate 77 was supposed to be where the NFL team had its practice fields and team offices, but the project collapsed over money disputes in 2022. GT Real Estate, the company created by Panthers owner David Tepper to oversee the site, halted construction in March 2022 and filed bankruptcy soon afterward.
The city received the property as part of the GTRE bankruptcy settlement completed in December 2022. Now, the Panthers are making plans to create a practice facility in uptown Charlotte near Bank of America Stadium
The site has received interest from companies interested in purchasing it, but so far no deal has been reached for part or all of the acreage, said Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys and City Manager David Vehaun.
Both Gettys and Vehaun said the city is OK with breaking up the property for the right development.
“It doesn’t have to be one end user,” Gettys told The Herald Monday. “It could be four or five end users.”
Vehaun on Monday said part of the property closest to Mount Gallant Road could be sold, and the remainder still would be larger than Kingsley in Fort Mill. That’s the huge multi-use development along I-77 at S.C. 160, just a few miles north of the former Panthers site.
“It could be broken up,” Vehaun said of the Rock Hill property. “There is ample opportunity to reach different types of users.”
No distribution centers or warehouses
Top political leaders in South Carolina pushed through an incentive package in 2019 and 2020 for the Panthers deal with an expected economic impact of more than $800 million. The project included the new Interstate 77 interchange in Rock Hill next to the site that cost tens of millions of dollars.
But after the Panthers deal fell apart in 2022 and the city took title to the property, the land had to be cleared of the shell of a building already under construction. Demolition finished in late 2023.
Vehaun described interest in the property as “really good,” but neither Gettys nor Vehaun would mention which companies had expressed interest.
“There are high expectations it will develop into something special for the city of Rock Hill,” Vehaun said.
The city has decided that the property will not be sold for use as a distribution center or warehousing, according to Gettys and Vehaun. The goal is for development that will provide what Gettys called “high-paying jobs.”
Mayor: ‘Make us an offer’
When the city first took control of the property, it inherited an existing contract with Colliers, a real estate company, to market the property as “Rock Hill Overlook.” That contract has expired and city officials are now handling the property negotiations, officials said.
Gettys said the expected May opening of Exit 81 of Interstate 77 adjacent to the site gives the property access and visibility.
“You can’t ask for a better site - its sells itself,” Gettys told The Herald Monday.
Gettys said the city is willing to talk to potential buyers about the property that he said is owned by the city’s taxpayers.
“Make us an offer,” Gettys said.
