Family’s land helped secure Panthers deal. Now it’ll help Rock Hill with what comes next
The family who sold land for what would have been the biggest economic development project ever in Rock Hill, has an agreement to again work with the city on whatever comes next.
Rock Hill City Council has a vote scheduled Monday night involving property on I-77 once intended to be the Carolina Panthers headquarters. The agreement also involves property around that site, which could help land new economic development. The decision is a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Hutchison family.
It names both the Hutchison family company and Hutchison Family Trust co-trustees Hiram (“Chip”) and Linda Hutchison.
In early 2019, multiple area elected officials confirmed that the more than 200-acre Hutchison farm in Rock Hill was the site pitched to the Panthers as a possible headquarters location. In April 2020 the Hutchison family sold the site now listed as 2394 Eden Terrace to Panthers development company GT Real Estate Holdings for more than $16 million.
The Panthers plan ultimately stalled and through bankruptcy proceedings, the property went to the city late last year.
Now the site is a prime property for economic development. The scale of the Panthers project brought everything from zoning changes to economic incentives to a new I-77 interchange in that area.
The memorandum of understanding is a non-binding agreement. It’s aim is to work in good faith between the city and family, toward a new economic development agreement. It involves more than 234 city-owned acres at and adjacent to the former Hutchison farm site. It also involves two properties still owned by the family, between Nations Ford Road and the larger former Panthers site, at almost 40 combined acres. Those properties are across Nations Ford from the Hutchison Place subdivision.
Three more properties at almost 7 acres in that same area, owned by various members of the Hutchison family, aren’t named in the city agreement.
According to the agreement, the city property is up for sale now as an economic development site and the Hutchison family has offered to sell all or part of its two named parcels to help facilitate a deal. The agreement doesn’t commit either side of the joining properties for sale, but shows proposed opportunity for a potential buyer.
The Panthers project was under construction when it failed, and a massive structure had to be demolished on that site. A new buyer would mean several upcoming public decisions by the city, from the sale itself to any potential zoning change, economic incentive agreement or similar move related to new business there.
This story was originally published August 28, 2023 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Family’s land helped secure Panthers deal. Now it’ll help Rock Hill with what comes next."
