Historic Rock Hill site to be a hotel again, with jobs for people with disabilities
The historic, century-old Andrew Jackson Hotel site in Rock Hill will welcome guests again, this time as a 56-room, $30 million downtown hotel focused on employing people with disabilities.
The Lantern Hotel will open this fall with a restaurant, bar, private speakeasy, event space and private dining room, developers announced Tuesday. Hotel management company Raines joins The Warren Norman Company, Noble Food and Pursuits, telecommunications company Comporium and educational employment program WinthropLIFE on the project.
The Warren Norman Company bought the former hotel site at 223 E. Main St., most recently called the Guardian Building, in late 2023. Two separate deals included seven properties, York County land records show, that sold for a combined $3.3 million. The Rock Hill developer acquired both the 42,000-square-foot hotel building and the adjacent 6,000-square-foot Roddey Trust Building.
In early 2024, the developer stated plans for a restaurant with multiple floors, retail and office space.
The hotel plan emerged, Warren Norman Company managing partner Warren Norman told The Herald on Tuesday, as a way to add onto a piece of Rock Hill’s history.
“It’s definitely going to be impactful for downtown Rock Hill,” he said. “It’s got so much history with it. Just the character, you can see it.”
Employment for people with disabilities
The latest vision brings the property back to its hotel roots, while providing jobs in partnership with Winthrop University’s higher education program for students with intellectual disabilities, WinthropLIFE.
“The hospitality industry is a perfect opportunity to train and equip people with differing abilities to not only provide job opportunities, but to learn skills to apply to other job opportunities elsewhere,” Norman said.
The target is to have 30% of jobs at The Lantern available for people with special needs.
Norman did something on a smaller scale with The Perch, a mix of restaurant and retail space near Winthrop University. Miracle Park in Rock Hill has a similar employment element.
Lantern general manager Rick Hayduk will bring experience from a similar setup at a Lantern Hotel set to open this month in Columbia.
The Rock Hill hotel will be a step up from employment programs at The Perch or Miracle Park, Norman said, and could be a step toward other job options.
Jim Noble restaurant for Rock Hill
Long-time Charlotte area restaurateur Jim Noble signed on for a new restaurant.
His company has opened a host of eateries in the Charlotte region since 2000, including Bossy Beulah’s in downtown Fort Mill three years ago. Noble Food & Pursuits also has a history of providing food, funding and job opportunities to support people facing homelessness.
The Lantern will be a four-star hotel, Norman said, and the new restaurant will fit into that model. “I would expect that it’ll be one of, if not the nicest restaurants in town,” he said.
History of the Andrew Jackson Hotel
The historic marker for the Andrew Jackson Hotel notes that it was built in 1926 when the citizens of Rock Hill raised more than $250,000 to fund it. That’s about $4.6 million in today’s dollars.
It was named for Andrew Jackson, the nation’s seventh president. He was born in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas between the two states in 1767.
In addition to providing rooms for guests, the hotel hosted performances and even recording sessions for popular country or gospel artists in the late 1930s.
The Rock Hill Chamber of Commerce had its office there before the hotel closed in 1970. Vernon Grant, famed illustrator known for creating the SNAP! CRACKLE! AND POP! characters for Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal, worked there.
The hotel was remodeled in the 1980s, operating since as a downtown office.
More hotels headed to Rock Hill
The new downtown hotel comes at a time when at least two more Rock Hill hotels are under development.
Primo Investments aims to start construction this summer on two upscale hotels near Interstate 77 and Celanese Road. That $30 million project will add a Residence Inn by Marriott, and a hotel brand still to be determined.
The two hotels will combine for 237 rooms.
York County has 45 hotels, with others under construction or in development.
This story was originally published January 6, 2026 at 10:28 AM with the headline "Historic Rock Hill site to be a hotel again, with jobs for people with disabilities."
