Updates: New Minor League stadium, $250 million project planned for downtown Spartanburg

Spartanburg will again be home to a minor league baseball team, along with a new stadium downtown ― thanks to a $250 million development project.

A group of public and private partners announced Tuesday that a new stadium will be built next to the A.C. Hotel and will host a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Texas Rangers, currently playing as the Down East Wood Ducks in Kinston, N.C., according to a news release.

The Wood Ducks currently play at historic Grainger Stadium in the "Low A" Carolina League The Columbia Fireflies, Charleston River Dogs and Myrtle Beach Pelicans also compete in the Carolina League.

The City of Spartanburg will own the 3,500-seat stadium, and it will be developed by The Johnson Group of Spartanburg.

The team could begin playing in Spartanburg as soon as 2025, according to the release. No information has been released about the team's potential name or naming process.

“Spartanburg wins with this terrific and exciting news. Cheers to The Johnson Group for the foresight and action. The State of South Carolina is proud to be a part of the team effort," said Max Hyde, S.C. House Representative from Spartanburg.

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Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt said the project is the biggest development project to happen to Spartanburg since BMW's 1992 announcement that its North American manufacturing plant would be built in Spartanburg County.

"May 23, 2023, is a day we will not forget – just like June 19, 1992 (BMW's announcement)," said Britt, the county's economic development committee chairman. "This will transform the city and county for generations to come. This sends a message to the world that we not only build the finest products, but have quality of life second to none."

In addition to the stadium, the 16-acre mixed-use site in the area known as the Grain District on Daniel Morgan Ave. and just off West Main Street, will include multifamily housing, office space and entertainment options.

In July 2022, demolition of the century-old Spartan Grain building began in the area of the new development. The property was acquired by Johnson Development Associates in 2019 from Snyder Electric Co. In the 1920s, the building was acquired by Spartan Grain for dairy feed.

"This is a great day for Spartanburg," Mayor Jerome Rice stated. "It will be terrific to bring affiliated professional baseball back to Spartanburg."

The project is a result of a partnership between the City of Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, the State of South Carolina, OneSpartanburg, Inc., The Johnson Group and Diamond Baseball Holdings, an organization that operates select minor league clubs affiliated with Major League Baseball.

Robbis & Morton of Birmingham, Ala., will be general contractor for construction of the stadium. In addition to 3,500 fixed seats, there will be a 5,000-square-foot club room. The stadium will serve as a year-round venue for public and private events.

"This enables us to program a space upwards of 85% of the year," said Allen Smith, president and CEO of OneSpartanburg, Inc. "It creates a regional destination.

Smith said the project is a culmination of ideas and planning based on the chamber's vision planning process, which identified the need for more Class A office space downtown and more multi-family development downtown to recruit talent.

"The vision plan spoke to a need for more event space," Smith said. "This one project helps fulfill a lot of that vision."

Pro baseball history in Spartanburg

Professional baseball has long been a tradition in Spartanburg.

The Spartanburg Sluggers, a Negro League team, called Duncan Park home from 1926 to the early 1950s.

From 1963-1980, and again from 1986-1994, Spartanburg's historic Duncan Park was the home of the Spartanburg Phillies, a South Atlantic League minor league affiliate of the Philadelphia big-league team of the same name.

Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby played at Duncan Park before they broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier. The 1937 New York Yankees played an exhibition game at Duncan Park, while MLB legends Hank Aaron, Satchel Paige, Larry Bowa, Ryne Sandberg, Dale Murphy and Tom Glavine also played in Spartanburg.

Duncan Park, built in 1926 and on the National Register of Historic Places, welcomed the Spartanburgers of the Coastal Plain League in 2021. The Spartanburgers suspended operations from the collegiate summer league in March of 2022.

Duncan Park remains home to the Spartanburg High School and Post 28 American Legion baseball teams.

The Greenville Drive, which play in the High-A South Atlantic League, are currently the closest Minor League team to the Hub City.

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Downtown Spartanburg project a long time coming

Spartanburg city leaders have long talked about redeveloping the once-vibrant Grain District in western downtown.

Dotted with vacant buildings from the departure of the Spartan Grain and Mill Co. complex that closed in 1991, the 45-acre area was clogged with debris and overgrown with kudzu in many places. Land has already been cleared in areas behind the AC Hotel.

Yet residents and developers saw the area's potential – an upscale restaurant might be a good fit, or retail shops or mixed-use housing. Maybe even a baseball stadium.

According to the 2007 draft of the city's master plan, a variety of uses could fit well in the area, including mixed residential housing (apartments, townhomes), retail stores, restaurants and public spaces and trails.

The first major project was construction of the 10-story AC Hotel by Marriott at the corner of West Main Street and South Daniel Morgan Avenue. It opened in December 2017.

At the top of the 114-room hotel, a penthouse deck with rooftop bar and restaurant called Level 10 provide 360-degree views overlooking Spartanburg.

In 2021, the state legislature provided a $12 million earmark for a downtown Spartanburg infrastructure project. Details of the project were not released.

Last year, the legislature appropriated a $4.5 million earmark for the city's West Main Street Strategic Growth Corridor project.

The 1.5-mile West Main Street corridor is a low- to moderate income area that has seen little investment for decades. Envisioned as a revitalized gateway to the city's downtown, it is designated an opportunity zone, which offers tax credits as an incentive to investors.

More comments about Spartanburg's planned baseball stadium and Minor League baseball team

“We are thrilled to work with DBH to bring Minor League Baseball back to Spartanburg as part of a major downtown development project to propel economic growth in our hometown community. This collective effort will have a transformative impact on Spartanburg – supporting our city’s current growth, drawing families into the heart of downtown, continuing our rich history of professional baseball, and serving as a hub for entertainment and broader economic activity throughout our area for years to come.” - Geordy Johnson, CEO of The Johnson Group, a family of companies based in Spartanburg

“Leveraging key acreage to transform the City’s western gateway, this multi-faceted project aligns perfectly with the 2017- 2026 OneSpartanburg Vision Plan. Strategic programming within a state-of-the-art entertainment amenity, more multi-family housing, and Class A office product not only build a next level Downtown Spartanburg but also help recruit knowledge-based jobs and top tier talent. This project affirms the notion that economic opportunity abounds when local and state governments work in tandem with the private sector. Clearly, there is no better time than now to live, visit, or invest in Spartanburg." - Allen Smith, President and CEO of OneSpartanburg, Inc.

“The new stadium is an exciting next step for Minor League Baseball and for the future of Spartanburg. We are grateful to The Johnson Group and the City of Spartanburg for partnering in this endeavor with us, and for our strong continuing relationship with the Texas Rangers and MLB. DBH also thanks the Kinston community for its support of the Wood Ducks.” - Pat Battle and Peter Freund, Executive Chairman and CEO, respectively, of Diamond Baseball Holdings

“The Texas Rangers look forward to working with DBH and The Johnson Group as they move forward on the stadium project in Spartanburg. We are excited about having our minor league affiliate in a tremendous new facility in the next couple of years. At the same time, we want to thank the City of Kinston for their tremendous support and assistance of the Wood Ducks franchise since 2017. It has been a great partner during this run, and we will be working with DBH to explore options to keep baseball being played at Grainger Stadium in the future.” - Neil Leibman, Texas Rangers President of Business Operations and Chief Operating Officer

“As Spartanburg County continues to grow, it is very exciting to see investments such as this being made in our community. The new stadium will deliver an economic boost to downtown Spartanburg and the surrounding areas, and create a hub of family friendly entertainment in our home county. I am excited and proud to watch this much anticipated project come to life.” - Manning Lynch, Chairman of Spartanburg County Council

“Spartanburg will greatly benefit from the funding our state has allocated for this exciting economic development project. The construction of a new minor league baseball stadium in their downtown area is a wonderful example of the private and public sectors working collaboratively to create a meaningful impact within a community.” - Murrell Smith, Speaker of the S.C. House of Representatives

“The vision and cooperation between the public and private sector in Spartanburg should be an example for the entire state of South Carolina. We are happy the State was able to be a partner in this extraordinary downtown project.” - Bruce Bannister, Chairman of the S.C. House Ways & Means Committee

"Today's announcement represents an exciting and seminal moment in the continued development of our downtown, our city and our region. Our collaborative spirit in Spartanburg has allowed us to work together to achieve great things over the past couple of decades and laid the groundwork for us to take the next step with a project like this that will change the arc of our future for the better." - Jamie Fulmer, Spartanburg City Councilman

Check back for updates.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Downtown Spartanburg lands Minor League team, new stadium planned