The Rock Hill region’s biggest property sales on record came in 2023. Here’s a look
Three of the six most expensive property sales in the Rock Hill region in 2023 happened in Fort Mill, in a year that twice set a new high mark for purchase price.
More than 250 property sales in York, Lancaster and Chester counties hit the $1 million or more mark in 2023, a Herald review of local records showed. Of that total, 16 sales exceeded $10 million. Then there were the top six — each at more than $50 million.
Those six sales combine manufacturing, distribution and plenty of apartments. Two of them surpassed any sales price listed in online records for York, Lancaster or Chester counties. Online records date back decades. They don’t contain every sale in the counties, but are progressively more accurate as records have shifted online.
Here’s a look at the biggest property moves of 2023:
These massive Rock Hill area land sales brought in nearly $1 billion in 2022
Carowinds area industrial park adds Silfab Solar
Three Fort Mill industrial park properties sold in October for the highest price of any deal listed in online land records. The $106 million Stateline 77 sale at 7107, 7145 and 7149 Logistics Lane includes two warehouse buildings on almost 80 acres.
The larger of the two buildings, at 7149 Logistics Lane, has the Silfab Solar site. York County completed a tax incentive deal with the solar panel manufacturer that aims to bring 800 jobs and $150 million of investment.
Element Designs and Motion Industries occupy the smaller building, at 7107 Logistics Lane. Both industrial park sites were built last year. They combine for more than 1 million square feet of space.
Logistics Lane is between Interstate 77 and U.S. 21 Bypass, across from Regent Parkway and north of Gold Hill Road. It’s south of the Carowinds Boulevard corridor near the North Carolina border with Charlotte. It’s also just beside property the Fort Mill School District plans to use for a new elementary and middle school.
Real estate developer Rockefeller Group sold the Logistics Lane property to Pennsylvania-based EQT Exeter. Rockefeller Group previously developed and sold the nearby Lakemont 77, a similar but smaller industrial project at 370,000 square feet.
York County to vote on deal that would bring 800 new jobs to Fort Mill. Here are details
Rock Hill distribution sites hit high-dollar mark
Before the Logistics Lane deal, a sale in Rock Hill briefly held the high-dollar title.
An Atlanta company bought two warehouse distribution sites at 2501 David Hutchison Road in March for $93.3 million. That figure topped the 2017 LPL Financial headquarters sale in Fort Mill at $88.4 million and three more sales in the $80-million range the past two years in Indian Land, Rock Hill and Chester County.
Randolph Yarns Park sold the property in March. Randolph Yarns Land Investor Holdings sold it three years ago for almost $3.8 million. Plans were announced in 2020 to convert the former Randolph Yarns textile mill into Rock Hill Commerce Center.
Strategic Capital Partners announced groundbreaking for the 80-acre, $55 million commerce center in March. The sale includes two distribution buildings on more than 58 acres between Paragon Way and Cel-River Road. The buildings combine for almost 800,000 square feet.
The property has easy access both to Interstate 77 and downtown Rock Hill. It’s not far from the Catawba River, and it’s near what once was intended for the Carolina Panthers headquarters site. The city of Rock Hill took ownership of that property after the team headquarters and practice site deal fell through during construction.
Indian Land apartments sold to Florida company
An Indian Land apartment complex sale capped the busiest month for the biggest sales. Two May sales hit $70 million. Another topped $40 million. The largest was a $76-million deal for the Indigo at Cross Creek apartments.
A Tampa, Florida, company bought two parcels at more than 28 acres. The 2001 and 2080 Cramer Circle addresses include 375,000 square feet of apartments. They were built in 2017 along Collins Road off U.S. 521.
The apartments are near where U.S. 521 or Charlotte Highway crosses Dobys Bridge Road, behind the Publix shopping center.
Apartment complexes in Indian Land, Rock Hill, Fort Mill and throughout the region have been among the biggest property sales in recent years. Indigo at Cross Creek is the most expensive of several eight-figure apartment sales in 2023.
Brayden apartments sold in Fort Mill
The Brayden apartments in Fort Mill weren’t far behind Indigo at Cross Creek. The 35-acre site with 17 apartment buildings sold in May for $70 million. Brayden is on S.C. 160 west, not far from Tega Cay.
A company out of Dallas, Texas, bought the 1217 Jocelyn Dr. property. Brayden builder Standard Pacific Homes sold the site for almost $4 million in 2014. A developer then built up the property before selling it in 2018 for more than $51 million to the company that sold it in May.
The 2016-built apartments are two- to four-stories.
Along with the apartments, Brayden has hundreds of homes along with new restaurants the past few years, like Super Chix, Naf Naf, Capriotti’s, Duck Donuts and Inizio pizzeria. Homes are across S.C. 160 from the Earth Fare shopping center.
More new Indian Land apartments sold
The Mason at Six Mile Creek apartment building in Lancaster County was constructed in 2020 and 2021. The Graybul Mason company from Greenville bought the Indian Land complex in October for almost $69.3 million.
The seven-building site combines for almost 300,000 square feet of space. Mason at Six Mile is on Charlotte Highway, or U.S. 521, south of S.C. 160. It’s between the RedStone shopping center with a movie theater and restaurants to the north, and the Dobys Bridge Road area, Sun City and Promenade at Carolina Reserve to the south.
Sunbelt buys former Lash Group office in Fort Mill
Sunbelt Rentals bought former Lash Group office space in Fort Mill for $61 million. The September sale at 1799 Innovation Point in Kingsley involves an 11-acre lot.
The sale came as York County agreed to transfer economic incentive options for Lash, to Sunbelt as the new owner. The three-story, 175,000-square-foot building already had Sunbelt working in it after previous expansions in Fort Mill. Sunbelt is one of the largest equipment rental companies in the country.
Sunbelt Rentals would gain tax breaks under pending property deal with Lash Group
Lash Group opened a 1,600-worker building in Kingsley in 2016 and another for 1,300 workers in 2018. A 2015 tax incentive deal with the county committed Lash to 2,200 new jobs and $80 million of investment. Lash announced plans to open in Kingsley the same day LPL Financial did in 2014, marking the biggest job announcement day ever in York County at a combined 5,400 positions.
In late 2022 Lash asked York County to reduce its hiring requirement to 1,000 jobs citing remote work and the COVID pandemic. Lash had hired more than 1,600 people at the time. The county agreed to the change, noting Lash more than doubled its investment commitment.
Many companies in the Rock Hill region got incentives, but have they kept their promises?
Seven more York, Lancaster county deals hit $10 million
These other deals in the Rock Hill region topped $10 million. They include:
▪ A Birmingham, Alabama, company bought the Britax building on 53 acres in Fort Mill, near Carowinds, in May for $42.5 million.
▪ The 50-acre Promenade at Carolina Reserve shopping center at 7822 Charlotte Hwy. in Indian Land was sold to a Raleigh, North Carolina, company in June for more than $34 million.
▪ A Maryland company bought an Indian Land assisted living facility at 8154 English Clover Lane in November for $23.5 million.
▪ A four-story Home2 Suites hotel near the Galleria Mall in Rock Hill sold in February for $15.8 million.
▪ A Texas company bought the Wheel Pros site at 7780 Park Place Road in York in January for $15.7 million.
▪ A Pineville, North Carolina, company bought 80 acres of vacant property on Collins Road in Indian Land for $13.4 million in January.
▪ Stanley Martin Homes of Charlotte bought more than 25 acres off Pleasant Road in Fort Mill for $12 million in August.
▪ A Greenville company bought 17 acres of apartment buildings on Pardue Circle in Lancaster for $11.7 million in December.
▪ Kansas-based QTS Data Centers bought more than $11 million worth of Lake Wylie property on Hands Mill Highway in July for a data center project that aims to invest $1 billion, according to tax incentive agreements with York County.
▪ Lennar Carolinas sold more than 1,300 acres between Charlotte Highway and Old Hickory Road in Lancaster County to an Arizona company in November for $11 million.
