Union Bleachery Mill, largest redevelopment in Greenville, to break ground soon

At first glance, the Union Bleachery Mill site may still appear deserted. But behind the scenes, Cone Mills Acquisition Group LLC is making progress, and developers remain optimistic that they will break ground on the largest redevelopment project in Greenville County this year, Florida-based partner Dean Warhaft told The Greenville News.

"Our goal was to be able to break ground this year, and it looks like that's going to happen," Warhaft said.

The sprawling 240-acre project near the Sans Souci area straddles a mile-long portion of the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail northwest of downtown Greenville. It's expected to cost $1.9 to $3.4 billion at ultimate buildout, Warhaft said.

It's also one of the best remaining opportunities for high-density development in Greenville that wouldn't displace vulnerable residents.

The project will have a mix of business, residential, restaurant and retail space, called a live-work-play model, along with 10 miles of trails — including a new spur of the Swamp Rabbit Trail that could eventually extend to Paris Mountain, and a pedestrian bridge to go over Blue Ridge Drive, which would create a safer connection to the trail.

The project is ambitious. Destroyed by a fire and laden with toxic waste, the mill site has been closed since 2003. But Warhaft and his partner, Warren Zinn, will use county tax incentives and state cleanup efforts to restore the land and bring the “On The Trail” development to life.

More of the Union Bleachery site expected to be delisted from EPA watchlist next year

The latest steps in the process include obtaining land-disturbance permits and submitting responses to county feedback on the group's stormwater plan, Warhaft said. And loggers are supposed to be on site in next six to eight weeks to begin clearing trees to make way for development.

Developers also recently provided their proposed environmental cleanup plans to the Environmental Protection Agency for what is still the Superfund-site portion of the property — a designation that means the land is one of the most potentially hazardous contamination sites in the country because of contaminated surface water, groundwater and sediment from previous operations.

The developers expect a response to their plans from the federal agency in the coming weeks, Warhaft said.

The EPA is also moving to delist another large portion of the property in spring of next year, meaning that land will immediately move into the state Brownfields program, which offers liability protection and financial incentives for landowners who voluntarily clean up contaminated properties.

More:Distillery and restaurant coming to Greenville: 5 things to know about Union Bleachery

More:Locals replaced northerners and strengthened Union Bleachery

Warhaft's team has also refined environmental testing and cleanup procedures that the Brownfield program will require on the first delisted portion of the site, which will make the process going forward more seamless, he said.

"We've been able to do some additional testing to help us better understand what is or isn't in the soils, what we should be testing for," Warhaft said.

The mill property was added to the EPA's National Priorities List of its Superfund program in 2011.

Union Bleachery is latest redevelopment built on rich textile history of Upstate South Carolina

The Union Bleachery mill, located near West Blue Ridge Drive and Old Buncombe Road, was founded in 1902 by a group of northerners led by J.B. Duke.

The mill became successful under the presidency of John Arrington, a textile manager from North Carolina, and when Arrington’s sons sold to Connecticut-based Aspinook Corp. in 1947, it had a capacity of 2 million yards a week, according to The News' archives.

The factory later sold to Cone Corporation, and in 2003, it caught fire, marking the end of a successful textile endeavor.

Crumbling and abandoned, it later caught fire again in 2017.

Cone Mills Acquisition Group closed on the purchase of the land in February, although they'd publicly presented plans for the land to Greenville County Council in 2021.

Greenville County Council approved tax incentives for the redevelopment in 2021, including a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal — a temporary, partial reduction of future real and personal property taxes based on the developer's commitment to the project — as well as a special source credit and a joint county industrial and business park designation involving Anderson and Greenville counties.

Union Bleachery is the county's latest former mill site to see redevelopment in recent years. In the City View community, the former Monaghan Mill is now home to loft apartments near Swamp Rabbit Café and Grocery. In 2019, an Atlanta-based firm paid $29.8 million to restore and rebuild the site.

Meanwhile, plans for The Village at Poe Mill call for 428 residential units and 30,000 square-feet of commercial space on 11 acres near Buncombe Road and A Street, while a $9 million renovation of a nearby warehouse is underway that will include office space, a Mexican caterer and a taproom.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Union Bleachery Mill in Greenville to break ground later this year