A long-unfinished high-rise in Fort Mill might soon be coming down. The 21-story Heritage Tower was built four decades ago as part of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Christian-themed amusement park, Heritage USA. The park closed in the late 1980s following bankruptcy and a sex scandal involving Jim Bakker. For more, I’m joined now by the Charlotte Ledger’s Ashley Fahey for our segment BizWorthy.
Marshall Terry: This tower has kind of become iconic in Fort Mill, but not for good reasons, right?
Ashley Fahey: Yeah, I would say it's a landmark for sure, but not in the best way.
It's not even a finished building. A lot of the residents in York County have seen it as an eyesore, frankly.
Terry: So why might it finally be coming down? And is anything planned for the site?
Fahey: This site has been sort of the subject of a lot of litigation for many years now. Morningstar purchased the site back in 2004 and since then, there's been a lot of dispute with York County and other folks about when does this tower come down, what's the future of the property. It seems like there's finally now momentum to get this tower demolished to make way for a 340-unit senior living facility. WBTV, the Rock Hill Herald, and others have reported that that's the plan for the site. If I had to guess, I think a lot of York County residents will be glad to see some progress on this site.
Terry: Let’s stay in York County for a moment. Over in Rock Hill, a $1.5 billion project is being planned for the site that had been intended as a headquarters for the Panthers. What can you tell us?
Fahey: So, currently, York County Council is going through multiple rounds of readings for incentives, which is their typical process to award incentives for any project in the county, for again, a $1.5 billion biopharmaceutical company, which could bring 1,200 jobs. The project would occupy about 50 acres of the total 220-acre site, which is right near Interstate 77, Palmetto Parkway, and Mt. Gallant Road in Rock Hill. The site has been mostly abandoned since the Panthers decided not to proceed with their headquarters facility. Novant is building a campus down there, as was announced a couple of months ago. But this is a very big project. I've been talking to folks all week about who the company might be and what we could expect. Not much is known at this point, although I think we'll know the company's identity by next week. It’s going to be one of the biggest economic development projects in York County if it's approved.
Terry: Finally, some big development news has been causing a stir in Ballantyne. The Morrison YMCA is closing next year after a church agreed to buy it for almost $43 million. That's an eye-popping price, and a lot of people aren't happy to lose the community space. What do we know about the Y's financial struggles, and also about the role of Greg Keith, a real estate leader?
Fahey: Greg Keith, who, of course, is CEO of the Keith Corporation, a big commercial real estate firm here in Charlotte — he’s actually vice chair of the church that's buying the site and he worked with the church, I think, for over a year to help them find a permanent home. I think this came as a surprise to a lot of people. That Morrison YMCA, as we reported, is really beloved in Ballantyne. It's one of the busier YMCAs in south Charlotte. YMCA of Greater Charlotte has said that they are committed to south Charlotte, but I think there's still some concern about what this all means. To your earlier question about the financial state, I think it just shows that real estate is such a valuable asset. Even though the Y wasn't looking to sell this facility, over $40 million if the sale closes — that’s a big win for them. You could use that for programming, you could use that for existing facilities, which, from what I gather, is what they intend to do.
Support for BizWorthy comes from the law office of Robertson & Associates and Central Piedmont Community College.
