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Carolina Panthers, Rock Hill reach tentative bankruptcy settlement

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The Carolina Panthers posted this photo of a team development under construction in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Lester Barnes III/Carolina Panthers

Rock Hill will receive $20 million in a proposed bankruptcy settlement with David Tepper’s real estate company after the Carolina Panthers’ plan to build a new, state-of-the-art headquarters and practice facility there fell apart.

Tepper bought the Panthers in 2018.

GT Real Estate Holdings, the company that was building the $800 million project, said in court filings Friday that Rock Hill and the company will drop their legal claims against each other.

Rock Hill will also receive the land that the unfinished headquarters facility sits on and will continue efforts to sell the site.

If approved, the settlement could bring closure to one aspect of the now-defunct project, which filed for bankruptcy protection in June. Contractors, who claim they’re owed millions for work on the abandoned construction site, would receive more than $60 million to settle their claims.

But York County has also filed a lawsuit against the Panthers-affiliated companies and Rock Hill seeking to recover money spent on the project. York County is not included in the latest settlement proposal.

Update: A confirmation hearing on the case that had been set for Wednesday morning in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware has been delayed until December, court documents show.

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Ely Portillo has worked as a journalist in Charlotte for over a decade. Before joining WFAE, he worked at the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and the Charlotte Observer.