Here’s what to know about new $15 million sports arena coming to downtown Rock Hill
After two years of property negotiations, Rock Hill officials are ready to move forward with plans that include a new $15 million downtown sports arena. It’ll be smaller than the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center but the two will work in conjunction to bring more teams and larger events to the area.
The city and Freedom Temple Ministries own property there now.
The developer, Southern Street Development, will acquire property from Freedom Temple and once construction is finished, the city will own the arena. The city and Southern Street have an aggressive time line for construction.
Here are those details and others on what the city has planned:
Where is the new Rock Hill arena going?
Constitution Boulevard and West White Street come to a roundabout at the northern tip of an almost 3-acre, gumdrop-shaped former mill property that runs south to Lee Street. Continuing south beyond Lee to Stewart Avenue, there are more than a dozen parcels that combine for roughly 6 acres.
The city sold the gumdrop piece north of Lee to its economic development corporation for $1 in 2016 as part of a state incentive process to clean up properties, so effectively the city owns it. The city also owns more than an acre to the southwest, along Stewart.
A land swap between the city and developer involve two smaller, internal pieces.
The plan shows 87 townhomes or condos north of Lee and west along Constitution. The sports arena would be at the southeastern part of the entire property, on land now owned by Freedom Temple Ministries and shown as 605 W. White St.
Just north of the new arena, along White Street, a 5,600-square-foot mixed-use building appears on the plan. It likely would be for restaurant or retail use, said city manager David Vehaun.
The walk down White Street and across on Technology Center Way from the new sports arena to the larger sports and event center is about a quarter of a mile.
How would Rock Hill use the new arena?
The main sports and event center in University Center has space for 10 basketball or 17 volleyball courts. The new 40,000-square-foot annex arena would add four basketball courts.
Depending on the event type, the new space could add room for up to 60 teams on a weekend and fill a need, given the popularity of the existing arena for large events.
“We are limited in the number of teams that we can bring in for weekend events,” Vehaun said. “We’re having to push (overflow from) these events out to the high schools, and to Winthrop and to other locations.”
Based on 40 events, an additional four basketball courts could add $300,000 in rental revenue, more than $150,000 in concessions and $40,000 in parking, according to information Vehaun presented to city council. Those numbers are based on rental rates at half what the sports and event center charges.
The annual economic impact when considering team and fan stays in local hotels, or trips to restaurants, could reach $36 million, Vehaun said.
The annex arena also allows for new or expanded tournament options. It has room, for instance, for 12 pickleball courts.
“Our (recreation) staff are very motivated about going out and recruiting those kinds of events,” Vehaun said.
Council members have been inundated with questions from people about pickleball, said Councilman Jim Reno. Like other athletics facilities across the region that make their money on weekend tournament play rentals, the new Rock Hill site could be used during the week for city recreation programming.
How will the city pay for the new arena?
In January the city approved an installment purchase revenue bond. It creates $12 million for the arena construction and about $3 million for fixtures and items inside it. The bond also includes $7 million for improvements at McGirt Auditorium and $1 million for an Armory Park grant match.
Arena costs will be about $1.3 million annually until construction is paid off, a figure the city will handle mostly or entirely with hospitality tax revenue.
Hospitality taxes are charged on food and drink, mainly at restaurants, and have to be used on items that promote tourism.
When will the new arena open?
The city anticipates pricing bonds in May and closing on them in early June. Construction would begin within about three months of land transfers between the city and developer being finalized at the site.
“We would need to be under construction by probably August,” Vehaun said.
The site has to be done by the end of next year, he said. Large events often are planned years in advance and the additional space has to be ready to help host them when 2026 arrives.
“It does us no good to have something that gets finished in May (‘26), because we’ve missed a whole five months when we have large events that come in,” Vehaun said.
The developer has tax credits that happen once the arena property transfers at completion to city ownership. Those credits mean the developer has incentive to finish on time, Vehaun said.
