Rock Hill is on track to land a whopper of a corporate deal: Swiss biopharma company Octapharma has told York County leaders it plans to build a roughly $1.5 billion U.S. headquarters and advanced‑manufacturing campus at Palmetto Research Park, bringing more than 1,200 jobs to the site. About 300 of those positions would move from Charlotte, with the rest coming in a mix of new, high‑paying headquarters and production roles. The project is now working its way through city and county approvals, with more votes expected this summer.
Project Size And Local Approvals
County filings identify the effort, branded as Project Palmetto Rock, as a roughly $1.5 billion buildout at the city‑owned Palmetto Research Park off I‑77, with more than 1,200 jobs tied to the campus. York County Council has already approved an initial reading of an incentives package and scheduled a special public hearing for June 29, where the company was slated to publicly identify itself and take questions, according to York County Economic Development. County officials note that additional readings are still required before anything becomes final.
What Octapharma Will Build
The mystery applicant was publicly named Monday as Octapharma, a family‑owned Swiss biopharma focused on plasma‑based therapies made from human plasma and cell lines. The plan calls for nearly $1.3 billion in manufacturing facilities and about $190 million for a U.S. corporate headquarters. The new site would add roughly 3.5 million liters of plasma‑processing capacity, or about a third of Octapharma’s worldwide output, according to the Charlotte Observer. Company officials also told county leaders they intend to shift about 300 existing Charlotte jobs down the road to Rock Hill.
Palmetto Research Park And Other Moves
The 209‑acre Palmetto Research Park, once slated to host a Carolina Panthers training facility before that deal collapsed, has become central to Rock Hill’s bid to reinvent the area as a life‑sciences hub. Earlier this month, the city approved the sale of a separate 25‑acre piece of the park to Novant Health for an estimated $300 million medical campus. City officials are pitching the Novant project and the Octapharma campus as complementary anchors in a broader strategy to attract higher‑paying, stable employers along the I‑77 corridor, according to the City of Rock Hill. The hope is that the combined momentum will spark more private investment and prep additional sites for future life‑sciences tenants.
About Octapharma
Octapharma describes itself as one of the world’s largest privately owned plasma fractionators, headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland. The company reports more than 11,000 employees worldwide and multibillion‑euro annual revenue in its public materials, with recent expansions in both manufacturing and plasma‑collection capacity highlighted as key to its growth strategy, according to Octapharma. Founded in 1983, the firm has been steadily building out its U.S. footprint in recent years.
Officials' Pitch And Wages
Local leaders are leaning hard on pay and training as they sell the deal. County documents show headquarters positions would average more than $141,000 a year, while manufacturing roles would average nearly $103,000. “The growth opportunity is big,” York County Councilman Tom Audette told reporters, with county officials adding that the project could serve as a magnet for other life‑sciences companies, according to the Charlotte Observer. City and county economic‑development staff have also pointed to programs at Winthrop University and York Technical College as talent pipelines for the new jobs.
What’s Next
On the immediate horizon is the June 29 county hearing, where the company was set to publicly identify itself and share more details about the project; York County economic‑development staff note that several additional readings and approvals are required before any incentives are locked in. If the city and county ultimately sign off, officials say they will coordinate utilities, zoning and workforce initiatives to prepare the site and court additional employers to the corridor.
