Rock Hill’s southern edge is on track to get even busier. A massive new logistics park, the I-77 Commerce Center, is planned beside the upcoming Costco distribution hub just off the interstate. The speculative, five-building complex would stretch across more than 290 acres and add roughly 1.4 million square feet of warehouse space to the area. The Rock Hill Planning Commission is set to review the project’s major site plan Tuesday night, a late-stage step that typically comes right before construction can begin.
As reported by the Rock Hill Herald, the commerce center is slated for the east side of Porter Road near Oak Pond Road and Interconnect Drive and would share road access with the Costco distribution site. Regional commercial real estate reporting from ConnectCRE notes that Costco’s plan would begin with a 541,000-square-foot building that could later be expanded to about 898,000 square feet.
Plans and partners
Indiana-based Strategic Capital Partners is listed as the developer for the I-77 Commerce Center. The firm’s materials show the project is speculative, meaning it is built first and marketed later. The City of Rock Hill’s commerce-corridor study also maps the area and identifies the I-77 Commerce site at roughly 293 acres, which helps explain why planners keep pointing to the corridor as ripe for industrial investment.
Traffic, power and parking
Traffic upgrades sit at the heart of the proposal. Planning documents call for a new traffic signal at the interstate and Porter Road, a roundabout at Porter Road and Interconnect Drive, and several new through or turn lanes along Porter and Oak Pond roads, according to the Rock Hill Herald. The packet also shows nearly 1,000 parking spaces and notes that part of the Costco plan includes an electric substation that city officials believe could help spark additional development. Neighbors, on the other hand, have raised alarms about more truck traffic and potential environmental impacts, concerns highlighted in local television reporting from WSOC.
Costco's role and incentives
Costco’s distribution project, pegged at about $240 million on a roughly 173-acre site, has already gone under the microscope in county incentive negotiations, according to WRHI. Reporting from ConnectCRE says the first phase of the facility would be about 541,000 square feet, with room to expand later, and that Costco expects roughly 165 jobs, with the site potentially operational by mid-2027.
What's next
If the Planning Commission signs off on the major site plan Tuesday, the developers would move into final permitting and then site preparation. Off-site road and utility work will be among the first big-ticket items. The steady stream of distribution deals along the I-77 corridor, from speculative parks to single-tenant centers, has already started to reshape how local officials plan for infrastructure and public services, according to the City of Rock Hill’s commerce-corridor study and recent planning materials.
