Personal Injury Attorney in Clifton, SC

OneSpartanburg, Inc. announced a private-public partnership on Monday with Greenville developer, M Peters Group, to redevelop the former site of Clifton Mill Number Two, another indication of development interest progressing to the east side of Spartanburg.

Spartanburg County, which acquired the site in 2013 for $226,000, will transfer 30 acres to the developer for public improvements and private redevelopment. Once the project is complete, M Peters Group will transfer 19 acres of public space back to the county as a public park. The development is a $60 million investment from M Peters Group.

Residential and commercial development, as well as park and recreational improvements, are all elements of the project.

“There's 30 acres out there right now and we don't need 30 acres to develop our development. There's no reason for us to take more than we need. So, what we're going do is make public improvements,” said Mark Peters, president of M Peters Group, about the partnership. “Rather than pay the county money, we're going to do an exchange. The county is working with us to give us an economic development agreement. That way we can charge rents that can be supported by this community.”

County council approved the development project unanimously Monday evening.

M Peters Group plans to construct a 239-unit multi-family residential development with studios, 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments, all with views of the Pacolet River. Apartments will be priced at market rates. The architects for the project are Perkins & Will and SGA Narmour Wright Design.

“All these buildings are placed in a way to maximize the views of the river as opposed to them just running straight along the bank like they might typically be, “ said Jennifer Gosnell, executive vice president at M Peters Group about the residential design. “These are tilted and shifted around, trying to get around each other to allow anybody that lives here to have some view of the river.”

The redevelopment will also include 7,000 square feet of commercial space with intention to incorporate a riverfront restaurant and a place for kayak rentals. M Peters Group plans to enhance the existing informal kayak put-in on the river and transform it into a formal livery with a take-out 3 hours downstream in Pacolet.

Clifton Park, including the Clifton Beach area, will undergo improvements. M Peters Group will build bath houses and picnic shelters for beachgoers and improve a small playground area at the park.

Play. Advocate. Live Well!, or PAL, is also participating in recreational advancements of the redevelopment by expanding the Daniel Morgan Trail System with an additional 4.1 mile connector between Glendale and Clifton. The county and M Peters Group will partner to provide a pedestrian bridge across the river to connect to the trail.

Laura Ringo, PAL’s executive director, said the collaboration with M Peters Group aides in the overall progress of The Daniel Morgan Trail System, or The Dan, a 50-mile urban trial system of a collection of future and existing trails in Spartanburg. Ringo says one of the long-term goals of The Dan project is to develop a trail system that connects Middle Tyger River with the Pacolet River.

“Partnering with the M Peters Group on this project has given us an opportunity to reach a milestone in that progress,” Ringo said. “It's going to be an opportunity to connect two of our really beautiful natural amenities, the Lawson Fork Creek and the Pacolet River, so we're thrilled to be part of this.”

Another transformation for one of Spartanburg’s historic textile mills

The redevelopment of Clifton Mill represents a new dawn for another of Spartanburg’s historic textile sites. Over the past decade several other mill renovation projects kicked off across the county, including the Drayton Mill redevelopment, Inman Mill and the upcoming Converse Mill project, to name a few.

Clifton Mill No. 2 was built in 1888 as a part of Clifton Manufacturing Company, founded by Dexter Edgar Converse in 1880.

The mill was damaged in 1903 after the flooding of Pacolet River, but was rebuilt and expanded in the 1950s. The decades after brought various ownership and a number of financial hardships to site No. 2, but the mill operated in some capacity into the 1990s. After 124 years, the historic mill was ultimately demolished in 2012.

After the county purchased the property in 2013, it utilized the popularity of Clifton Beach to pursue the development of Clifton Park. The area has undergone some recreational improvements since the purchase. However, the beach was tentatively closed earlier this year after two separate drowning incidents over the summer.

County councilman, David Britt, said the M Peters Group redevelopment of Clifton Mill will improve the overall safety of the beach and park.

“We'll still include our Parks and Recreation folks out there, keeping the area clean, but it will just be different,” Britt said. “It won't be a river that you go jump in, it'll be a nice park. I think it'll be an improvement and I don't think we'll have these problems down the road.”

Britt described M Peters Group vision for the development as transformative for the Clifton area.

“They will reimagine the Clifton, Cowpens, Glendale area,” Britt said. “It will impact that whole area for not even just the rest of our lives but for generations to come.”

Kathryn Casteel covers growth and development for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Contact Kathryn at [email protected] or on Twitter @kathryncasteel.