ROCK HILL, S.C. — An old textile mill is getting a major facelift in Rock Hill, and it’ll open its doors by the end of the year. The Power House will feature a food hall, a flagship restaurant and brewery, and 37 luxury apartments.
The Sherbert Group is overseeing the historic redevelopment and restoration project. The company specializes in breathing new life into old buildings, and for the last five years, it has worked at the University Center at Knowledge Park in Rock Hill.
“Rock Hill is literally on fire. There’s so much going on here. You walk and drive through the community, and there’s dirt flying everywhere,” said Tara Sherbert, CEO of the Sherbert Group. “There’s a lot of excitement in this community.”
The Power House was once a part of the Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Company, integrated within a booming textile industry in the early part of the 20th century. By the time the mill closed in 1998, it was the only mill still operating in town.
The building has sat vacant for decades, and restoring a building of that age comes with its challenges.
“When we purchased (the) Power Plant, it was full of all of the original broilers, so we had six four-story boilers. Basically, wall to wall of the building,” Sherbert said, “which required a very significant demolition process, so we could have a beautiful empty shell.”
Keeping parts of the building original is important to Sherbert, who said the iconic smokestacks towering over the building are original.
“That is very dear to my heart,” she said, adding that a truckload of materials have been salvaged to be repurposed in the building later.
Sherbert said the entire project is expected to be complete by the end of 2022. Several tenants have already leased spaces, including Bareknuckle Barbershop, which opened its first location at the Historic Drayton Mills in Spartanburg, South Carolina – another project by The Sherbert Group.
“[We] are excited to open [our] second location inside of The Power House,” Ashley Rushing said. “What you will see from the shop is a mix of [my] mixed martial arts background with a new age twist on the traditional barbershop feel.”
As for the luxury apartments, they will range from studios to three-story, three-bedroom apartments. Rent prices have not been released yet.
“We have very high-end finishes going into them and they're very unique,” Sherbert said. “They have floor to ceiling windows -- there’s a lot of historic steel fabric with the beams that will be incorporated into the units themselves.”
Contact Indira Eskieva at ieskieva@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.