The project will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. All to bring a 20th-century textile mill into a new generation.

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Out with the hold and in the with a proven redesign.

One of the most iconic buildings in our area is getting a facelift. The Thread will welcome a place for restaurants shops and spaces to live.

It will help connect Old Town Rock Hill with Winthrop University. But it comes with a pretty price. The project will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. All to bring a 20th-century textile mill into a new generation.

The hope is that the redesign pays off. After all, converting old mills is nothing new. Optimist Hall near Uptown used to house Charlotte's largest textile mill. In 2016, a new adaptive reuse project took shape officially opening three years later.

It now houses an extremely popular food hall and office space for corporations like Duke Energy. The revamped design allows history to mix with a modern refresh on the space.

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ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – There are so many ways you can enjoy cereal. But we don’t think you have seen anything like this yet.

Located at 1417 Riverchase Blvd. Suite 101 in Rock Hill, The Day and Night Cereal Bar is an exclusive off-shelf exotic cereal company that combines cereal with milk, ice cream and any other mix.

Click above for more on this story.

ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – The teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is still impacting lives today.

The Annual Interfaith Breakfast took place this morning, January 16, in Rock Hill sending a message on how we must work together to create the world that Dr. King spoke of 60 years ago.

Click here for full story.

ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – CN2 has crossed the state line into Georgia for the Inaugural MLK Day Hoop Classic.

Tonight Clinton College Men’s and Women’s Basketball program will take on Paine College of Georgia. CN2 is there and will give us the play-by-play.

Plus, in the Winthrop Scoreboard we highlight the win of Winthrop over Campbell.

We have those stories and more.

ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 SPORTS) – Clinton men’s Basketball hangs on for an exciting 94-90 win over the Lion’s of Paine College.

Cameron Shannon with the 25 points was name the M.V.P

LANCASTER, S.C.(CN2 NEWS) – “The perfect storm”, we are not talking about the weather, instead homelessness and how the executive director with United Way of Lancaster County describes the human health issue in their backyard.

Adding more to their plate the Carriage Inn Hotel closed in 2022, a place where the homeless would stay, plus inflation, and the cost to rent going up more and more people are needing help to find a place to call their own.

In 2022 The United Way put more than 150 people in hotels, adding the need is out there.

The agency is preparing for Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week and its Point in Time Count which will take place over three days, the first day being January 23rd.

Holly Furr with the United Way of Lancaster County says volunteers will go out into the community to count those who are homeless throughout Lancaster County.

The organization is also holding its Project Connects events. Which include the following:

Project Connect events will be held from 11-1 at the following locations:

January 21 Grace Presbyterian Church 1026 Grace Ave Lancaster

January 30 New Town Neighborhood

January 31 Faith Presbyterian, Indian Land 7520 Charlotte Hwy

February 1 2^nd Baptist Church, Kershaw 7737 Kershaw Camden Hwy

February 2 Lancaster Bowling Center 1352 Reece Road

There are many ways that the public can be involved in this special effort to help the homeless. You can sign up to volunteer by visiting the United Way home page at https://www.uwaylcsc.org/volunteer.

Furr says Lancaster has seen an increase in calls to United Way’s 211 service for housing request.

Furr says a house West Meeting Street will be the community’s “saving grace” when the homeless shelter opens because it will provide space for families and single adults.

Furr says they are waiting on building permits from the city and they hope to open in early spring.

ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – If you’re looking for good teeth cleaning, look no further than the family run Cranford Dental in Rock Hill that’s been open since 1984.

The dentistry is located at 1721 Ebenezer Road in Rock Hill. Dr. Bill Cranford opened Cranford Dental, and has since been joined by his daughter, Elizabeth, and his son, Will.

Click above to learn more about this unique dentistry.

ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) -The Carolina Panthers are out and the City of Rock Hill is in, and they want to make it more than obvious who owns the property now. We’re talking about the more than 200 Acres off of Mt. Gallant Road that now, after a settlement agreement, belongs to Rock Hill.

Once the waiting period was over where one of the parties could appeal the ruling, those flags, and many of them went into the ground over this past holiday weekend.

The City says they don’t want to call it the former Panthers property anymore, they want to call it the Hutchinson property, that’s the name of the family that originally owned the land.

Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys has said they wont do anything with the land without getting feedback first from the people of Rock Hill.

As for the i-77 interchange that is still under construction and leads to that site, the state says the interchange is still on schedule and will be substantially completed in the summer of 2023.

ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – The American Red Cross is hoping its mission to alleviate human suffering will get a little easier with the renovation of its rock hill office, located at 200 Piedmont Boulevard.

The building itself has been in Rock Hill since the 80’s when community members raised money to initially have it built, and over the last two years The American Red Cross has been making updates that allow the facility to not only serve York County, but Chester, Lancaster and Cherokee counties as well.

CN2’s Zane Cina touring the renovated building to learn more about the new things it can do.

ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – The American Red Cross has upgraded it’s Rock Hill Facility, allowing the non-profit to better serve the Tri-County.

The City of Rock Hill is using flags to make it more than obvious who owns the 200 Acres off of mount gallant. That property belonged to the Carolina Panthers before being turned over to the City as part of a settlement agreement.

Plus, in CN2 Sports… there is plenty of basketball being played, and even more games to catch up on.

We have those stories and more.

New jobs and corporate investment aren’t always a straight-line economic indicator, and a new agreement percolating in York County may be proof.

York County on Tuesday night pressed forward with a fee agreement that could help bring a development with more than 400 jobs. The council only needs one more vote to finalize the agreement, which would involve more than $440 million in investment. Both those figures would exceed, by one count, what all of York, Lancaster and Chester county saw in project announcements during 2022.

But the agreement’s implications for the whole of 2023 remain unclear. Any year could see some large projects, said Christopher Finn, interim president and CEO of the I-77 Alliance.

The nonprofit I-77 Alliance covers five counties between Charlotte and Columbia, including York, Chester and Lancaster. The group lists data back to 2014 from large new job and corporate investment announcements that go through the state commerce department. The list doesn’t include all new business projects, but captures most of the largest ones among them.

Last year, the tri-county area saw six announcements. Two, Element Designs in Fort Mill and Chief Buildings in Lancaster, are new additions. The other four announcements were expansions for existing companies within the three counties.

For comparison, six of nine announcements from 2021 involve companies new to the tri-county area. In 2020, eight of the 14 announcements were new additions.

The six announcements last year tied the lowest number since posted I-77 Alliance data began in 2014. The total job (362) and investment ($133.2 million) figures for 2022 are the lowest for any year on that record.

One reason year-to-year comparisons don’t always show trends in large business relocation or expansion is the sheer size of projects. A single project in any given year often dwarfs all others.

Figures were down 69% for jobs and 74% for total investment last year compared to 2021. Yet, most of the 2021 totals came from one announcement, the E&J Gallo Winery in Chester County. At 496 jobs and $423 million of investment, it’s on par with the project under consideration now in York County.

“Without the Gallo project we had a stronger year in 2022 from a (capital expenditure) perspective and nearly similar job creation,” Finn said.

In 2020, there were almost 1,800 new jobs pledged with 14 announcements in the tri-county. More than two-thirds came from Ross Stores (700 jobs) and the failed Carolina Panthers headquarters project in Rock Hill (500 jobs). The $500 million projected investment for the Panthers project was more than two-thirds of the entire region total and five times larger than any other announcement.

In all, there have been seven announcements of 1,000 or more jobs since 2014. The three largest came on the same day in 2014. The opening of Kingsley in Fort Mill brought LPL Financial (3,000 jobs) and Lash Group (2,400). Chester County also announced Giti Tire (1,700).

The point for economic development teams isn’t to compete with 2014 or have line graphs pointing up as the calendar moves. It’s about total jobs and economic investment.

“This is really the point to focus on, not the number of announcements, but those other variables,” Finn said.

Variability year-to-year doesn’t mean deals happen by chance. County, regional and state economic development teams regularly pursue new leads.

“We expect to see an increase in our travel calendar this year domestically to meet with targeted prospects,” Finn said. “This also includes us sending the county directors on mission trips as well.”

Past projects also can help leverage new ones.

“So when EJ Gallo is at full operation, we’ll use that as a hook to get interest from other companies,” Finn said.

There’s more opportunity to meet with target companies due to the increase in virtual meetings since 2020, Finn said. Yet meetings now may not go public this year, as Finn said companies typically run 12- to 18-month growth plans.

Time is another difficulty in forecasting new business. It can be months or years of site prep and study before a company commits to a move or major expansion. So announcements today may reflect conditions a year or two ago rather than the economic outlook of the moment.

In 2021, eight of nine tri-county announcements came in the first half of the year. Meaning, Finn said, that significant work to make them happen came prior to the calendar change. They were continuations from a strong 2020.

“I would also surmise the timing and length of the projects is a factor,” Finn said.

That brings another reminder how difficult predictions can be. The year 2020 was expected to be terrible economically because of the pandemic, he said, but it was as strong as any other.

New job commitments roughly quadrupled from 2019 to 2020. Investment grew by more than $400 million. Both figures were the sharpest year-to-year increases on record.

Just as major announcements came amid pandemic shutdowns, Finn expects there will be others even during times of recession.

“Many companies we speak with are in recession proof sectors so while the economy may dip and dive, they are still actively expanding,” Finn said.

With Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday, several events are being held to celebrate the life and legacy of the Civil Rights leader.

Here is a list and start times of events that are being held in the area that you can either attend or participate in:

Thursday, January 12-Monday, January 16

MLK Blues Festival: The festival runs through Jan. 16 at Carolina Hall and Courtyard, 119 College Street, Chester, S.C. Details: www.oldeenglishdistrict.com/events/30th-annual-mlk-blues-festival

Friday, January 13-Thursday, January 19

Winthrop University MLK Service Week: Winthrop University will celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a week of service projects sponsored by student organizations.

This year’s community service options are available through Jan. 19 either on campus or with York County agencies. There are no Winthrop classes and offices are closed on the King federal holiday on Jan. 16.

Participating organizations will be invited to a MLK Reflection lunch on Jan. 20 at 1 p.m. in the Richardson Ballroom to share insights.

The service projects include sustainability efforts, hygiene kit assembling, food donation sorting, clothing sorting, craft projects and other activities.

To follow Winthrop’s MLK activities on social media, search for #MLKServiceWeek2023.

Saturday, January 14

Western York County NAACP MLK Parade: York, SC, 1 p.m. Details: email wycomlkparade@gmail.com.

Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have A Dream” Celebration -- Downtown Lancaster, SC, 3 p.m. The parade will be in downtown Lancaster. After that, there will be a 4 p.m. ceremony at the Barr Street Auditorium.

Monday, January 16

Fort Mill Call to Service Day: Fort Mill Town Hall, 200 Tom Hall St., Fort Mill, SC, 8 a.m.-noon. The town will spotlight seven area organizations that each need critical items for the populations they serve. Tow residents are asked to serve their community and honor Dr. King’s legacy by donating the items listed below.

The organizations and the items they need include:

Martin Luther King Jr. Interfaith Prayer Breakfast: First Baptist Church, corner of Dave Lyle Boulevard and Hood Center Drive, Rock Hill, SC. 8:30 a.m.-10 a.m.

This is an ongoing story. Check back for more updates.