City approves $70 million agreement for Beaumont Mill redevelopment including 28 workforce units

Spartanburg City Council voted Aug. 25 to enter a development agreement with Taft and Gibbs LLC to redevelop the former Beaumont Mill site into a mixed-use rental community that includes 247 market-rate apartments and 28 workforce units for households at or below 80% area median income. The agreement, as presented by City Manager Chris Storey, anticipates a $70,000,000 private investment.

The project includes a full amenity package — pool, fitness center and on-site services — and a design element that would enable a connection of the city’s trail network through the site, a long-standing municipal objective, Storey said. Staff presented an estimated schedule of local governmental revenue: just under $100,000 in additional revenue in year one, more than $500,000 by year five and rising to about $1,800,000 by year 15, as occupancy and assessments grow.

The Beaumont Neighborhood Association, which had been less active since the pandemic, reconvened residents to review the proposal; a council member said the neighborhood’s principal concern is cut-through traffic and asked that staff prioritize traffic-calming measures if the project proceeds. Staff said the development’s full traffic study had been reviewed by city planning staff and by the South Carolina Department of Transportation for North Pine Street and Isom Boulevard, and that signal timing and turn-lane capacity appeared adequate.

The council motion to approve the resolution was made from the dais and carried on a voice vote with no recorded opposition. The agreement will next undergo the city’s development-review and building-code processes, Storey said.

What was approved: a development agreement for a $70 million investment to deliver 247 market-rate apartments and 28 workforce units targeted at households at or below 80% of area median income; the transaction is intended to increase downtown housing supply, enable an extended trail connection and boost local tax revenues over time.

Council members praised the developer’s qualifications and the project’s trail connectivity while urging proactive neighborhood traffic mitigation. Storey said the parcel currently carries little or no taxable improvement value and that the additional revenue projections assume development and phased assessment increases.

The project will return to administrative review for building permits and site plan approval; staff said they will continue coordination with SCDOT and neighborhood representatives as design work progresses.