Panthers abandoned headquarters on the block

Article posted by Coliseum, October 13^th, 2022

Image: Carolina Panthers & Populous

The National Football League (NFL) team Carolina Panthers’ abandoned headquarters in North Carolina (US) and practice stadium project is officially on the sales block.

‘CoStar’ stated that the real estate company Colliers is marketing a 245-acre site in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on behalf of GT Real Estate, the development company created by Panthers’ owner David Tepper to build offices and a practice facility for the NFL team. The asking price was not disclosed.

The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, US. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference South division.

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The 75,412-capacity Bank of America Stadium is a 74,867-seat football stadium located on 33 acres in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is the home facility and headquarters of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL) and Charlotte FC of Major League Soccer (MLS).

Colliers is a Canada-based diversified professional services and investment management company with approximately 15,000 employees in more than 400 offices in 68 countries.

‘CoStar’ further stated that the site, about 25 miles South of Charlotte, North Carolina, includes a half-built office building that is the center of a dispute that led to GT Real Estate halting construction earlier this year and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June. GT Real Estate is claiming the City of Rock Hill reneged on its agreement to sell $225 million of bonds to help finance the project.

Tepper, who bought the Panthers and the team’s home field Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in 2018, is a hedge fund billionaire and the second-richest owner in the NFL.

The dispute, which also involves the York County and dozens of contractors and vendors that were working on the development, remains active in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Rock Hill and York County rejected the $80.5 million settlement offer GT Real Estate made in August.

The Bankruptcy Court approved GT Real Estate’s motion to hire Colliers to market the site last month. Potential buyers of the Rock Hill property would have myriad options for its redevelopment, Colliers said in a marketing brochure for the property that has been renamed Rock Hill Overlook.

The site contains an unfinished 623,000-square-foot building that had been slated to be the Panthers’ headquarters office. It has 5,700 feet of frontage on Interstate 77 and a new highway exit ramp under construction, scheduled to open in May. The structure could be torn down or the buyer could keep it and finish construction.

Colliers claims in the brochure, “This first-class property offers exceptional ease to the Rock Hill and greater Charlotte markets.”

The site is zoned for master-planned commercial, which includes mixed‐use, retail, office, and residential development.

Colliers claims Rock Hill Overlook is suitable for a combination of offices, multifamily, retail, healthcare, a hotel and convention center, and recreational space.

Rob Speir, a Senior Director at Colliers in Charlotte, and Lawrence Shaw, a Colliers Managing Director, are listing agents for the property. Speir, who specializes in industrial real estate, according to Colliers’ website, declined to comment.

Stated Shaw, “It really depends on what the buyer wants to do.”

For The Record

The next major hearing in the Panthers bankruptcy case is scheduled for October 28^th. Law firm White & Case is legal counsel to GT Real Estate on the bankruptcy case. Paul Hastings is counsel to Tepper’s hedge fund, Appaloosa Management and two other affiliated entities. Law firm McDermott Will & Emery is counsel to the City of Rock Hill. Reed Smith is counsel to York County.

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