YORK COUNTY, S.C. — Two companies known only by code names are eyeing York County for headquarters projects that together could bring more than 280 jobs, and county leaders have started weighing tax breaks to land them.
County Council was set Monday night to take the first step on incentive packages for Project Pear and Project Utopia. Each deal still needs two more votes and a public hearing, and no dates have been set for those.
Project Pear is a European discount retailer looking for a home for its first U.S. headquarters and distribution center. The plan calls for $25.5 million in spending at the 345,000-square-foot former Stanley Black & Decker plant near Carowinds Boulevard and Pleasant Road in Fort Mill. Over five years it would add 215 jobs, among them 79 office posts paying about $87,173 a year on average and 120 warehouse jobs averaging $55,182. Details on the rest of the positions have not been released. The retailer is also looking at other sites around the Southeast.
Project Utopia would move and grow a North American headquarters in Clover with a $17 million investment, most of it, $15.5 million, for new construction, including a research and development building on land the company already owns. The plan adds 56 new jobs at an average wage of $145,475 and shifts 10 existing jobs, with hiring finished by 2033. The company could instead stay in New Jersey or head to the Research Triangle in North Carolina.
Both deals would let the companies pay a fee instead of standard property taxes. For the Fort Mill site, the county would carry over the old Black & Decker fee agreement and add a five-year credit that begins at 50% and drops 10 percentage points each year.
The county has used similar deals before. In December 2025, council approved a special source credit for Project Dinger, the move of Tread Athletics headquarters to Fort Mill, a $10 million investment expected to bring 71 jobs.
Section: More Rock Hill SC business news
Rock Hill business profiles
Filed under: Rock Hill SC Business News
