Horry County rejected a developer’s plan for an amphitheater. Are they trying again in Conway?
A developer who tried and failed last year to win approval for a 21,000-seat amphitheater in rural Horry County appears to be reanimating those plans, this time in Conway city limits.
Little, however, is known about the developer and the project they’re proposing.
With part of the property bordering S.C. 378, developers are seeking to rezone a 182-acre property in Conway from residential to “light industrial” which allows for manufacturing, processing, repairing and similar uses “while ensuring adjacent and nearby properties are not adversely impacted.”
The land, according to a city memo, was annexed into city limits and rezoned to residential in July last year with plans for a housing development. Those plans changed, though, resulting in the new rezoning request.
Horry County and Conway leaders all said they understand the developer to be seeking to build an amphitheater on the 180-acre property, though the developer has kept plans close to the chest so far, and hasn’t confirmed those plans publicly.
“They were really hush-hush at the planning commission meeting but the name of the property owner is the same one that’s looking to put an amphitheater in the area,” said Conway Planning and Development Director Allison Hardin. “I don’t have confirmation on that but that is consistently the information that we’ve received in other places.”
Conway City Council member Alex Hyman, too, said he had heard developers are looking to construct an amphitheater, but said such development plans could change.
The applicant for the rezoning, according to city records, is PDN Enterprises Inc., the company that sought to develop a 21,000-seat amphitheater near the intersection of S.C. 905 and S.C. 22 last year. PDN Enterprises is lead by Dr. Patrick Palmer, who has a history as a promoter and figure in the R&B and Motown music industries. Palmer’s signature appears on the Conway rezoning application, though he didn’t return a phone call seeking comment.
Rich Montgomery, a Berkshire Hathaway realtor representing Palmer and PDN Enterprises, said Wednesday that he couldn’t share information about who the developers are or what their specific plans were. He said that the developers were studying a number of uses for the property including warehouse space and office space.
He said planners and members of the public are assuming the project will be an amphitheater because PDN Enterprises sought such a project last year, but that the 180-acre parcel in Conway isn’t for certain going to be an amphitheater. He said the developers are seeking to win the rezoning request and release more information about the project in coming months.
“They haven’t determined what they’re going to do with the property,” Montgomery said. “It’s something they’d want to develop sooner than later. I would imagine we’d hear something sooner than later.”
When developers sought to build the amphitheater project last year, they presented plans to county planners and county council members that detailed a grand concert venue able to host music acts like Drake, Taylor Swift, Metallica and The Jonas Brothers. The project would be located in a rural area near a Coca-Cola bottling plant at the intersection of S.C. 905 and S.C. 22.
Due in part to concerns from nearby residents about noise and traffic, county leaders ultimately rejected those plans. County Planning and Zoning Director David Jordan said Tuesday that different developers have recently submitted plans for a housing development on that property.
Former Planning Commission member Marvin Heyd represented the developers last year, but said Wednesday that he was not involved in the current iteration of the plans.
The rezoning request will again be heard by Conway City Council on Feb. 7 before a final vote on Feb. 21.
Regardless of what developers construct on the property, Hyman said it could be a good location for a larger-scale project because it won’t add traffic to U.S. 501.
“Years ago with the comprehensive plan, the city looked at that area as being possibly a good for industrial rather than trying to put it on U.S. 501,” Hyman said. “U.S. 501 is like a parking lot right now.”
