YORK COUNTY, S.C. — The dust isn't settled yet on the saga over the scrapped Carolina Panthers facility in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
The York County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday evening it had started an investigation into GT Real Estate, which is owned by Panthers team owner David Tepper. The sheriff's office said it will investigate the circumstances regarding the transfer and use of public money by GT Real Estate and the Panthers over the construction of the failed training headquarters, chiefly to determine if laws were broken in the process.
Deputies will be getting help from 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett's office along with state law enforcement; in its statement, the sheriff's office said the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the state Attorney General's Office were also involved as partners.
Further comment was not offered by the sheriff's office. The full statement follows:
An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the transfer to, and subsequent use of public money by the Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper and GTRE, the company created to oversee the construction of the Panthers training facility, was initiated by the York County Sheriff to determine whether any laws were violated during that process. The Attorney General, Solicitor Kevin Brackett's Office and the State Law Enforcement Division have partnered with us to provide additional resources and assistance and we will work together to ensure that all relevant information is gathered so that a fair and just outcome can be reached.
An investigation is simply an inquiry and should not create any inference that wrongdoing has been committed by any party.
This office will have no further comment on the matter at this time.
The announcement came more than two weeks after GT Real Estate agreed to settle with the city of Rock Hill over the matter of the scrapped facility just outside of Charlotte. Confirmation hearings for that settlement are set to held in mid-December 2022.
WCNC Charlotte reached out to attorneys for GT Real Estate, and received this statement:
It would be unfortunate if the recently announced settlement between GTRE and York County were somehow undermined by politically motivated leaks. The timing of these leaks is all the more curious in light of this settlement.
This is a straightforward commercial matter that is being fully resolved. The underlying disputes arise under contracts that were jointly negotiated by the parties and are publicly available. The funds paid by the County were handled consistent with the terms of those contracts.
The settlement fully compensates York County and settles all its claims related to GTRE’s bankruptcy case. To this end, $21.165 million has been escrowed for months to reimburse the County with interest.
The saga over the failed project has been tangled in lawsuits and public scrutiny. In November 2022, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge filed a motion to allow the York County government to have an $81 million voting stake in GT Real Estate's bankruptcy fallout. About a month earlier, the land where the facility was set to be built went up for sale.
Both municipal governments have also seen each other in court; York County filed suit against the city of Rock Hill, claiming it lost millions of dollars when the city failed to issue bonds for construction. The city has asked a judge to dismiss them as defendants in the lawsuit.
Public outcry over the saga has seen small business owners lament lost opportunities in Rock Hill as the facility promised to bring more people to the growing city. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has also shared his disappointment.