The former Judson Mill property, which produced fabrics up until 2015, was sold this month to a Chapel Hill, North Carolina, developer who plans to renovate and convert the site for residential and commercial use.

Judson Mill, at 701 Easley Bridge Road, is about a mile west of Greenville city limits and stands at the northern entrance of the 1,100-home Judson community. The 36.2-acre mill property includes an 800,000-square-foot building, about half of which developer Ken Reiter has said he wishes to convert into residential space, according to a November 2016 county planning document.

The Greenville News was not able to reach Reiter at his Chapel Hill phone number Monday. He is the president of the Belmont Sayre firm, which is doing business in the sale as Judson Mill Ventures.

Background: Judson mill goes on the market for $8.5 million

According to its website, Belmont Sayre had a hand in the second phase of renovations at American Tobacco Co. in downtown Durham, a campus used today as collaborative work space for entrepreneurs. That project was key to revitalizing downtown Durham, according to city officials there who recently spent time with the Greenville Chamber when it visited the Triangle.

Brian Young of Cushman & Wakefield/Thalhimer, who represented Milliken and Co. in the sale, announced the deal Monday. The sale price, Young said, has not been disclosed. Young said he does not know details of the planned development but said his client, Milliken, regarded the site as prime for redevelopment.

"I think Milliken wanted to see something good happen in that area," Young said.

The sale was completed on Oct. 13, Young said.

According to a site-cleanup application with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, Reiter anticipates the development could add $75 million to the local tax base and provide 100 jobs. According to Greenville County property records, the 10 parcels that make up the site currently have a total market value of $1.5 million.

Figures from the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau's survey of the Judson community portrayed a community in distress: a quarter of the 1,100 homes were vacant and a quarter of those occupied had no vehicle. The Census also indicated that more than half of the homes there were built before 1960.

Tucked among two-and three-bedroom bungalows around the old mill are about 80 mobile homes, according to Census figures, and the community has few sidewalks, save those in the blocks immediately surrounding Hollis Academy elementary school at the center of the Judson community three blocks south of the mill. The downtown campus of St. Francis Bon Secours bounds the community to its east, about four blocks from the old mill.

The 2015 Census listed unemployment in the community at about 10.7 percentand median household income at $18,333.

Background: Judson community looks for answers

Judson Mill first went on sale two years ago, a few months after the textile operation ceased its operations. At the time, Charlie Whitmire of Cushman & Wakefield/Thalhimer listed the property for $8.5 million.

In November 2016, Reiter filed a rezoning request for the property changing it from industrial use to planned development. County staff at the time said Reiter's proposal called for 60,000 square feet of new commercial and retail space fronting Easley Bridge Road, also known as U.S. 123. A grocery store or pharmacy was mentioned for that space.

Those plans also called for a 400-space parking deck and about 1,000 ground parking spaces. According to the 2016 request, historic structures would be preserved About 6.5 acres of the 36-acre site would be left as open space.

Apartments, 400 of them, were also planned, . some for senior housing, some for market rates and others for rent at so-called "workforce housing" rates, meaning rents would meet 80 to 120 percent of the area's median household income. The county's staff report did not specify how many units at each rate would be available.

Andrew Ratchford, a former Greenville County planning official who lived in the Judson community for four years and still serves on the Judson YMCA board, said everyone there has wondered for the past two years what would end up at the mill site.

"Will it be like the other mills and when it's done change the whole community, or will it be part of the community?" Ratchford said.

A chain-link fence topped with barbed wire currently surrounds the site. Ratchford said the developer would do a lot for integrating the site into the surrounding community if he took that fence down.

"If you could get from the Judson community to Highway 123 without walking around the mill, that would make it easier for a lot of people trying to get to a bus stop or to do their shopping."

Background: Judson Mill once was largest mill in Greenville County

Judson Mill produced textiles for more than 100 years, starting operations back in 1911, according to county and state records. At one time, it was the largest textile-producing mill in the county. By 2015, only a couple hundred people worked there.

On Oct. 6, Reiter applied for a voluntary cleanup contract (VCC 17-6483-NRP) of the site from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. In the 35-page contract, the state agency requires Reiter's companies, Judson Mill Ventures and Judson Mill Developer, to conduct air, water and soil testing on the site.

The mill's former operators used various chemicals to clean and dye the cotton fabrics produced there, and DHEC agents detected trace amounts of solvents during preliminary water-quality checks shortly after the mill shut down, according to the voluntary cleanup contract. Under the contract, the public has the opportunity to comment until Nov. 15, according to a public notice that DHEC posted earlier this month.

Anna B. Mitchell covers business across the Upstate. Follow her on Facebook or on Twitter @AnnaBard2U.