Developer purchases Sunny Slope property

The business climate has warmed considerably here with Gramling Bros. hoping to transform the Sunny Slope Farms property into a model commercial, industrial and office development.

The Spartanburg County developer purchased the 355.71-acre site for $3,533,500, according to a deed recorded Friday at the Cherokee County Courthouse.

The S.C. Peach Festival had dubbed a portion of the site "Orchard Park" and held a number of its events there prior to Sunny Slope buying out the festival's lease for $41,000.

"We would like to see something there in the near future," said Will Gramling, who created Cherokee Partners LLC to manage the property.

Gramling said he will comanage the property, which fronts Interstate 85, with his father, John Gramling III.

"It's a very attractive site because it's close to the interstate," Will Gramling said. "We are happy to get it."

The Gramlings and Sunny Slope officials have been business partners before. Several years ago, Gramling Bros. purchased the Sunny Slope property known as Shay Farms. That property is now part of the proposed Upstate Corporate Park.

Cherokee County Development Board Director Jim Cook has pledged to help the Gramlings attract companies to the site.

"I can see this developing like the Hwy. 105 and Upstate Corporate parks, Cook said.

Most of the infrastructure, including water and power lines, are on the site. Will Gramling said a sewer line is currently being installed to serve the site.