On Monday, the Fayetteville City Council approved a $70 million development plan that includes a 119-room hotel, 124 apartment units and a public parking garage. To help launch the project, the city is contributing $5 million as a loan. Mayor Mitch Colvin said the investment will pay off in the long run for both the city's budget and its future.
"We vetted Mr. Flotz and his team very carefully, and he has an impressive track record of doing these kinds of developments in other communities," Colvin said. "The $5 million injection that we'll put in is only a loan, and it'll be paid back with interest, and we'll have securities to protect the taxpayers on that. We're very excited about it. This just shows the commitment of the city council to continue to bring forth the downtown development that matches our already over $50 million that the city has put in."
The project will rise across from City Hall on Hay Street, near local businesses such as The Coffee Scene, a café known for its lemon blueberry muffins and gelato.
"We just reopened last week. And honestly, being on Hay Street is such an amazing and rewarding experience," said Emilee Fann, co-manager of The Coffee Scene. "There is such a strong sense of community and friendship that you don't find in a lot of other places."
Fann said she's excited to see growth taking hold in the area.
"I had heard rumors about it here and there. But, you know, we hear rumors about a lot of things coming and going. So it's fun to see that something's actually sticking for once," she said.
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City officials say the plan complements other downtown developments, including the $40 million Segra Stadium. A previous attempt to build a similar project with different developers fell through years earlier.
Back at The Coffee Scene, Fann said she looks forward to welcoming new residents and visitors once construction begins.
"I think that bringing more people down here is going to be a great way to kind of expand the great community that's already a part of downtown, both for local people who are here all the time, who live down here, and then also just bring in some fresh, new faces who might not know what downtown Fayetteville has to offer," Fann said.
The developer, Lansing Melbourne Group of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said in a statement to ABC 11: "LMG is bringing its downtown placemaking team to Fayetteville, and we are truly honored by the faith and trust that the City has shown over the past few months in working through the details with us. Our specialty is creating downtown housing and redevelopment through partnerships with city governments, so this project is exactly the kind of opportunity that we seek. Over the past 10 years, we've done this in Concord, Kannapolis, and Gastonia in North Carolina, and we're underway in five more cities in Virginia, Tennessee, and New Hampshire. We look forward to a groundbreaking next summer!"
The building is scheduled to break ground in June.