Funding approved for $193M sports complex at Cary Towne Centre

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- An indoor sports complex planned for Cary Towne Center is closer to becoming a reality after Wake County Board of Commissioners approved funding Monday.

The board voted unanimously to spend up to $2.36 million per year for 25 years to fund construction of the 239,000 square-foot facility.

A plan for the $193 million project includes 12 full-size basketball courts, a 4,000-seat arena, a 25,000-foot multi-purpose space, four full-size locker rooms and a full-service restaurant. The basketball courts can be converted into 20 full-sized volleyball courts.

The complex would ideally host large indoor basketball and volleyball tournaments along with e-gaming conventions.

"The hospitality tax would provide about $35 million of the project's estimated $193 million cost," said Wake County Commissioner Susan Evans. "This would be money well spent, because we don't have anything like this facility in the county now, and I'm very excited about the new opportunities it would provide. The location is ideal."

The Raleigh City Council will consider the funding request at its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

If the city joins the county, staff would then work with Cary to finalize the project.

Cary Town Centre opened in 1979 and has seen its tenants diminish through the years.

In 2019, the mall was sold to investment groups out of New York and Dallas. The mall's JCPenney closed its doors and Dillard's announced plans to close permanently.

In 2018, IKEA nixed plans to open a store in the mall, and Top Golf decided against coming to the area.