Developers involved in the project surrounding a new downtown Fayetteville ballpark have requested a deadline extension in completing their master development plan.
Set to open in 2019, the downtown Fayetteville ballpark will be surrounded by development that includes a parking garage, apartments, lodging, and retail. The company Prince Charles Holdings LLC is tasked with carrying out the project, and the city has requested that the master development plan be completed by January 31.
With that deadline approaching, project officials are asking that the deadline be extended. According to Rory Dowling, the project manager for Prince Charles Holdings, the company needs more time to consider how to fit certain amenities around the ballpark. More from the Fayetteville Observer:
Dowling cited a couple of reasons for the delay. One, company officials are waiting on the stadium’s final footprint, which city architect Populous continues to refine. The architect is juggling the needs of the Astros and the city for the stadium’s design and amenities.
The team and city have signed a 30-year lease agreement.
Dowling said they were planning last year to build the apartments next to the stadium. But now, he said, Populous wants the apartments to be built directly above the stadium’s structure where the restrooms, office space and suites would go.
Building above the stadium structure, Dowling said, is logistically harder and will raise their costs, which they need to re-evaluate.
A city council committee moved the request forward, but the city council will have to weigh in before the extension is granted. Once the ballpark opens, it will house the Buies Creek Astros (High A; Carolina League).
Rendering courtesy Populous and SfL+a Architects.
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