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Developer Offers Vision of Kannapolis Project

Kannapolis rendering

Development talks are continuing in Kannapolis, where a developer is pitching his vision for a new mixed-use area around a proposed Kannapolis Intimidators (Low A; Sally League) ballpark. 

A new ballpark is on the table as part of a larger master plan in downtown Kannapolis. Estimates suggest that the ballpark itself would seat more than 5,700 fans and cost $38.8 million. While the Intimidators would certainly gain an advantage by moving themselves into a more viable facility than their current ballpark, Intimidators Stadium, the development around a new venue is a major part of the equation.

Florida-based developer Peter Flotz has laid out his vision for what some of that development may look like. Under his proposal, the area surrounding the ballpark would feature several amenities. Along with lodging space, the area would include retail, dining, and apartment units. According to Flotz, such a project would help attract a younger demographic to downtown Kannapolis. More from WFAE.org:

“We’re going to try to attract the millennial market downtown, because those are the customers for entertainment uses and restaurant uses and the like. They’re the first sort of pioneers, usually, in a redeveloped downtown,” Flotz said Tuesday on WFAE’s Charlotte Talks.

Flotz said the city has already pulled off the hardest part – buying the land.  Kannapolis paid about $8.75 million last year for about 50 acres of aging buildings and vacant lots last owned by David Murdock, who developed the N.C. Research Campus.

“This is absolutely a once in a lifetime opportunity to have somebody in government who’s taken the bold step of buying an entire downtown and controlling their destiny,” Flotz said.

There has certainly been a push in other Minor League Baseball markets to attract residential development around planned or existing ballparks, and Kannapolis has been aggressive in pushing such as vision for its downtown. The WFAE story goes on to quote Kannapolis city manager Mike Legg as saying that the Intimidators’ ballpark could open in 2020, with portions of the development being completed before that date.

Rendering courtesy of the City of Kannapolis.

RELATED STORIES: Potential New Kannapolis Intimidators Ballpark: $38.8M, 5,780 CapacityStudy: Intimidators Attendance Would More Than Double in New Ballpark;Downtown Kannapolis Master Plan Calls for New Ballpark; Kannapolis: We’ll Take Year to Map Out New Ballpark Plan; Intimidators Sold to Reese Smith IIIKannapolis acquires 46 downtown acres; new ballpark next?; Kannapolis eyes new downtown Intimidators ballpark

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