A rendering shows a concept for a proposed hotel on the south side of the planned civic plaza site of the cultural arts corridor in downtown Fayetteville. The image shown is looking northeast at the hotel main entry. (City of Fayetteville)FAYETTEVILLE — City Council members next week will discuss the next step in a proposal to build a new downtown hotel across from the Walton Arts Center.
The council’s upcoming agenda includes a resolution authorizing Mayor Lioneld Jordan to sell 0.5 acres of city land for the project to Reindl Properties for $1,247,455.
Council members in November voted 7-1 to approve a letter of intent with Reindl for a seven-story, 134-room hotel next to the Upper Ramble where a civic plaza is planned across from the arts center.
That plan has since been updated to include a 65-space valet parking area on property owned by the developer, and the hotel’s room count has been reduced to somewhere between 110-115 rooms.
The plaza is part of the ongoing cultural arts corridor work, and will replace the existing 290-space West Avenue parking lot once construction is complete on a nearby replacement parking deck.
The arts corridor is funded by $30 million in voter-approved bonds.
The city in 2021 began an RFP process to find a development partner for a building that voters were shown on the southern end of the plaza. The RFP asked for a 14,000-square-foot building footprint with a height limit of seven stories and three primary facades with an overall aesthetic that compliments the surrounding area.
Negotiations later began with Fayetteville developer Brian Reindl, who owns the Metro District building just south of the civic plaza where Cork & Keg, Rolando’s Restaurante and several other businesses are located.
The City Council’s letter of intent specified that Reindl must start construction on the new building within 12 months of the completion of the new civic plaza.
Fayetteville architect Rob Sharp said in November that South Carolina-based Windsor Aughtry, which specializes in projects based in college towns across the southeast part of the country, is the hotel consultant, and Fayetteville’s C.R. Crawford Construction would be the general contractor.
Total estimated cost of the private development is $40 million.
City officials said an initial analysis shows that the new hotel project could provide around $300,000 annually in sales tax revenue, plus $63,000 more in property taxes. The construction alone is expected to generate $175,000 in tax revenue.
A rendering shows a concept for a proposed hotel next to the planned civic plaza site in downtown Fayetteville. The image shown is looking south across the Upper Ramble. (City of Fayetteville)
