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News Detail
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| 08/13/04 |
Contact Information: |
| Downtown Development Corporation Announces Selection of Proposal for Festival Park Plaza Building |
Kristie Lozano |
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(910) 484-4242 ext. 240 |
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klozano@ccbusinesscouncil.org |
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The Downtown Development Corporation (DDC) announced that the Lundy Group, Inc. has been selected as the preferred proposal for the Festival Park Plaza Building. The DDC will begin negotiations with the firm to finalize details of intended use, design footprint, budget and financing approach.
The DDC issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) for the project that was due on July 26, 2004. Two responses were received for a ?mixed-use? building for the Festival Park site. The proposal was selected based on the RFP?s criteria of design, economic feasibility, public investment, strength of development team and the developer?s experience and financial capacity.
?The Selection Committee was very impressed with the Lundy proposal, experience and competence of its team, and most important its flexibility and understanding of public-private partnerships,? said Marshall Isler, President of the DDC. ?We look forward to working with them to make Festival Plaza a reality.?
After reviewing and scoring of the written and interview proposals against the predefined criteria, Lundy was chosen because its tax return to the city is over twice that of the other proposal. Lundy is also sharing 50% of cash flow and net sales proceeds if the building is sold. In addition, Lundy presented a stronger development team with significant experience.
The other proposal submitted by Pennmark, a local developer, that supported the DDC?s view that the Fayetteville Art Museum (FAM) would make an excellent addition to downtown, hinged on the FAM?s ability to sell their present facility and raise $1.5 million. It also required a city investment of nearly $1 million plus infrastructure and land, versus only land for Lundy. Both issues lowered its economic feasibility and public investment criteria scores.
?The entire DDC development team agrees that the Fayetteville Art Museum should come to downtown, however we do not believe this is the best vehicle to do that,? said Isler. ?We are committed to working with the FAM to explore other avenues to achieve this objective.?
The Cumberland County Business Council is a community initiative that evolved from Greater Fayetteville Futures, a community wide planning process. The purpose of the CCBC is to coordinate the efforts of the Fayetteville Area Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Development Corporation of Fayetteville and the Fayetteville Area Economic Development Corporation.
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