There were big plans for the parking deck on Hay Street in Fayetteville. What happened?

For many Fayetteville residents, the nearly completed parking deck at 466 Hay Street next to Segra Stadium is shrouded in mystery.

And to be honest, ol’ Myron lost track of many of the details because that deck, which was over-budget, has evolved in purpose from when it was first proposed a lifetime ago, i.e. before the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you want to get a sense of the original idea, Kaufman Lynn Construction, which built it, has an artist’s rendering of the Hay Street Parking Garage on its website. The Delray, Florida-based firm lists the deck at five levels, 200,000 square feet and 492 spaces. It shows the deck and a tower on top of it and a colorful Hyatt Place logo facing out to Hay Street. Segra, home of the Minor League Fayetteville Woodpeckers baseball franchise, is shown in the background and just to the right of the deck.

In January of 2020, the plans were still big: In addition to the hotel, which was to be five stories, a seven-story office tower was in the mix. The resulting building would have been the tallest in Fayetteville, a title that belongs to the Dogwood State Bank building, formerly the Systel building.

More: Fayetteville’s five-story Hay Street parking deck has no elevators. Is that legal?

More: Pitts: Parking decks dull but a good sign. Cumberland County’s next steps.

But the Hyatt Place dream ended years ago, and the office tower was also scuttled. Developer PCH Holdings has said that the plan is still to put apartments on top of the deck.

Here is what else I could find about the deck, which is located across the street from the Fayetteville Police Department headquarters building.

Who owns and operates the parking deck?

The parking deck — i.e. the portion that people park in as Loren Bymer, city spokesperson, put it, is owned by the city. The city also owns retail space at the bottom of the deck.

At the Cumberland County Register of Deeds website, a detailed architect's schematic for the project includes projected hotel and office space in a joint venture between the city and PCH Holdings, the major developer of Segra-adjacent projects, including luxury apartments in the building of the former Prince Charles Hotel.

What is the total cost of the project, and who paid for it?

Bymer said the total cost of the deck was $17.6 million and that the city purchased the deck using limited obligation bonds.

The Fayetteville Observer has reported that the city initially borrowed $14.8 million to build the deck and in March of 2019, additional money was being asked of the City Council to complete the project. Notable is that one year later, the COVID-19 pandemic began shutting down large portions of the American economy.

Will there be an elevator?

So will there be an elevator? This question has been of high interest to people on social media, seems to me. I think because it speaks to — in their view — something about the level of competence that went into the project. As in, “What, no elevator? Duh.”

Especially when we know there are (boarded-up) elevator shafts.

There will be at least one elevator and likely more, according to Bymer last week, and according to City Manager Doug Hewett, in an interview last fall. The cost and timeline are still up in the air.

“The entire structure is supposed to have multiple elevators according to the blueprints," Bymer said. “These will service future hotel/apartments and one for the parking deck.”

Two-hundred-twelve apartments have been planned for atop the deck.

Last summer, The Fayetteville Observer reported: “In May (of 2023), the developer said construction is postponed because of the recent rise in interest rates for loans and a shortage of investors willing to invest."

Who can park there?

The deck is paid public parking. It is among 14 city lots offering daily and monthly lease parking.

If you got the impression that it was reserved for others, there is a reason. Originally, the plan was that the deck would be mostly set aside for employees of the Woodpeckers, hotel guests, office workers and residents of what became the Residences at the Prince Charles. The public in that scenario would have gotten as few as 100 of the slots listed as available, and the deck would not have been open to the public for baseball games.

The Woodpeckers team and the Prince Charles apartments do have leases, according to Bymer, although he could not say how many spaces for each.

What about the retail?

If you’ve seen the deck, the ground floor is an unfinished space with concrete floors. The city is indeed planning retail for the space.

Bymer said the undeveloped nature of the space will be seen as advantageous to a restaurant or retailer who want their location to be “made to order.”

But that is also a bigger expense for the business owner, he said.

Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559. 

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: What's status of parking deck next to Segra Stadium in Fayetteville?