Raleigh, NC—North Carolina Courage and North Carolina FC Chairman Steve Malik and local developer John Kane will transform a nondescript 55-acre parcel of land into a 20,000-seat stadium and mixed-use complex.
“It’s downtown. That’s where people want all of their entertainment options,” Malik said during a Tuesday press conference unveiling the new Downtown Raleigh Entertainment District. Malik and Kane stated that the $1.9 billion to build the district will come from private investment in the project, with the stadium as the focal point of the development.
John Kane, CEO of Kane Realty Corporation, addresses the media. Kane, Billie Redmond, Founder of Trademark Properties, and North Carolina FC Chairman Steve Malik announced a new $1.9B development project. Photo by Victoria Klum.
“In order for [this project]to work, it needs a stimuli, and that stimulus is the stadium,” Kane said during the press conference. Of the $1.9 billion it is expected to cost $180 million to build the stadium, which will be the new home for both North Carolina FC and the Courage.
Located at the southern end of downtown Raleigh, the parcel sits just off of Interstate 40, a major freeway that has direct access to Raleigh-Durham airport and carries traffic along the western edge of Raleigh. The easy freeway and airport access is expected to make the stadium—along with the proposed 1,200 hotel rooms—attractive to not only sporting events but major concerts and festivals.
The development group is asking Wake County commissioners for $13 million per year in Interlocal Funds for debt service and maintenance of the stadium. Known more familiarly as hotel/motel taxes, these are monies earmarked by the county solely for projects that would increase tourism to the area. Malik and Kane emphasized that no new taxes on the citizens of Raleigh or Wake County would be levied to build the stadium, nor will the project draw on general fund money.
Raleigh, and Wake County in general, has been experiencing substantial growth over the last several years. The proposed project includes a shopping area and over 1,700 housing units. “Clearly, the impact for this goes well beyond southeast Raleigh,” Malik said in response to a question regarding how the project will benefit surrounding cities and towns.
A view of the proposed downtown Raleigh stadium. Image courtesy of North Carolina Football Club.
When asked what happens to the current home of North Carolina Football Club, WakeMed Soccer Park, Malik indicated that the club would continue its relationship with the Town of Cary, who runs the facility. He said the club would be interested in transforming it into their training facility.
“The Town of Cary has been a great partner in this,” said Malik. “They maintain one of the best facilities in the country.” He noted that the suburban location is not ideal in terms of access and activities around it but added, “It is an excellent environment for a training facility, and our conversations with them have been about what things we need to do to continue to work there on a daily basis. I think you’ll hear from them that they’re supportive of that long-term plan as well.”
When Malik unveiled plans for a downtown stadium over two years ago (in a different location from this proposed project), his primary focus was to attract Major League Soccer to Raleigh. Since then, MLS has awarded teams to Cincinnati, Nashville, Austin, and Miami, while Raleigh continues to jockey for an expansion slot with places like Sacramento and Charlotte.
With the new stadium proposal, Malik sees Raleigh becoming more attractive to MLS but, after getting feedback from the community, his primary goal has shifted toward creating an entertainment destination in downtown Raleigh. “I believe [MLS] will continue to expand, the commissioner [Don Garber] has said that.”
An aerial view of the proposed 20,000 seat stadium and mixed-use project in downtown Raleigh. Image courtesy of North Carolina Football Club.
“Frankly, our community wants events downtown” he continued. “Would it be nice to have MLS? Sure, I think it would. But at the same time, we have the world’s greatest women’s team…so we’ve got soccer; that’s great and we want to be the best club that we can be and position ourselves for MLS, if that happens. In the meantime, there are festivals that we miss out on as a community. We want to design a facility that handles many other events and provides entertainment options for folks downtown.”
The group confirmed that they have the three parcels of land under contract, though the transfer of ownership is not finalized. Kane and Malik emphasized that getting the funding through the hotel/motel tax is key to the project going forward. The commissioners will meet early in July to review proposals and will make their recommendations in August.
Another impetus for this development is the fact that Raleigh is one of the remaining large cities that does not have a downtown stadium. “For us to be a progressive city and take our next step in the national landscape, we need this. The time is now to get that done and we have an opportunity to do what has never been done here before.”
If the developers are awarded the hotel/motel tax funds, they estimate beginning work on the infrastructure around the second quarter of 2020.
