The Abbington Square apartment and retail proposal for downtown Fayetteville received an unfavorable recommendation from the Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission on April 26.
Planning commissioners heard the proposal by Rea Ventures Group that would establish a three-story building to house 80 apartments along with retail on the first floor facing North Glynn Street. The property is situated on 4.6 acres downtown, between Lafayette Avenue to the south, the 100-block of North Glynn Street to the east and a short distance from Lanier Avenue to the north.
The request for the property would have it rezoned from C-1 (commercial) to PCD (planned community development).
The layout calls for 1-bedroom/1-bath units at 750 sq. ft., 2-bedroom/2-bath units at 1,055 sq. ft and 3-bedroom-2-bath units at 1,225 sq. ft. Plans call for 93 percent of the apartments to be one or two bedroom units. Rents will run from $640 per month to $1,200 per month.
Planning commissioners were united in their unfavorable recommendation to the City Council. Chairman Sarah Murphy, an adjacent property owner, recused herself. Traffic concerns were among the issues cited by commissioners in their response to the proposal, according to Fayetteville Community Development Director Brian Wismer.
Income requirements call for income levels to be between $35,000-58,000.
Rents would set at both market rates and at capped below-market “affordable” housing rent levels. Rea Ventures founder Bill Rea said the idea is to provide “workforce” housing with a target population consisting of teachers, police officers, firefighters and retail personnel.
“This is not a giveaway program,” Rea said.
The proposal is expected to come before the Fayetteville City Council for a first read later this month.
