Fayetteville seeks development team for 9.3-acre site south of downtown
Fayetteville is seeking an experienced development team to help redevelop the Blount and Gillespie site, a 9.3-acre city-owned property immediately south of downtown.
The city issued a request for qualifications, or RFQ, on May 7, 2026. The solicitation is intended to identify a development team that can partner with Fayetteville on the future of the site, which consists of 41 parcels.
The move begins a new phase for one of the city’s largest public land assemblies near downtown. It does not represent a final development award or an approved construction project. Instead, the city is asking qualified teams to come forward as it considers how the property could be redeveloped.
A public site with a long redevelopment history
Fayetteville said it has used $6 million in local funding beginning in 2008 to assist with revitalization of the project areas. That work occurred alongside a HOPE VI grant received by the Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Authority.
The city’s announcement places the RFQ in the context of that earlier investment and the continuing effort to reshape the area immediately south of downtown. Because the property is publicly owned and assembled across 41 parcels, the development process could influence how a significant piece of land is connected to the city center and used in the future.
The site’s size and location make the solicitation important beyond the individual parcels. A development partner would help determine how the city’s land is translated into a future project, including the broader direction of redevelopment for the area.
City Council saw three concepts in January
Before issuing the RFQ, the city presented three potential development concepts for the Blount and Gillespie site to City Council in January 2026. Those concepts were presented as possible approaches to the property, not as a final approved project.
The RFQ now shifts attention from preliminary concepts to the search for a team with the experience to work with the city on development. The process could help Fayetteville evaluate which ideas are practical and how a future project might move forward on city-owned land.
For residents and businesses near downtown, the immediate change is not construction but the start of a formal effort to find a development partner. The eventual project could affect the future use and appearance of the south-of-downtown area, but the city has not yet announced a selected developer, final land-use mix, financing plan, construction schedule or award date.
What happens next
The city’s next known step is to receive and evaluate qualifications from development teams interested in partnering on the site. The announcement identifies the request as a search for an experienced team; it does not announce a winning team or a final redevelopment plan.
That means the major decisions remain ahead. Fayetteville must first choose whether and with whom to advance the project before the concepts presented to City Council can be translated into a specific proposal. Any future plan will need to establish what the 9.3-acre assembly becomes and how redevelopment would be financed and scheduled.
For now, the RFQ marks the city’s latest effort to put a publicly owned, downtown-adjacent property on a path toward redevelopment after years of local investment and planning.
Sources
- City seeks qualified developers for future development project, City of Fayetteville, North Carolina
- Fayetteville courts developers to reimagine 9-acre site near downtown, CityView
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