The next significant piece of a years-long downtown Kannapolis revitalization effort is formally underway.
Local leaders today held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Stadium Lofts mixed-use project, which developers say will serve as the gateway to Atrium Health Ballpark. The $40 million project is being developed by Right Field Development LLC, which is a partnership between Kannapolis Cannon Ballers owner Temerity Capital Partners and Lansing Melbourne Group. The development calls for two buildings to be constructed just beyond the right-field wall of the ballpark with a range of uses.
The first building will include 34 apartments, along with retail space and a location for Towel City Tavern, a bar and restaurant opening there in 2023. That building also will house the team store and offices for the Cannon Ballers. The second building will include the remaining 60 to 70 apartments, along with retail space, developers said.
Lansing Melbourne Group's Kent Gregory said it will take 20 to 24 months to complete construction of the project. Kannapolis City Council approved a master development agreement for the project this summer. Cannon Ballers owner Andy Sandler said today that developers had secured a franchise license commitment from Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) to build a SpringHill Suites neighboring the stadium as well.
The Stadium Lofts project is being developed on parcels totaling around 2 acres. It is the latest significant investment in downtown Kannapolis, which has secured commitments for hundreds of millions of dollars of investment across many projects in recent years.
"When we all got involved in this, Kannapolis citizens — you and your elected representatives — made a $50 million investment in building the stadium and you challenged us to find private investment at some significant multiple of that to do all of these other projects," Sandler said. "It has taken us some time to do that and I am delighted to be here today to be able to confirm that we are able to meet that obligation. We are ready to come out of the ground. This is going to be awesome for all of us."
One-bedroom units at Stadium Lofts will be between 755 and 850 square feet, while two-bedroom units will be around 1,235 square feet. Those units will initially be for-rent apartments, but could eventually be converted to for-sale condominiums, Gregory said. That option is still under consideration.
Gregory said that having a range of uses at Stadium Lofts to accommodate downtown living was essential to the project.
Gregory and his Lansing Melbourne Group partner, Peter Flotz, have been critical players in the downtown effort. The Stadium Lofts project joins Vida Kannapolis, a $61 million apartment project that opened this year, and 200 Main, another multifamily development that broke ground in August. The firm has also been behind the renovation and reuse of several downtown blocks for retail space.
Stadium Lofts is part of a wave of projects starting in 2021 and 2022 that will nearly complete the downtown remake's initial vision. Gregory took time to reflect on that during today's project commencement.
"When Peter and I came to Kannapolis four-and-a-half years ago, it needed some oxygen," Gregory said. "The good news is the city council and the mayor stepped up and created the streetscape, which cost a lot of money but was the platform by which we could really get this thing going — which was followed up with the building of a really cool baseball stadium."