Planned stadium for Raleigh's Downtown South development on hold
City officials have called a timeout on a planned sports and entertainment stadium in the Downtown South development in south Raleigh.
The 20,000-seat stadium has been seen as a centerpiece for the $2.2 billion project on South Saunders Street at Interstate 40. Steve Malik, a partner in the project, owns the North Carolina FC and Carolina Courage professional soccer teams.
But Raleigh officials have been cool to the idea of creating a tax district that would help finance the stadium, and Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said Friday that the hotel restaurant tax money the city could tap to help fund the project has been depleted during the ongoing pandemic. Other grant options wouldn't provide enough money, she added.
"We have a lot of needs right now in our community. I think [the developers] understand the timing is off," Baldwin said.
But the mayor said she remains committed to having a stadium in Downtown South at some point.
"I think that having an all-purpose stadium – a soccer stadium, a place where Shaw [University] can play, a place where we can have concerts and community events – would be great for our downtown," Baldwin said. "So, it is something I can see happening and something I am committed to moving forward on."
Meanwhile, the developers are moving forward with other portions of the project. Construction on hundreds of apartments is expected to start before the end of this year.
