Several buildings in Fayetteville’s downtown historic district have recently come up for sale.
The Robert C. Williams Business Center Building, the Lawyers Building, the Prince Charles Hotel and the building that houses Husk Hardware and Agora Restaurant are currently up for sale. Could this trend be a sign of bigger changes to come in the real estate scene in downtown Fayetteville?
The simultaneous sales of these properties are not indicative of negative local or macroeconomic trends, real estate broker Patrick Murray of Grant Murray Real Estate, which is managing the sales of the Husk Building on Hay Street, the Lawyers Building on Gillespie Street and the building that houses the Agora on Parson Street, said in an email Monday.
“Downtown Fayetteville is experiencing very positive momentum right now with planned projects such as the Crown Theatre rebuild and other businesses moving into the area,” Murray said. “Having several large, iconic downtown properties listed for sale is never a bad thing for the market, and the overall positive market trends will only help fuel these potential sales.”
Murray said office properties in downtown Fayetteville sold for $18.2 million in 2021 and estimates it will sell for $21 million in 2024. Because 2024 is an election year, Murray expects the market to start to slow as the November election approaches, and then the number of transactions could spike again afterwards depending on the election results.
He said he doesn’t see any particular reason why the aforementioned properties are on the market at the same time.
“In fact, if you look at the typical number of homes for sale in a market over the last 10 years, we currently have one of the lowest active homes for sale,” Murray said.
Murray said the price per square foot across all property types in Fayetteville has increased from about $130 in 2015 to about $156 now, and the number of properties sold has also increased steadily each year.
“Cap rates in the market have been declining over the years, which typically indicates lower perceived risk of investment properties in the market. These are all positive trends,” he said.
Haske Hardware
The original Huske Hardware building at 405 Hay Street was built as a hardware store in 1904 by Benjamin R. Huske and operated as such until 1971.
In 1999, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Fayetteville Downtown Historic District, which includes Hay, Parson, Green, Gillespie, Bow, Old, W. Russell and Cool Spring Streets.
more: Popular downtown restaurant closes, historic Fayetteville building puts up for sale
The three buildings at 405-421 Hay Street in downtown Fayetteville were listed for sale March 18 for $4.6 million, according to real estate listings.
The property is for sale for $4.6 million, and Huske’s two buildings together total 69,323 square feet, according to a LoopNet listing.
Agora Restaurant Building
The building that houses Agora Restaurant at 107 Person St. was built in 1920 and renovated in 2009.
The two-story, 2,620-square-foot building is on the market for $1.2 million, according to LoopNet Listing, and will include luxury apartments on the second floor and a restaurant on the first floor.
Lawyer’s Building
The historic, five-story, 10,725-square-foot lawyers’ building at 101 Gillespie St. is on the market for $2.65 million.
Built in 1916 and opened in 1917, the building was originally called the Stein Building after the Stein family and was the tallest building in Fayetteville at the time.
According to listing information, the building has a typical floor area of 2,145 square feet and 20 parking spaces.
prince charles hotel
The seven-storey Prince Charles Hotel at 450 Hay Street, built in the 1920s, was renovated in 2018 to become the Prince Charles Residences, with 62 apartments and ground floor retail.
In 1983, the iconic building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its most recent assessed value was $7.2 million, according to Cumberland County tax records. As of this writing, it is not for sale, but property owner Jordan Jones of PCH Holdings confirmed his intention to sell the Prince Charles Hotel in April.
Robert C. Williams
Built in 2000, the Robert C. Williams Business Center is an office building at 201 Hay St. that is on the market for $5.9 million. The 57,000-square-foot building has 148 parking spaces and is currently 85 percent leased, according to listing information on LoopNet.
Reporter Lizmarie Evans covers growth and development for the Fayetteville Observer. She can be reached at LEvans@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared in the Fayetteville Observer: Downtown Fayetteville historic building is for sale
