Risk vs. reward

Should Fayetteville play it safe?

Will Fayetteville get a parking deck or a Taj Mahal? The reality is the Dickson Street area will get a parking deck one way or the other.

Voters approved funding for the deck when they also agreed to let the city build a new “civic plaza” and “cultural arts corridor” starting at

West Avenue and Dickson Street and traveling south to near the Fayetteville Public Library. But the replacement parking has got to come first, at least according to the commitments made to convince the voters to back the project.

The city can build a basic parking deck on city-owned land on School Avenue.

That’s the simple answer. The question is whether “simple” fits a grander vision Mayor Lioneld Jordan and other city leaders hope will enhance the public’s investment in the as-yet-unnamed corridor project. To achieve that grander vision means going beyond the public investment and getting into a public-private partnership.

That partnership would result in the city building the parking deck on the northwest corner of West and Dickson, with a police substation inside.

On the private side, companies formed by Fayetteville developers Ted Belden and Greg House would get the land and legal rights necessary to potentially build a hotel, retail space within the parking deck and two additional floors atop the parking deck for their use. The developers would also get land on the north end of the civic plaza on which to construct a building that would include a city-sought food hall.

It may the reason such public-private partnerships don’t happen very often is they’re difficult.

The public side — in this case, city government — has made commitments to their taxpayers in exchange for funding approval. The legal restrictions on how that funding can be used, i.e., not to the direct benefit of any private developer, requires some pretty serious legal gymnastics to work through.

On the private side, developers don’t often have the patience required to go through the necessary public processes government requires and citizens deserve. The dynamics can mean negotiations are laborious and agreement challenging.

Mayor Lioneld Jordan’s staff, however, has brought forward the deal designed to make the public-private partnership a reality.

Now it’s the City Council’s turn to consider what’s best for the overall projects, their constituents and the economic vitality of the greater Dickson Street area.

We’re not lawyers. Far be it from us to offer an opinion on whether all the “T’s” are dotted and the “I’s” are crossed.

Partnerships generally involve people with shared vision and commitment to getting it done. Contracts are required, though, to make sure everyone lives up to what they’ve promised to do.

One City Council member questioned whether voters really wanted a “Taj Mahal” when all they voted for was a parking deck. It’s a fair question.

The proposal undoubtedly promises a create more vitality in the Dickson Street area if — and that’s the big unknown — it all comes together. If that happens, it will be far, far better than just a parking deck.

It will create even more energy around the Dickson and West intersections at the heart of the entertainment district.

As with any partnership, however, there are risks. If the project falls apart, that’s when we’ll know whether it was “lawyered” well.

So, what will it be? Play it safe or shoot for something more than just a place to park cars?

Which one sounds like a fit for Dickson Street?