Wake commissioner: $1.9B soccer development project would produce 6,000 jobs

RALEIGH – Wake County’s economy would get a boost of 6,000 jobs from the proposed $1.9 billion soccer stadium and related development project set to be formally unveiled Tuesday morning, according to a Wake County Commissioner.

“This is absolutely perfect for Raleigh and Wake County,” Wake County Commissioner Sig Hutchinson told WRAL TechWire on Monday afternoon.

“It will produce 6,000 jobs,” he added, explaining he was given that figure by Raleigh real estate developer John Kane.

What kind of positions? Michael Haley, head of economic development for Wake County, said last week as details began to emerge about the project that he expects “office jobs, entrepreneurs, entertainment and service jobs.”

That jobs number is four times as many positions promised by the Amazon distribution project being built in Garner. The project also is 10 times the value of the Amazon investment which was the largest development deal announced in Wake County last year, according to North Carolina Department of Commerce data.

Kane is working with Steve Malik, owner of the North Carolina Football Club. The two want to develop 40 acres in South Raleigh just north of the 440 Beltline and south of Martin Luther King Blvd.

Serial entrepreneur Malik, developer Kane plan $1.9B soccer/entertainment/housing project in Raleigh

Hutchinson said he had been briefed about various aspects of the project and was impressed by what the duo is proposing to do. He called the project “transformative.”

Haley also praised the development’s potential impact.

“The project represents an exciting opportunity for the community and the region,” Haley said.

“A development of this scale would support a variety of jobs throughout the development and construction phases (plus indirect and induced jobs) as well as once the development is fully realized — office jobs, entrepreneurs, entertainment and service jobs. I am excited about the opportunity this development could bring to our community and the impact it could have.”

Kane and Malik have declined to disclose specific details since WRAL TechWire first reported the project’s price tag last week. Malik and Kane are meeting with the Triangle media Tuesday morning to unveil more details, project renderings, and polling about the public’s perceptions of the project.

How big is Malik-Kane $1.9B stadium project proposal? ‘Huge’

However, some leaders who are familiar with the project describe it as containing much more than a 20,000 seat stadium with office space, hotels, retail and residential developments in the mix.

A private meeting by Malik and Kane with area business leaders was scheduled Monday evening.

Hutchinson said reaction he has received via social media was “80 percent positive.”

Discussions have already taken place about the partners’ hopes to help underwrite the cost of the project through hospitality taxes. Hutchinson said while he is personally in favor of building the project the Commissioners as a whole remain neutral.

However, he pointed out he is reviewing various “value capture strategies.”

“To make it happen, I’m doing all I can,” Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson campaigned vigorously for both the Amazon HQ2 and Apple campus projects throughout 2018.

The scale of the project represents a huge economic investment compared to recent efforts. The latest figures from Wake County Economic Development:

Total projects received since Oct. 2018: 85