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A hub for innovation: FCEDC repurposes landmark Fayetteville building into a future-focused hub

By Stephanie Meador, posted May 15, 2026 on BizFayetteville.com

Photo provided by FCEDC

In June of 2025, Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development (FCEDC) announced that it would be moving its headquarters to a new location that would also serve as a home for applied innovation, technology and training. 

Now, FCEDC has officially moved its staff and operations to 611 W. Russell St. The 35,800- square-foot center was previously home to Homemakers Furniture and Interiors, but is now being converted into a multi-purpose hub for companies to recruit and train workforce, test confidential equipment and network with innovators shaping tomorrow’s future.

“I think it’s a really great continuation of an 80-year legacy of a well-operated business that served the community. But now this building is being repurposed to serve new businesses, Veterans and the overall community as we evolve our economy,” shared President/CEO of the FCEDC Robert Van Geons. 

Renovations began in the fall of 2025 and are expected to be completed in the next six to eight months. Currently, FCEDC staff are working within an open 7,500-square-foot floor plan as initial improvements progress. The first phase has included removing the older carpeting and refinishing the floors. The next steps will focus on major infrastructure: upgraded bathrooms, meeting facilities, a catering-capable kitchen and utilities. The finished space will include private offices, a large presentation hall, conference rooms and a demonstration space. 

“We’re going to be in roughly 25% of the building, upstairs…we have a secured space that can accommodate briefings, meetings, testing and research that is classified, but the majority of the remaining space, the largest piece of space, will have training rooms, meeting rooms [and] offices for companies looking to hire Veterans, Veterans that are looking to start up or bring new projects to the market or for companies looking to get their first taste of being here in Fayetteville and Cumberland County,” explained Van Geons. 

The need for this space became clear as Van Geons interacted with businesses contemplating a move into Fayetteville. 

“It started with me personally meeting companies that were interested in our marketplace, believing in its potential, but not yet ready to make a full jump and investment into a multi-year lease, or for a large amount of space, or to build their own building yet. So it was about making things easy for them to get a foothold here, to learn what our community is like, while they either build a building, begin to hire folks or ramp up their operations,” shared Van Geons. “We knew that they wanted to hire our skilled workforce, and so we wanted to create a place where they could quickly do that… It evolved then to include a significant component of demonstration evaluation and innovation around new technologies, or even taking commercially available technologies and transitioning them into use by the military and the defense industry.”

Companies will be able to reserve the space for as little as a day or two or as long as six months. 

“This is not a place where we expect somebody to have an office for five or six years. It’s where we hope to have them here for five to six months, up to a year, if necessary, and sometimes [people will] only be here for a day or two. And so with the volume of space we have, we’ll have different availability and different pricing for folks, but we want to be able to make it as affordable as possible, especially for those that are looking to grow and hire our transitioning soldiers and Veterans,” shared Van Geons. 

For FCEDC itself, co-locating its administrative offices within the facility serves both strategic and practical purposes. 

“We felt it was important for us to be here so that we could keep the cost of administration low…we felt it was very important for someone to be able to be here every day, ensuring things are going well and meeting the expectations of those that are coming through. Also, having this type of space will be a huge advantage as we’re talking to technology and startup companies that are considering our community,” remarked Van Geons.

Van Geons noted that none of this would have been possible without significant public and private support. The project was made possible through support from Senator Thom Tillis’s office, which helped secure the required funding, and the ongoing support of the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County and the Community Development Foundation. 

FCEDC is already fielding a growing number of calls from companies and organizations interested in partnering and utilizing the facility.

“This really will be a unique facility. We’re getting tons of calls already from interested companies, from organizations that want to partner with us, recognizing where we are and what the capacity will be. I think we’re going to be able to do some great things by working collaboratively with partners,” concluded Van Geons. 

The new FCEDC office and innovation hub is positioned to become a cornerstone of Fayetteville’s evolving economy and a catalyst for collaboration, growth and opportunity across the region.

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