New life can be seen coming into the Prince Charles Hotel, a historic 100 year old building that can be found in the heart of downtown Fayetteville right beside Segra Stadium. 

On Wednesday, March 19, community members led by the Greater Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, gathered to welcome in a new era for the building with a ribbon cutting ceremony for The Residencies at the Prince Charles apartment units, a total of 59 one and two- bedroom apartment units available for rent within the building.

Renovations for the apartments were part of a larger plan of redeveloping the building by Owner Rory Dowling who, along with his partners, purchased the building in 2015. They were the only bidders on the property and were able to collect the keys for just $200,000. 

“It had been vacant for about five years, and it was in a pretty bad state,” recalled Dowling. “There wasn't a whole lot of stuff happening around that area at the time. Obviously, the baseball stadium hadn't been built, and it was really just a sort of a vacant, underutilized surface parking lot around the building, going all the way to the creek up North. So, there wasn't a whole lot of interest, just because everybody knew it was going to be a pretty big project to redevelop.” 

The team would go on to break ground in late 2017 and after a nearly $20 million investment, the building had to be built back up from scratch to reopen as an apartment building. 

“It was a full gut. So we literally took every single floor down to the studs, because we had to replace all of the systems. All the mechanical, electrical, all the plumbing, and really rebuild the building from the inside, keeping all the unique architectural features, like the historic lobby, keeping the exterior integrity of the brick, and repoint a lot of that brick, and work on that, then we had to refurbish the windows” said Dowling. “We did the project using historic tax credits, meaning that we had to get approval from State Historic Preservation and the National Park Service for the renovations that we planned, and so we had to abide by their requirements in a lot of those areas, which is often why those projects can cost so much, because you've got to refurbish a historic window, it’s significantly more expensive than just replacing a window.” 

As of March 2025, the only remaining renovations still ongoing from the first phase are taking place on the eighth floor which is in the process of being transformed into an event space with outdoor seating. 

Downstairs, more changes are also expected to be coming soon.

Plans are in development to add new business Bound & Vine, an independent bookstore and wine bar to the first floor. The new business is coming thanks to the efforts of wife and husband team Kellie and Andrew Artis. The U.S. Army brought the two to Fayetteville and they later decided to put down roots with their own small business. 

“We are looking at, potentially, if everything works out, opening an independent bookstore slash wine bar, a place where community can happen, a place where connections can be made, a place where we can welcome military families who come and go from the Fayetteville area, and also make sure to integrate them with the local Fayetteville community,” shared Kellie. “And doing so in such an amazing historic property, it just seems like a dream come true. So fingers crossed.” 

The longest commercial tenant in The Prince Charles building is also going strong. The new owners of The Coffee Scene, Stacey and Chad Chapman, were also in attendance and thanked the community for supporting their business on Hay Street. 

“This is very exciting, and we're really happy to be in the community now. We've actually owned the coffee scene for five weeks today (March 19), and we certainly wouldn't have been able to do without a great community like you all, and plus, our employees are amazing. So please stop in and see us,” said Stacey. 

As these developments continue, Dowling shared that he is excited to be a part of the continued growth in downtown Fayetteville. 

“We’re just very excited to bring more activity to that area in line with the plaza improvements that the city is making, we’re really hoping to better activate that part of downtown,” concluded Dowling. 

More information on The Residences at the Prince Charles is available online at www.liveattheprincecharles.com.