What has been billed as Fayetteville’s premier shopping and luxury apartment venue hit a snag last week when anchor store prospect LA Fitness pulled out.

Fayetteville Council members May 15 were told the fitness company was no longer interested in occupying the 45,000-square-foot anchor position at the proposed Villages at Lafayette retail/office/residential development.

The council agreed to a request by developer Heritage Creek Development to table current consideration of the proposal until July 17. Heritage Creek President Wayne Kendall has maintained for some time that while a solid prospect, the positioning of LA Fitness was not a certainty.

Heritage Creek’s proposed 162,850 square-foot retail and office development is situated on 13.7 acres on the north side of Ga. Highway 54 between Meeting Place Drive and Lafayette Avenue. The development would include seven buildings, including the 45,000-square-foot anchor and a pair of two-story retail/office/apartment buildings on the development’s east side near Hampton Inn.

City Planning and Zoning Director Eldridge Gunn said Heritage Creek is currently reviewing its options to consider an appropriate course of action.

The developer had been instructed in April to do something to break up the “big box” look of the anchor, to get rid of some of the parking and add more greenspace, to make a commitment to the maximum number of luxury office/apartments and provide elevations that the council could rely on.

The proposed project is part of the 2000 Planned Community Development agreement.