Tag / Skyhouse

by Leo Suarez

A Walk Around The Edison Block

Polishing off Skyhouse Raleigh

A worker looks out over a balcony at Skyhouse Raleigh.

The flowers and leaves aren’t the only things that are growing in downtown Raleigh. I took a walk around the Edison block and snapped a few photos of the new and upcoming developments here. These include the apartment buildings of Skyhouse Raleigh, the Edison Apartments, and the Edison Office tower.

All being delivered by the same developer, when open these projects will add a serious injection of new residents and office space to the downtown core. It’s possible that the bump in residents might trigger more retail or counter-service food places. Nearby Sosta Cafe has already posted that they will experiment with longer hours, including staying open on weekends because of the Edison Apartments right across the street. Maybe more will follow.

Skyhouse Raleigh from Person and Davie Streets.

Skyhouse Raleigh from Person Street

Skyhouse retail spaces at the corner of Blount and Martin Streets.

Skyhouse retail spaces at the corner of Blount and Martin Streets.

Artwork being installed over the vehicle entrance along Blount Street.

Artwork being installed over the vehicle entrance along Blount Street.

The construction of the Edison Apartments is humming. The Blount and Davie corner is much farther along compared to Davie and Wilmington. Unlike Skyhouse, this building goes right up against the parking deck. That means even more space for retail along all the sides of Blount, Davie, and Wilmington.

Construction of the Edison Apartments as seen from Davie Street.

Construction of the Edison Apartments as seen from Davie Street.

Corner of Davie and Blount Streets.

Corner of Davie and Blount Streets.

Corner of Davie and Wilmington Streets.

Corner of Davie and Wilmington Streets.

The Edison Office tower hasn’t actually started yet but below is a shot of the corner of Martin and Wilmington Streets where the project will go. The latest renderings on the J Davis Architects website show something similar to the towers that are at North Hills. It is described as:

Edison Office will be a 19 story office building with 14,350 square feet of retail and 245,895 square feet of office in downtown Raleigh, NC.

Let’s hope for an increase in office pre-leases as that will help bring this tower into downtown finally.

Corner of Martin and Wilmington Streets.

Corner of Martin and Wilmington Streets.

by Leo Suarez

Crash of the Resident Wave, Skyhouse Topping Out (5/10)

Skyhouse Raleigh under construction
This is part 5 of a 10 post series, rolled out all week, on residential projects in downtown Raleigh. Go here to see all the posts so far.

A project that probably doesn’t require an introduction, the 230-unit Skyhouse Raleigh tower is close to topping out. If you look very closely, you can see the construction starting to “crown up” at the top.

Similar to towers by the same name in other cities, I even took photos of Skyhouse Atlanta for the Raleigh Public Record, Skyhouse Raleigh will stand at 23 floors at the corner of Martin and Blount Streets.

That entire block is dubbed The Edison, a multi-building vision that will include residential and office projects.

by Leo Suarez

Construction To Begin on Skyhouse Apartments

Future site of Skyhouse Apartments

Construction fencing is up for the Skyhouse Raleigh project. This confirms some reports last week that the 23-story apartment building at the corner of Blount and Martin Streets is finally starting.

For those new to this project, Skyhouse Raleigh is basically a copy of the same building being done in other cities such as Austin and Atlanta. In fact, I was in Atlanta in summer of 2012 and have some photos, taken for the Raleigh Public Record, of their building during construction.

Expect this building to be done around early 2015. Cheers and bring on the cranes!

by Leo Suarez

Skyhouse Apartments Helping The Edison Project Come To Life

Skyhouse Apartments Raleigh rendering

Here’s some very positive news for fans of The Edison, a multi-building development that was planned for the core downtown area. Skyhouse Apartments was up for review by the Raleigh Planning Commission yesterday, June 26, and was approved unanimously.

The 264 foot tower will sit at the southwest corner of Blount and Martin Streets and will consist of ground-floor retail as well 320 apartments. It’s a great location and turns an empty lot into an active, urban development with plans for one to four bedroom units.

Watch your Raleigh Planning Commission in action in the video below. Included are more renderings and conversation over a few concerns about the building.


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As a little side note, I thought it was cool that the presenter mentioned the William Christmas plan.

“The applicants received a variance from additional right of way dedication as most all projects do in the historic Christmas plan for the City of Raleigh and this project is no different. No additional right-of-way was provided and no additional street widening is required.”

If you are unfamiliar with the southwest corner of Blount and Martin, for years it has been a grassy field with numerous whirligigs made by Vollis Simpson. You may have seen a bigger one, titled Wind Machine, at the North Carolina Museum of Art. In the video, there was discussion of incorporating one of Simpson’s pieces into the new building as public art, most likely for the outdoor pedestrian plaza.

Here is a snapshot of the plan for the ground floor, click for a more zoomed out view.

Skyhouse Apartments Raleigh site plan

North is up in this picture so the intersection of Blount and Martin is in the top right corner of the image.

A couple of quick notes about the plan:

  • Along Martin, a small pedestrian plaza will be built along the west side of the building.
  • Between the building and the existing parking deck will be a driveway with a few more parking spaces.
  • Other than the few spaces mentioned, no new parking will be built as the deck that exists today will support the new tower.
  • 14 foot sidewalks and new urban trees will be planted around the building in keeping with the comprehensive plan.
  • Retail space will cover the entire Martin Street side of the building.

A concern about the building and it’s proximity to the historic structures in City Market and along Blount Street was brought up in the commission meeting. We’ve talked about building large towers next to small buildings before and I feel there is no issue as the corner of this block will accommodate all users adequately.

Earlier news reports claim that groundbreaking could occur as early as this year.

Skyhouse Apartments Raleigh rendering