How could the pic of this week NOT be about the snow? We went over 1,000 days without any of the white stuff and now we get multiple drifts of nature’s confetti this season. Honestly, the snow today was a little sleety and not the nice powdery stuff. Still, there’s a positive side.
During the February 6, 2025 Design Review Commission meeting, there was a presentation (YouTube link here) related to the plans for the upcoming Red Hat Amphitheater, which should start construction this year. The video really speaks for itself and it’s a highly recommended watch. While the images aren’t final by any means, they do a great job of giving you a sense of what’s being built along Lenoir Street, more specifically to the south of the current amphitheater site as it sits today.
I’m sure someone is working on a name to kind of “districtify” the area of South Saunders street and Lake Wheeler Road where Rockway Raleigh and The Weld are currently being built but for now, I’ll just refer to everything around here as Saunders Street. Until that’s more socially adopted, we should see the opening of new digs and new eats here in 2025.
Today, let’s raise one up for the blog as we’ve made it 18 years since this thing has started. I am pretty sure there are some of you that have been with me since the beginning so for those folks, I thank you for sticking around. For the newcomers, as always, welcome and I hope you’ll find the content here somewhat interesting. The sister site, the DTRaleigh Community, is always interesting and I hope you’ll consider joining the conversation there as well.
The new Hilton hotel building, with both a Tempo and Homewood Suites branded hotel, certainly looks open, no? As a local, I don’t consider it open until the rooftop restaurant, Urban Oak, is open for business and as of this writing, their website says that’ll be in early February.
Shown above is the crane over the newest development along West Cabarrus Street. Oldham & Worth will be a residential building with 252 homes and some retail space. The sibling project, already completed, is shown in the background, The Platform, which together make what Kane Realty is trying to brand as the West End Neighborhood.
I recently took a stroll down West Street and checked out Glenwood South’s latest residential project. The Alexan looks set to open later this year, with much of the exterior work nearing completion. The homes with balconies on the north side will offer a great view overlooking the train tracks.
It’s been talked about all over the place that Fayetteville Street has still not bounced back to pre-pandemic levels. From my point of view, the street does seem to be in transition as a once office-heavy corridor adjusts to a region that has embraced work from home culture. I’m optimistic and am showing patience these days, believing that the street will find it’s way over time. That’s why I’m happy to read this article from Axios Raleigh highlighting the first glimpses of change taking place on North Carolina’s Main Street.
I thought it could be fun to go block-by-block and describe what’s to offer on the ground floor as of the end of 2024. The more places to visit, the more people there should be. That, in the end, adds to the vitality of the street.