Ten vans with satellite dishes are lined up on the 100 block of Fayetteville Street right now. They are here covering the Mike Nifong court case happening right down the street. All the national media stations and even Court TV are here. RalCon is not the place to get coverage of the event, but check out the pics below of the scene. The last one is definitely a good one. Something like this you do not see very much here in downtown.
The Raleigh Chronicle has written up a great article about one of the most influential people for downtown Raleigh. Greg Hatem and Empire Properties have been responsible for many downtown properties including the Raleigh Times building, the Helig-Levine building, the Duck and Dumpling, and much more. From the article:
It’s hard to find any single person who has had more of an impact on the revitalization of downtown Raleigh in recent years than Greg Hatem, the founder of Empire Properties.
With a new upscale hotel on the horizon, a whole street under development, several restaurants and bar under his belt, and many other projects underway, the leader of Empire Properties has been hard at work.
But unlike other downtown developers, Hatem has focused not on erecting shiny new skyscrapers that are meant to impress, but instead has been steadily refurbishing brick and mortar buildings with character that have been central to Raleigh’s past.
The One Eleven Seaboard condo project has been talked about lightly over the past few months. They just got their website up recently, which offers some information about the project. Right from the front page:
One Eleven Seaboard is being developed as a 53 unit condominium project with urban design located in the gateway to downtown Raleigh. Located in one of Raleigh’s trendiest and most desireable areas, this exciting mixed use infill project offers a truly unique place to live. Just steps away from Logan’s and Seaboard Station, 1 Eleven Seaboard is within walking distance of Cameron Village, Glenwood South, downtown Raleigh and Mordecai. With prices ranging from the low $200,000 to the mid $300,000s, anyone can find their place at 1 Eleven Seaboard
Might not be the nicest walk under the train tracks and Capital Blvd. coming back from Glenwood at night but living here does put you close to everything. There is even ground floor retail and with all the new shops in the Seaboard Station, a small community may be on the rise near this old train station.
Location
The 2007 Downtown Raleigh Criterium turned out to be a success. The News and Observer blogs say that about 12,000 to 15,000 people came out for the event. I went out for the women’s race but had other plans and did not make it to the men’s. I got some fairly good pictures, posted below. WRAL has a great video on it also.
I was hoping the city would have another one and my wish came true. Raleigh Wide Open 2 is coming on July 21, 2007. Last year, about 65,000 people crowded Fayetteville St. for tons of live entertainment. The event even had a great headlining band, Royal Crown Revue, which was followed up by one of the most spectacular fireworks show I have ever seen. If this year’s event is anything like last year, you do not want to miss out on this.
Details on the entertainment have not been released but I’ll be following closely and will bring that information to you once it is available.
So everybody knows that Raleigh is so hot right now. CBS has come once before and now they will be coming back to do the early morning news on Fayetteville St. The Triangle Business Journal has the scoop:
It’s not often that a major network television program is broadcast live from Raleigh. But that’s exactly what will happen July 13, when CBS’ “The Early Show” will set up shop in the City of Oaks for its Summer in the City Tour.
The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau confirmed Friday that one CBS anchor, as well as weatherman Dave Price, will be on location to tout the Capital City.
Here is some more information on the shimmer wall of the convention center, that was mentioned earlier here.
WHY A SHIMMER WALLThere is no entrance to the Raleigh Convention Center from the western side. The wall houses the 500,000-square-foot facility’s chillers and boilers that require significant air flow. Yet the wall facing McDowell Street is the most visible as motorists enter downtown Raleigh. Some 20,000 vehicles arrive downtown via the thoroughfare each day. Even those not destined for the center city are offered downtown’s most inviting vista as they motor east and west along Western Boulevard.
Lot more can be read here.
The city has announced a $1 million donation from Cree Inc. that will go toward a shimmer wall on the western side of the new convention center. This is the wall that overlooks McDowell St. and is certain to be very eye-catching as people drive by. The wall will be substantially large and at 9,000 square feet, should easily draw a crowd. Once it is done you can probably find me stumbling over from the warehouse district on Saturday nights to stare at it like a mesmerized fish.
Watch the WRAL video for a great visual of the design.
N&O story