15 Comments

1. 

   This is pathetic, sounds like they cannot find businesses for the Plaza (art and the wrong donut shop – two losers). Out of town visitors and locals do not need a gallery when sitting dowm relaxing, it serves NO purpose for convention goers.
   What a waste of space, I will never buy anything from them.
   P.S. Who designed these ugly kiosks? City council again, should be embarrassed by their decisions/vote.

2. 

   Mike, you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, didn’t you :LOL: Just picking on you, man :) The truth is that there are MANY challenges, both structurally and in terms of recruiting businesses. The underground parking cannot allow for stronger/heavier kiosks, and while the design may seem plain, there is not much we can do about it. The City Council didn’t do a bad job this time, IMO.

   Attracting decent businesses – no offense to the 2-3 that were announced – is tough. Personally, I would love to see something like a small restaurant similar to Zest Cafe, in North Raleigh, serving local (NC) wines ONLY. That would definitely attract my attention. The big challenge is that we try to attract new business without Charter Square being in place. Not many people want to sit outside while the cranes operate within short distance. In the nearest future, once Charter Square breaks ground, it may be a turn off to some potential customers.

   This is unrelated but it got me a little upset: What in the Earth is Deutsche Bank doing in Cary? They just announced that they will operate a software development center, bringing to the area over 300 new jobs in the next 5 years. WTF? The City of Cary found $75,000 to offer as cash incentive, but we couldn’t get close to that? How about those brilliant developers who keep looking for tenants for their new projects, while others build new buildings in Cary? Unrelated to this topic, but if we had such relocations, we could probably attract decent tenants for the City Plaza – again, no offense to the ones announced, I am thankful for them.

3. 

   Jeez Mike. We can’t fill every single retail space downtown with food places. It’s nice to have a place here or there where people can actually buy things that aren’t digested.
   And “wrong donut shop”? Um…this is North Carolina. Even out-of-state convention goers who live on Dunkin are going to realize we have Krispy Kreme here. They may even try it, and find that they like it better! :-)

4. 

   It is just a plaza with tiny booths. It cost a lot of bucks to set up a business. Your not going to get a Harris Teeter or even a Starbucks to spend money on a location like that.

5. 

   The loss of this gallery, and the rumor that Rum Runners is moving to the Depot building, are bad news for City Market. I really hope something comes along to take the Greenshields space and sparks some new activity in the surrounding locations.

6. 

   I have heard that people are in the planning stages for the Greenshields space, and the new german restaurant is opening over there. As long as big eds and woody’s stay around, that area will be fine. I think filling to rum runners space with a different tenant could be beneficial in the long run. I think the warehouse district and glenwood south should be for the younger generation, and city market should be a place my parents want to go stroll around at night!

7. 

   The problem with the Greenshields space is that it will be available only to a limited group at any given time, not the public in general. It will be used for private functions, such as wedding receptions, etc. I think this is a total misuse of the property. It needs to house an enterprise available to the public, not just a select few.

8. 

   Sorry about this, Mike, but as a lifelong resident of Raleigh (35 years… yes there are actually native Raleigh-ites) for you to call Krispy Kreme the “wrong donut shop” is beyond insulting! Krispy Kreme “doughnuts” (by the way, Southerners can actually spell that word properly!) are the best man-made confection since the discovery of sugar cane. As far as I’m concerned, you can take your Yankee “donuts” and head back home.

   Though, to be fair, the addition of the gallery DOES seem odd. It would be nice if downtown could attract some mainstream clothing stores, although perhaps that space wouldn’t be well-suited for that purpose, as I’m not sure about the technical requirements of the location.

9. 

   What is wrong with this city! Our city market is NOT a city market, it’s an embarrassment (we used to go there all the time, have not been in that area for 4 years now – it’s disgusting). We need a “REAL” developer to buy this “so called” city market and transform it into something worth while (because it is pathetic – merchants do not want to be there). The current owner (living in California) is out-of-site-out-of-mind (he has done nothing to improve or re-develop this area). City Council, DRA, etc. need to put pressure on this guy to do something about that sad area or sell it. I see cities making progress every year with development, Raleigh has built one tower and has done absolutely NOTHING with city market in 20 years (progress in our Capital City downtown is too slow and local developers think to small, they are second rate developers, all projects need to be awarded to out-of-state class “A” developers. Get off the pot Raleigh! Bring in some talent to re-develop city market and downtown with visionary building and destinations (nothing to do downtown)

10. 

    Ashe,

    I respectfully disagree, the best donughts ever are Britts in Carolina Beach!!! by far….:)

11. 

    oops doughnuts

12. 

    Hey Ashe (you must have an IQ of 20). I am a Southerner, so keep your racist comment to yourself (you have a problem with people from the North or West)? Just because I prefer another brand your screaming Yankee, you are probably someone who still thinks the confederate flag is heritage, not hate. Is it Ashe or As_. Keep eating your Krispy fat pills and I will keep supporting the brand I enjoy. Wow, your a moron with those Yankee comments (can’t wait till your kind stop embarrassing us real Southerners, the educated one’s)

13. 

    Mike, I apologize for the earlier flame, but it should be noted that the Doughnut Wars are VERY contentious in some circles. Personally, I’d rather eat the box that the Dunkin Donuts came in. DDs just seem really dry to me. I suppose I deserved the return volley of insults, but just for the record I actually have an IQ of 140, scored a 1200 on my SATs back in the day when that still meant something, am college educated and currently working on a Master’s in Psychology. I don’t really have a problem with people from outside Raleigh at all, except when they disparage local food delicacies like Krispy Kreme and Char-Grill.

    Sorry for the offense.

14. 

    I am not a native – moved here from NYC – and I do not find Ashe’s comments offensive, at all. He is right about the debates on who has the best donuts, and it may be surprising to some, but there are many transplants who keep raving about Dunkin Donuts and how much they would love to see more of those.

    Krispy Kreme is a North Carolina company and we should support it, provided they make good quality products. They easily beat DD in most cases, IMO. The question is: Could their City Plaza location remain profitable? I surely hope so, but keep in mind that there are several coffee shops in the Fayetteville Street area and the competition may hurt them more. It would have been better, IMO, if they encouraged some of those shops to sell Krispy Kreme products, instead.

    As for the City Market area, I don’t look at it as a disgrace. It is a place with massive potential and will benefit from The Edison’s presence, although it will take years before the entire project is delivered. I think that developing denser blocks to the East of Moore Square is critical, but I know there is a lot of resistance from the usual suspects, so I will say no more on this ;)

15. 

    I just don’t understand the comments against a gallery in this City Plaza space. I think what the downtown needs is a mix of retail, offices and food. Putting a high end food place in all the spots is just silly. There need to be quick meals and retail too. Personally, I think a small shop marketing NC crafts right next to the convention center and Marriott is a great idea. As it is concentrating on craft, I believe, while the MAhler (owned by the same people) are doing Fine Art right down the street, is a great idea. Downtown workers can then shop at the small craft market if they need to pick up a gift, or conventioneers or other tourist can shop there.

    These are small kiosk spaces, not space for a large scale restaurant…and they are not meant to be.

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