by Leo Suarez

Rendering of The Dillon, Office and Residential in the Warehouse District

Rendering of The Dillon

Thomas Kenna, over at Capital Compass, has shared this rendering and package from Kane Realty. It contains a lot of information about The Dillon, the planned office and residential buildings for downtown’s warehouse district.

Take a look at the pdf yourself for more details on the project. There’s also a great photo of downtown Raleigh taken by yours truly in that brochure. ;)

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117 Comments

  1. Awesome! Thanks for sharing. I hope this becomes a reality soon. I’m pretty optimistic since Kane has a reputation for getting things done (and unlike other developers, he builds what he markets in renderings instead of performing the development equivalent of a bait-and-switch).

  2. So it looks like a 9-10-story building built with the Dillon Supply Warehouse, a 5-story parking deck, 18-20 story residential/maybe hotel(?), and 6 story building on the far right? I think this looks amazing, and it seems to help mitigate the concerns over height in this area. Only thing that I am not pleased with is the deck. It could look more attractive. Hopefully it will have street level retail throughout. This place should get a heck of a lot of foot traffic being so close to Union Station.

    Also: I love the design of the office building with it harkening to factory buildings with the windows.

  3. Finally!!!

    Thank you so much for sharing. It looks like a good mix of expected offerings, mid-level expected heights on buildings, but the parking deck sticks out like a Citrix wantabe.. Lol

    But on a sad note, I would have preferred to have seen some sort of shopping area/offerings. A great place to shop & buy while you wait for the train….oh well maybe even John Kane’s vision is more about the $ and less about what it takes to truly transform an area?

  4. Also: This is turning up to be a nice little “boom” in proposals/development. We have:

    1. Kane #1
    2. Kane #2
    3. Residence Inn
    4. Dual Branded hotel
    5. Edison Office
    6. Charter Sq North
    7. Reynolds property
    8. Hotel near Charter Sq.

    This is a nice selections of proposals that follows a few years of steady low-rise apartment buildings. Pretty soon we should see more intense (i.e. higher) development in lots that are becoming more and more valuable bc of their scarcity.

  5. Sorry Leo. Not crazy about it at all. Looks like something Kane should build in North Hills, not DTR. This is so out of character with the warehouse district. Citrix virtually demolished the old Peden Steel complex for their building and their parking deck is hideous!
    This is a conceptual drawing folks. I guarantee the final execution will not look like this and I’ll bet anybody dollars to donuts the Dillon assembly building will not be preserved as depicted here.

  6. A marriage between Midtown Green or whatever it’s called and the American Tobacco Campus/DBAP area. I’ll take it as long as the taller building doesn’t look like a longer Skyhouse.

  8. Its not bad, I do agree the parking garage could be hidden more, but I think its a win win for the neighborhood. he is preserving the look of the warehouse at the street level and then adding some density. I do think Kane has a good chance at getting some good retail in that location. I am sure people will gripe that its not tall enough. Oh well, overall its good.

  9. Sorry you don’t like it Karl Larson, and thanks for posting the exact same response as you did on New Raleigh (complete with your donut wager). I think it looks great. As mentioned, they incorporate the old facade, old-style windows in some of the new construction, and have some modern looking glass, etc. It’s everything I love about the American Tobacco campus’s best buildings. The parking deck isn’t a shining star, but sandwiched in like that, it’s just fine. I don’t really think it should be taller; a 40 story building in that area at this time would look ridiculous. Overall very happy with it. My only hope is that it goes up without too much delay.

  11. It’s good to finally see some renderings of the proposal. Overall, it’s “fine” but nothing earth shattering from a design standpoint. I agree with the others about the parking garage; it needs to be better hidden. I hope that the city has the kahunas to address some of the more objective concerns like the garage and force Kane to build a front of Townhouses or something to hide it better. Or, perhaps even better, have the city work with Kane and an artist (remember how Raleigh killed the Plensa proposal for Fayetteville St?) to coordinate a statement piece in front of that garage that celebrates the district and the city and welcomes arriving visitors from the future Union Station.
    Lastly, the city can’t let this proposal get watered down like Charter Square. It pains me to see the progression of that project from one that had a highly articulated facade to not much more than a suburban glass box.

  12. Bob

    I believe it is the 301 Hillsborough plot. It’s hard to keep track of the possible proposals since I now live in NYC. Apologies if I’m incorrect. Others would have better knowledge.

    I’m a little surprised that there isn’t a hotel component to this. I think that would make a great compliment to Union Station and the CC since its trying to connect the two basically.

    Also can anyone confirm if the 5 story building on the far right is just illustration or also part of the proposal?

  13. I agree with most posters here. It is a very nice effort and it blends just fine with the rest of The Warehouse District. It will bring life to this area and provide all the [mixed-use] elements we want to see. It is a breath of fresh air to final have a developer who can actually deliver getting involved in the effort to revitalize areas of downtown that are either neglected or underutilized. I am fine with the height and I hope that the final design – in real life – will be rewarding for all of us who are sick and tired of the same old stuff.

    @Bob: I know that you asked Sam – and I am not Sam – but just in case you want to get the answer to your question, here it is: The Reynolds site is the former intercity bus station, across from Quorum Center and The Link. Ted Reynolds purchased the site and currently there are only rumors about what is coming.

  14. I forgot to comment on Kane’s PDF for the project. First of all, there isn’t such a thing as the Raleigh-Durham MSA that Kane mentions several times. That’s just sloppy copywriting. It could have just said the Raleigh-Durham metropolitan area.
    Of greater concern to me is how the document diminishes Raleigh as part of that mythical “Raleigh-Durham MSA”. I don’t see how making a statement that Raleigh is only 24% of the metro area helps Kane sell this project to investors/financers and the general public. Wouldn’t one pushing such a grand scale project want to sell Raleigh as the dominant central city of the metro? For me, that’s a big fail and I hope Kane sees this comment because that needs to be fixed.

  15. @earnest

    Thanks so much for the clarification for both Bob and I!

    Regarding the brochure — I actually think it’s one of the better brochures for development in this city. Other than the MSA designation. Speaking of MSA: we should soon return to the Raleigh-Durham designation that was dismantled a few years ago. Morrisville and Apex should help with that since their growth is so explosive and they lie in Wake County but a large portion travels to Durham County.

  19. Like Sam said, With the 8 projects that he mention + 301 Hillsborough St., I am So excited!
    With this growth, we should catch someone’s eye to bring a company HQ’s downtown & hopefully
    some type of sports team , in the next 2 – 5 years.

  20. Read the PDF in detail. On top of the parking structure will be a pool and outdoor event space. Why people come here to vent their frustration I will never understand.

  21. This isn’t consistent with what they’ve asked for in the zoning petition. They don’t have to keep any of the original walls at all. Don’t be fooled, that sign will be gone. My understanding is that Kane hasn’t yet picked an architect, so this rendering is fantasy.

  22. Love it! I hope they actually stick to preserving the warehouse as depicted in the rendering. I wish Kane could agree to that as one of the zoning conditions.

    Also, I think they can do a better job concealing the parking deck. Maybe spruce up the facade a bit.

  23. No need to be too worried, IMO. Such renderings are there for promotional reasons and the architectural details will probably be more interesting once this project is delivered. Do you recall Charter Square South? Many people complained about the design, mainly because it was done by JDavis Architects – personally, I have no problem with this firm – but finally warmed up to it, especially now that it is finished.

    Likewise, The Dillon may turn out to be a fine product and Kane will be encouraged enough to do more. My guess is that Duda|Paine will be the architect, but it is only a guess. It is a great architectural firm and I think they would design an exceptional project for Kane. BTW, Duda|Paine is the firm behind North Hills East Tower II, currently under construction.

  24. The Stanhope on Hillsborough fits in perfect there. I don’t think Kane would put something out of place here either. Regardless of how it looks, this is a great thing for this area.

  25. I think this looks great. In fact it’s quite similar to the Liberty Warehouse in Durham, which got nothing but praise here. It’s a similar type of project so that makes sense.

    I would be pleased if it turned out exactly the way it’s been rendered. And I say that as someone who doesn’t like the look of Stanhope at all, or the office-parkish looking buildings in North Hills.

  26. More glass boxes with grids of windows.
    At least they kept the brick wall of Dillon, but otherwise, the usual default box.

  27. @Tina: The boxy design is usually what stands out in most warehouse districts. I have yet to see warehouses that are not boxy. This is the “character” that we should expect for this area, I am afraid. I would not hold my breath for anything different, but I am not saying it is not possible to get interesting designs.

  28. @ Brian
    Why do you say that the designs where scraped? To say that this is just a preliminary vision, perhaps. But to actually say scrapped implies a complete change?

  32. Well, there you go…. If this project actually looks like the IndyWeek renders, it will be nothing but “Charter Square the Sequel”. How enormously disappointing and disingenuous of Kane if this is the case. And, WTF is with those horrible horizontal metal panels on that garage? Is that supposed to look “warehousey” or something? It sucks.
    Going to back to my first comment on this thread, this watered down “smoke and mirrors” b.s. is my biggest concern.

  33. Re-reading that IndyWeek article, I want to temper my previous comment since this second set of renderings is not coming from the developer but rather and activist-artist who wants to show a worst case scenario. Nonetheless, this possibility is alarming and needs to be monitored very closely.

  34. I’m talking with someone about this on Twitter and it’s getting me thinking. While the artist’s rendering, a resident in the warehouse district, could very well be correct and is the worst case, couldn’t this same “worst case” scenario be applied to all developments in the last 10 years? And have we gotten those worst case scenarios? I think not.

    I could be naive (call me out, I don’t mind) but shouldn’t Kane Realty be working to create a portfolio of office/residential spaces in Raleigh? They want to show off the buildings on Hillsborough Street, the glass towers in North Hills, and…. the bat-shit ugly buildings in downtown?

    I’m sorry, I don’t buy it.

    I get that we should consider worst-case scenarios for zoning approvals but does something like this actually happen? Can the market really allow it to be that bad looking? Are we going to scrutinize every single development based on fictional worst case?

    The Dillon rendering shown might not be the final product but if a complete 180 was built instead, wouldn’t that leave a sour taste for anything proposed in the future by Kane?

    That’s what the council is for and I want to trust that they, as well as city staff, will scrutinize enough to bring forth something of quality and appropriateness. It may not, probably won’t be, an architectural marvel but with all the signature, marvelous buildings we have (ahem, zero) what do you expect?

    Alright, done with that one.

  35. Yes, we should scrutinize every development for worst case at the zoning phase. As I understand it, the City Council doesn’t have discretion to deny a zoning permit based on the look of the building, they can only refuse to approve a building if the proposed rezoning doesn’t conform.

    What is appropriate design for North Hills isn’t appropriate design for the Warehouse District and vice versa. In downtown we want active street fronts with parking at least hidden, which is reflected in the UDO. We also want to preserve the link to our historic heritage and the unique look of the neighborhoods, which add to a city’s personality and charm (and property values). That means we don’t want cookie cutter buildings more suited for a suburban environment put in downtown. Other than the Martin Street end (which is lovely), the Kane proposal is cookie cutter, with ugly, exposed parking at street level and cheap, bland apartments. Raleigh deserves better.

  36. First, let me say that I agree with Leo’s post.

    Second, I expect the city to review every major project carefully. We shouldn’t waste time on the stupid kind of reviews, and sometimes we should offer a developer the flexibility of bending some “rules”, if he comes forth with a great quality project. Nevertheless, a careful review should always take place. We all know what makes a project a good fit for downtown, even if we disagree on some minor details.

    Personally, I would take the Indy article with a grain of salt. It sounds more like “cheap propaganda” than a legitimate concern. While worst case scenarios are good as an exercise of how bad things can get if we are not specific enough, I am not very likely to offer my support to someone who says: “The image he sent is just a PR move to make people feel good before the Council vote.” Preliminary designs are always a good tool to show the intentions of a developer early in the process. It is not necessarily a tool for “deceiving” others, or making them “feel good”.

    Mr Kane has been demonized more than just a few times in the past, yet he is one of the few developers who delivers the goods. North Hills is not just a cash cow for Kane Realty. It is a “project” that offers employment to hundreds of people and contributes significantly to the tax base of Raleigh. It is a place that attracts more and more people every year with its many shopping, entertainment and dinning options. Nobody is in the position to know exactly what Mr Kane is going to build at the Dillon Supply site. Surely, final renderings will be released to show us what the final product will look like. Judging from North Hills, Mr Kane can deliver projects that remain close to the renderings.

    I hope no one thinks that a developer wants to feature crappy projects in his portfolio. Especially a local developer who is trying to establish himself in Central Raleigh with some high profile projects. Sure, Sandreuter managed to deliver the Edison Apartments instead of his far better original vision, but Kane doesn’t seem to walk the same path.

    Final thought: Don’t let Indy’s pessimistic article scare you. The possibility is always there, but it is very unlikely for a developer to take that route. Kane knows that if he builds crap now, his future in DT Raleigh will not look very promising. This is a bet I am willing to make.

  37. The Indy is Durham focused. They have always had a bit of a snarky undertone about Raleigh. I wouldn’t put any stock in those renderings being legit. This is just something to rile up the barking dogs.

  38. Brad, You are correct. Before the Indy bought “The Spectator”, The Spectator was the BEST entertainment/news magazine and if I recall correctly, Raleigh based magazine (started reading it when I moved here in January of 1991 and for many years after). Bring back the Spectator, end the Indy (boring).

  39. I subscribe to the Indy, but they are basically anti every development that has come up, unless it’s some hipster restaurant/bar in a one story old building. The fact that Charter Square’s south building, completely different after a recession changed everything, is used as their example is ridiculous. Also, having some activist who doesn’t want the warehouse to turn into anything make a rendering of what his worst case scenario is even more ludicrous. It’s not like Kane offered architectural schematics for this, it’s just a rendering of generally what to expect. I appreciate being able to see it, and look forward to more concrete details as they become available.

  40. I totally agree with the above comments regarding the Indy. Essentially, there are some formulaic “truths” baked into the Indy’s coverage of the Triangle. They are: 1) Everything on the Durham/Chapel side is superior to everything on the Raleigh/Cary side. 2) Raleigh isn’t urban and has no redeeming characteristics. 3) What redeeming characteristics that Raleigh ever had have been destroyed. 4) Raleigh is only filled with ultraconservatives save for the gays and minorities who are oppressed. 5) Despite the fact that Raleigh and Cary are both far more densely populated than Durham, they are beaten up as examples of uncontrolled sprawl.
    Snarky is a terrific word used to describe The Indy and, frankly, much of the smug cloud that comes drifting in from Raleigh’s northwest.
    For far too long, Raleigh has allowed Durham to control the narrative on the Triangle and it’s time for it to cease. Raleigh needs to stop allowing Durham and Chapel Hill to define it through verbal or written rhetoric. I know it sounds petty but, ever since the Money Magazine story on the Triangle being the #1 place to live, Durham and its boosters have been driving the narrative and Raleigh has been ignoring it like noise from annoying little brothers. For those who might not know, Money was affiliated with Good Morning America and ABC and they went to the local ABC affiliate in the Triangle (in Durham) to build their story and Durham basically hogged and controlled the entire story and write-up. Raleigh needs to realized that without its own voice, people will only hear the narrative being communicated.

  41. Everyone does know that the Indy is now owned by Raleigh’s former Mayor, Charles Meeker’s brother so I’d be cautious with the ‘durham bias’.

    John Kane realizes that this is a marquee project for his company, possibly more so than North Hills ‘fake urban'(I’m not a huge fan) but hugely successful redevelopment. He lives in this City and is a part of this City. He is not going to put up something that is a “POS”. This said, financials will dictate what he will build. HOWEVER, he knows he has a chance to make a huge splash. You guys need to chill the fu** out. you all have opinions as to what’s a ‘good real estate development’ versus what’s ‘crap’. Pony up your own money before you start criticizing everything you see built in this City. The Dillon Supply site is crap as it currently stands. Kane’s development will be explosive in terms of being a catalyst for the west side of downtown.

  42. To Clarify, the rendering was not released directly by Kane but by a real estate broker that leaked the image and brocure created to attract a main tenant so the project could move forward. On a side note: everything that Kane has requested in the rezoning under transferring this project to conform to the new UDO is not reflected in this design. The rendering by Art Howard and New Raleigh shows a terrible design that New Raleigh it trying to take credit for. This project is most likely to be successful with a mixed use architect and not a North Hills architect.
    I would also like to add that everyone keeps pointing to Charter Square and Edison, but both of those projects suffered from the greatest recession since the great depression. Banks froze all funding and some of the projects changed hands in the process and program shifted. For example the original Charter was suppose to be all residential, and now the south tower is all office. The new Charter ended up being taller than what was originally proposed and is a great project for Raleigh. Hope to see the renderings for the North Tower soon.

  43. Thanks Brian for the info.! Brian would never say this about himself because he never brags , but every major downtown project comes across his desk ! I did have the pleasure to work under Brian for a few years , which was super & then the city restructed our department to a different location .

  44. I am sick to death of the constant refrain (some here, but not specifically) about the lack of inspiring architecture in Raleigh, how everything being built is boring, how this is ‘the big problem’ with Raleigh and this is keeping us back (from what, I don’t know because they never say…). Honestly, I don’t give a d@mn what a building looks like if it has a good mix of uses and contributes to furthering downtown development and growth in a progressive and sustainable way. Yes, many apartment buildings look the same, but dang! There are actually apartments in downtown that people want to live in! That’s something in itself! Corporate headquarters are moving there, that’s awesome too! But no, people can only poo-poo the exterior and visual elements, everything else be d@mned. Sorry for the rant…just had to get that off my chest. I’ll sit down now…

  45. Hi DBDowntowner, the tendency of most people, I think, is to over-emphasize the negative and focus on desires not yet achieved. Your rant hits the mark and will hopefully result in a more balanced dialog going forward (at least for a while).

    My wife grew up in the rust belt region and we frequently travel that way to visit family. Oh my … We do have a lot to be thankful for here in Raleigh!

    One commonality between our area and the rust belt is that both are shaped by whatever is economically feasible. With our success comes great optimism which soon is followed by unrealistic expecations and feelings of disappointment. Developers here can only deliver what makes sense for their bottom line. Yes, our local officials can influence the outcome to some degree but make no mistake. They are just as bound by the power of economics as anyone else.

  46. I agree with the above^^^ – we can definitely be too critical and faaaar too negative about the appearance of some new buildings (with the exception of The L building – that one is pretty horrendous, let’s get real). But if Kane’s warehouse project ends up looking anything like this, I would be MORE than happy. Yes, they should definitely try to hide the parking deck (or just incorporate it into one of the towers rather than have a separate deck), but if that’s my ONE complaint about the rendering, well that’s pretty spectacular!

  47. The Planning Commission approved the rezoning of Z-42-14 603 S. Wilmington St.12-story hotel project this morning by a 5 to 3 vote . The project now goes to council on Tuesday July 7th. !

  48. Lol at the “Raleigh is being assaulted by hipsters at the Indy magazine” thing. Look, Chapel Hill/ Carrboro, along with parts of Durham, can be snarky at times, but it’s not like we don’t have our own share of yuppies, hipsters, and snarks. Have you ever been to North Raleigh???? Or Glenwood on Saturday night? Lol.

    Also, I think you all are giving the Indy more credit that it deserves. I don’t pay any media besides Raleigh development sites mind, but the Indy would be one of the last media outlets I’d start to take seriously. And that’s coming from someone on the far left of the political spectrum.

    The Triangle is a lot better as a cohesive unit than everyone stereotyping other parts of our great region because of magazines.

  49. Dwight, thanks for following up on that for everybody. I have been waiting to hear those results for S. Wilmington. What are the chances on approval by the RCC?

  50. Bob , You are welcome , “My Pleasure ” ! In my opinion , I think it will pass . I have talked with 2 council members that does support it & all the council knows how bad downtown needs more hotel rooms . I hope this need will outweigh the historic factor in their minds. From what I understand , one month ago if the planning commission had voted then , they would have voted 5 to 3 against the rezoning,just due to the historic status . “Just glad they waited”, & also I believe enough people wrote to the commission members that changed a few votes, just my opinion !

  53. Is something going to happen to Hargett St? The map in the pdf linked to has the development covering part of the actual street.

  54. I saw the proposal that Kane is currently shopping around; it doesn’t look anything like the rendering you posted.

  56. @Robert

    It looks like the other four council members are in favor, so even if Crowder votes no it will still pass.

  57. Keep in mind that 3 council members (Gaylord, Maiorano and Stephenson) are excused because of conflict of interest.

    Now, I just noticed something that I didn’t see before, and that is the height of the office component. Before we had a 9-story proposal, but now we read about the office building being 18 stories tall. Unless the reporter made a mistake – very likely, IMO – this is going to look more impressive than I though. At the end, I think that Crowder will vote yes because the following was mentioned at the end:”Crowder was also the only council member to express mild concern about the commercial building’s height. But she said her reservations were tempered by her excitement about the commercial building’s Durham-based architect, Duda Paine.

    “I think it’s a little bit tall, but it’s done the right way,” she said. “They (Duda Paine) do incredibly impressive buildings.”

    Earlier, Crowder seemed to have reservations about the design of the residential building and she was quoted saying that she is not looking for “mediocre” but for “grand”. This is a positive statement because she didn’t seem to be bothered by the height.

    I am looking forward to hearing more about The Dillon. I was fine with a 9-story office building, but boosting it to 18 floors will not offend me :) If it’s LEED certified, which is very likely, it may end up being taller than Charter Square North!!!

  58. I’ve heard that the rendering on the sales flyer that was passed around is not accurate. So a taller office building is likely. Maybe more info or new renderings will come out tomorrow after today’s meeting?

  59. mike, thanks for the update. While I am happy with either version, I will not turn down the possibility for a taller office component :) I just hope that the street level experience will be more than that of a typical office building. Maybe a little museum or a gallery?

    One way or another, I am excited about it. Buildings between 5 and 20 floors are ideal for this part of downtown. I drove along Boylan Ave (bridge) today and kind of run the image of the two buildings in my head. The view would be really nice after The Dillon is completed!!!

  60. First, I would like to mention that Mr Kane replied to my email in a VERY fast and timely manner. This is very encouraging. While no details were revealed (naturally) he seems to be determined to make The Dillon a high quality project – quality is what I insisted on in my email.

    At the risk of doing something against the rules, I want to ask Leo to forgive me, in advance, and if it is not appropriate to link to external images, I will not be offended if my post is removed. Now, I am sure y’all have seen aerial images taken by Clear Sky Images – I am not affiliated to that company in ANY way. They recently posted a nice gallery of photos taken from a helicopter earlier this month. Take a look at this photo:

    http://photos.clearskyimages.com/cdn/pub/gwj8a0lbe8u6/0/null/mk/7swifryjgapfb8xhuktz/s7/v162/p1314671335-4.jpg?ts=2YH&tk=bhnc79_0ofteHE_-kRBIDFnod3TloE1RY9R9bil6fnk=

    This is indeed one of my favorite angles, since we see all the major buildings in our skyline, and after the Edison Office, Charter Square North, 301 Hillsborough and The Dillon are built we’ll have a new angle to be proud of. Sure, this is an aerial photo and most of us will not be able to duplicate it, unless we get on a helicopter or buy a drone. However, if you wish to do a little playing around by copying and pasting nearby buildings, try to place the new proposals in the image above and you will be impressed, too. Even at the proposed height, the new buildings will make some impact. With the exception of The Dillon, I still find the new proposals underwhelming, but this is the best that we can do for now and we’ll have to work with what we have.

    Anyway I wanted to share the image with you, in case you haven’t seen the latest gallery from Clear Sky Images.

  62. Thanks, Leo… I don’t know why you have a problem seeing the image because it works fine for me. Do you use Firefox or a different browser? Maybe someone else can report on this. If clicking doesn’t work, how about copying and pasting the link?

  65. Those work. I see the photos, which are great by the way, are numbered like this, “raleigh-heli-air-0715-####” Which is the one you are referring to?

  66. Still weird that the links don’t take you directly to the specific photo :( Anyway the label of the image is “raleigh-heli-air-0715-3084”.

  68. They work for me! Thanks for sharing the link. These are great shots. It would be nice if they had shots of the NE corner of DT as well with the projects there going up and being completed.

  70. I hate to say it, but the First Union / Wachovia / Wells Fargo building is still my favorite building downtown. It’s almost as old as me but looks as fresh as it’s new neighbors down the street. Love that black glass and brown stone… The huge chandelier on one of the upper floors that you can see from street level… That geometric fountain that was on the old mall near the Sir Walter statue. That asian man with the mountain bike that talks to himself used to hang out down there too. Wish they would take down the corporate logos from the top and perhaps spruce up the courtyard area on the side. Great photos!

  71. bam, I love the Wells Fargo building, too… I think it is a great looking high-rise and if it was another 10 floors taller – with a nice crown/spire on top – it would have looked far more impressive. The logo doesn’t bother me, but I am overall happy to have this building in our skyline. However, time has come to surround it with more high-rises, both taller and shorter.

  75. Jordan, don’t pay attention to my pessimistic post. Just read the article that JWH linked to. Basically, one of the few remaining parcels where we can go (super)tall was purchased by a hotel developer. Some may see it as good news, but given the trend for hotels between 9 and 12 floors I am basically scared that we’ll see another such development instead of a tower – or a couple of towers – above 30 floors. Hopefully, we’ll be pleasantly surprised, but until then I can’t be optimistic.

  78. Even if it’s 17 stories, it’ll probably be somewhere around 250 ft. and the tallest building west of the Fayetteville St area.

  79. @Simon: The rendering we see in this blog entry is preliminary and has the buildings reversed. in the rendering, he 9-story is commercial and the 20-story is residential. However, there have been revisions and the reason why you see 17 floors is probably because of the height cap (in feet).

    As much as I love heights, given the location, I will be happy with a 9 and a 17 story building. It is a transitional area and given what could have gone there I will be happy if this project moves forward was is. The part that makes me sick is the continuous “dictating” by some city leader(s). Yes, we want to see retail, but asking the developer to specify what retail will end up there is insane. What else do you want from Mr Kane? He brings downtown a multi-million dollars investment, and even though he remains below 20 floors he gets scrutinized as if he is redeveloping an entire historic neighborhood. Retail, parking, good urban form, mixed use and decent architecture is what we can hope for. Amazing how some projects will cruise through the approval process, while others will be overscrutinized.

  80. Ernest, I agree with what you said, but I think in this case they were able to get some pretty good commitments out of Kane. It is very easy for the final product not to be as good/useful as originally presented.

    Also, he still stands to make a bunch of money on this, and hopefully will be a catalyst for him and other quality developers to improve this and other underutilised areas of our downtown.

  81. A much needed redevelopment along the Warehouse district in Downtown Raleigh. Would love to see Kane’s development become reality.

  82. Some of you may be interested to know that an article in the Triangle Business Journal identifies the architect working on Mr. Kane’s Dillon project is John Warasila, the founding principal of Alliance Architecture in Durham. He also worked on the Citrix building and the Met Life buildings in Cary. Just glad that someone other than J Davis is designing a building in DT Raleigh.

  83. Rick, The rendering above was done by J-Davis and now it is a collaborative project between Duda Paine and J-Davis. John Warasila is working on the interior of the office with Duda Paine.

  84. Thanks Brian. I was hoping Mr. Kane would use the architects of his North Hills stuff or someone new to DT. Oh well, hopefully, this will turn out as great as we want it to be.

  86. Thanks Scott,

    Funny, the article mentions that the Dillon project is adjacent to the site of the Union Station transit hub, which “broke ground” in May. Sorry, that ceremony in May where officials donned hard hats and moved a bit of dirt around on a shovel point doesn’t count as “breaking ground” in my book! I’m still anxiously waiting to see real progress here.

  87. Stew , If you will , go to you tube & put in
    St. Paul’s minor league baseball team & check
    out their new 2014 stadium . The guy that is heading up the Raleigh possibility pitched for them the same time that Darrell Strawberry played for St. Paul . Thanks !

  88. Wow, Dwight, St. Paul’s stadium is fantastic! I would love to see something along those lines built in Raleigh. I’m not sure what financial role the city could play in such an endeavor considering the big financial commitment just made to Dix park.

    If I could have my wish, and I’ve mentioned this here before (forgive me if this is a repeat), I would love to see a new stadium built on the existing Cargill site (along with King’s motel). If S. Blount St. were closed and lots across the street included there would be plenty of room. The unbuildable land to the south in flood plane could be included to turn this area into a large sports complex with soccer and softball fields perhaps. The railroad tracks also run by this area and could perhaps be used for transit from our new Union Station.

    I realize this “pipe dream” would be a major redevelopment effort and would likely be quite expensive but doing so would change the character of the entire area for the better. I think the return on investment for the city would be good in the long haul (in the way of higher property taxes).

  89. Has anyone checked into the work of Kane’s architectural firm, “Duda Payne”, of Durham NC? I have hope, but I see only boxes….crossing my fingers!

  90. @Robert! I have looked into Duda Paine’s designs… there are a lot of square buildings… but they do have variations such as the Frost Bank Tower (collaborative design) and the Terminus 100 building! I have higher hopes for them over jdavis any day!

  91. @ Randall

    Agree with you I do…

    The WareHouse area needs something other than square designs, something to take the edge off, so-to-speak. Does anyone remember the original design for the “CAM” building? Something along those lines? Not square, not round, something to bridge the past with what Raleigh’s future could be? Add a tech element? Thoughts?

  92. Duda-Paine is a very classy architectural firm that builds quality. Their designs have some sort of “industrial” feel, which is why you see a lot of “boxy” buildings in their portfolio. Whatever they design for Kane will be nice and fit in the Warehouse District.

  93. I asked Mr. Kane if the rendering in today’s N&O was an accurate depiction of what the project will look like when completed or if it was just a conceptual drawing. In an email reply, he stated, “Conceptual at this point in design”.

  94. I’ve seen what he’s shopping around and this is most definitely NOT what his current plans are. With respect to that drawing in particular, he put his hand over the glass part and said it would only look like what was below the glass, i.e., the existing brick wall.

  95. Soil Testing occurring at the corner of Glenwood and Hillsborough Street on the chiropractor lot.

  96. Not a good sign for DTRaleigh ! The TBJ is reporting that Bank Of America is moving from
    Fayetteville St. to North Hill’s Tower II !

  97. @Dwight, BofA vacating DT may have a silver lining as tech companies look to expand. RedHat in particular might be interested in that space.

  98. Not to be a debbie downer, but I see that as an added negative. The hope is that the tech companies looking to expand would build a new tower, or at least help existing projects like the Edison and Charter Square projects get off the ground sooner. Emptying an existing tall building is counterproductive, especially when it starts a trend of moving from DT to North Hills. I’ve said this before, but North Hills should’ve been built downtown. It’s got the grocery store, movie theater, bowling alley, and retail plus several tall buildings that downtown needs. This is now tangible proof that it is directly competing with downtown.

  99. I have been wondering why Kane would build downtown and in the process directly compete against his new towers at North Hills. Now I know.

  100. There is no doubt that losing a high profile tenant is a negative thing for downtown, but I am not sure that Kane’s people pursued BofA. I think that the latter was looking for space since Highwoods Properties bought the building and they are – or will be – doing upgrades. Maybe Highwoods Properties has another tenant lined up.

    I would not worry about Kane and North Hills “hurting” downtown. My belief is that North Hills and Downtown Raleigh will be connected somehow and work together in curbing any exit to suburban locations. BofA is not really as big tenant as Progress Energy was and their leaving is not going to hurt downtown as much.

    Kane’s project at the Warehouse District, IMO, outweighs losing BofA, but downtown promoters and city leaders need to take a very good look at how they will maintain existing downtown tenants, as well as attract new ones. MetLife not coming to Raleigh – downtown or North Hills – is a much bigger blow to our city’s image.

    Not the end of the world, but we need to keep an eye on how things will unfold in the near future. Maybe the stalling of projects (i.e. Edison, Charter Square) comes with a big cost, such as losing downtown tenants.

  101. I work in the BofA building on Fayetteville and I believe they only have the branch downstairs which never has more than one teller and one office manager working. I’ve asked around and no one is aware of them having employees on any other floors, so this doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to me, at least for this building.

  103. Correct, their presence in downtown is rather small, but there are two more tenants (one in the same building with BofA and the other in Wells Fargo Building) that will follow BofA to North Hills. In terms of prestige, we are losing some clients that should operate out of downtown; that is where financial institutions belong.

    At the end, we may get some tenants that will be there for much longer. Highwoods Properties is a very serious company and they didn’t buy One Hannover Square without having Plan B for the case when tenants vacate space.

  104. Isn’t Ipreo located in this building? I know they doubled their footprint in the building last year. Maybe they will take over the buildibg naming rights

  105. Unique1, I believe you are right, and your assumption may be right, too. Hopefully someone will step up and take advantage of this opportunity.

  106. I completely agree with Dwight. The silver lining is the fact that the leasing of this space may not compete with the proposed towers at all. It may give downtown a chance to attract companies looking for space immediately, that can’t wait 1 1/2 – 2 years for a tower to be completed to move in. Without this, they may have never even considered DT as an option. Recruiters complain that Raleigh doesn’t have much in the way of large, contiguous blocks of office space ready and available for these companies. Now they at least have 57,000 sqft to offer. Best case is we fill the vacant space with new tech jobs and still have CS North, Edison and Kane have success with their towers. As Unique1 alluded to, this may be a great opportunity for Ipreo to double down again and grab the naming rights too. Also, Red Hat has stated that they will fill their current building within 2 years. Hopefully, that means there is still a real chance for another tower in the not too distant future. I know, I’m kind of getting carried away here, but maybe.

  107. Ok so there’s that lot on Fayetteville, across the street from the Red Hat building with the one-story travel agency building (I think that’s what it is) – anyway, Red Hat should put down some $$ and help fund a tower in that spot and connect it to the current Red Hat building with a sky bridge. Sick of that one story building on such a prime Fayetteville St corner

  108. Jake, not gonna happen. Small lot, and owned by Duke Energy, and a tower there would crowd their tower. No reason for them to give that up. Best bet for a tower near Fayetteville St is the M&F Bank site on Hargett.

  109. mike, I am glad you brought M&F Bank up… I always wondered if they do something with that parcel. Since it is not a big lot, I doubt they would go above 15 floors, assuming they would lease spaces at one of the nearby parking decks. Even a 15-story building would make a difference there, especially if it is LEED certified. Dare to dream, right?

    Back to the parcel adjacent to One Progress Plaza. I wonder if Duke Energy has considered to build something there for themselves, assuming they are open to returning to downtown. Consolidating their operations into a new tower makes a lot of sense, especially if they want to grow more. As is, they have employees in Cary and Downtown Raleigh, but this makes little sense, IMO. Not that I can see anything above 25 floors, but still, they could make some impact and create a MUCH better image for themselves.

  110. Right, ^Ernest^ – I can’t imagine Duke would let a prime spot like that just sit with a useless one story building for too long. It’s a big enough lot for something over 10 stories, at least.

  111. Honestly I doubt that Duke Energy is planning to expand in downtown Raleigh. They are a Charlotte company now and they will look to reduce their expenses at their satellite offices such as Raleigh.

    There was a 10-story building planned next to One Progress at some point about 10 years ago, by developer Harold Lichtin. Ernest, I’m sure you remember it well. It would also have included a larger downtown branch library. The developer couldn’t get it off the ground and the project was abandoned. I think the money earmarked by Wake County for building that library branch wound up going toward renovating the Cameron Village library instead.

    Nevertheless, it shows that Progress Energy IS willing to see that lot developed.

  112. I can imagine Duke’s RE team being a developer of the property but I can’t imagine them occupying it significantly.
    While I don’t want to discount the impact of banking entities in DT Raleigh, I do believe its real future is in technology and start-ups.

  113. Duke power does not own the building. They are required to maintain a sizable presence in Raleigh for several years to come, north of 1000. They are required by the terms of the settlement after that boondoggle merger debacle.

  114. orulz, I remember the 10-11 story Lichtin Plaza. The project was tied to EDS renewing their contract with the State Government, which didn’t happen and EDS’ plans to move their operations to Downtown Raleigh were canceled :( As you correctly stated, Wake County used the earmarked funds to renovate the Cameron Village branch, instead.

  115. Ernest makes a good point. North Hills and Downtown aren’t in opposition to each other. Each provide different benefits and if as a city/region we believe that we should funnel growth into these areas, we should be providing the tools and incentives that will make them attractive and functional.

  117. As of 2/13/16 are they any Updates on the Proposal Plans of the Dillon Office/Residential site.? Hope that 2016 be the year that we see more High rise Construction Projects. Also would love to See Public Transit Buses run longer Hours as the Population grows in the Raleigh/Durham area.

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