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.
100 Block
The transition of Fayetteville Street, post-pandemic, is a bookends kind of story. Starting with the 100 block, practically every business has turned over. Only Benny’s has been holding it down and is still serving up pizza. Alongside them, we have:
- Diced
- Primo Hoagie’s
- Insomnia Cookies
- Birdie’s
- The next nightclub iteration at 112 Fayetteville Street
There’s even a Lace Museum that has set up at the corner of Hargett and Fayetteville Street. The emptiness of 114 Fayetteville probably doesn’t count as it has been bombed out (no roof at all) since the early 2000s. The Wells Fargo bank branch has left so this block could elevate even more if some interesting retail takes foothold here.
200 Block
The historic 200 block of Fayetteville Street is where things start to dip. This block has the highest concentration of spaces and right now, the most empty spaces too. Key among them are the former CVS space at the corner of Hargett and Fayetteville, the former Kimbrell’s space, and the still empty restaurant space at 219 Fayetteville, in the City of Raleigh office tower. Hopefully people are looking at these spaces.
You’ve got to give it The Big Easy, still open and serving through the great recession and the pandemic. Other highlights are the City of Raleigh Museum, Foundation, and Anchor Bar. I also love the YMCA with their cafe in the front lobby.
Under construction is a new shop, Bricks and Minifigs, which will be a unique offering compared to other retail in downtown. There’s room to fill here so hopefully interest starts to go up since the 100 block is basically full up.
300 Block
The 300 block is simpler because all we are really looking at is the east side. The west has government buildings including the post office, the county court house, and a county office building. Those aren’t changing any time soon I’m sure.
On the opposite side, we have long time staple, Sono, and their new-ish neighbor in Flavor Hills. I’m not sure what to do with the office furniture store, Office Revolution, within PNC Plaza, but it’s better than an empty space. I’ll take it.
Finally, there was news that less activity would take place at the ABC11 studios inside The Hudson. I’m not sure what to make of it but I think I’d rather see that space more activated compared to being office space. I’m not aware of any empty spaces here so that’s a positive.
400 Block
The 400 block had a long running, office worker institution, with the Chick-Fil-A (no joke) at the corner of Davie and Fayetteville. When it left in the late 2010s, those spaces seemed to be under construction forever and nothing has ever materialized. This would be a key contributor to the street vitality if something could take hold here. Heck, I’ll take a Chick-Fil-A again!
The rest of the block seems to turn over as Union Special gave way to Bistro 401 and Isaac Hunter’s is now a late night club. As long as my favorite Mustang House does well, personally, I’m a happy person. The spaces within the Duke Energy building seem to be cursed and I’m not sure they have all been leased at the same time in recent memory. Something to work on for sure.
City Plaza and the 500 Block
Here’s the other bookend part of the story.
City Plaza is somewhat the same and seems to be doing fine. Jimmy John’s, Fire Wok, and Shish Kabob are still open in the kiosks alongside Element Gastropub in One City Plaza. The Axios article does mention that a refresh of these kiosks could be upcoming. This could be interesting as City Plaza has always seemed so underwhelming given such a prominent location. It needs some kind of wow factor so I hope Highwoods can deliver on that.
Wrapping up the street, newly added Chido Taco and the Sir Walter Coffee location are adding vibrancy from lunch until after dinner hours. If something big could set up in the FNB Tower, the southern portion of Fayetteville will really feel nice.
The Future
A real shot in the arm could come from the future Omni Hotel and added 600 block of Fayetteville Street. The Omni plans to have 500 rooms and compliment an expanded convention center. At the same time, we will be a new amphitheater with more seats compared to our current one. The events should drive foot traffic down the street. Watching all this come together over the next five years should really be interesting.
There are of course other ideas and plans in place for Fayetteville Street in the short term as outlined in the Downtown Raleigh Economic Development Study, which we’ve touched on before.
Any other developments that could bring more residents to the area are subject to the state of the markets so we’ll just have to see what breaks ground in 2025 and beyond. The easiest way to help here is to spend time on the street, (and some money) talk about it, and stay tuned as there is more coming. I hope people are optimistic as I am.
Similar Posts:
- City Plaza Work Beginning | December 19, 2024
- Omni Hotel for Site 2 Announced | October 6, 2023
- Pic of the Week | November 10, 2021
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