Author / Leo Suarez

by Leo Suarez

Glenwood South Crosswalks

Crosswalk at Glenwood and Jones Street

A volunteer group of good folks in Glenwood South came together and put art on the streets. Three designs from local artists have been applied to three crosswalks on Glenwood at Jones, North, and Tucker Street.

These citizen-led projects are always high-quality. The bottom-up approach is fueled by passion and if you haven’t participated in one, it can be a grueling test of patience. Doing creative things within the public realm is quite a challenge and I applaud anyone who takes a stab at it.

Crosswalk at Glenwood and North Street

The city’s top-down culture directly clashes with people’s big ideas for their neighborhood or city in general. You can make a lot of people nervous by proposing outside-the-box ideas. This is why you sometimes see guerilla urbanism take place in some cases, where asking for forgiveness is easier than permission.

Thank you to Donna Belt and the entire team behind this. I think this is simply fantastic!

Crosswalk at Glenwood and Tucker Street

by Leo Suarez

Municipography, Parking in Downtown Raleigh

Municipography is a summary of current issues going through the Raleigh City Council and other municipal departments in the city. The point is to try to deliver any video, photos, and text associated with the discussions happening at City Hall or elsewhere. Since this is a downtown Raleigh blog, the focus is on the center of the city.

I recommend email readers click through to the website to see the embedded video.

Parking in downtown Raleigh is being discussed once again. If you haven’t heard yet, this latest city budget added some new fees to our downtown decks at times that were previously free.

Please keep in mind that this only applies to the city-owned parking decks that predominantly are located in the core business district. There are no city-owned decks in the warehouse district or Glenwood South, for example, so this wouldn’t apply to anything in those areas. State, county, and private decks do their own thing but with the city owning eight decks total, this change is big enough to take note of.

A quick side note. This change does not apply to the convention center deck, the performing arts deck (that one to the south of the convention center), and the Blount Street deck so only five of the eight city-owned decks would have the new changes.

To start things off, I went straight to the budget and found a few interesting snippets.

In order to better support the maintenance and cleanliness of the decks, a flat $5 night and weekend parking fee is included in the budget and will take effect December 31, 2015. This new fee will fund a dedicated cleaning crew, equipment upgrades, and additional staffing for the parking attendant booths.

– Page 10

Implementation of night and weekend paid parking is expected to generate $950,000 in revenue during the initial six month period beginning December 31, 2015. This revenue will offset the cost of a dedicated janitorial crew to provide 24-hour coverage for cleaning and sanitizing the parking decks ($250,000 for first six months). Funds are also budgeted for increased contractual services to staff the parking decks during the night and weekend hours ($250,000) and to upgrade parking deck equipment and software ($450,000).

– Page 127

Some additional actions listed in the budget here are:

Work with McLaurin Parking to sub-contract a janitorial crew of 12 workers dedicated to cleaning and sanitizing the parking decks to address the challenges of increased nighttime and special events activities in the decks.

Begin priority structural repairs in the Wilmington Station, City Center, Cabarrus and Performing Arts Decks based on priorities identified in the 2013 Kimley-Horn Deck Assessment Report.

Engage a consulting firm to conduct a parking study of current parking space inventory, space commitments and future obligations and provide recommendations for new deck locations and capacities on the east and west sides of downtown. This study is essential for the city to maintain an available parking supply that can accommodate the demands of new business development, downtown residential life and the increasing number of downtown activities.

– Page 127

The proposed $5 flat fee would go into place 7pm-7am every weeknight, all-day Saturday, (that’s up until 7am Sunday morning) and after 1pm on Sunday. This plan is already approved per the budget.

The daytime worker versus the nightlifer is a bit different and it seems the decks are getting pretty dirty with this rise in nighttime use. The current funding model is seen as outdated for handling today’s use of the city’s decks and a change is needed.

A group of downtown business owners have gotten together and are trying to work with the city. They see the proposed change as too drastic and want to see the hours reduced and/or a phase-in approach take place.

Below is the presentation to the city council from Public Works about the changes and some follow-on discussion. If you can’t see the embedded video, click here.

Unfortunately, some raw numbers would have made this presentation great and allowed us to have some data to play with. There was a bar chart shown but the point it was trying to make wasn’t too clear so I won’t share that in this post.

It’s irrelevant though as most of us can agree that Friday and Saturday are seeing increased parking deck use, some filling up completely, and we’re capturing no revenue here to offset the needed repairs and keep them clean.

As a city, we’ve decided to run our parking as an enterprise fund. In short, that means it has to pay for itself. By that adopted process, we must explore ways to get more revenue flowing as the fund is currently in the negative.

In addition to paying off debt, what I’m most interested in is what the new visitor experience will be like as a result of this $5 flat fee. Currently, six staff members are in charge of the eight city-owned decks. They take care of maintenance and cleaning. With the added fees, this number would increase to 12, according to the presentation.

Does that result in a better looking, better operating facilities or are we just keeping pace? That’s yet to be seen.

A compromise between the approved plan in the budget and the downtown business owners that think this is too much, too fast was looked at. A number of alternatives were put together, changing hours, changing the fee rates. The preferred alternative from city staff looks like this:

  • $5 flat fee
  • Thurs 7pm to Fri 7am
  • Fri 7pm to Sun 7am

Note the weekend enforcement drops Sunday and goes from Friday night through Saturday until the early morning hours of Sunday. Saturday all-day hours seem to be the key capture time here and revenues from Sunday to Wednesday night are not that significant.

In addition, the decks would be color-coded to help in locating the deck that you parked in, (a common complaint by the way) reduced monthly spaces for downtown employees, and a special program with Marbles Museum for complimentary parking.

Here is a breakdown of some nearby cities and what they charge in downtown on nights and weekends.

Peer City Parking Rates

A $5 flat fee, when compared around the state/region, is not ridiculous by any means. Still, some feel that the fee would deter visitors and be yet another obstacle for retail in downtown to grow.

Personally, I welcome this $5 flat parking fee during our busiest nights and weekend days. I even think Sunday should be included. What I hope to see in exchange are spotless parking decks, well-designed wayfinding, new elevators, and top-notch customer service. (in-person and through technology) People are willing to pay if the experience is very positive.

I even think on-street metered parking should continue to run, that way parking in a deck is more attractive and removes congestion off the streets.

If the city won’t do it, we’re just making private parking decks and lots more likely to rise up. The conversation on this topic continues, at the city council, during their Nov 3 meeting.

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

HQ Raleigh expansion along West Street

HQ Raleigh, one of downtown Raleigh’s entrepreneur hubs, is expanding. They have purchased a building behind their Harrington Street space that actually faces West Street and demolition has taken place. I found an old photo I took of West Street and you can see what used to be there in the photo below.

HQ Raleigh expansion along West Street

Click for larger

Derrick Minor, the city’s innovation and entrepreneurship manager, took a photo of what the new building could look like and posted it to Twitter.

by Leo Suarez

Sidewalk Seating Ordinance Survey Results

This is a cross-post from the Raleigh Downtown Living Advocates. I helped put together a member survey to get an idea of what people thought about the currently under trial outdoor dining ordinance.

222_sidewalk

During the month of October, the DLA conducted a survey that tried to get an idea of how things are going with the new sidewalk seating ordinance. DLA members were asked a few questions about how the levels of noise have changed recently and how they felt about the new ordinance.

The trial period for these new outdoor seating rules is almost over and we wanted to get the results over to the Raleigh City Council for consideration. Here are some key takeaways:

  • 14-17% believe that noise levels have decreased compared to 83-86% who believe the noise has either stayed the same, increased or are not sure.
  • 64% do not support the new ordinance compared to 16% that support it in its current form. The remaining 20% would support with minor changes.
  • 72% of residents who live within the borders of downtown do not support the ordinance.
  • 38% of Fayetteville Street District residents support the ordinance in its current form, compared to only 9% of those that live in Glenwood South.
  • 33% of residents who are over the age of 55 support the new ordinance, compared to 12% of those 55 or younger.

The majority of responses show that residents feel that noise levels have stayed the same.

The Fayetteville Street and Glenwood South districts were the two main areas under discussion throughout the draft of the new ordinance. Below is the breakdown of support between the two districts.
sidewalk1

  • Glenwood South responses: 76
  • Fayetteville Street responses: 17

For the entire survey results, download them here.

by Leo Suarez

Christ Church Expanding along Edenton Street

Construction site of the future Christ Church expansion.

Construction site of the future Christ Church expansion. Click for larger.

Along East Edenton Street, Christ Church will be expanding, eating up some of the surface parking lot that’s behind the church. The groundbreaking was this week and removal of the asphalt is already underway. A sign on the fencing shows a rendering, drawn up by Raleigh-based Clearscapes, of the new hall.

I’m always a fan of anyone removing surface parking. Christ Church members will probably be using the surface lots across the street which are far from full on nights and weekends. It will be fun to watch this new construction take place and see how it meshes with the historic sanctuary, which opened on January 4, 1854.

Rendering of the Christ Church expansion.

by Leo Suarez

Fall 2015 Restaurant Roundup

Future home of Dram and Draught

Future home of Dram and Draught.

Before we dive into this season’s restaurant roundup, I just want to point out that this is my 1,000th blog post here on The Raleigh Connoisseur!

I want to thank everyone who has participated in some way with the blog. Those who’ve read, commented, those I’ve met, and emailed with have all kept the conversations going about downtown Raleigh and fueled the energy to keep this thing chugging.

On towards post #2,000!

This Fall hasn’t seen as many openings but plans are in place for a big wave of new eats and drinks hopefully in the Spring. Lots of spaces in downtown are still in the early phases of renovation.

For a complete list of eats, drinks, and coffees in and around downtown, make sure to bookmark the DT Eats page. Try something new!

  • The much-hyped restaurant Standard Foods, with chef Scott Crawford, is finally open in Person Street Plaza. The restaurant serves dinner with lunch hours coming soon. A grocery concept will also be included in the space but that is also still being worked.
  • Nearby, a beer and wine shop with tasting bar is opening on Pace Street. You can follow their progress on their Instagram.
  • Over near the warehouse district, Whiskey Kitchen looks just about the same as it did since the last update.
  • Ashley Christensen’s pizza place, next door to Poole’s Diner, hasn’t seen much movement as the place on McDowell is still pretty bare.
  • Heavy renovation is happening at 313 West Hargett Street for a new wine bar.
  • Bouncing over to City Market, eatRaleigh pretty much updates us on the status, or lack of, of City Market Cafe. I can’t imagine it being to hard to take a space that once was a coffee shop and turning it into a coffee shop so things don’t look good here.
  • Sometimes you can get a sense of a project just by peaking through the windows. The retail spaces at Skyhouse are paper-sealed tight. No big updates about Provenance, the Oak City Market, or the Larry’s Beans Shop.
  • Holly’s on Hargett was bought out and has now been changed to Notte | Urbana. If you haven’t been following, this is the former Mo’s Diner spot.
  • In Glenwood South, the Mediterranean restaurant planned for the ground floor of the Carolina Ale House building is called Vidrio. A few months ago, they said it would open in the Fall so perhaps it’s almost done or coming very soon.
  • Jon Seelbinder, owner of Level Up Restaurant and Barcadium, was planning a boutique market and brewery in the West at North tower. The space on the corner of North and Harrington is being renovated for this and there’s still lots of work to be done here.
  • The website for more., a restaurant from JMR Kitchens, says it plans to open late October. That could mean they are close to opening their doors on West Street.
  • Ciago’s, located on St. Mary’s Street has closed. It will now be the second location for My Way Tavern.
  • Zaky and Tutti Frutti have closed in the 222 Building. Renovations are underway though for a Crisp Salads franchise. I believe this is the same thing as the one at the Crabtree Mall food court.

title

Coffee and beer bar at Devolve Moto

  • The “adventure lifestyle” shop Devolve Moto is now open and they have a coffee and beer bar.
  • After being empty for quite a few years, the renovated gas station on the 600 block of Hillsborough Street, across the street from Char-Grill, will be a new tavern called Dram and Draught.
  • The Bruegger’s Bagels in the 222 Glenwood building has closed but the owner of next door Sushi O is now working on the space for a new restaurant.
  • Along Fayetteville Street, there hasn’t been much movement on the Eschelon Experiences restaurant planned for Charter Square.
  • Within the same building, a B.good franchise is also planned. This would be the second Raleigh location after North Hills.
  • What started as a pop-up shop, Linus and Pepper’s is now staying on Salisbury Street.
  • Same block, a “trendy taco shop” is also being planned by the same owners.
  • The people behind the dive bar Slim’s have opened another bar called Ruby Deluxe on the 400 block of Fayetteville Street.
  • The lease has been pulled on The Square Rabbit on East Martin Street. Lou Moshakos, owner behind Carolina Ale House, is now working on bakery-concept for the space and something else for the space next door.

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Townhomes at Blount Street Commons
The townhomes on Person Street, as part of the Blount Street Commons project, have been mostly built out. The more northern units look almost done and give us a sense of what they will look like.

I am a big fan of these types of residential units and hope to see more, a lot more, in the future in and around downtown Raleigh. Hopefully future projects can have a better sidewalk entrance as these are pretty bare.

Townhomes at Blount Street Commons

by Leo Suarez

Municipography, Capital Boulevard Bridges

Capital Boulevard going over Peace Street

Capital Boulevard going over Peace Street

Municipography is a summary of current issues going through the Raleigh City Council and other municipal departments in the city. The point is to try to deliver any video, photos, and text associated with the discussions happening at City Hall or elsewhere. Since this is a downtown Raleigh blog, the focus is on the center of the city.

I recommend email readers click through to the website to see the embedded video.

During last week’s city council meeting, there was a presentation with the latest updates on the bridge replacement projects that are going to take place on Capital Boulevard. This is a topic that’s been covered here on the blog for almost five years and we’re now under a year until construction starts.

If you need to play catch up, I recommend reading about the planned ‘square loop’ design here:

In addition to the Capital Boulevard bridge over Peace Street being replaced, Wade Avenue at Capital is also being replaced.


If the video does not show for you, click here.

Eric Lamb, Transportation Planning Manager for the city, gave a brief overview of the latest updates of the project. Here are some notes I took:

  • The project will remove the Jersey barriers and glare screens going down the middle of Capital and a landscaped median will be put in.
  • Seeing as how this is an NCDOT/City of Raleigh collaboration project, NCDOT will cover base costs with Raleigh covering enhancements like aesthetics, lights, etc.
  • The city’s share for the project is now estimated to be between $12 and $13 million.
  • During construction, one northbound lane on Capital will be closed for about two years.
  • At some times, Capital will be closed entirely but crews will focus on nights and weekend closings.
  • The official detour will be to use Blount Street and Person Street/Wake Forest Road.
  • The new bridges will have an art deco design maintaining a theme with nearby railraod bridges.

Rendering of the bridge going over Peace Street without columns

Rendering of the bridge going over Peace Street without columns

Rendering of the bridge going over Peace Street with columns

Rendering of the bridge going over Peace Street with columns. Click for larger.

The major enhancements of each bridge primarily revolve around adding either lights or decorative columns or both. As you can see in the rendering, the columns could have public art on top of them of some sort. Only a concept is shown in the rendering not the final art piece.

Of course, the more you add, the higher the cost becomes. City staff broke it down into four available options.

  • Option 1: Full enhancements to both bridges: +$2.4 million
  • Option 2: No treatments at Wade, full enhancements at Peace: +$1.16 million
  • Option 3: Enhance both bridges, including lights but no columns: +$1.61 million
  • Option 4: Enhance both bridges without columns or lights: +$1.21 million

Full breakdown of costs for Peace Street.

  • With columns and lights: +$1.25 million
  • With lights: +$860,000
  • Without lights: +$660,000

Full breakdown of costs for Wade Avenue.

  • With columns and lights: +$1.16 million
  • With lights: +$748,000
  • Without lights: +$548,000

Those figures make it seem like lights are a $200,000 cost per bridge. The columns come in around $400,000 per bridge.

Option 3 seemed to be, according to the light conversation, the one councilors preferred but no decisions were made at this time. There is still more work to be done to prepare an agreement with NCDOT and when those details are more solid, there will be a followup presentation. That will probably take place in a few months.

Construction will first start at Wade in July 2016 with Peace Street seeing work in July 2017. Everything should wrap up during the Summer of 2019.

On a slightly related note, I haven’t covered the Wade Avenue bridge much but I did notice this one little jewel in the renderings. Take a look at the Wade Avenue bridge design below. The right-most portion shows a greenway trail going underneath.

Rendering of the Wade Avenue bridge with columns

Rendering of the Wade Avenue bridge with columns. Click for larger.

We know that the city wants to get a greenway to go along Capital and the Pigeon House Branch Creek which is mostly buried. In the future, the creek may be opened up and we all can walk or bike along it starting from a park that sits just north of Peace Street between Capital and West Street.

Rendering of the Wade Avenue bridge with columns

The rendering suggests that there are plans to keep a connection open here at the bridge for such a future project. Good stuff!