The photo above shows snow all over Fayetteville Street almost 17 years ago, in January 2009. Don’t those trees look adorable? I’m writing this before the weekend’s wintry weather is supposed to hit us, but it felt like an appropriate photo to share. I can still see ice out my window from last weekend’s weather event, so why not add a little historical perspective of our main street during similar conditions?
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The Omni Hotel, planned for the southern end of Fayetteville Street, is going through the Design Review process. With that, we can peep some early plans to get an idea of what we’re getting at the street-level. There’s plenty here if you’re into proposed architectural plans of a building but I’m going to focus on the street-level elements and spaces. It’s a mixed bag from what I see but it’s probably what we should expect from a single-use tower focused mainly on visitors. Let’s take a look at each side and what the plans tell us at this point in time.
Continue reading →In July 2025, the ribbon was cut on the new bus station at Raleigh Union Station. There’s a rumor, or hope, that it gets a better name in the future but at least the IRL stuff is very nice. In August, bus service started running out of the station and just this week, the signature piece of art was installed. All that’s left is for a blog post on this website to cap off this project (kidding) so let’s get into it with some photos to compliment the video from GoTriangle, embedded above. (YouTube link)
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This is an exciting one and all of us (well, one of us) at DTRaleigh HQ are crossing all our fingers and praying that this Summer’s announcement for The Depot takes place. LODEN Properties have announced plans for a mixed-use development alongside the historic Depot site, flipping that surface parking lot into places for people instead of cars. (minus the parking deck of course) It’s sure to bring new life and vibrancy to the area and the renderings show real promise.
Continue reading →Earlier this year, I took a family trip to Paris, and it’s easily one of my favorite cities that I’ve visited in my adult life. The sights, the food, the walking — all of it was fantastic. But with every trip I take, I typically find one small detail to hyper-analyze. It was one of those things that, once you notice it, you can’t unsee it.
I’m talking about the corners of buildings. Not the inside ones. The outside ones. The ones that meet at intersections. But in Paris — especially in the older parts of the city — they don’t just meet. They gracefully arrive at the corner with a flat or sometimes even curved face that greets the street like it’s welcoming you inside.
Continue reading →During the February 6, 2025 Design Review Commission meeting, there was a presentation (YouTube link here) related to the plans for the upcoming Red Hat Amphitheater, which should start construction this year. The video really speaks for itself and it’s a highly recommended watch. While the images aren’t final by any means, they do a great job of giving you a sense of what’s being built along Lenoir Street, more specifically to the south of the current amphitheater site as it sits today.
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Today, let’s raise one up for the blog as we’ve made it 18 years since this thing has started. I am pretty sure there are some of you that have been with me since the beginning so for those folks, I thank you for sticking around. For the newcomers, as always, welcome and I hope you’ll find the content here somewhat interesting. The sister site, the DTRaleigh Community, is always interesting and I hope you’ll consider joining the conversation there as well.
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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.
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