Kindley Street is not mentioned all that much in the news. Mainly because it is a dead-end street that branches off Salisbury Street. In this section of downtown, there have been one-story, suburban style office buildings probably since the 1980s. (or even earlier) That dynamic is already starting to change.
Zooming in, I am mostly talking about some land that is southwest of the train tracks crossing Kindley Street. A collection of properties have been acquired and there is a new rezoning on the table to raise the height limit from the current 20 stories up to 40 stories. In addition, construction of a building with 288 apartments is already taking place. Finally, we may see Kindley Street connect to Martin Luther King Jr Blvd in the future.
You can see the site in the google map aerial above, highlighted in orange. Again, it’s probably not an area most go to as Kindley dead ends and there isn’t much there to begin with. (more so now after all the recent demolition nearby)
A new apartment building, named Mira Raleigh, is already constructing some future homes. It’s a tough location to photograph but you may have seen the building come up if driving down MLK. Here’s one photo, in addition to others, on the Community.
Rezoning case Z-088-22 has a majority of the property wanting to go taller. What’s also interesting is a separate subdivision case that may connect Kindley Street to MLK. The way I’m reading things, it actually looks like they own the northbound ramp from MLK to McDowell Street so I feel this may be removed if this new street configuration is put in place. I’m sure an alternate route will be put in place.
The rezoning case is still in the early stages and has yet to go before the planning commission. I’d like to think this is an easier rezoning to approve as no existing structures are impacted, there’s no traffic increase for anyone to complain about, and the location is very close to the downtown core.
If interested in this area, make sure to also check out nearby Salisbury Square.
I’m not sure anyone has actually said that quote but maybe someone should. (I’ll take it if it’s up for grabs) The folks I’m really hoping are saying this repeatedly is our own city as they continue to work through the planning efforts of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.
If you’re coming in fresh to the latest plans on the system then you can jump to the city’s website with an overview of the plans for the four corridors.
Now that it’s 2023, construction should begin on the first corridor of the BRT project. Throughout this year and next, dedicated bus lanes will be added, raised-platform, bus stations will be built, new sidewalks will be added, and traffic signals will be upgraded. We’ll be following along for sure.
What’s even more encouraging about all this are the efforts to slowly shift the dynamic of these BRT corridors by putting in place Transit-Overlay District zoning. It’s great to see the land use compliment the investments in transit.
I see it as a two-sided story. There’s the transit piece, buses, sidewalks, and roads, and then the land use piece requires more urban buildings delivering houses across the income spectrum, spaces for retail that residents can walk to, and office space for businesses. I see it as putting a mix of uses down a single street served by a faster and more reliable form of transportation.
The two stories for New Bern are summed up on these links and I encourage anyone reading to take a look:
I also can’t help but highlight a great map. This one shows the proposed rezoning changes for the New Bern corridor so if you drive down that street or live near it, take a look.
The new BRT changes are coming and as mentioned earlier, construction will kick off this year. The rezoning application is in the final stages and when submitted will hit the Raleigh Planning Commission. I imagine it’ll be a much discussed topic throughout 2023.
For me, you can’t have the BRT running effectively without the right land use so I’m in full support of this rezoning plan. I’m sure there are edge cases that can be tweaked, and that’s fine as it’s a rezoning request across numerous properties, but without the planning piece put in place, I would be nervous about the BRT’s effectiveness for current and future residents in Raleigh.
We also can expect similar rezoning cases come out as the other three corridors mature and come close to their construction dates. BRT will be one of my “most watched” projects this year so I’ll leave this post right here with more thoughts and updates to come in the future.
Good or bad, depending on how you see it, Seaboard Station is transforming right now. The construction energy is high and personally, I’m just thrilled to watch it take place. If you stop by on a weekday, it feels like every corner has construction workers moving and building. Numerous vehicles and machines are churning out materials. The hum and pure noise of the site suggests someone has the pedal to the floor here.
This is what top to bottom change looks, sounds, and feels like.
Now don’t get me wrong, I was more or less fine with the former Seaboard Station buildings. They had a nice warehouse, brick feel to them and a great collection of local businesses made their homes there. However, we’re seeing a complete transition from a suburban retail district into an urban one. That is pretty exciting to me.
The apartment building, called The Signal, on Block B (reminder of the blocks here) looks pretty good from the outside and the finishing touches are being applied now. Residents should be moving in around Spring 2023. The sidewalks are looking great (nice and wide) and when small businesses set up shop here, it’ll be on a completely urban dynamic that the retail district never had before.
Block A is starting to rise out of the hole they dug out at the corner of Peace and Halifax. More apartments and a hotel are being constructed on this block and it was announced recently that the hotel will be a Hyatt House hotel with a rooftop bar called High Rail.
Block C is the youngest site to get started but a crane is already up and work is humming along. At this pace, it won’t take long before this one goes vertical as well. You can take a look at the panorama shot at the top of this post for a peek at the site.
That’s it for the active work at Seaboard at this time. In the future, we’ll have work taking place at Logan’s after the long-time business moves out. Current plans look to move the Seaboard Station building further north and build a pair of towers at 16 and 20 stories. More on that in a future post.
I’m excited for it all and for a more urban Raleigh on downtown’s north side.
Plans came out a few weeks ago about a new 30-story building for the surface parking lot along Morgan Street and the Marbles Kid’s Museum. It’s the triangle-shaped lot where Morgan becomes New Bern Avenue at the intersection with Person Street.
Back in early 2021, the parking lot was rezoned with a height limit of 30-stories. It looks like the developer is planning to max it out with a new tower that will have 373 residential units.
The new tower, called VeLa Longview, will also have ground-floor retail and structured parking. You can see some of the developer’s other projects here.
I’m not exactly sure where the name “Longview” comes from but it does seem to pop up around Raleigh. On the same block is the Vintage Church which was formerly called the Long View Center. Owned by a local real estate developer, he sold it in 2013 to the current church. The same developer, Gordon Smith, helped start the Marbles Kid’s Museum and played a pivotal role in rezoning the parking lot that is now to become VeLa Longview.
Clearly, the Longview name has some significance here with someone involved. I’m going to throw this post up on the Community and see if we can’t figure this out.
Hello, Raleigh! Since launching the New Raleigh Flag website a couple months ago we’ve received lots of questions online and in person about the new flag campaign and the flag’s design. DTRaleigh has graciously offered us this opportunity to respond to some of those questions publicly on this forum. Thanks to everyone for your support and interest. Here we go:
Q: Where is this project coming from? What’s the motivation behind it? A: Raleigh is a vibrant, thriving city with a rich history and a promising future. Raleighites love living here. We’re proud to claim Raleigh as our home town. What if we had a unifying symbol that served as a visual expression of this civic pride? We have an opportunity to establish such a symbol by adopting a new flag. A flag with a simple but memorable image can provide a sense of identity – something that, when you see it, makes you say “yep, that’s Raleigh.” That’s what we’re after.
Raleigh residents have long felt that the city could have a better flag. Our historic flag has been around for 120 years but has never been widely used. The prospect of designing a new flag came up in the Raleigh community six or seven years ago. There was a lot of chatter about it online. People posted new design ideas on Twitter and Reddit. The matter was discussed by the city council. But the conversation fizzled, and in the end nothing came of it. With time on our hands during the pandemic lockdown, a group of residents resolved to revive the initiative to take up a new flag. This campaign is the result of that effort.
Q: What’s wrong with our current flag? A: The first step is admitting that we have…well, let’s call it…an opportunity. Our historic flag has a charming story behind it, but it doesn’t function well as a flag. It doesn’t follow the principles of good flag design – it’s too complex, it’s difficult to produce, and its details get lost when the flag is glimpsed from a distance. For these reasons the city hasn’t seen widespread adoption of the historic flag.
To see a counter example, check out the flag of Durham. If you visit Durham you’ll find this flag and its image all over the place. Attend a Durham Bulls game and you’ll see tons of people wearing representations of the flag. Durham has really made their flag work for them. They’ve embraced it as their symbol. By contrast, how frequently do you see the historic Raleigh flag flying around town? How often do you see anyone wearing images of the Raleigh flag, or using it as an icon? The complexity of the historic Raleigh flag makes this sort of adoption impractical.
Q: But the old flag is endearing. And it’s part of our history. Can’t we just keep it? A: If you have an affinity for the historic flag, by all means, fly it! But we can complement the historic flag with a more recognizable standard for the city. A good outcome would be for Raleigh to do what Charlotte did and adopt a new, simpler flag as an alternate flag to live alongside the historic flag. That way the historic flag can remain an official flag of the city and can continue to be used ceremonially. And the new flag can be flown wherever a simple, instantly recognizable banner is preferred. The new flag’s emblem can also be adapted and used in other contexts, such as on clothing and other personal items.
Q: Isn’t it weird for a city to adopt a new flag when it already has one? A: Not at all. In fact many cities have adopted new flags over recent years. As awareness of good flag design principles has spread, cities across the country have undertaken revamps of their flags, resulting in some striking new designs. You can find examples on our website.
Q: Why wasn’t there any public input into this? A: This is public input. This is a grassroots movement expressing the opinion that we can have a better flag and this is how that flag should look.
Q: Shouldn’t we have started with a design competition, like the ones Milwaukee and Lincoln held? A: We’re already happy with the new design and would like to have it adopted. And in any case, the initiators of this project wouldn’t have had the time, money, or visibility to facilitate a large-scale design contest. But if someone out there would like to organize a competition, please do! We’ll be happy to enter our design.
Q: How did you choose the colors and design elements on the flag? A: We wanted to stick with the themes expressed on the historic flag: that Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks and is named for Sir Walter Raleigh. The acorn embodies the City of Oaks theme. The diamonds are taken from Sir Walter’s coat of arms, which is a red shield with five silver diamonds in diagonal. In the new design we reuse the colors from the coat of arms and the historic flag. We wanted to retain the essence of the historic flag, while boiling its devices down to a simple, eye-catching emblem.
Q: Why doesn’t the new design include other elements from the historic flag, such as the deer? A: A deer serves as the “crest” in Sir Walter Raleigh’s heraldic achievement, which is depicted on the reverse side of the historic flag. We omitted the crest and other elements of the achievement in an effort to keep the new design uncluttered, heeding a basic principle of good flag design. Detailed images are out of place on flags. For instance, city seals like the one shown on the front of the historic flag don’t work well on flags because they have too much detail to be made out at a distance. They’re better used on paper documents, for which they were designed in the first place. So instead of reproducing the seal with the oak tree in our design, we captured the City of Oaks theme with the acorn.
Similarly, while heraldic achievements can contain fascinating and fanciful symbols like Sir Walter’s deer crest, achievements are intended for display in a stationary context, not on a moving flag. Historically, heraldic achievements were commonly exhibited outside the tents of knights or other combatants, where passers-by could pause to regard them and learn about their owners. In more recent times, achievements typically appear as plaques on walls or carvings above doorway lintels. In these fixed settings, a viewer can study an achievement at leisure, taking time to appreciate its details and their symbolism. We’d love to see Sir Walter’s heraldic achievement displayed around the city on plaques and statuary. But the achievement has too much detail for a flag. A flag needs to be simple so it can be immediately recognized at a glance. For this reason we omitted the crest, torse, and motto from the new flag design. We reused only the coat of arms itself – the shield – because the coat of arms is the key component of a heraldic achievement and is always guaranteed to be unique to its bearer – in this case, Walter Raleigh. In this way we captured the two main themes of the historic flag while keeping the design free of other trappings.
Q: Why does the acorn’s cap look so smooth? A real acorn cap is bumpy. A: Of all the questions we’ve gotten, this one is probably our favorite. It’s true; the acorn isn’t anatomically correct. We stylized its body, giving it a shield-like shape to better integrate it with the coat of arms. And we rounded the cap to make it flow with the curved shape of the body. As for the lack of bumpiness: any detail added to the acorn would increase the cost of construction of the flag, because more detail means more cuts must be made in the flag material. And it’s hard to make out this sort of detail when a flag is moving in a breeze at a distance, so it’s not worth the cost. We therefore went with smooth lines all around. We feel we’ve struck a good balance between style and simplicity, omitting unnecessary details while still coming up with a cool emblem.
Q: Wouldn’t it have been better to move on from the City of Oaks and Walter Raleigh themes and come up with something completely new and different? A: Throughout Raleigh’s history its identity has been associated with oak trees and Sir Walter Raleigh. The city retained this identity even as it underwent great change through the past centuries. While we look forward to the amazing things we’ll accomplish in the future, and to seeing what Raleigh will become as it continues to evolve, we cherish the symbolism that the city has carried through history to our present day. We’ve sought to preserve that symbolism while adapting it into a modern, iconic emblem on the new flag. We love the result. And we must ask: If not this symbolism, then what?
Q: Are you just trying to make money from this? A: No. The flags and other gear for sale on our website are being sold at cost. The flag design isn’t copyrighted. It’s in the public domain and is free for use by anyone, even for commercial purposes. Our mission is simply to bring the city a great flag – not to make money. If anything, we’d love to see local merchandisers earn revenue from flag-themed gear.
Q: So what’s the plan? How will you drive this to adoption? Will flag-waving crowds be marching to city hall soon? A: At the moment this is a social issue rather than a political issue. We need to continue to build awareness of the movement and promote social adoption. As more people begin to fly the flag and display its image publicly, political adoption will flow naturally from there.
Q: Okay, I’m on board. How can I help? A: Tell your friends! Follow our social media accounts and spread the word online – every post, share, and re-tweet builds awareness. Buy some swag and sport it around town. And, of course, buy and fly a flag!
Q: I have some ideas. How can I reach you to share them? E-mail us! We’re always looking for ideas and would love to welcome new team members. You can reach us at info@newraleighflag.com.
A rezoning case (see Z-9-22 here) that’s been in progress throughout the year involves The Depot, the long warehouse situated at the end of West Davie Street fronted by the delicious Videri Chocolate Factory. Owned by the North Carolina Railroad, a desire to develop more of their properties seems to be part of their future. The rezoning would allow for up to 20 stories of new development and could possibly alter the layout of the existing Depot building.
To dive right into things, the presentation and discussion from the August 9, 2022 meeting of the planning commission, embedded below, (or watch it on YouTube) is the best place to start. The commission has recommended approval of the rezoning and it next goes to city council for overall approval.
Earlier in the year, the rezoning started at the Raleigh Historic Development Commission and that group recommended to deny this rezoning request. However, throughout the year, conditions have been added that would save some of the historic structures and possibly make the rezoning more palatable to city leaders.
Looking at the aerial photo from Google Maps as well as Exhibit A (above) from the commission presentation, we are actually talking about the The Depot building and the parking lot. The section where Videri is located currently is the head house of the building and plans are for it to remain. The rest of the Depot building could be partially or entirely removed as part of the future development.
For completeness, the request also wants to rezone a property on the other side of the tracks. If you look at the Google Maps aerial, you’ll see the former train station site. It has since been demolished and is a gravel parking lot now.
If approved in its current form, the rezoning conditions around the Depot would preserve the head house as is and any new additions to it must have complimentary materials. There also must be a 30 foot wide pedestrian walkway between Davie and Cabarrus street. That could look something like this.
The architect, Gensler, proposes a mix of uses and buildings that compliment the Depot as well as the rest of the warehouse district. A “strong retail base” was mentioned in order to support active uses along the pedestrian walkway, shown in the proposed site plan above.
The rezoning hits the city council starting at their meeting on September 20.
My thoughts on this are evolving. If you watched the commission video above, members of planning commission were definitely feeling emotional trying to find a way to preserve the building that the entire historic district is named after. It is called, “The Depot Historic District” after all so demolishing most of it seems unfortunate.
I have however always disliked the surface parking lot and welcome the new buildings and the pedestrian walkway. The Depot can be pretty active on nights and especially on weekends but I’m just not sure it’s being used to its full potential.
It always seems like it’s the parking in new developments that take up the most space and cause older buildings to be demolished. The new proposed site plan replaces the majority of the Depot with structured parking underneath new apartments. I can’t help but to continue to roll my eyes at the thought of this. Realistically, even though we don’t require any parking in downtown Raleigh, the city is just too car-dependent for new projects to offer less parking or none at all.
I do think that nearby project The Dillon gives me hope that a new development could be built that keeps some of the character in place and creates a whole new pedestrian experience with active uses. I also think being such a big transit supporter that I can’t fight more density near our Raleigh Union Station.
You also have to consider that as of today, if they wanted to, North Carolina Railroad could demolish everything and build from scratch. There are no protections in place. However, in exchange for an increasing in zoning allowances, the head house would be incorporated into the new development.
It’s not great but it feels like a strong compromise.
In June, the city’s neighborhood meeting calendar posted an update for a possible rezoning for properties along Hillsborough Street including the beloved local spot, Char Grill. The news picked it up. Comments were made. Opinions were everywhere.
To be clear, the rezoning request has not been submitted as of this writing but I want to mention two items right up front:
Char Grill owns their lot and plans to incorporate a Char Grill location in any new development
Comments from them suggest a thoughtful development with respect to any historic structures nearby
Instead of typing out comments online and looking at Google Maps (well I did some of that) it was time to get a steak junior and walk the block.
NOTE: I call it the “Char Grill Block” since that’s the most important thing there (let’s be honest) but not all properties are planned for a rezoning.
From the neighborhood meeting notes, the following properties seem to be targeted for rezoning. Char Grill is on the southern end about midway between Boylan and Glenwood.
Walk the Block
Let’s start with Char Grill and go clockwise around the map shown above. Since the rezoning application hasn’t been submitted yet, I’m also not going to get into possible heights and conditions today. Let’s just look at buildings.
Char Grill doesn’t need an introduction here. Open since 1959, the burger and fries spot has one of the best walk-up windows in downtown. It’s not exactly a drive-thru in the modern sense but plenty of space is given to parking also.
On the corner of Hillsborough and Boylan is a closed gas station. Built in 1952, it has gone through a variety of gas and car service brands. Today, it seems to be used for parking for nearby construction projects. When I was walking around, there is work going on for something in a retail space across the street at Bloc 83 and the workers were parking here.
Next is a gravel parking lot. Not much else to add here.
The environmental engineering firm Smith Gardner operates out of a few houses on this block also. Along Boylan, is this red brick house from 1910. Employees probably park in the adjacent lot.
At the corner of Boylan and Willard, we have Elmwood. Elmwood is a beautiful house from 1813 and is currently used as office space. Elmwood sits on the National Register of Historic Places. The side yard along Willard is a gravel parking lot.
Finally, there are two more 1910 homes along Willard being used as offices by Smith Gardner, shown above. Their backyards are basically gravel parking lots also. Turns out, all three houses that Smith Gardner is using is owned by the same company.
Speculation
No details are out there of what is going to be built, we’re not at that stage yet. I feel in the minority here as Elmwood, not Char Grill, is the property I’m most interested in with respect to any new developments. Of course, people are most distracted by the Char Grill being demolished, the youngest building mentioned in this post, but I’m in the camp that honestly thinks they could use an upgrade. (or at least a serious power wash)
For me, Char Grill’s walk-up window is fantastic. If the new development can get a Char Grill in there with an active walk-up window, some outdoor tables, and indoor seating like their newer locations, it’ll still be a hit.
Focusing on the older homes behind Char Grill, you can’t help admit that there is a lot of gravel parking spaces that could be used more efficiently. The brick building at 14 North Boylan could be moved to sit on Elmwood’s gravel lot. If you do that, you square up a nice property for some taller development. It could look something like this.
Again, just speculation but the houses can be saved and the red square in my sketch up here can be developed. If the houses continue to be office space, parking can be tucked inside the new development.
We’ll get back to this once the rezoning is submitted and discussion by planning commission and city council takes place. Until then, keep eating steak juniors.
Adopted this July, the North Carolina Legislature’s 2022-2023 budget has a few items worth noting for the downtown government office complex. Probably the quietest part of downtown Raleigh, the government complex is a collection of office buildings housing many departments that work and support the state-level government.
In addition to a few museums and the legislature building itself, the complex still operates on a 9-5 kind of mentality compared to the mixed-use nature of Fayetteville Street for example. There’s zero ground-floor retail and very few adjacent housing units. Buildings are spread apart with generous front plazas and setbacks from the sidewalks.
Re-visiting the government complex is probably for another day. With the new NC budget, which you can view in great detail as part of House Bill 103 here, we may be seeing new buildings as well as the demolition of existing ones.
Downtown Education Campus
Talks of moving the UNC School System’s headquarters have been going on for a few years now. The move would put the offices into downtown Raleigh and out of Chapel Hill in a sort of Downtown Education Campus.
As the budget states, a new building would be built to house offices for the UNC system, Community Colleges System, Department of Public Instruction, and the Department of Commerce. On the surface, the rationale is to bring these departments closer together for operational efficiencies.
The targeted location for this building would be the Administration Building at 116 West Jones Street, shown above. Not only that, the existing building would be demolished with a new one built for the future education campus.
With the adoption of this budget, I take it plans are already underway to vacate this building with a deadline of July 1, 2023 and a demolition date before Oct 31, 2023.
The Administration Building was built in 1967 and is the only building on this block. It has surface parking on the northern end and is predominantly office space across its five floors. I don’t have a sense of how much space the new education campus needs but with an entire block zoned for 12 stories, there should be plenty of space for a mix of uses, even a green, outdoor space.
Executive Headquarters
Requiring no demolition, a new building for the governor’s staff is also mentioned in the budget. The building for “the governor’s staff, state agency personnel and operations and chamber for Council of State meetings” should land somewhere in the parking lot across from the History Museum along Wilmington Street.
Planning and design will start soon because the budget also has a construction start date of July 1, 2023. The surface parking lots are zoned for up to 12 stories of development.
I also want to add that these initiatives executed by the state seem to follow a different development path than what I’m used to. Will we actually see demolition and construction on these dates? I have no idea.
On one hand, it’s a big budget machine that probably just executes without thinking so it’ll likely get done no matter the economic, political, or financial status of the day. On the other, I feel there’s always some way to delay or cancel things. We’ll just wait and see.
In addition to these bigger developments, instead of renovations, the Bath Building on Wilmington Street (shown in the top photo) is set to be demolished. Now I’m no architect but I’m told that the Bath building may be Raleigh’s best example of brutalist architecture. Worth saving? I’ll let you decide but the state doesn’t have a good track record here I feel.
There’s also about $5 million for renovations for the Old Revenue Building on Salisbury Street. I bet that’s for interior work as the outside is still looking pretty classic.
