Category / New Construction

by Leo Suarez

The Edison Scales Down, Shows New Renderings

And we’re back with more Downtown Raleigh. Actually I was working on a longer piece but this bit of news is too interesting to sit on. This comes from the great reporting at the Raleigh Public Record.

Edison Plans Scaled Down, But Inching Forward via Raleigh Public Record

At Tuesday October 18th’s Budget and Economic Development meeting, there was talk about The Edison project, a four building complex with about 540,000 square feet of office space for the block bounded by Blount, Wilmington, Martin, and Davie. You can see an old rendering here.[Link now broken] According to the meeting agenda, we now have:

The original plan for the Edison block included taller office buildings, but the recession has reduced the likelihood for taller office building construction for the foreseeable future. Today, Edison is proposing the first phase of its Edison project to be a $30,600,000 239 unit 6 story high end residential community with 18,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. This project would be on the southern side of the block, bounded by Blount, Davie, and Wilmington streets.
The Edison residential project is considered feasible in today’s economic environment.



I don’t think skyscraper fans will be happy about this one. Building this piece of The Edison also means we lose the building with Cooper’s in it on East Davie Street. Six stories of new building at a loss for two stories of history is not a good exchange in my opinion.

by Leo Suarez

Capital Boulevard Corridor Study Open House On September 29, 2011

From my e-mail directly to you, take note of this upcoming meeting on the Capital Boulevard Corridor Study.

Where: Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in the Meymandi Concert Hall and Lobby
When: September 29, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Related link:
Capital Blvd Corridor Study via RaleighNC.gov

Raleigh residents are encouraged to attend the Capital Boulevard Corridor Study open house and public comment opportunity on September 29 at Meymandi Concert Hall. The open house is a chance for residents to hear plans and options for one of Raleigh’s main thoroughfares.

The corridor study will look at options regarding the roadway, transit and high speed rail, bicycle and pedestrian needs, greenways, stream restoration, and economic development along Capital Boulevard. Representatives from the North Carolina Department of Transportation will be on hand to discuss the replacements of the Peace Street and Wade Avenue bridges. Residents are invited to make comments and ask questions about the corridor plan.

The meeting will be an open house format held in collaboration with NCDOT. Displays will include:

  • The City: vision options for the corridor including roadways; transit and high-speed rail; bicycle/pedestrian; greenway and stream restoration; and economic development
  • NCDOT: bridge replacement plans at Peace Street and Wade Avenue for public comment
  • Triangle Transit: rail alternatives under recent discussion
  • Southeast High Speed Rail (SEHSR) plans under development
by Leo Suarez

Glenwood South Hampton Inn Ready For Construction, Pics

Here at the corner of Glenwood Avenue and Johnson Street demolition occurred to make way for a future Hampton Inn hotel in downtown Raleigh. We saw pictures of that about two weeks ago and now the slate is clean for the hotel to be built.

Take in the openness as this intersection will start to rise over the next year or two. Perhaps the hotel may convince the state to put some crosswalks at this intersection. Yes, the state manages Glenwood Avenue and they are the ones we need to work with for any improvements to Glenwood. Keep that in mind.

Related link
Hampton Inn Glenwood South, We Dive Into The Specs

by Leo Suarez

Connoisseurs Report In, Demolition In Glenwood South

Reader Mark sent in these pictures of the demolition work taking place on Johnson Street. This destruction will make way for a new Hampton Inn hotel for Glenwood South, properly dissected in this post here.

While not a visually stunning building, the hotel elevates the district’s status as now visitors can stay right on the strip with easy access to the rest of downtown via the R-Line.

Thanks again Mark for the pictures.

by Leo Suarez

Parking Cleared For Outdoor Seating on Glenwood South, Cars Wimper While Driving By

This is a small project that was first mentioned back in 2008. What a nice surprise to find this lot torn up as I walked up Glenwood yesterday. I asked one of the construction workers what they were working on and he confirmed that they were putting in a patio seating area for the restaurants in the building.

For those that can’t tell, this is the building in Glenwood South with Zely & Ritz, Sushi Blues, Taiphoon, and Bottega Hair Salon. Glenwood South is leading the charge on the outdoor seating options.

by Leo Suarez

Bridge Replacement Projects On Capital Blvd

Capital Blvd is getting a little planning love from NCDOT. The bridge over Peace Street and the Wade Avenue flyover are in pretty bad shape. Both are on the books for an upgrade. From the NCDOT’s project page:

The bridge on Capital Boulevard over Peace Street (Bridge No. 227) was built in 1948 and has a sufficiency rating of 42.9 out of a possible 100. The bridge on Capital Boulevard at Wade Avenue was built in 1954, has a sufficiency rating of 34.1, and is posted with a weight limit. Both bridges are structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. While the existing bridges are still adequate to support traffic, they are nearing the end of their design lives and need to be replaced in a timely manner.

I’d like to thank the NCDOT for wanting to upgrade our “structurally deficient and functionally obsolete” infrastructure.

The project is in collaboration with the city’s Capital Blvd Corridor study which is still ongoing. This fall, expect a public workshop on the bridge replacement.

Capital Blvd Corridor Study via RaleighNC.gov

by Leo Suarez

First Presbyterian Church Building For The Future

If you haven’t noticed already, the First Presbyterian Church on the corner of Morgan and Salisbury Streets has leveled their education center and construction is underway for the replacement. Why the need to destroy such an old and historic building? The good people of the church tell us why right on their site:

The main driver behind this ambitious construction and renovation project was the deteriorating condition of our “Old Education Building,” the part of our property that housed our library and some Sunday School classrooms. After a period of neglect, the building reached an unsafe state a few years ago. We no longer ventured into some of its scarier sections. Our Building and Grounds Committee raised a concern several years ago that portions of the building were subject to being condemned by the city and constituted a hazard.

Not only is the education building being replaced but the sanctuary is being heavily renovated as well. The sanctuary has been up since 1900 but the congregation goes back as far as 1818, meeting in buildings either on or around Capitol Square until the present day building was erected. While the present day capitol building was being constructed, the North Carolina Supreme Court used to hold meetings in the church’s session house from 1831-1840.

The renovation and design work was done by Frank Harmon Architect PA. Some may recognize that name as they are the firm that designed the NCAIA building that is now being built on Peace Street. The firm has designed a master plan for the church and their complex along Salisbury Street. From this press release:

According to Frank Harmon, FAIA, his firm is working on a plan that will unite the different elements of the campus, provide open green space within the campus, introduce principles of environmentally sustainability, and improve the property’s accessibility, which features a five-foot grade change.

The project will also involve replacing the current two-story educational building with a three-story structure (including basement), The new building will feature such “green” elements as a vegetated roof, an abundance of natural light and ventilation through atria and window placement, a geothermal heating/cooling system (or ground source heat pumps), and rainwater collection cisterns. Materials used will be locally available and, wherever possible, recycled.

Expect all the renovation and construction to be complete around Summer 2012. You can also catch a small rendering of the new building on Frank Harmon’s website.