What was once planned to be a condo building here at 111 Seaboard Avenue in the Seaboard Station area, will now be renovated for shops. This one-story building will be converted sometime this year, according to David Bracken at the N&O.
What would you like to see in the new spaces?
And can we make it easier to cross Peace Street at Vaughn Street?
This is a small gallery showing construction around downtown Raleigh. Click the photos for a larger image.
The Justice Center appears to be topped off and is taking shape into the Raleigh Skyline.
A family poses for a portrait in front of the globe, a part of the upcoming Nature Research Center, now being pieced together.
The new AIA headquarters is being built on Peace Street.
click for a larger gallery of renderings.
Sure Green Square is nothing new and we’ve been watching construction on this baby for over two years now. But the overlooked SECU tower, a separate project from Green Square is starting to rise out of the ground so renderings help give us a nice look at the future.
Enjoy some of these renderings of the SECU tower, now under construction, as well as some more of Green Square that you may not have seen already. Click on the image above for a gallery.
Thanks to Tom at preVision and O’Brien/Atkins Associates, PA for the wonderful renderings.
(reading RalCon in an e-mail? See the gallery on the site, go here)
600 St. Mary’s, as its called in the site plan, is a new development planned for Glenwood South. The site plan shows a mix of 1 and 2 bedroom units in a multi-level, depending on what corner you are standing, building. The plan has renderings from each side and the building style mimics that of The Tucker apartments nearby.
The residential units wrap an interior parking deck with entrances on Gaston and Johnson Streets. St. Mary’s will have all apartment frontages and the back of this building will face north behind the gas station and other shops along Peace Street. For a map visual, click here.
There isn’t anything breathtaking about it but it’s a step in the right direction in terms of what downtown needs. In short, the building has good urban form and is built right up to the sidewalk. Also, the parking deck is wrapped and is hidden from view from the outside.
The most interesting part in the site plan are the Live/Work units on the ground floor. They appear to have tall ceilings and I’m hoping the intent is for people to move in and build lofts. I found this example of one and I would imagine a Raleigh entrepreneur would feel right at home here.
Dive into the site plan and explore the new development yourself.
Another skyway is being put together, this time over Salisbury Street, as part of the Green Square project. A couple of weeks ago, the first skyway was being put together over McDowell Street. The skyways are cool because they are the first of its kind in downtown Raleigh in which they cross over a city street, especially ones so busy.
The Green Square project has been moving along steadily for over a year and hits its first milestone today with the 900 space parking deck opening up for use. From the Department of Administration press release:
the facility is the most energy-efficient deck in the Downtown State Government Complex, and one of the smartest examples of such construction in our state. Among the features that make the deck “green” are:
· LED lights, which consume one-third less energy and last four times longer than comparable fluorescent lights;
· A 20,000-gallon cistern will collect rainwater, flush it through an oil-water separator to remove debris, and store it until needed to irrigate state properties in downtown Raleigh;
· 23 electric car chargers for use by visitors and employees;
· Energy-efficient, lubrication-free elevators, which reduce maintenance and eliminate the need to dispose of hazardous waste;
· Design that maximizes use of natural light, which in turn reduces the need to burn those highly efficient LED bulbs; and
· Devices installed throughout the facility will track energy consumption and gauge savings.
Also another interesting note is that the first of two skyways is being built over McDowell Street. The section of the street between Jones and Edenton has been closed on weekends and is causing some traffic delays. Keep this in mind for the next few weeks as the skyway is not finished yet.
What stands to be a great example of smarter development for downtown Raleigh, the still to come The L Building has been on hold for almost two years now. This office over retail project has suffered the same financial difficulties that other canceled or on hold projects have faced.
The L building, in its current plan, will wrap the Wake County parking deck that sits on McDowell Street, shown in the picture above. The deck, built to support the new county Justice Center now under construction, is open and currently in use. While the publicly funded parking deck happened, The L site now lays empty and the developer continues to ask for more extensions to get the books straightened out.
The L, if built, will hide the parking deck along McDowell and Davie Streets but for now we have a rather large gray wall. For almost two years, this wall has been naked but that should change soon.
The latest extension, until May 2013, was approved by the Wake County Board of Commissioners in their December 6th, 2010 meeting with certain conditions. Looking at the meeting minutes, here are some of the more interesting of those conditions:
To the best of my online search abilities, the banner discussion has not made it to the city yet. The relationship with the city and Empire properties is a solid one so there is a good chance it will be approved by them as well. Below is a rendering of the parking deck with the proposed banners.
Expect the naked wall to be covered up in time for Spring this year.
Over the past few weeks, reports of a Hampton Inn Hotel have been reported for Glenwood South. For those that have been following real close for awhile, this is actually nothing terribly new. However, the talk of the hotel comes up again because of a site plan submitted to the city for approval. Download the site plan below or continue reading for some initial thoughts and impressions.
Hampton Inn Glenwood South site plan (pdf)
The Location
The hotel will be placed on the northeast corner of Glenwood Avenue and Johnson Street, or in place of the white brick building shown below. We will lose a few one and two story warehouses with little architectural contribution. The added density will make the Johnson/Glenwood intersection the most urban on Glenwood South.
Visitors leaving the hotel are in a great location to experience downtown Raleigh. With the name being “Glenwood South Hampton Inn”, visitors will expect something from the lineup down the street. Thankfully, within a few blocks there are quite a few options for eating and drinking. To move beyond Glenwood South, one can walk half a block to the deserted R-Line stop on West Street or take the one block scenic route to the R-Line stop on Tucker Street.
The Building
Looking at the simple renderings, the building is nothing to get excited about. A brick box with big letters will sit on the site and try to blend in. Below, I have partial images of the south facing side and the west facing side, respectively. Click on them for a larger, fuller image.
The hotel is in the shape of an L, shown on the map in the site plan. The rear of the building will face the railroad tracks so visitors may have a nice surprise at night. The lobby of the hotel actually faces Johnson street with a curved brick paver for dropping off and picking people up. Facing Glenwood Avenue will be a retail space.
Looking at the plans for the ground floor, there are some amenities that stick out. It looks like there will be a pool and a space adjacent to it; most likely for a gym. The retail space is the entire west facing section, from corner to corner, with a door in the center facing Glenwood Avenue and not on the corner. The service entrance will be down Johnson Street at the end of the building closest to the railroad tracks.
Sidewalks and Streetscapes
According to the site plan, Johnson Street and Glenwood Avenue will get wider sidewalks then currently in place. Brick and concrete will be added from the building to the edge of the curb. Street trees will also be added to both streets with grated wells over the roots.
Currently on Johnson Street there are four power poles next to where the Hampton Inn will go. The site plan shows the outermost poles remaining but the inner two being removed for the brick paver and entry canopy. I’m not quite sure if that means we will see buried power lines entirely or not.
New streetlights and a bike rack will also be installed on Johnson Street.
Extra Thoughts
There’s a nice mural along Johnson Street that will be lost with the building’s demolition. It’s not enough reason to hold up the project by any means but I appreciate that kind of street art and do not want to see clean boxes replace real character in Glenwood South.
One thing I really like about the plan is how parking will be handled. No new parking deck will be built and spaces will be shared with the 510 Glenwood deck. This is a more efficient use of space and easily lowers the cost to the builder. Bravo!
Regardless of a rather unattractive building, we should only wish it success. A hotel breaking ground in Glenwood South shows the momentum that the entertainment district has and if the 126 rooms inside can stay full then someone new will come in and raise the bar sometime down the road. More hotel rooms are needed in downtown and they will help us land larger events at the convention center, which drives more business.