Category / New Construction

by Leo Suarez

Finishing Touches Around The Convention Center

Have you checked your calendars? We are three weeks away from Raleigh Wide Open 3 and the opening of the Raleigh Convention Center. The final details outside the center are now being smoothed over and will be ready for your eyes and feet soon.


Paving Salisbury, planting trees, laying bricks and more at the plaza entrance. Click for bigger picture.


After almost three years, McDowell is now walkable again.

Shimmer wall installed, new street/pedestrian lights are up and working.


Installing sidewalk lights in front of the entrance on Salisbury St.


Cabarrus St. will soon have flowing traffic, cars and people.

by Leo Suarez

Say Hello To The 500 Block of Fayetteville St.

This past weekend, there was a small section of sidewalk that was not blocked by the white and orange barriers on Fayetteville St. I’m not sure if that means that the sidewalk is officially open but no one stopped me from walking over and roaming around the 500 block of the street. We all know that this block is only half done as the parking deck across from the Marriott Hotel is under construction, which will then be followed by Charter Square but that is still at least a year away. Here is what to expect in the near future.

Obviously with the parking deck construction, this block is pretty one sided and is dominated by the new Marriot Hotel. There are three elements to the sidewalk; two food shops and the hotel lobby roundabout. The smaller space is occupied by a Starbucks and by the looks of it, it is pretty much ready to go. The much larger space is going to be a restaurant, named Posta, which runs almost the complete length of the hotel. Pedestrians have one access directly into Starbucks or another to the lobby and into Posta. Car access to the roundabout is by Fayetteville St. only. It appears that there is a very wide pedestrian access to Salisbury, and the convention center, between the hotel and BB&T.

Wide pedestrian walkway to the convention center. It also looks like it will be very well lit.

Lots of outdoor seating on this block

Below is the much talked about sidewalk parking deck entrance. This sits across the street from the hotel, on the corner of Lenoir and Fayetteville St. The entrance is covered and provides one elevator and one staircase to the parking below ground. For added convenience, there is also a parking pay station inside.

The streetlights are ready so as soon as Lenoir St. is converted to two-way mode, the hotel will be fully up and running. I’m still curious to know if traffic will flow through the future City Plaza while it is under construction. My instinct says ‘no’ and we will have to wait until Sept. 2009 until Fayetteville St. is drivable from one end to the other.

Sidewalk fountain?

by Leo Suarez

One Year Ago, 222 Glenwood Before and After


222 in July ’07. Posted one year ago.


222 in July ’08. Almost done.

I remember after the warehouse on this spot was demolished that construction seemed to crawl but once the foundation was finished, the parking deck and steel rose rather quickly throughout 2007. Now, 222 Glenwood is almost finished, the sidewalk is open (officially?), and we now have some new retail coming on the ground floor. This includes:

Tobacco Road Sports Café (read their blog)
Hairdos (coming soon pic)
Bruegger’s Bagels
Dunkin Donuts / Baskin Robbins
Gianni & Gaitano’s

Via News & Observer (‘Sports Café’ On Its Way)

by Leo Suarez

Two-way Conversion of Lenoir and South St.

Approved back in September of 2007, the two-way conversion of Lenoir and South streets is another bullet point on the long list of changes that surround the new Raleigh Convention Center. The entire street will not be converted; just a couple blocks around the downtown core. Lenoir will be a two-way street from South Saunders to Wilmington and South will get the same treatment between Dawson and Wilmington. See it on a map.

This is no surprise that these changes are for visitors to easily navigate to and from the new convention center and Marriott hotel. The three major southern downtown entrances are covered with South Saunders, McDowell, and Wilmington streets having two-way access to Lenoir. Dawson St. is a major thoroughfare for visitors coming from the north on Capital BLVD.

New streetlights are up around the convention center on Lenoir St.
by Leo Suarez

The Tucker Construction Update

Two cranes are being used to build what will be the largest apartment building in downtown Raleigh, The Tucker. The renderings on the website suggest that the building will have 3-5 floors depending on which corner you are on. This fits in well with the surrounding houses and shorter buildings. The floor plans also suggest that there will be no ground floor retail, rather apartment units that have sidewalk entrances. Last I heard The Tucker would open up in two phases with the first coming in summer 2009.

Location

The parking deck will be hidden behind the building.
by Leo Suarez

Marriott Hotel Opening in July

The Marriott hotel’s website says that it will be opening in July. This is approximately one month before the convention center is set to open during Raleigh Wide Open III. I think it is safe to assume that Fayetteville St. will be finished if they plan to open next month. Cars will need access to the round lobby driveway on the newer section of Fayetteville St. The parking deck underneath will also need to be finished and access to it is on Lenoir St. so construction there will have to be completed. This works out well because the hotel will have some time to get things up and running before the first convention even starts.

I am very much interested to see what will end up in the “coffee shop” and “restaurant” space on Fayetteville St. according to this floor plan.

The circle driveway

Wide Fayetteville St. sidewalks will look the same

Anxiously waiting for Salisbury St. to open up