Category / New Construction

by Leo Suarez

Project Highlight: Charter Square

Charter Square will consist of two towers located on the southern end of Fayetteville St. across from the new Marriott Hotel. You can thank Craig Davis Properties for these beauties as they will have, from their website [Update: Broken link]:

…two towers, constructed of natural stone and glass. Building One will consist of approximately 405,000 square feet of office, retail and residential space on 21 floors. Building Two will consist of 30,000 square feet of retail space with 120 residential units above the retail. The buildings will sit atop a 690 space underground, city operated parking deck and approximately 600 spaces will be reserved for the building’s office tenants. The towers will be adjacent to Raleigh’s new convention center, as well as numerous restaurants, retail and cultural venues.

The underground parking deck is currently under construction so until then we can enjoy these renderings of Raleigh’s front row.


North tower


South tower

by Leo Suarez

Shimmer Wall Video

The shimmer wall was officially turned on last night and there was a party held on Cabarrus St. to see the lighting. I’m, for the most part, always pretty positive about things in downtown Raleigh but I was disappointed in what I saw.

I later found out that the shimmer wall looks great if you are close up. Walking down McDowell St. you can really see the lights pop. However, if you walk one block west, for example, the colors are faded and it also looks like there is a dead zone near the top.

We still love Cree for the donation but from talking to people out at the event last night, the consensus was disappointment.

Thanks to Proactive Busybody and The Kitch for contributing.

by Leo Suarez

Lots of RTN Video For Your Labor Day Staycation

For those of you leaving town this weekend, you are excused from this exercise. For the rest of the DT Raleigh staycationers that want more online Raleigh material, there are lots of videos on the Raleigh city website for your viewing pleasure. The video of the month contains lots of videos for the month of August. You can get some information about the convention center, Raleigh Wide Open, and the shimmer wall to name a few topics. This will prepare you for the week ahead. I’m sure you can guess what we will be talking about in the coming days right?

Video of the month page – RaleighNC.gov

Note: Videos work much better in Internet Explorer.

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?