I was going to piggy-back this with the last post but decided to separate the two. This is just a little snippet of information that I think is important. Since Raleigh is becoming a convention kind of city, with its new convention center opening up next summer, it has now hired a new chief to lead the way. The N&O reports the following:

With Raleigh’s new convention center on track to open in the summer of 2008, the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau has named a new president and chief executive officer.

The new leader, Denny Edwards, was senior vice president for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau for the last 10 years and has 25 years experience in the business. He succeeds Dave Heinl, who started Raleigh’s convention and visitors bureau in 1987. Heinl announced his retirement in August.

Russ Smith, chairman of the Raleigh bureau’s board of directors, said Edwards was named after a national search that included community and business leaders.

…………….

Edwards’ first day will be May 7. He’ll earn an annual salary of $175,000.

With 25 years of experience, I think it’s a great hire and should really put that convention center to good use, as well as helping raise Raleigh’s national prestige. I am from south Florida and continue to visit a few times a year, so I am familiar with the type of market in that area. I am confident that that much experience in a strong, world-class metropolitan area can only be beneficial to Raleigh’s economy.

Things have felt a little slow recently as no major announcements have occurred. It seems that the initial wave of projects of the last few years have gone through all the paperwork and are off the drawing board, becoming a reality. Initial projects that are up and running include The Paramount, The Quorum Center, and Fayetteville Street Phase I. This is just the beginning of a list of new buildings and projects coming to the downtown area.

This year, 2007, will be a year for all the planned projects to grow. We will all see towers and buildings sprout out of the ground and reshape the skyline. Currently, Raleigh is overrun with tower cranes. Construction is everywhere and here is a list I compiled to give you an idea of what to expect throughout the year. These are all estimates but I’m confident they are somewhat correct based on all the activity I have noticed.

· RBC Plaza – 32 story tower will be at its full height before 2008

· Convention Center – Outer shell will be complete

· Mariott Hotel – 16 story hotel will be at full height with outer shell complete.

· City Plaza will be well under construction

· The Lafayette Hotel will finally break ground

· Reynolds Tower – Groundbreaking and less then 10 stories built

· Bloomsbury Estates – Construction of the first building nearly complete

· 222 Glenwood – All 7 floors built with an out shell

· West at North – 15 story condo tower will be at full height

The Fayetteville St. and Glenwood South districts are seeing significant growth. I mentioned the major projects here in this list. There are of course, lots of renovation projects going on along the two districts. We’ll save that list of minor projects for a later post.

So with all the wealth of knowledge I have acquired about the city of Raleigh, I’ve decided to put it all together on this blog. What I really want to do is follow developments as they progress throughout the city, especially in the downtown area. What you’ll see on this blog is a lot of pictures of buildings, lots, construction sites, and perhaps some other general images.

On top of all the cool buildings going up that define the downtown Raleigh structure I want to talk about some of the other cultural aspects of the city. You will be seeing lots of music posts as well. I support the local music venues and try and get out to shows as often as I can. Expect pictures and reviews of random shows throughout Raleigh.

The blog is pretty straightforward and we’ll start things off with events happening this week. Make sure to leave comments and suggestions as I am open for new ideas and projects.