Category / News

by Leo Suarez

Upcoming: Smokey Hollow, Peace Street, and Seaboard Station

This is what it is like to take a walk downtown with @dtraleigh

A photo posted by Jennifer Suarez (@jenniferraleigh) on

Readers of the blog should not be surprised that there is a lot of momentum coming soon to Peace Street. The Smoky Hollow project near Peace and West, Devereux Meadow park, the new Capital Boulevard bridge, and new developments in Seaboard Station, including a Harris Teeter, are all going to dramatically change the look of Peace Street.

I went out there to take photos and I’m putting some lengthier stuff together, which I hope to finish soon.

Speaking of the bridge over Peace, put August 18 on your calendar as a public meeting about the Capital Boulevard bridge replacement project is planned.

Stay tuned.

by Leo Suarez

New Office Space Coming to the Former Dr Pepper Warehouse on Dawson Street

Former Dr Pepper Bottling Plant on Dawson Street

Former Dr Pepper Bottling Plant on Dawson Street

The former Dr Pepper Bottling Plant is being renovated for new office space. The recruiting firm Personify will be moving about 70 employees to the new space on Dawson Street from their current Cary location.

Maurer Architecture has a great blog post about the work taking place at the site and I recommend readers jump over to see more.

The new mezzanine structure will connect to the existing second story which once held the bottling offices. The original second story faced Dawson Street and was closed off to the adjoining gable-roofed warehouse space. Now the upper wall between the two spaces has been eliminated and the mezzanine will provide a nice full height connection between the entry level and the upper story.

*Former Dr. Pepper Bottling Facility

The building is owned by Empire Properties and their site says that the building was built in 1935. It operated as the Dr Pepper Bottling Plant for almost 40 years.

From what I’ve read, they hope to have Personify in there sometime this summer.

by Leo Suarez

Market and Exchange Plazas Now Complete

Exchange Plaza

Setting up for the official opening of the new Exchange and Market Plazas

The new Exchange and Market Plazas are finally complete and the city held a ribbon cutting ceremony for them in late April. To the best of my knowledge, the last traces of the former Fayetteville Street Mall are now gone.

The plazas really are a fantastic space and for those that don’t know, these areas are city right-of-way and not privately owned. At one point in time, they were streets connecting Fayetteville and Wilmington Streets but have since been converted to pedestrian-only areas.

Below are five before and after photos. Enjoy!

Exchange Plaza
Excchange Plaza
Exchange Plaza

Exchange Plaza
Exchange Plaza

Exchange Plaza
Exchange Plaza

Market Plaza
Market Plaza
Market Plaza

Market Plaza
Market Plaza

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Killo Pest Control

This may not be new news but it is new for the site and for readers to start following. It was reported back in January of this year that the site of Killo Pest Control, at the corner of Martin and Person Streets, was sold to the same developer behind The Lincoln for $1.1 million.

Important to note is that the 0.21 acre site, shown above, is surrounded by over 2 acres of city-owned land, which they have shown interest in stirring new development here. The Moore Square redesign, planned to start this summer, is most likely meant to be that catalyst that gets this area going.

Below is map of the block sitting to the east of Moore Square with some labeling in color. The map was taken from iMaps.

  • Orange: Killo Pest Control
  • Yellow: Owned by City of Raleigh
  • Red: Owned by others

That block is all set for new buildings. It’ll be interesting to watch.

by Leo Suarez

Downtown’s Premier Smartphone App is Ready for Download

(If you can’t see the embedded video, click here.)

This week, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance has launched a smartphone app for Downtown Raleigh. It is ready for your consumption on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

The app brings together a variety of features. In addition to listing downtown retail and restaurants, the app is helpful in navigation. The app is one of the best guides on parking and getting directions to and from destinations. It can also alert you about street closures.

This is fantastic to see in the wild and I hope it becomes a companion to all downtowners and visitors.

by Leo Suarez

RalCon Turns Nine

Downtown Raleigh seen from Peace and West Street, April 2008

Click for larger

Today marks nine years of blogging here at ye olde blog. The most notable accomplishment in the last year was hitting 1,000 posts but nine straight years of keeping this thing moving has been pretty rewarding.

For those that don’t know, this blog is a side project, a way to flex my writing muscle, play with my camera a bit, tinker with web development, and just get conversations going about our city’s urban core. This site is fueled by passion but also by those that participate by commenting and your emails.

Thank you, readers for sticking with me.

Above is a photo from the vault. It’s a view of downtown Raleigh from West Street, north of Peace, taken in April, 2008.