Category / Pic of the Week

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Corner of Blount and Morgan Street

The corner of Blount and Morgan is looking very colorful these days.

Marbles have demolished the car service shop here and, for the time being, installed this colorful mural and plaza. It’s a dramatic difference for sure and with evening shade is quite pleasant to walk through.

With expansion plans on the horizon, Marbles is sure to grow and I can’t see it being a total shocker that this lot is a holdover for something much grander down the road.

Kudos to the team behind this install though as it’s a great contribution to downtown’s public space!

by Leo Suarez

Map of the Week

Frequent bus network plan for 2025-2027

Click for larger

There’s a survey out for anyone interested in expanded bus service and bus rapid transit in Wake that readers should probably take a look at. Jump to the survey here.

If you aren’t familiar, plans for expanded transit service will be rolling out between now and 2027. Downtown Raleigh is a central hub of the frequent network with the BRT lines coming in and out of downtown Raleigh. The survey focuses on the bus component only and I’m expecting the commuter rail portion, dropping passengers off at Raleigh Union Station, to come later.

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Boylan Flats under construction. March 2018.

Here’s the latest update on Boylan Flats. The project is still kind of a mystery with no confirmed report of what this 48-unit building will be. The strongest rumor is it is an extended-stay hotel.

That could be the case as there will only be 37 parking spaces, according to the site plan, which is below the residential requirement but above the hotel requirement.

I also think those northern units with the “out-the-window ordering” feature integrated with the McDonald’s drive-thru would not appeal to future condo owners.

We’ll wait and see.

[UPDATE: Mystery solved.]

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

The Metropolitan Apartments under construction. March 2018.

It has been a year since the 2017 fire and things are still not cleaned up on Jones Street.

The Link apartments seem back to normal on the outside and West Street is now open. The Metropolitan, shown above, is rising up again but across the street, there’s still lots of work to be done. The Quorum Center seems to be slowly replacing the entire facade that faces Jones and new brickwork is underway.

The Metropolitan Apartments under construction with the Quorum Center in the background. March 2018.

I can’t pretend to feel what those residents are going through still but I will toast it up tonight and hope that Spring 2018 brings leaves AND residents back to Jones Street.