Category / Retail

by Leo Suarez

RBC Deck Update

While we’ve all been watching the crown and spire rise up on RBC Plaza, its parking deck accomplice has been slowly cleaning up. On Blount St., the sidewalk should open up soon as brick and concrete have been laid. There are still more touches needed to the façade but for the most part, we can see what this end will look like. The Wilmington St. side needs a little more work as the façade is still bare and the sidewalk is all clay with a huge hole in one area.

It looks like each side mirrors the other. There is space for one, maybe two retail spaces on each end. This is sandwiched in between the entrance/exit for cars and the stairwell/elevators.

Blount St.

Wilmington St.

by Leo Suarez

National Art Interiors Moving [UPDATE 4-7-08]

I heard this rumor and walked by this weekend to see if it was true. National Art Interiors will be moving from their location at 530 Hillsborough St. Unfortunately I could not go in and ask for more details; I was there on Sunday and they were closed. If any news pops up about a new tenant for this prime location, I’ll update this post.

[UPDATE 4-7-08]
In case you were wondering where the new location will be:

by Leo Suarez

Triangle Segway Opens Up

I recently threw up a post about a segway shop opening in downtown. After hearing that Triangle Segway had opened their doors I went over to their shop in City Market to see these two-wheeled gizmos in action. Owners Todd and Sandy moved to Raleigh from California and have brought something new to our list of downtown entertainment options. I want to thank them for letting me ride one around. I had never ridden one before but I picked up on it easily and within minutes was doing figure eights in the store.

Segways are the perfect way to explore downtown. You miss a lot when inside a car or bus and walking can get time consuming, plus only the most hardcore walkers could pull off seeing it all in one day. These actually make the ridiculous walking tour doable, which took me four or five walking trips to get all of the pictures. With a segway, I could have knocked it out in an afternoon.

I’m rounding up a crew to go out and do the tour so I’ll post my experience afterwards. If anyone has done it, please comment. Leading the tour is a local resident with, how Sandy put it, “an encyclopedia of knowledge” about the area. If you are in City Market just stop in and give it a try. It will win you over like it did me. Oh right, they also sell these things too. The details:

Tour highlights: Fayetteville St., State Capitol, Governor’s Mansion, Oakwood and Mordecai.
Hours: Tues-Sun 11am and 2pm. Reservations Required.
Price: 2 hour tour for $55 a person

Triangle Segway
327 Blake St.
Raleigh, NC 27601
919-828-1988
www.trianglesegway.com

by Leo Suarez

Triangle Segway Moving Into City Market

This was an interesting find. Thanks goes out to Ginny From The Blog, a fellow blogeague, for letting me use her camera that night.

It looks like a Segway shop is opening up in City Market. I’ve seen similar shops in urban areas around the country and their main service is to rent out these two-wheeled contraptions. There currently are officers on segways in downtown and you can usually see them during large events. Are these the replacements for the horses?

I have never ridden one but I’m sure curiosity will take over, especially on a nice spring day, and I’ll give one a ride. Maybe one day we’ll have downtown segway tours like the one I saw in Washington DC.

by Leo Suarez

The State of Glenwood South

The weather was great this weekend so I took the time to go through Glenwood South and check up on all the projects. You get a different view of things during the day compared to at night when I usually have a few pints in me. This list should cover all the highlights and take us into next year.

222 Glenwood

Remember how this seven story condo project was a flat wasteland for so long and progress seemed so incredibly slow last year? Those days are done and 222 Glenwood keeps on taking a new form. We’ve come a long way and the outer façade is being built all around the building. Windows and balcony doors are in place. The parking deck, for the most part, looks finished with a second entrance now off Jones St., next to 518 West. Brick has been going up for the past few weeks and should finish on the Glenwood facing side. Take note that the exterior is not entirely brick. Here is the building rendering off their website.



630 North

This one kind of fell off the radar and the church still sits on the site. The poster for the condo/office building is there so maybe one day we’ll see this one rise up. And yes, this is a church that will be destroyed but read up on the situation first. Sounds like a good deal to me. Website info.

West at North

I reported earlier about the progress at West. It is cool to see this one top out before the end of the year. See for yourself!

Solas

You know, I’m a fan of the dark, gray brick. Once the glass gets put in it will really start to look like the rendering. If I was the developer I would get this thing up and running before it starts to get warm in the spring.

The Lofts at Glenwood South

I posted before that no activity was happening. I guess I spoke to soon because there is now foundation work occurring at the site. I think they were planning for phase I to open in summer of 2008. I would bet against this unfortunately. Website info.


Glen on Peace

Nada.

Peace Street

Peace St. still looks like crap. The Streetscape project cannot come any sooner.

Retail

  • A nutrition store has opened right on glenwood, very convenient to anyone that works out at Peak Fitness. All Pro Nutrition has opened this newest location at 402 Glenwood.
  • I’m really not into fashion or trendsetting but if you are, Catch 22 seems like the place for you and I believe this store recently opened up. This sort of reminds me of the late night boutiques on south beach Miami or what I would imagine in trendy Los Angeles. After researching a bit, I was right. The website states, “Inspired by LA boutique style, Heather Long bridges the gap between Raleighwood and Hollywood.” I think Heather Long is bold for opening up her shop here in downtown. At this point, any retail in Glenwood south is a pioneer and I hope success for Catch 22.
  • I have always thought that The Paramount was a condo only building. I stumbled upon a very small retail store, maybe 250-300 sq. ft., on the corner of Boylan and Johnson St. I have no idea what kind of store could work here. It is currently empty. Maybe if RalCon takes office space, this might be something worth looking into.

Bars/Restaurants

  • The restaurant, Globe, has opened up in the space next to Red Room. From what I can see, it looks very nice. They do not have a website but the Downtown Raleigh Alliance describes them as “Eclectic, New American”. I’ll add it to the to-do list.
  • The George still has an “Opening Soon” sign. Zspotlight claims that they will have a New Year’s Eve party. Not sure where to go with this one.
  • The Pourch and The Bassment have taken over the old Aura and Rush spaces. Every night I’m out there, I continue to see emptiness. Has anyone seen differently?

by Leo Suarez

Study on Retail Variety Downtown

WRAL had an article over the weekend about the need for a more diverse retail market downtown and how $32 million is lost to businesses outside the area. Here is the video ran during their broadcast.

I think the study is pretty legitimate and does show a slight problem in the downtown retail market. I have confidence in the Downtown Raleigh Alliance that they will address these issues and try to help drop this number. I think it will naturally take care of itself with the rise in office and big rise in residential numbers.

We really need to look at the big picture here; that there is a small urban seedling, slowly growing amongst a forest of sub-urban communities. This urban lifestyle is starting to get everyone’s attention and there is a significant amount of people that are either scared of it, too lazy to enjoy it, or simply just do not understand how to handle it. I’ve met numerous people that prefer to stay away from downtown because of the area’s supposed ‘problems’ but no area in Raleigh is perfect and we all live we some ‘problems’ in our area, just depends on who you ask I guess.

Let’s take Mr. Nesrallah, the owner of America’s Pita Grill, quoted right in the WRAL article. For the record, APG is a good place, I’ve eaten there before and the two guys working there are nice and pretty laid back. He is quoted as have racked up $365 in parking tickets. I’m sorry Mr. Nesrallah but I’m going to have to call you out. I see you every morning parking right in front of APG and your car is there all day. OF COURSE YOU ARE GOING TO GET PARKING TICKETS!!!! Please, take a look around and notice that your business is located in a parking deck. If you get a $12 parking ticket every weekday, that’s about $240 a month. The Alexander square deck has monthly parking spaces for $120, but if you wait until 9:00 pm, you can leave the deck for free. Too late for you? The Moore Square deck, one block away, has spots for as low as $45 a month or you can wait until 7:00 pm and leave without paying a penny to park downtown. Downtown does not owe you a VIP spot right in front of the shop when 5 and 7 story parking decks are practically on top of you.

I’ve met people that hate downtown, some for good reasons others for ignorant reasons, but if you are reading this post, I may be able to assume you support our downtown or are at least interested. I always hear the same complaints; 1) There is nowhere to park 2) Nothing is open 3) There are too many vagrants 4) There is too much crime. Downtown does not need to change, Raleigh residents need to grow up and learn that 1) there IS parking, just not right in front of the building 2) there ARE places open and as downtown grows there will be more options 3) there are just as many vagrants as any other city, we are not an exception, and if you have some street smarts you will know what to do 4) downtown, statistically, is one of the safest places in the city, believe it.

This is all occurring because Raleigh’s growth but I believe things will get better and people will eventually learn and support our downtown. If you think I’m crazy then fine, I respect everyone’s opinion. Just be proud of the city you live in and know that downtown is the area most looked at by visitors.

by Leo Suarez

Discussion: City Plaza

There is a really good article in The Independent about city plaza. I like the discussion about the impact the four pavilions may have on the street feel, whether it will actually feel like an open space or just a block with shops. It’s hard to really predict what the current layout will feel like once it is built but the idea of the space being too crowded never crossed my mind. If you go to the city’s website and look at the renderings, the pavilions do not take up that much space but may detract from the purpose of the plaza. I welcome other opinions on this topic but want to say that I am in full support of the city plaza design and its four pavilions. However, I think to some degree, the 500 block of Fayetteville St. will not be the grand gathering space that the city intends it to be.

If the goal of this area and the plaza design is to create a large gathering place, the “living room” of downtown Raleigh as mentioned before, I believe the people in charge are a bit off target. Fayetteville St. will run right through this plaza up to Lenoir St. Even with no cars parked on this block, there will still be a sense of division between the two sides and people may feel like they are simply gathering on a huge sidewalk. But with the art, the fountains, and lawn elements the plaza may still be a success and draw a crowd because of its heightened aesthetic qualities over other parts of downtown.

The permanent pavilions are important because they offer a more stable service to the plaza. The mentioned alternative was to take out the pavilions and have room for tents that can be taken down in case of large events like concerts and parades. I believe the pavilions are the way to go. There are much more days in a year with regular foot traffic and frequent potential customers downtown then there are events. Even though the events may bring much more traffic to the plaza, I believe that the majority of this traffic does not come downtown as often when compared to residents and office workers. Besides, is it worth getting rid of the pavilions so that an extra, say 100 people, can fit on Fayetteville St. for a parade that only occurs once or twice a year?

I believe the plaza is a focal point downtown, but will not become something that is talked about by visitors. Like I said, I support the current plaza design 100% but do not feel it will be downtown Raleigh’s ‘living room’. It is just a result of the growth in the area and it can happen anywhere else. When someone drives down Fayetteville St. they will notice the art and how nice the area looks but forget about it 5 minutes later when they get on the beltline. Re-name it Hannover Square and call me when ‘Raleigh Grand Plaza’ is in the works on the future site 2 and 3 (my wish anyway).