by Leo Suarez

Innovate Raleigh Opens Up 227 Fayetteville Street, Renovations Underway

227 Fayetteville Street, January 2013

Here is some great news for the core of downtown Raleigh. The former Wachovia bank building at 227 Fayetteville Street, the building shown above, was recently bought up and renovations are underway for 110,000 square feet of office space. On top of that, Innovate Raleigh, Raleigh’s public/private partnership in fostering innovation, hosted an event last night to show off the building and how it will be built for technology companies and new startups.

I went down to the event and found a packed house with the usual players and more in our city’s ever growing startup scene. Jesse Lipson, founder of ShareFile, was showing off the new Citrix offices being planned for West Street. Adam Klein talked about American Underground in Durham. These speakers and others told stories to a crowd of close to 200 about what startups are doing across the entire triangle.

227 Fayetteville Street, January 2013

We’ve discussed coworking space, a real incubator for startups, within downtown Raleigh but 227 is a step up. The people behind this building seem to be really tied into the community and this is a perfect spot to pipeline the rising startups out of the small spaces and into real offices. The Fayetteville Street location provides easy access to all of downtown’s services and is a great location to set up shop.

So on to the building itself and the renderings. Key points to notice in these renderings.

  • There is an emphasis on more natural light with many more windows being added.
  • One rendering suggests street level retail along Fayetteville Street which is something the building did not have previously.
  • The office entrance may be that red square along the side of the building. This may leave the Fayetteville Street facing entrance for a future retail space.
  • The outdoor spaces alongside 227 Fayetteville, Exchange Plaza and Market Plaza, may also be getting a facelift.

Rendering of 227 Fayetteville Street
Rendering of 227 Fayetteville Street
Rendering of 227 Fayetteville Street
Rendering of 227 Fayetteville Street
Rendering of 227 Fayetteville Street

by Leo Suarez

Trophy and Crank Arm Bring New Breweries To Downtown Raleigh

Trophy Brewing Company Growler

The craft beer choices within the bars, shops, and restaurants in Downtown Raleigh are some of the most varied and plentiful compared to the rest of the city. Downtown has several bars that only serve craft and there are many occasions where patrons ordering Bud or Miller are trying something new. Coming soon are two new offerings for downtowners to sip on.

Trophy Brewing Company, a new project by those behind the Busy Bee Cafe, will be serving seasonal beers in the former Burger Hut location on Morgan Street. Set to open in February, the small brewery stays true to its homebrew roots.

I stopped by Trophy recently and talked to David Lockwood and Chris Powers about the new place. With a glass of “Batch #1” in my hand, they took me through the tasting room and the brewery room. Brewer Les Stewart was there, wading through a web of wet hoses as he explained their brewing process. “Stainless steel is a beautiful thing,” he said while wrapping up for the day. This guy is genuinely excited about taking on the challenge of running this small brewery.

Size is not something Trophy is concerned about right now, the place is already full of equipment. With that, you’ll most likely only catch Trophy’s beers on Morgan Street. Since experimentation is so key to the guys behind the new brewery, expect new tastes every season by Trophy or through collaborations with others.

Unique to Trophy is also the option of a 32 ounce growler, pictured above. The thought is that smaller amounts will serve drinkers better than the typical 64 ounce sizes since growlers are essentially an open beer bottle so freshness takes a hit.

Trophy Brewing Company

The new bar will cater to the occasional beer drinker as well. A full bar and some wine will also be available. At first, the new place will be open from 5pm to midnight, Sunday to Thursday and closing at 2am on Friday and Saturday nights.

Later this year, expect the entire space to be opened up for more guests as well as some outdoor seating and a kitchen. Food items will include pizza and sandwiches as well as expanded lunch hours.

Pedal Powered Brewery?

Downtown’s Warehouse District is now getting into the brewing process. Crank Arm Brewing Company will open this spring in the former White Collar Crime location on West Davie Street.

The brewery is an extension of the rickshaw company, Crank Arm Rickshaw, which operates all over downtown Raleigh. So now, the guys at Crank Arm will be moving not only people but beer in their rickshaws. From a recent press release,

Beer is delivered via rickshaw or waste veggie-oil powered truck in order to minimize the company’s impact on the planet.

Crank Arm Brewery
Crank Arm’s Future home as seen in December 2012.

In addition to brewing, there will also be tasting on Davie Street as the space will include a bar.

The brewery will open with two staple brews; the Rickshaw Rye, a Rye India Pale Ale, and the White Wall Wit. Four other seasonals will be rotated to give drinkers something new to look forward to throughout the year.

Up until their opening, Crank Arm is giving away rewards for anyone that helps them through their kickstarter campaign. Watch the video below and back them.

If you’d like to try some Crank Arm beer, head down to Raleigh Times tomorrow for their event celebrating the kickstarter.

Beer Tasting / Crank Arm Brewing Kickstarter Launch

Date/Time: Fri., Jan. 25 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The Raleigh Times
14 E Hargett St, Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, NC 27601
919-833-0999

Cheers to all the beer fans out there! I know I’m looking forward to the new spots.

by Leo Suarez

Municipography, Downtown Retail

Municipography is a summary of current issues going through the Raleigh City Council and other municipal departments in the city. The point is to try to deliver any video, photos, and text associated with the discussions happening at City Hall or elsewhere. Since this is a downtown Raleigh blog, the focus is on the center of the city.

Downtown Raleigh Retail

At the Raleigh City Council meeting last week, David Diaz and Paul Reimel from the Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA) gave a report on retail within downtown Raleigh in 2012. We’ve talked about how the retail scene has become more and more noticeable and this data from the DRA supports that.

Below is the video showing their report.

Some highlights from it are:

  • Recognized the positive reaction of the retail community to rehabilitated storefronts and that there is still a need to work on more buildings in downtown.
  • In 2011, there were 83 retail space vacancies, accounting for 10% of inventory. In 2012, 27 of those 83 are now occupied.
  • 2012 also had 38 retail openings, a 28% increase from openings in 2011.
  • With the downtown load program, 3 loans were given for $150,000 total.
  • The loan program had 25 inquiries in 2012, the highest yearly amount yet.
  • Downtown Raleigh Restaurant Week continues to grow and be more popular with each year.

Downtown Remote Operations Facility

The Downtown Remote Operations Facility isn’t directly tied to downtown. This new building, planned along Westinghouse Boulevard near Capital Boulevard and I-440, will instead be the new home for city maintenance trucks. The result is that the city can then vacate the current lot along Peace Street, the site of the old Devereux Meadow baseball park between West Street and Capital Boulevard.

The council approved moving forward with the project. Details below from the agenda.

On September 6, 2011, City Council authorized the City Manager to enter into a contract with Williard Ferm Architects to provide planning and design services, through 50% construction documents, for Phase 1 of the proposed Downtown Remote Operations Facility to be located on the city-owned site east of I-440 between Capital Boulevard and Raleigh Boulevard on the former Westinghouse property.

In addition, a Request for Qualifications to provide Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) services was advertised on October 23, 2012. Eight responses were received and three firms selected for interviews. Interviews were conducted on December 12, 2012, resulting in the recommendation of Brasfield and Gorrie general contractors to provide CMAR services. Brasfield and Gorrie has submitted a proposal of $375,000 to provide the required pre-construction level services.

A status report of the design development effort is being presented to provide an update on the project and to discuss City administration recommended actions to maintain progress related to design and construction.

Recommendation: (1) Authorize proceeding with the proposed Downtown Remote Operations Facility, to include the proposed facility program, site design alternatives, project schedule, and estimated costs. (2) Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Contract Amendment with Williard Ferm Architects to complete construction documents and provide for construction phase services. (3) Authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with Brasfield & Gorrie General Contractors, in the amount of $375,000, to provide pre-construction services sufficient to develop a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for Phase 1 construction of the proposed Downtown Remote Operations Facility. (4) Authorize the following budget transfer from previously approved and completed remote operations facilities to fund additional design and pre-construction services, commissioning services, environmental management, and permitting requirements.

Transfer From:
508-2210-790010-975-CIP00-99150000 $1,200,000
Wilder’s Grove Remote Operations Center

Transfer To:
508-2210-790010-975-CIP00-93960000 $1,200,000
Downtown Remote Operations Center

by Leo Suarez

Powerhouse Plaza Flips From Hotel and Office to Apartments

Corner of West and Jones Street.

Surprise, surprise. Another on-hold project, Powerhouse Plaza, goes the apartment route. The once planned 11-story mixed use building for Glenwood South, at the corner of West and Jones Street, was planned to have retail, office, and possibly a Hyatt hotel. The rendering for the old building still exists on Cline Design’s website so take a peak before it’s updated.

A preliminary site plan was submitted to the city back in December and reveals just a few details about the 203 apartment building, called Link Apartments at Glenwood South. Search the city’s website for “site plan 057-12” or get it direct here. (pdf) [1-31-14 – UPDATE: broken link]

No renderings are included and the overall site plan, of just the first floor it seems, doesn’t show anything too exciting. It’s still early in the process though.

203 apartments directly in Glenwood South is a nice boost of residents and a great way to use the under-utilized space. I’ll be following it.

by Leo Suarez

A Human Definition of Downtown Raleigh

View of downtown Raleigh from Boylan Heights

I had a few exchanges on Twitter recently and the question being discussed was simple. Do you consider Glenwood South to be a part of Downtown Raleigh? This followed with more conversation of what is and isn’t consider to be in downtown.

In cases of real estate or jurisdiction, hard lines specifying what’s in or out are needed. For awhile, I’ve felt that this doesn’t work with locals and visitors. I may have a new way of thinking about this that I want to put on this blog.

I chimed in to the Twitter conversation and gave my personal definition of what areas make downtown. Here’s the short, dictionary-type definition.

Downtown Raleigh is a patchwork of unique, urban districts and the neighborhoods that border them where easy accessibility is possible by all users.

I realize the “downtown or not?” question will always exist but I want to try a different approach to this rather than the traditional “lines on a map” method.

For background, let’s start with the city’s definition. According to iMaps, I’ve redrawn the Downtown Overlay District on this Google Map.


View Downtown Overlay District in a larger map

The railroads must have some influence on this map in some way as most of the west and southern borders are train tracks.

Most of Glenwood South is not considered in downtown but rather a different section called the Pedestrian Overlay District. Not quite the same ring as Downtown but ok.

Next, we have the Downtown Raleigh Alliance and they have broken up the area into districts. The idea of districts have become part of their branding, it’s even in their logo, and terms like Warehouse District and Government District are catching on.

Their site consists of a nice map and with the districts clearly specified. If you are in one of the five districts, you are in downtown.

So finally, I want to remove the maps, remove the boundaries, and try to humanize this a little more.

Downtown Raleigh consists of any areas, blocks, neighborhoods, and buildings that are within the core and around it. I’m loosening the definition a bit because the situation changes for everyone. If you can get out and feel comfortable walking from within the neighborhoods to Fayetteville Street, for example, then you are in downtown. However, if you are at a point where that walk is just a little too much then you are probably located on the fringes or just outside.

This could make a great data visualization project. If the data could be gathered, it would be possible to “draw” what downtown is by the method of how people travel to and within it. Walkers, cyclists, transit riders, and drivers are coming from all over. As you travel away, each method starts to decrease. There are less walkers the further you go. Beyond that, cyclists drop off. Last transit riders aren’t there and only drivers are within reach.

This blog considers downtown Raleigh to be the theoretical area drawn up by all of these travelers together.

I wanted to put this out there as some of you may be interested in a new way of defining Raleigh’s downtown. I also wanted to get this up because I have a feeling I will be referring back to it in future conversations.

Oh, the answer to the original question is yes, Glenwood South is in downtown Raleigh.