by Leo Suarez

East Coast High Speed Rail Conference

We’ll stick with the rail discussion carried over from last week but move from local to regional. Tonight at the Fletcher Opera house will be a conference discussing the possibility of a high-speed rail line for the east coast. The N&O highlights the event:

National rail industry and transportation leaders are coming to Raleigh for a daylong conference Monday to discuss prospects for fast passenger and freight train service that has been proposed for the East Coast.

Monday’s conference, titled “High Speed Rail for the East Coast — It’s Time,” runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fletcher Opera Theatre, 2 E. South St., Raleigh. A fee is charged. Registration details are online at www.wtsncevents.org.

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“Our goal is to continue to build the support that is necessary for implementing high-speed rail as a relief measure for our over-capacity roads and air-quality challenges,” said Julie E. Hunt of the Women’s Transportation Seminar of North Carolina, organizer of the event.

This probably coincides with Virginia and North Carolina’s study of a high speed rail line between Richmond and Raleigh. You can see more about this proposal here. The southeast high speed rail line would be pretty influential. This would create alternative modes of travel to larger cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte, and Washington DC. If this plan is implemented like the website says, it would make Raleigh a hub, with trains flowing north, south, and west.

by Leo Suarez

Rail Transit Soon To Launch………

….in Charlotte! Yeah this is a downtown RALEIGH blog but after seeing the tracks out there in the queen city and the videos below, I feel I need to give a shout out. The trains are currently being tested and will see commuters riding next month. I hope that this train line in Charlotte is successful and that the triangle can implement such a project to improve our worsening traffic. I’m a big fan of an efficient transit system that is convenient and widely supported; something this area lacks so much. This is probably the number one thing that frustrates me about the area. Anyway, watch the video and read up on Light Rail Transit. Do you think Raleigh is ready for a system like this?

by Leo Suarez

Blount Street Commons

For some background information on this project, this post is required reading. Some of the information is slightly old but the end result is the same nonetheless.

The picture below shows the area I’m referring to. Construction fencing surrounds almost the entire block, the parking lots have been cleared, and some have even been scrapped away. This picture I copy and pasted together, (yeah I’ve got skill) shows the google view of the block next to the planned view from the livable streets website.

I like what I see, less pavement and more green, plus more dense residential development. This may not be high-rise condo living but it is still urban living, being so close to downtown. The Blount Street Commons area should really turn into its own community as it gets closer to completion.



by Leo Suarez

Another Hillsborough St. Tower

Hillsborough St. is on fire! The N&O reports of another tower in the works at the corner of West and Hillsborough.

A group including former Raleigh Mayor Smedes York wants to build an eight- to 10-story building including shops topped with offices, residences or both on the block southwest of the intersection of Hillsborough and West streets in downtown Raleigh.

HBS Properties, which is represented by York Properties, has assembled all but two of the 10 tracts on the 1.15-acre block.

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Once that’s settled, the single-story storefronts dating to the 1930s could meet with the wrecking ball.

HBS is considering street-level shops with offices and residences — likely rentals — on top. Or just shops and offices.

York hopes to begin building within a year. The project would take 18 months to finish.

Kind of sad to see the old shops get torn down but that area always seems dead and the shops continue to remain empty. Along with all the other announcements that are coming to Hillsborough St., it will become the link between Fayetteville St. and the Glenwood South area.

by Leo Suarez

Downtown Walking Tour (part 3)

Here is the third set of 10 pictures from the Downtown Raleigh Walking Tour. You can really tell how different the pictures look in the winter then if taken in the summer. When the trees have their leaves, they block most of the sites and it is hard to get the whole building into the frame. Most of these pictures were also taken by my much smaller camera, with no zoom by the way, so the picture quality is modest. The newer ones that I am taking now are with a much better camera. The State Bank was a tough one because it had trees in the way, plus its in a difficult location.

I may wait a month or so for the leaves to fall before I continue taking pictures of the walking tour. I think I prefer the pictures to be without any leaves obstructing the view. What do you prefer?

21. Horton-Beckham-Bretsch House (c. 1890)

22. White-Holman House, “White Hall” (c. 1799)

23. Montgomery House (1906)

24. Haywood Hall (c. 1799)

25. State Bank of North Carolina (1833)

26. Christ Episcopal Church (1854)

27. Richard B. Haywood House (1854)

28. North Carolina Museum of History (1994)

29. Agriculture Building (1923)

30. Labor Building (1888)

by Leo Suarez

[UPDATED] Press Conference: Campbell Law Moves Downtown

I’ve been waiting patiently at work to hear about Campbell’s announcement of moving their law school downtown. Mayor Meeker gave the announcement on the capitol grounds today at 10:00 A.M. Yesterday, officials from the school were downtown and were taking pictures of The Hillsborough Place building at 225 Hillsborough St. The rumor was that this building will be sold to Campbell early next year. It looks like this has now become more concrete but no real details yet, just speculation. From the WRAL article:

Raleigh — City officials confirmed Thursday that Campbell University’s law school would relocate to a downtown Raleigh office building by 2009.

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Raleigh is the largest state capital in the U.S. without a law school.

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Essary, Campbell University President Jerry Wallace and other faculty members were downtown Wednesday afternoon, having their photo taken in front of Hillsborough Place, the office building at the corner of Hillsborough and Dawson streets that will house the law school.

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Tenants of the building, which is owned by former state lawmaker Art Pope, said they were notified by letter Wednesday that the 107,000-square-foot building would be sold to Campbell by early next year.

View Larger Map

[UPDATE]The News & Observer also has an article about the move. They have the same information but add to it somewhat. Read it here.

A letter to tenants of the building had said that the sale
should be final by March; renovations will begin next summer.

The move will bring an infusion of young people to the state capital just months before the city plans to open its new $221 million convention center, a Marriott Hotel and an underground parking garage.

In all, $2.5 billion in private and public investment is being pumped into downtown. Supporters say those efforts to remake Raleigh into a 24-hour city are working.


Wow, that investment number just keeps going up. I remember in 2005 when it was just $1 billion in investments. Campbell made a great move here. 350 students plus faculty and staff will be a big boost to the downtown area. Having met some students who go to the law school currently, I can say this move will be a step in the right direction to get more life downtown after work hours and weekends. Here’s the most important question of the day; when students are burned out from all that reading, what bar will you find them all hovering over some pints?

by Leo Suarez

Reynolds Tower

WRAL has an article on the newest plans for ‘The Hillsborough’ that will be at 301 Hillsborough St. This is the same project that has been going on since the Reynolds, who brought us the Quorum Center, purchased the lot back in 2001. It was earlier called ‘The Raleigh’ but I think ‘The Hillsborough’ is still not an original name. Watch the video for picks of the renderings. I mentioned this project before in this post but have to ask, will this finally be the end and we will start seeing construction?

Raleigh — Plans have been filed for a 23-story mix of retail shops, a hotel and condominiums at the corner of Dawson and Hillsborough streets in downtown Raleigh.

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Attorney Ted Reynolds is developing the $65 million project, which will include 17,500 square feet of retail space, a 136-room hotel and 26 condos on the top floors. He earlier proposed offices in the building but recast the project in recent months.