by Leo Suarez

New Signage To Help Out The College Kids

Well not just for the college kids but I guarantee you if you ask a bunch of them on a Wednesday night at Rum Runners, they will have no idea how to get home. There is even a facebook group entitled “Been to Rum Runners a million times and still don’t know how to get there”.

Anyway, so I have heard people complain about how driving around downtown is confusing and that they always get lost. The city wants to try and change that by helping people navigate their way to attractions and parking decks. RalCon is here for that also and I’ve got plans for a nice interactive map showing you where the hot spots are but that project is still in the works. The N&O has got the scoop here. Some quotes:

The city paid a consulting firm $200,000 to come up with recommendations and design signs for its “way-finding” capital improvement project. The firm, Corbin Design of Traverse City, Mich., proposed navy blue and white signs with an oak leaf motif to guide people — in cars and on foot — to downtown attractions and parking.

City officials hope to have many of the new signs in place by the time the new convention center opens late next summer and are eager for public input, said Elizabeth Alley, the city planner who is managing the way-finding project.

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Downtown’s system of one-way streets can intimidate newcomers, the consultant said, recommending that Blount, Person, Edenton and Morgan/New Bern be converted to two-way.

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Altogether, the city has budgeted $1 million for the way-finding project, spread over three years. The biggest chunk, $500,000, is included in the 2007-08 budget.

by Leo Suarez

RBC Plaza Update

There has not been much talk over the construction progress of RBC Plaza so I’d like to update everyone on this. I believe the tower has finished the first phase of construction. The four phases of the tower are a RalCon exclusive so here is how I’m breaking up the construction progress:

Phase I: Floor 1-9, ground floor retail + 8 floors of parking deck
Phase II: Floor 10-21, office component
Phase III: Floor 22-33, residential component
Phase IV: Tower crown and final touches

Phase I is almost done. Currently the ground for the first office floor (floor 10) is being built. Once this has been finished we should really see the building take off as the need for concrete lessens and the tower slims down. As it grows, we will also see the tower crane grow alongside it. Temporarily, the crane will be the tallest structure ever to be in downtown Raleigh. Updated pics below.

by Leo Suarez

Downtown Apartments On The Rise

There’s an article in the N&O about how apartments are on the rise in downtown. They say that higher interest rates and a growing downtown work force are to blame. This is good news for the downtown area as rental units are definitely needed. I really think that the planned apartments will do very well and may perhaps spur more development. With all these apartments coming, more people who do not want to commit so much time and money into a condo can move downtown. Some quotes from the article:

At least 179 apartments are planned and another 250 could be on the way in the biggest wave of apartment projects the downtown area has ever seen.
Crosland is expected to be first in. The Charlotte developer plans to begin next month on 179 apartments at Boylan Avenue and Tucker Street.
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There are at least 18,000 downtown workers within a one-mile radius of downtown’s center — up 16 percent from two years ago, according to estimates by booster group Downtown Raleigh Alliance. The work force is projected to grow at least 23 percent in the next two years. Meanwhile, the number of bars and restaurants in the Glenwood South entertainment district has doubled to about three dozen since 2001, and more are coming.
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Now, Crosland estimates it will ask roughly $1,200 a month for a 1,000-square-foot apartment — 46 percent more than the regional average for the same-size unit. Smaller units will go for $650.

by Leo Suarez

Buckhead Opens Up With a Bang! (And lots of antlers)

I went out with some friends last night to the Depot Party and we were all extremely disappointed. At around 7:30 there were about 20 people there, no exaggeration. After one beer and a free health drink, that tasted horrible by the way, we left the ghost town and walked over to Buckhead Saloon. We had our memberships that we received in the mail, which got us in to the party.

I’ve been to Jillian’s multiple times in the past so I was interested in seeing what has been changed. For those that know the setup, Buckhead did not use the large warehouse where all the pool tables used to be. You walk in through the outdoor entrance next to the sand court. The back bar/club was also not used. No word on whether it will be used in the future but if anyone knows or sees more while visiting Buckhead, make sure to comment.

The outdoor patio was simple with plenty of seating and tables where the outdoor dance floor used to be. The sand volleyball court was stripped of the net and the classic shark that comes out of the wall. As people showed up, the outdoor tubs were opened up and beer was given away in exchange for money.

A mountain lodge from deep in the forests of North Carolina has somehow crash landed in downtown Raleigh. Buckhead has done a complete overhaul on the interior of the warehouse and has covered all the walls with enough wood to make you think you are in a log cabin. They even like to blast the air conditioning to give you that cold mountain feel (not really but it was a lil chilly in there). The old circle bar still remains from the Jillian’s setup with plasma TV’s up high playing ESPN. The bar was complemented with two other siblings on each end of the warehouse. The old video game room was now filled with a couple pool tables and a lounge area. Video games still lurk about, so if you want to do some deer hunting, it’ll cost you a dollar. The larger room had a small stage and enough room for a band. They also had DJ speakers hanging from the ceiling so they may have a club night during the week. This mix of live and DJ music is appropriate for this kind of setup. There are larger projection screens on the wall so there is no excuse to miss a game while you are there. There also is no excuse to not know what a dead animal looks like; there are multiple corpses of moose and deer plastered throughout the walls, reminding us all that if you drink and drive, you’ll be just as dead as they are.

I had fun at Buckhead last night, probably because I ran into some cool people. Even though Buckhead is not my style, and I waited way to long to get a drink which I have a big problem with written about here, I liked the place overall and wish it success. I’ve always thought that the Jillian’s warehouse has huge potential for some larger event so I hope Buckhead can deliver.

by Leo Suarez

Wake County Wants In, Builds Downtown

Hopefully by now we are all done mourning the loss of King’s on McDowell St. I hate that an original place and music venue was destroyed to make room for government offices, but I guess that’s progress.

Anyway, King’s has been demolished and there are plans for the site at the corner of Davie St. and McDowell St. A mixed-use building with offices and ground floor shops will occupy the space. Here is some information from the city’s website:

The project would be on 1.74 acres in the northeast quadrant of the downtown block bounded by Davie Street on the north, McDowell Street to the east, Cabarrus Street on the south and Dawson Street to the west. Planned are a 989-space, nine-level parking deck and a mixed-use development consisting of 109,513 square feet of office space and 11,341 square feet of retail space. The site currently is mainly composed of surface parking lots, although a few buildings would have to be demolished to accommodate the project.

I remember the original plan included some condos but that has changed. I like the fact that there is ground floor retail, rather then a solid wall adding nothing to the street presence and livability of downtown. With a good mix of shops, this site could be the spot to pre-game before clubbing in the warehouse district. No plans for the shops have been announced but it is still early. Below are some updated pics of the demolished site as well as the renderings of the finished project, the deck should be open for use late 2008 with the entire project finished sometime in 2009.


The view walking down Davie St.


The view off of McDowell St.

by Leo Suarez

Sidetrack Brewpub Gets Sidetracked

There’s really nothing new to report about on the Sidetrack Brewpub, which is being planned at the intersection of Boylan Ave. and Hargett St. Last year, word on the street was that it was supposed to open in the summer of 2007, which if you check your calendar, the time has come. However, the bar has not opened and here is a note taken off of their website posted back in April:

UPDATE: 04/23/2007 – The Sidetrack Brewpub is not yet open for business. As of late April, we have received the plan submittal back from the City of Raleigh. After addressing their modest comments we will resubmit for permit and then be under construction soon afterward. The opening date is about 6 months away, or in the fall.

Sidetrack has some great potential. If you look at the website, you can see the renderings and the layouts. The outdoor patio will have a stellar view of the skyline. The view from the Boylan Ave. bridge is one of the best and is my favorite spot to take pictures of the skyline. I hope Sidetrack gets going soon so we all can enjoy the outdoor patio before it gets too cold. The Bloomsbury Estates residents may be frequenting this bar to the max.

Location.