There has been a lot of change along Peace Street this year and Phase 1 of Kane Realty’s development along Peace, as well as Harrington and West Streets, is really starting to take shape.
The apartment building at Peace and West is close to topping out and siding is already starting to go up. The parking deck behind this tower is catching up also.
There will be plenty to watch here into 2019 as the rest of Smokey Hollow unfolds.
Firestone’s downtown Raleigh location has now closed and
This brings it up to three proposed hotels for this block. The “Firestone hotel” will go here, in the southwest corner of the block. We’ve heard for years about a possible Hilton Garden Inn for the southeast corner but still, nothing has taken place. Last, a hotel was proposed for the northwest corner of the block earlier this year.
This cluster of hotels would be great to meet the demand in downtown. Let’s hope construction starts soon rather than being the same-old news of proposals that never happen.
The Moore Square kiosk under construction. December 2018.
As the weather cools down and the leaves start to fall, Moore Square becomes a little clearer to see between the trees and the fencing. I thought it would be a good time to take a walk around the square as we wait for it to reopen sometime early in the new year.
Three major things jump out at as you look around the square. There’s a huge lawn in the middle, the sidewalks are being greatly improved, and the cafe/restroom structure is starting to take shape.
The grass has been put down for the big lawn and the walking paths around it are being put together. The lawn has a slight slope to it which makes it great for laying around or possibly sitting for a small show if a stage is set up at the bottom. This may make the square feel much bigger than it was before.
The sidewalks have been completely overhauled. The corners of the square are spacious with bulb-out sidewalks The angled-parking that used to be along Martin Street is now gone and the sidewalk is being poured over this, making this end of the square feel much larger. Bulb-outs also exist for some of the crosswalks which makes crossing the street much easier.
Through the fence, workers sit for lunch along the new wall seating. The former sidewalk remains as the new sidewalk waits to be poured. December 2018.
The cafe and restrooms are coming together and the faux-stone siding is starting to be installed. The architecture around this should be high-quality and already it looks great. From a distance, it looks like a gathering place that should draw people into the park.
Moore Square cafe being constructed. December 2018.
It’s exciting to see the square come together and the timing seems good to have it open before Spring 2019. Fingers crossed!
510 South Person. November 2018.
A smaller-scale project on the 500 block of South Person Street is currently going through the Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) review process. The developers behind 510 South Person want to demolish the current one-story building here and replace it with a three-story commercial building that could include a restaurant.
When looking at the COA (COA-159-18) case, which is required as the location is inside the Prince Hall Historic District, the new building would not be a contributing structure.
However, when you look at the building that’s currently located here, it isn’t contributing to the historic character either. The cinderblock building currently at 510 South Peron is covered in a faux-stone, stucco exterior and, according to the submitted plans, cannot be renovated.
510 South Person. November 2018.
To the best of my knowledge, this kind of in-fill commercial space hasn’t been done in a long time. It would be great to see more commercial space like this, at a neighborhood scale and in a transitional area between downtown and east Raleigh.
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GoRaleigh is working on the downtown portion of the Wake Transit Plan and there are lots of factors to consider here as additional bus service is in place. The bus-rapid-transit lines have, more or less, been planned but how they connect and transfer in and around the downtown area is still a work in progress.
The large graphic above comes from the latest draft of the plan which you can see here. For my own review, and maybe yours, I’ve chopped up the maps and compiled them into the large graphic above so you can see the plans side-by-side.
BRT is a hot topic over on the Community so I invite others to come discuss this as it will have a pretty sizeable impact on downtown mobility in the future.
The Metropolitan apartments over in Glenwood South is nearing completion. Walking around the area, the new building has a nice mix of materials compared to similar developments. There are a few blank walls that aren’t that exciting but being near all the upcoming retail at Smokey Hollow, residents in this area will probably be thrilled with its location.
Leases are already being signed and new residents may move in at the start of 2019. Once Jones Street is open and neighbors have moved back into the Quorum Center, there will be huge reasons to celebrate here!
See more at their website. www.metropolitanraleigh.com
The first Raleigh bikeshare system, Citrix Cycle, is rolling out with stations being installed in multiple locations. Above, the station for GoRaleigh Station across from Moore Square is in place, minus the bicycles of course. The last update I heard is that the system should be available for use before the end of the year.
See more about the system including the full map of stations over at Citrix Cycle.
700 block of Hillsborough Street. October 2018.
More renderings and plans are being submitted for the Heritage Properties developments along Hillsborough Street. Readers might already be familiar with the soon-to-be-completed office tower, One Glenwood, and the second tower is coming soon with Two Hillsborough. The two towers will have a plaza in between, mid-block, with retail supporting a lively sense of place.
The latest renderings show the two towers with the plaza in between.
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The collection of towers is being called Bloc 83 according to the latest submissions. The third piece of the puzzle is a parking deck with ground-floor retail. Located on the 700 block of Hillsborough Street, the former auto shop and next-door house are slated to be removed for the new deck. The deck’s 693 spaces are most likely going to support Bloc 83. You can spy the deck in the renderings above.
The site plan looks pretty typical but with retail along both Hillsborough Street and a part of Boylan. Entrances to the deck will be on both Hillsborough and Boylan Avenue. Below is a snapshot of that site plan.
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I can’t help but roll my eyes at more parking decks especially when you consider that one has already been built behind the Origin Hotel across Morgan by the same developers. I believe between the two decks there will over 1,000 spaces provided.
However, as I look at the plans and where we’re coming from, the new office towers moves the needle just a little bit towards a more urban and transit-friendly Raleigh. The parking decks are just a bridge that helps us connect to the rest of the region.
The way retail space really surrounds the outside and inside of Bloc 83, even in the parking deck, feels hugely positive. If the landlords can land some service retail and add to downtown’s plentiful list of tasty places to eat then by all means, bring it on.
The vibe on the Community is a tad negative over another parking deck but does give more reason to support pro-transit and pro-bike orgs to keep the mobility options varied in and around downtown Raleigh. As for me, I’m seeing a future where I spend more time in this area compared to what was there and I think others may agree also.
As One Glenwood wraps up over the next few months, I expect work on the rest of Bloc 83 to take place in 2019.