by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Email readers: This blog post has a virtual reality image. Read the post on the blog to see it. Click Here.

Dillon. #downtownraleigh

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I’m getting lots of love on the above photo I posted on Instagram and wanted to share it here on the blog. The portico at the corner of West and Martin is pretty striking and screams industrial. It has a great look and feel, showing off the “guts” of the brick warehouse. It brings it outward for a passerby to enjoy.

In addition, I popped a 360 photo of the portico for readers to see also. Enjoy!

by Leo Suarez

Historic Homes Should Be Saved After Council Approves Land Sale

Old homes along West Street, planned for demolition.

Old homes along West Street, planned for demolition.

The two houses in the photo above should be saved after all. The city council last week approved the sale of city-owned land along Bloodworth Street to become the new home for these two houses. March 19 was the demolition date for them so this comes quite a bit close but hopefully, with this approval, everything goes smoothly.

The houses were planned to be demolished to make way for The Fairweather, a five-story condo project. A Raleigh citizen pitched a plan to move the houses into the Prince Hall Historic district, the site of the city-owned parcels, but the land sale had to be approved by council. At first try in December 2017, it was not approved.

For a detailed review of the story, jump back to this December 2017 post.

The city council video of the discussion is embedded below. I’m going to leave the politics for the comments or a future reader meetup but you can really see some council members struggling with this one, almost intentionally avoiding trying to make a decision. As I said in my previous post, creative problem-solving seems to feel like a foreign language sometimes to the council.

For the record, Councilors Crowder and Thompson voted against. My huge thanks to our Mayor who brought up this issue and got the discussion rolling.

If you can’t see the embedded video, watch it here on YouTube.

by Leo Suarez

Plans Show New Townhome Project for St. Mary’s Street

St. Mary's Street near Calvin Road. February 2018.

St. Mary’s Street near Calvin Road. February 2018.

Plans on the city’s website (S-050-17) show a small project that will include six townhomes for an area on St. Mary’s Street near the intersection of Calvin Road. (between Tucker and North) Three lots are being combined for the townhomes and currently, only a single house sits on these lots.

There were two other homes here but they were demolished sometime in 2016 so I imagine the last one, shown above, will come down with this project.

Preliminary site plans show the six units in one building with rooftop decks and parking garages located along an existing alley behind the units. The alley is currently accessible on Tucker Street and is mainly used by the residents in The Devon.

Map of proposed townhomes

Seems like a straightforward project and a product that’s much needed in and around downtown. I like the idea of further using an existing alley for additional vehicle access rather than creating new streets.

Rendering of proposed townhomes

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Renovation work in the lobby of Two Hannover Square

Lobby of Two Hannover Square. February 2018.

The lobby of Two Hannover Square is being renovated. A rendering of the new lobby is laid out on display, seen below, showing a sleeker, more modern space.

This is probably a minor point by itself but with the recent renovation of One City Plaza maybe the tide is rising on office rents in downtown Raleigh. I imagine nicer lobbies are intended to attract higher-paying tenants.

Or it could just be a changing of the times as the buildings may have been the same for decades. Something to look out for in our older office buildings.

Renovation work in the lobby of Two Hannover Square

by Leo Suarez

Reader Meetup on Tuesday 2/20!

Fantastic turnout to our meet up!

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Get this one on your calendars. We’re organizing the next reader meetup for the season. We had so much fun at the Fall 2017 meetup, we just had to do another.

Reader Meetup

Date/Time: Tues., Feb. 20 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Tobacco Road Sports Cafe

As an effort to help cross promote and bring new people together, I’m partnering with those behind the Raleigh-transit focused podcast, Inbound Raleigh, as well as the food and retail blog Welcome to Raleighwood. They are all good people that deserve your attention.

We should be back in Tobacco Road’s game room and will be keeping it casual. Come out and say hi!

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Steel rises at the site of One Glenwood. February 2018.

Steel rises at the site of One Glenwood. February 2018.

Steel is starting to take shape at the site of One Glenwood. This and the Origin Hotel planned for across Morgan Street are really going to create that bookend feeling for Glenwood South. This complements our earlier discussions around the nearby Willard Hotel at the corner of Willard Place and Glenwood Avenue also.

I actually like this zoomed-out image below as I think it shows how the end of Glenwood is going to get a nice urban presence which could bring more sidewalk activity to this area. Just use your imagination, or the crane, to put a 10-story building here.

Steel rises at the site of One Glenwood. February 2018.

Steel rises at the site of One Glenwood. February 2018.

by Leo Suarez

Renderings of The Willard Hotel in Glenwood South

Future site of The Willard hotel on Glenwood Avenue. February 2018.

Future site of The Willard hotel on Glenwood Avenue. February 2018.

On the city’s website, a submitted Administrative Alternate for Design (AAD-1-18) shows renderings of The Willard, a planned hotel and condo building for Glenwood South. Taking a peak, I wanted to share those renderings here on the blog.

As a refresher, The Willard will be an AC hotel by Marriott brand hotel on the southwest corner of Willard Place and Glenwood Avenue. The building will have hotel rooms and some residential units. Shown in the photo above is the site of the project which will see the demolition of two brick office buildings and the surface parking lot in between.

This particular AAD case seems to deal with the placement of the building and how far set back it is. I see a proposal for an outdoor amenity area which sits a little farther back than is required. Seems like a minor issue.

Either way, here are the renderings.

Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18.

Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18. Click for larger

Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18.

Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18. Click for larger

Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18.

Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18. Click for larger

Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18.

Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18. Click for larger

Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18.

Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18. Click for larger

by Leo Suarez

11 Years of RalConography

title

View of downtown Raleigh from the Boylan Bridge, September 2007. Click for larger

Today, we’ve made it to 11 years of downtown Raleigh conversations, writing, and photography. It’s hard to follow year 10 but I’ll still be treating myself to a drink today to celebrate this milestone.

While I was working on an official definition of RalConography, I stumbled on this 2007 skyline photo that I wanted to share. From here, you can see PNC Plaza, then RBC Plaza, being built. The Marriott hotel and Raleigh Convention Center are still under construction. The Boylan Wye is in shambles with overgrown shrubs and myriad scraps piled high. A number of residential and office projects have yet to be seen.

That’s all changed of course and with 11 years of material the blog also takes on an archiving role which I’m enjoying very much.

This also becomes my annual ask for reader donations.

Rolled out last year quietly, I’ve been getting support from readers without even asking. I want to thank those that have contributed so far. I truly appreciate the support.

Contributors will be my first contacts with any major updates I have coming in the future. If a Raleigh digital archive or Raleigh Development Wire service sounds interesting to you, please consider contributing and you’ll be in the know before anyone else.

Donate to the Blog

Two ways to contribute:

  • Paypal – Click Here
  • Venmo – username: @dtraleigh

Thanks all for reading. Let’s keep this thing rolling.