The bike parking scene is strong these days on the 200 block of South Wilmington Street. Two bike corrals have popped up near the crosswalk into GoRaleigh Station. The first incorporates street art and decorative planters. The second is shaped like a car, a common tool used to show that multiple bikes (people) consume much less space than a single car.
Bike corrals now seem to be the norm in and around downtown Raleigh especially with the incorporation of art now. Keep them coming!
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Dillon. #downtownraleigh
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fantastic turnout to our meet up!
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.
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!
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.
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. Click for larger
Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18. Click for larger
Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18. Click for larger
Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18. Click for larger
Rendering of The Willard hotel, AAD-1-18. Click for larger