Fencing has gone up around the future Raleigh Union Station. Perhaps things will start soon.
Hat tip to Richard. Thanks!
The Gramercy Construction Update
Corner of North and Boylan
Along North Street in Glenwood South, the apartment project The Gramercy is really taking shape. There will be over 200 units here and atypical of most four-sided apartment buildings that we’ve seen, the parking deck and interior courtyard have a slightly different layout.
It looks like the main courtyard will be open to North Street about mid-block and the parking deck will take up some of the first and most of the second floor. Living units are mostly on the third and upper floors.
Retail spaces on the ground floor face Glenwood Avenue and wrap around down North Street but not for the entire block.
There is still a lot of work to do here so we’ll keep watching this project go up.
Corner of North and Glenwood
Rezoning Approved for Kane Realty’s The Dillon
Latest rendering of The Dillon. Click for larger.
A quick one today just to tie up loose ends. At this week’s city council meeting, the rezoning needed for The Dillon project to move forward was approved. It’s expected that the development will include a mix of office and residential on top of ground floor retail.
It also wasn’t very hard to predict that the city would look to this Kane Realty project as a way to infuse more parking into the area. It was a major gap seen for the nearby Union Station. Public comments about this parking project will take place in October.
This wraps up all four major rezoning requests for the year, something I highlighted back in January. 2016 could see multiple cranes in the sky at once.
No Class on this Sidewalk Drinking Ordinance At All
I took the photo posted above, click for larger, this past Saturday morning. I was out for a walk and Fayetteville Street is littered with these cheaply printed signs that say, “No Alcohol Beyond This Point.” How many can you count in that photo?
I had to sigh and this is yet more ugliness coming from this sidewalk seating ordinance. It’s literally ugly as these required signs basically tell visitors on Fayetteville Street, “Hey, this is a pretty crazy drinking street and not a pleasant place to be.”
I was irate recently to see that the new ordinance forced businesses to consolidate their seating against the building. Ugliness resulted.
Sidewalks were completely blocked but was fortunately only short-lived as the split seating seems to be allowed once again. I hope so anyway.
This issue has been frustrating from so many angles.
What hasn’t been talked about is the clear bias being shown here on this issue. Emotions are running high and decisions are being made in haste because of it.
A recent N&O article asks, “Does downtown Raleigh have a drinking problem?” There’s so much exaggeration and bias going on here that it makes me face palm.
The tone of the conversations suggest that we’ve peaked, that we have too many bars, that the nightlife crowd is out of control. This may or may not be true but that doesn’t matter from my point of view.
Emotions are leading the decision making process and that is not going to go well. Thoughts like, “Why would anyone be out that late?” or “Everyone should be sleeping at night.” is what it really sounds like. It’s a bias against people that partake in downtown’s unique nightlife, something nowhere in the Triangle comes close to matching.
Isn’t the city supposed to be an inclusive city, a true character trait of a 21st century city?
It seems that everyone is cherry picking the few bad apples. I’m talking about those that vomit after drinking too much or trashing our sidewalks. If you have traveled, it should be pretty clear that humanity is like this and it can be handled in two ways. Crack down on it or embrace it.
We’re currently trying to crack down on it, a tactic I think we should avoid.
To embrace it would be to own the problem and just handle it. Where is the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, with their ambassadors and street cleaners, in this? They own street cleaners and have ambassadors that pick up trash. Is someone slacking on the job here?
I’d also love to talk to law enforcement. I bet enforcing the new ordinance is going to be quite the hassle with restrictions like “one person per 15 square feet.” I’m sure they will have plenty of feedback to provide once the three-month trial is over.
My spidey-sense just goes off on this one because how could so few, create so much change?
From the N&O article:
The city said it received 51 complaints about downtown nightlife between June 2 and July 30. A dozen of them were filed by police or city staff, and 15 came from three people.
*Does downtown Raleigh have a drinking problem? via N&O.
That’s 51 complaints across 58 days.
Who were those three people? What kind of pull do they have?
I haven’t seen the data but I’m going to go out on a limb that they were mainly clustered around Friday and Saturday nights. A different way to look at it is that there were 51 complaints across 8 weekends, or 7 complaints per weekend.
It just doesn’t add up to me.
And shouldn’t Raleighites across the city, all the way up to Brier Creek, be upset about this? In the early 2000s, it was the entire city that paid for the Fayetteville Street makeover, taking the old Fayetteville Street Mall and making it a fancy parking lot.
Business boomed as you can see.
Why should so few have the say over what happens on our city’s Main Street?
It’s all ugly. The process of handling this “problem” as well as the ugly signs all over the sidewalks.
It doesn’t show class. It doesn’t show style. We’ve practically demoted ourselves from a burgeoning medium-sized city to a bustling college town.
Maybe we’ve outgrown the current class of downtown leaders.
Park In Glenwood South Like a Pro
We hear it time and time again. “There’s no parking in downtown Raleigh.”
With so much technology around us, why aren’t we making this parking thing a lot simpler?
I worked with members of the Glenwood South Neighborhood Collaborative (GSNC) on a very helpful web app to guide visitors around parking in Glenwood South. There are actually a lot of spaces right off the main strip in the district that people are not taking advantage of. You can even use your phone to pay for your space.
We compiled all the info and are running it on the GSNC website so I encourage all readers to check it out.
- Read all about the app via Raleigh DLA.
- Glenwood South Parking
Updated Renderings of Charter Square North
Charter Square North, South and North elevation. Click for larger
Last week’s Raleigh Appearance Commission meeting contained a site plan review for the north tower of Charter Square. Included in the agenda are some renderings that I wanted to post here. You can also watch the presentation from the architects that took place at the commission meeting.
Highlights of the upcoming tower are:
- Ground-floor retail space
- 187,000 square feet of office space
- 195 residential units, 1 and 2 bedroom units
- The plaza to the north will remain to offer some connectivity between Fayetteville Street and Wilmington Street.
It’s also interesting to note that this building is the tallest that can be at this site. Due to the underground parking deck that exists there today, Charter Square North cannot be any taller.
If the embedded video doesn’t show for you, click here. Discussion starts at 18:00.
Charter Square North, east elevation. Click for larger
Charter Square North, west elevation. Click for larger
Charter Square North, Perspective from City Plaza. Click for larger
Charter Square North, perspective view from west. Click for larger
Charter Square North, perspective view from south. Click for larger
Downtown Apartment Buildings in 2015
Earlier in the week, I highlighted the next downtown apartment building to open, The Lincoln. Today, I wanted to step back a bit and share some thoughts about the general downtown apartment landscape and the market around them.
Here are some quick thoughts on the state of new developments that cater to the rental market.
- There will probably be many more mid-rise apartment buildings coming.
- We have plenty of room for them.
- At the end of the day, we are becoming more urban.
Many more to come?
The downtown apartment mid-rises that have been built over the last few years seem to have a specific formula to them. There are several hundred units wrapped around a parking deck and courtyard. If you add in amenities like a gym, pool, and lounge then you can now, most likely, make a profit providing rental housing.
This isn’t specific to downtown however. Apartment complexes all over the city apply the same formula. The difference is in the built environment. For example, a 200+ apartment complex in North Raleigh may be spread among several buildings (3 or 4 stories) surrounded by surface parking and all the amenities built into a clubhouse.
It’s built this way because it is most likely cheaper and purchasing the available land to accommodate this is cheaper compared to downtown land. Projects are more compact in downtown because of this.
Nothing terribly new or shocking here but to me, it sounds similar to another development model.
Cheap land and a very large footprint is the model behind the big-box retail store. Lots of inventory under one roof and cheap surface parking further keep costs down. This is why there are no big-box stores in downtown, the environment doesn’t fit to the model.
So how are “big-box apartment” projects cropping up?
My thoughts start out with the fact that downtown land is expensive but not expensive enough for these projects. If a nice square or rectangle plot can be acquired (a less complex building is cheaper most likely) then a several hundred-unit building can be profitable.
You also have to consider construction materials. I’ll let any engineers chime in but from what I understand it to be, there’s a threshold around the 6 or 7 story limits of a building. Higher than that, steel construction has to be used and therefore is far more expensive. If you can stay under that threshold and build with wood, then the project is viable.
So if you wanted to build another apartment project, here’s the formula in a nut shell:
- Find some underutilized land that forms a square/rectangle. The less structures already there, the better.
- In under 6 stories, can you fit several hundred units, a parking deck, a courtyard, and some amenities?
The point I want to make here is that between all four corners of downtown, there is a lot of available land to play with. A plethora of surface parking lots that are more valuable than they seem are waiting to be built on.
I’m not an expert on the economics here but it really feels like we’ll be seeing many more mid-rises in coming years. Just take a look at all the available surface parking in downtown Raleigh in the graphic below.
Click for larger. Yellow indicates surface parking in downtown Raleigh. Data is dated 2011.
The graphic is a few years old and only a few lots need to be changed but it still makes my point. We have lots of room to grow within.
As far as affordability goes, there is definitely a premium to pay with these new apartments only because they are located in downtown Raleigh. The supply is trying to catch up with demand so right now, the prices are high. (compared to the rest of the city) This seems to happen in other industries also. Prices drop when things have been out for awhile and access is easier.
What people are forgetting is that before 2005, maybe even later, renting in downtown Raleigh was an extreme niche. There were only a few hundred units (if that) spread across random buildings and in small clusters. We essentially had a seedling of a rental community at the time. Then, downtown living become a thing real fast and developers are trying to meet that demand. In the grand scheme of things, everything is still so early. The prices should fall once supply increases and some of the first units to come out start being dated.
If you are a fan of Jane Jacobs then you should believe that to create affordability, you want a mix of housing with a mix of ages. New apartment buildings can command high prices because they are new, have the latest amenities, and styles. Buildings that have a few years on them, may be a little dated but are perfectly fine places to live and priced a little less. Buildings older than that may be even cheaper because they only have one of something or don’t have such and such amenity. You get the picture.
It takes time which is tough for some to realize and puts downtown Raleigh in a awkward position because all this rental housing is really just starting to be built. We don’t have that history and those range of options like the rest of the city has.
Still, I don’t think it should surprise anyone that the development will keep coming (my prediction anyway) until land prices increase or market preferences change. I say we continue to cheer on these developments because what we really want is a vibrant residential community with a variety of living options.
We also need some of that available land to be built on so that newer project have to be more creative.
I don’t feel like these mid-rise projects, with their “big-box” footprints and lack of design, are that urban in nature. However, what they are doing is moving Raleigh up just a few more notches on the urban scale. I believe a few less car trips will be taken by these residents and that is the path we must take as we approach a true urban center in the future. It’s transitional and reflective of the current market preferences and political climate that we live in today.
I’d love to keep this conversation going with anyone who has insight on topics like this.
The Lincoln Apartments Now Open
The Lincoln Apartments
I was fortunate enough to be invited on a tour of The Lincoln Apartments recently. The 224-unit apartment building that is located one block east of Moore Square brings luxury studio, 1, and 2 bedroom apartments with plenty of amenities to keep residents happy.
I wanted to write about the tour and, in a separate post, mention some thoughts and trends I’m noticing about the wave of rental buildings that have really hit our downtown. Think of this post as an introduction to that analysis.
The Lincoln will have its grand opening on September 10 but that shouldn’t stop anyone interested to get in touch with them now. I was told people are already moving in.
The clubroom, The Lincoln Apartments
The tour started us in the clubroom, an open space with kitchen, lounge, and billiard table with contemporary flair. Small groups could socialize comfortably here and there was easy access to the outdoor courtyard. The courtyard had the pool, a sundeck, outdoor TV and couches, built-in gas grills with high-top tables, and a shuffle board table. Sprinkled around these were a variety of fireplaces. The clubroom and courtyard should be the social center of The Lincoln.
The courtyard, The Lincoln Apartments
Walking back inside, we saw the fitness center, outfitted with brand new equipment. Attached was a yoga studio. While not large in size, the access and equipment probably rivals any public gym out there.
Transportation was next as each bedroom, not unit, gets a parking space. We took a brief peak at the parking as a way to show off the electric charging stations. The highlight, in my eyes anyway, was the bike storage room. A small room for storing bikes was easily accessible from the street. In addition, a bike repair stand, similar to the one on Hargett Street, was available for residents. Kudos to The Lincoln for providing this.
Bike storage room, The Lincoln Apartments
Down the hall, the pet spa. Not yet finished for the tour but a large tub was installed for washing pets. A pet dryer was to be installed later.
The rest of the tour took us through some of the units. The layout of the studios and one-bedrooms were optimal to make it seem larger. All the units have high-ceilings (9′ or 10′) and great access to natural light in most cases. Flooring consisted of faux wood throughout the units with carpet in the bedrooms. The kitchens were up-to-date with granite countertops, modern fixtures, and stainless steel appliances. Everyone gets a washer/dryer. Trash chutes and recycling are available on every floor.
Modern kitchens at The Lincoln Apartments
Pricing depends on the floorplan but here is a general idea:
- Studio – 552 sq ft – $1095
- 1 Bedroom – 628-923 sq ft – $1168-$1717
- 2 Bedroom – 997-1392 sq ft – $1655-$2311
The bulk of units lean more towards the lower end of those prices. Only 7 units in The Lincoln are asking more than $2000. The units along Bloodworth Street have a great downtown Raleigh view, with most price points represented on that side of the building.
View from The Lincoln Apartments
On the inside, The Lincoln, like most downtown Raleigh apartment buildings, offer a great list of amenities to renters. Combine that with the stellar location of being close to downtown and today’s high-demand for rentals, you can’t really be shocked by those asking prices.
We’ll get more into the downtown Raleigh apartments scene in the next post. Overall, I enjoyed the tour and look forward to seeing people move in to The Lincoln.