by Leo Suarez

The Ten Brings Modern Townhomes to Person Street

The Ten at Person Street

You can’t stop everyone from building modern. Construction is only a few months away from The Ten, a 10-unit townhome project for the corner of Lenoir and Person Street. Modern in style, these two-bedroom townhomes will be built on a currently empty lot southeast of downtown.

Perry Cox was part of the architecture team and you can thank In Situ Studio for doing the Design work. In addition to the two bedrooms, there’s also a bonus room, spacious living area, and a one-car garage.

The Ten at Person Street

It’s nice to see some housing for sale to try and balance the flood the rentals coming to downtown. Prices for The Ten start around $269,000 and they are taking reservations now.

http://www.thetenatsouthperson.com/

The Ten at Person Street

Corner of Lenoir and Person Street
Corner of Lenoir and Person Street in June 2014.

by Leo Suarez

North Hills Smartphone App Will Include Parking Directions, Rumored World Peace

It’s never a bad time to talk about everyone’s favorite topic: Parking. I typically don’t fly the blog outside of downtown Raleigh but North Hills has something that’s very unique. I’m excited to announce that the Parking App Team that won last year’s DataPalooza, with roots in downtown Raleigh, has launched in North Hills.

Delivered as part of an all-encompassing app, the team has put together something that acts as the center of all North Hills information including events, shops, movies, and parking. North Hills saw value in what our team put together and has now delivered it for public consumption.

The team consists of Jim Belt, King White, Eric Majewicz, and myself, all members of the Raleigh Downtown Living Advocates. For over a year now, the team has been talking about a high-tech solution in order to address growing concerns about parking in downtown. We quickly found out, through the North Hills experience, that our solution had an application elsewhere.

It is our hope to use the experience to bring the same high-tech solution to downtown Raleigh in the near future.

The North Hills app is available for download in the Google Play Store and Apple Store.

Read more about it on the official page on the DLA site.

nh_park1

nh_park2

nh_park4

by Leo Suarez

Raleigh [ ] Space Brings Parklet, Endless Possibilities, to Salisbury Street

Concept for Salisbury Street parklet

Approved last year, Raleigh folks are now working to bring the first parklet to downtown this year. Raleigh [ ] Space is a new initiative consisting of downtown business owners and members of the NC State College of Design to bring the first parklet to the city. The project is still coming together so make sure to keep an eye on it as they work towards their Fall 2014 completion date.

An excerpt from the Raleigh [ ] Space site.

Our logo reflects our vision. This parklet is a space with endless possibilities. It used to be a parking space, and it will be even more than a space to be enjoyed by pedestrians, bike riders and motorists; we envision a space that will house an ever-changing array of design installations. At the same time, we envision functional components that are in high demand on this corner: a place to park/lock bicycles and strollers, a dog-watering station, and possibly amenities for alternative vehicles. Insofar as it is possible, the parklet will be self-sustaining (reclaimed water, solar power).

*Making Space – Ralegh [ ] Space

Follow them on Twitter and stay tuned for a kickstarter that will help the team get to their funding goal.

Also, make sure to walk down to Salisbury Street this week during First Friday for a teaser of the new parklet.

June First Friday @ Deco

Date/Time: Fri., June 6 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
19 West Hargett Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
919-828-5484

by Leo Suarez

Construction Starts on 200 Units at The Link Apartments in Glenwood South

Construction at The Link Apartments

There’s finally construction starting at the corner of West and Jones Street on the upcoming 200-unit apartment building called The Link Apartments. It’s not exciting to look at yet but what has been an empty lot since January 2009, should start to really fill in.

The demolition of small buildings here took place over five years ago for a much grander project called Powerhouse Plaza. The mixed-use office and hotel tower never happened and the lot sat empty for awhile.

During construction of the nearby Green Square project, consisting of the Nature Research Center and the newer Department of Environment and Natural Resources offices along Jones Street, this site was used for construction staging.

Today, it should be no surprise that the apartment boom is continuing and The Link Apartments will add more units to the downtown residential base.

by Leo Suarez

CityCamp North Carolina May 29-31

Coming up at the end of this month is the fourth annual CityCamp NC, a civic unconference that brings people and technology together to try and solve issues that our local governments are facing. I’m playing a role as an organizer this year and couldn’t be more excited to help make CityCamp great while downtown Raleigh hosts the event.

Any readers that are involved in civic organizations, non-profits, technology, and various community advocates should take a few minutes and look into what CityCamp is. The unconference format allows for attendants to create the schedule, taken straight from your ideas pitched during the event. After participants vote on the best ideas, teams will start to form to discuss and perhaps tackle these ideas head on.

What’s always fascinating to watch is seeing someone pitch an idea and having a prototype built by the end of the weekend. An example that I keep going back to is RGreenway, a greenway navigation smartphone app that was born from a CityCamp weekend.

There’s also the possibility to walk away with some prize money. The team that submits the best idea and pitch will win $3,000.

Register for your spot as seats are limited.

2014 CityCamp North Carolina

Date/Time: May 29-31
Register Here

by Leo Suarez

Construction Set to Start On The Lincoln

Construction fencing at the site of The Lincoln

Construction fencing is up at the future site of The Lincoln, a 224 unit apartment building going on an empty lot to the east of downtown Raleigh’s Moore Square. With over a year of planning, equipment has rolled in and the entire block has been fenced off.

The lone house along Martin Street still stands however. I guess there’s plenty of room to start construction while the fate of the house is determined. The developer was making moves to buy a nearby plot of city-owned land in order to have it moved. If the city voted to sell the property to them, perhaps the house can be rolled off The Lincoln site rather than be demolished.

With Skyhouse apartments and very positive talks of funding for the Moore Square redesign recently, east-side downtown may be a growing hot spot.