by Leo Suarez

Peace Street Townes Breaks Ground

Peace Street Townes under construction

Corner of Peace and Person Streets

Continuing the conversation around Blount Street Commons this week, the project at the corner of Person and Peace Streets broke ground over a few weeks ago. Peace Street Townes is an 18-unit townhome project that should pop up fairly quickly because of the smaller scale of the project. Seems there are still developers delivering outside of the crazed rental market these days.

On a walk this past weekend, the sign near the site said that 10 units were under contract which is great momentum and clearly enough to start building. Looking back, this project was announced over a year ago around the summer of 2012.

Fans of urban transition should be cheering for this project as it somewhat steps down from the denser government buildings to the single-family homes in nearby Oakwood and Mordecai.

by Leo Suarez

Blount Street Commons Makes Moves On New Apartment Building

Blount Street Commons

This will be short as details are a bit light, as far as I know anyway, on this project. There’s movement on one of the apartment buildings planned for the Blount Street Commons project. The current parking lot near the NCAIA building and along Wilmington Street is being broken up.

I did some digging and this tract of land is referred to as “Block 2 Tract B” of the Blount Street Commons project. In early 2012, the Raleigh Planning Commission recommended the approval of a height amendment that was in place here. It was to go from 45′ to 62′. This was probably the beginning of plans for the upcoming apartment building.

By the way, the details are all in MP-3-11 on the city’s development approvals archive site.

I haven’t found much yet about it but the property owner, according to Wake County, is Elan Raleigh Property LLC. Their website, elanapts.com, shows some slides of some decent looking developments. The Elan Uptown project in Minneapolis looks pretty cool.

It’s taking a little more effort to find details here so I’ll post as facts come up. Please share if you have any insight to this potentially significant new residential project for the northern side of downtown Raleigh.

by Leo Suarez

Upcoming NCDOT Public Meeting To Show Off Latest Peace Street, Capital Boulevard Bridge Designs

Peace Street at Capital Boulevard

Capital Boulevard bridge over Peace Street

It’s been almost a year and a half since there’s been any major news on the re-design for the area around the Capital Boulevard bridge that goes over Peace Street. On November 19, the NCDOT wants to show off the latest designs for that area.

Public Meeting for the proposed replacement of the Capital Boulevard bridges

Date/Time: Tues., Nov. 19 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (Open House)
Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Meymandi Hall Lobby
2 East South Street, Raleigh

This project comes up because the current bridge is nearing the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced before safety is put at risk. The city is working with the state to find a working solution and this project falls inline with the Capital Boulevard Corridor Study, a much greater strategy to re-invigorate the entire corridor from downtown Raleigh up to I-440.

Project website: Peace St. /Wade Ave. Bridge Replacements on Capital Blvd.

We’ll see what is shown at the meeting and the public can certainly comment on the new designs as we’re still in the planning phases.

On a related note, a friend of mine shared an interesting article with me where a similar bridge replacement was done up in New York state on I-84. Watch the video (shown below or in the linked article) and read about the technique called accelerated bridge construction. Makes you curious as to why this couldn’t be done here at Capital and Peace to save a little money. (and upsetting nearby businesses)

This Ingenious Way to Build Bridges Will Fix Our Crumbling Infrastructure via Wired.com

by Leo Suarez

Construction To Begin on Skyhouse Apartments

Future site of Skyhouse Apartments

Construction fencing is up for the Skyhouse Raleigh project. This confirms some reports last week that the 23-story apartment building at the corner of Blount and Martin Streets is finally starting.

For those new to this project, Skyhouse Raleigh is basically a copy of the same building being done in other cities such as Austin and Atlanta. In fact, I was in Atlanta in summer of 2012 and have some photos, taken for the Raleigh Public Record, of their building during construction.

Expect this building to be done around early 2015. Cheers and bring on the cranes!

by Leo Suarez

The West Apartments Invites Big Brother West II To Downtown Raleigh

Map of the West Apartments sites

Map of both West Apartments projects alongside the current West at North tower.

I love local blogs. Last week, the DLA blog talked about a new proposal on the table for West Apartments II and then the major media jumps on it. Nice.

We’ve talked about West Apartments before, about a year ago, with no new details since but now there are plans for more according to the city’s development website. Another project from local developer Gregg Sandreuter, West Apartments II plans for 177 units (1 and 2 bedroom) right along Harrington Street in a ~100 foot building.

Rendering of the West Apartments II

Harrington Street elevation rendering of West Apartments II. Click for the full width rendering.

The elevation has a bit of a dip on this section of Harrington so the building looks to be about four floors on the highest end of the lot and six on the lowest. The plans on the proposal show some open space for retail but not much, maybe 6,000-10,000 square feet.

An interesting detail that I noticed while looking at these plans is that there is a space on the ground floor labeled ‘Bike Shop.’ If I recall correctly, this is a result of the new Unified Development Ordinance and this may be a common amenity built into these new, denser developments. Below is a screenshot of it.

Proposed plans for West Apartments II

Proposed plans for a bike shop/storage in the West Apartments II

West Apartments II looks like phase 2 of the overall West Apartments project as the two buildings seem to integrate together. As more residents move in, perhaps we can bring back the name of the old Smoky Hollow neighborhood that once was this area.

Harrington Street as seen in October 2013.
Harrington Street as seen in October 2013.

Current buildings along this side of Harrington Street

by Leo Suarez

Fall 2013 Restaurant Roundup

The Station

The Station Bar and Restaurant on North Person Street

Now that the usual hectic September is over, we’re in the middle of wonderfully cool temperatures as Fall swings into downtown Raleigh. As far as the eating and drinking options go, there’s plenty of new and upcoming options out there for us to cover.

The list continues to grow as new places are outpacing closings. Here’s the restaurant roundup for this Fall:

  • Starting with upcoming drinking spots around Person Street Plaza, The Station, pictured above, is looking real good and close to completion. The new bar and restaurant could open soon so check out their Facebook page for a lot more photos of their very unique outdoor space.
  • Near The Station, the Person Street Bar is being worked on in the renovated shopping center. They have a Facebook page up.
  • Next door, the Durham-based wine shop, Wine Authorities is working on their second location.
  • And for equally good but non-alcoholic treats around Person Street, Yellow Dog Bread Company is now open. The small bakery makes various bread products and is a nice place to grab a treat and a coffee. I’m all for new places that make croissants!
  • The good guys behind The Wine Feed are moving from their space below The Carter Building along Glenwood Avenue and into the retail space in the Hampton Inn.
  • Garland should be wrapping up the final touches on the interior space. There’s a sign on their takeout window saying that they are hiring and that they will open their doors soon.
  • The upcoming coffee shop, Cafe de los Muertos, still hasn’t opened but they are making progress. There’s a slide-open, garage-style, window installed and the counter is built out. They’re located in one of the spaces of The Hue along Hargett Street.
  • Ashley Christensen’s newest, Joule, has opened in the former Wilmoore Cafe space along Wilmington Street.
  • Jimmy V’s Osteria and Bar has opened in the lobby of the Sheraton. In addition to a nice lobby refresh, the restaurant takes over the former hotel bar and outdoor patio.
  • A little north of downtown, Stanbury has opened on Blount Street in the former space of Market.
  • Still the same as this past summer, Ashley Christensen is working on a new restaurant called Death and Taxes for the bottom floor of the recently renovated Raleigh Industrial Bank building.

    • The Flash House

    The Flash House

  • A small, “off the beaten path” bar with a little attitude has opened next to the Black Flower along Peace Street called The Flash House. (pictured above via blurrycam) This place will make a perfect late-night break from any hectic Glenwood South night.
  • The space for Oak City Meatball in the Red Hat Tower along Davie Street is coming along. I got a glimpse of the space while they were working on it and the walls are painted, the counter in place, and a long bench on the back wall. Looks like it just needs furniture, the essentials, and food before this place opens. Their Facebook page keeps teasing a close opening.
  • Work continues on the former Zely and Ritz space, going to be called Plates, along Glenwood Avenue. If I recall correctly, I remember plans for an October opening so they are either delayed or real close to opening.
  • The modern Mexican restaurant in The Depot, Jibarra, has closed and quickly re-opened with a new concept and menu. Called Jose and Sons, the place feels a bit more fun and lively with more Tex-Mex options. Fans of Centro and Dos Taquitos Xoco should give this place a try.
  • We’ve mentioned it before on the blog but Gringo A Go-Go will be a new taqueria at the corner of Edenton and Person Streets.
  • For a quick coffee fix near the 400 or 500 block of Fayetteville Street, there’s a new coffee shop in the Sheraton Hotel lobby called Cafe Siena.

    • Hibernian

    Hibernian under construction

  • Niall Hanley, the one behind the previously mentioned The Station bar and other downtown restaurants/bars, has been reported to be working on a beer garden concept for the building at 614 Glenwood Avenue. Currently, nothing seems to be moving along but they must be pretty busy with The Station almost done and the re-building of the company’s Hibernian restaurant also located on Glenwood Avenue. (pictured above)
  • There’s a web presence for a new coffee shop called Brew for Seaboard Station but not a lot of details out there yet. Must be early in the process.

by Leo Suarez

Muffled Liberty? [UPDATE: 11-10 All good]

Raleigh's Liberty Bell replica

Just a quick one today. On a recent walk around downtown Raleigh, I saw that our Liberty Bell replica, located on the bicentennial mall, has been muffled. Hopefully this isn’t a permanent thing. There’s a bad joke out there, for some anyway, because the liberty bell is located across the street from the state legislature building. :P

While looking up some history about the bell, I found this nice WRAL segment about it. If the video doesn’t load for you, jump to the source.

[UPDATE: 11-10-13]
On a recent walk today, I noticed the bell was not muffled anymore. So we rang that thing as loud as we could.

by Leo Suarez

The Glenwood South and Carolina Ale House Saga Looking Positive

500 Glenwood Avenue, soon to be demolished for the new Carolina Ale House on Glenwood South

You almost don’t want to believe this until you see it. The story that has really turned me, and others I talk to, into pessimists is the one about the upcoming new building at 500 Glenwood Avenue. It is planned to house, in addition to other businesses, a Carolina Ale House and after almost five years, it looks like this project will finally get started.

In the coming days, we should see the building at the corner of Tucker and Glenwood Avenue come down and make room for a new, three-story building for a rooftop Carolina Ale House restaurant and additional retail space in the other floors. Some construction fencing is now up and even the R-Line stop at this corner has been moved down a bit along Tucker Street.

I have no doubt that the Ale House here will do some pretty good business as the brand has over 20 other locations to bring experience from. If you’ve never been, the Ale House is a sports restaurant with a “something for everyone” menu and an extensive beer list with enough choices for safe beer drinkers to try something new but not enough to satisfy the craft palate.

500 Glenwood Avenue, soon to be demolished for the new Carolina Ale House on Glenwood South

The beginning of the demolition to the building.

Let’s hope for smooth sailing ahead on this project so that doors will open in late 2014. Jump to this link to the Triangle Business Journal for a rendering of the upcoming building.