The Hilton hotel at the corner of McDowell and Davie is slowly making progress. The crane showed up right around the start of the year and here, almost six months later, the first floor seems to be almost done.
Pic of the Week
Tag / Hotels
Pic of the Week
This week, I wanted to throw up a picture of the building at 320 Hillsborough Street, currently the Holiday Inn. Site plans have been filed for a new hotel and apartment building that would lead to this building’s demolition.
A new owner has purchased the property here and the parking lot next door in order to build a 20-story building that will include about 180 hotel rooms and 350 apartments. A parking deck and ground-floor retail space is also shown in the site plans.
The “hair curler” was a unique building and it’s unfortunate that a renovation couldn’t work out. No renderings of the new buildings are out, yet, but I welcome completely upgraded sidewalks and the additional street-level activation that the new development will bring.
Local Developers Join Forces to Bring a Hotel and Apartments at The Acorn
Collaboration happens in all kinds of ways and in development, it’s great to see a sharing of space and resources. Two local developers, Williams Realty & Building Company Inc. and Summit Hospitality Group, are planning to build a seven-story apartment building and adjacent 138-room hotel. The site of the new development is at 415 South Blount which currently sits as a parking lot between Blount and Person Streets.
The property cuts the block in half with one side facing Blount and the other Person Street. On the Person Street side, the eastern side, will be the The Acorn apartments, shown in the rendering above. There will be 106 units on floors four through seven.
Facing Blount Street will be the hotel. A Marriott TownePlace Suites branded hotel will have rooms on all floors. The hotel and residents will share a 200-space parking deck on floors one through three below the apartments.
There’s not much to say about the property in it’s current state. It’s a surface parking lot surrounded by a chain-link fence. That’s it.
Construction is planned to start this December with the hotel portion coming later, planned Summer 2022.
Pic of the Week
The Willard hotel, or the AC Hotel, on Glenwood is nearing completion. Sidewalk pavers were being installed this past weekend and the place is nicely lit up at night. You can even make reservations on the Marriott website.
The 146-room hotel is missing it’s name though. “The Willard” must have been a local name for the construction project but Marriott seems to prefer “AC Hotel Raleigh Downtown” going forward. It’s a great location though and I’m sure visitors staying here will have a fun time.
Pic of the Week
Believe it or not, hotel construction is taking place in Raleigh. The crane for The Willard hotel was taken down this past weekend. That means this project has topped out.
The Willard actually started before the pandemic hit and based on my expert observational skills past and present, the hotel should be finished later this year.
Pic of the Week
Hotel building is still taking place in downtown Raleigh. I feel like The Willard, being built along Glenwood Avenue at the corner with Willard Place, was funded right before the pandemic really hit. This project has been moving throughout the year and is starting to show some height.
The rooms overlooking the street will have a great view of downtown. I’m pretty excited about this one to be honest.
Checking out the Recent Demolition work Near Nash Square
The block to the south of Nash Square, think Whiskey Kitchen, The Berkeley Cafe, and the former Firestone Auto, is looking a bit more airy these days. Bloc 122 (for the history buffs out there) has had plans for a pair of hotels in the works for awhile and demolition of the existing buildings look nearly complete.
Shown above is the southeast corner of Martin and Dawson Streets. The former buildings have been leveled and are now being shoveled away.
Past submitted plans suggest a nine-story hotel with outdoor terrace on the fourth floor. There haven’t been any announcements as to which hotel brand the building may be.
On the opposite corner of the block, the northwest corner of Davie and McDowell Streets has also been cleared out. Here, we’ve seen multiple renderings for a hotel and maybe that project will finally start in the near future.
You can jump back here to review the latest on this but the latest plans were for a 14-story hotel. This project has been around for over five years so maybe, just maybe it’ll start soon. The brands for this hotel were to be a Hilton Garden Inn & Homewood Suites.
And while not quite demolition related, I wanted to throw up more photos of this block. As the former Firestone Auto has closed up, it’s left a little bit of a hole here especially with the removal of that classic sign.
We’re tracking these developments on the Community so follow along if you want to join in on the discussion.
- Topic on Nash Square Hotel
- Topic on hotels in downtown Raleigh
Long Live Longleaf. Longleaf Hotel Now Open
The travelodge at Dawson and Lane is now in it’s next concept. The Longleaf Hotel is now open and taking reservations. Locals can also hang at the Longleaf Lounge for beers and cocktails either inside or outside on the patio.
The 57-room hotel building was formerly a Days Inn. Now, the hotel has come under Raleigh-based Loden Properties.
The second thing to look forward to here is Ish Delicatessen, the restaurant that will go right next door. At first, a renovation of the former deli space was planned but later it was decided to demolish the building and make more space for it.
Follow Ish Delicatessen on Instagram.
It’ll definitely be something to look forward to. Encourage visitors to consider a stay at the Longleaf!