Tag / The Metropolitan

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

The Metropolitan Apartments. Novemeber 2018.

The Metropolitan apartments over in Glenwood South is nearing completion. Walking around the area, the new building has a nice mix of materials compared to similar developments. There are a few blank walls that aren’t that exciting but being near all the upcoming retail at Smokey Hollow, residents in this area will probably be thrilled with its location.

Leases are already being signed and new residents may move in at the start of 2019. Once Jones Street is open and neighbors have moved back into the Quorum Center, there will be huge reasons to celebrate here!

See more at their website. www.metropolitanraleigh.com

The Metropolitan Apartments. November 2018.

by Leo Suarez

Quick Check-in on The Metropolitan

The Metropolitan Apartments. June 2018

The Metropolitan Apartments. June 2018

Just a quick one today. The Metropolitan apartments are starting to really take shape and are well past the point when they burned down in March 2017. It’s great to see the recovery and get these units online as it’ll make this area of West Street a very dense residential corridor.

Continue the conversation about this project on the DTRaleigh Community.

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

The Metropolitan Apartments under construction. March 2018.

It has been a year since the 2017 fire and things are still not cleaned up on Jones Street.

The Link apartments seem back to normal on the outside and West Street is now open. The Metropolitan, shown above, is rising up again but across the street, there’s still lots of work to be done. The Quorum Center seems to be slowly replacing the entire facade that faces Jones and new brickwork is underway.

The Metropolitan Apartments under construction with the Quorum Center in the background. March 2018.

I can’t pretend to feel what those residents are going through still but I will toast it up tonight and hope that Spring 2018 brings leaves AND residents back to Jones Street.

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Construction site of The Metropolitan, December 2017

A crane has shown up at the site of The Metropolitan. The parking deck is being put together and foundation work has begun. It’s great to see the site being rebuilt after the fire in March of this year. The area nearby is undergoing a lot of change so it’s nice to see planned residential come through.

Hopefully, the roads will reopen sometime soon. Feels doubtful though as the Quorum Center is still in pretty bad shape from what can be seen on the outside.

Harrington Street, December 2017

by Leo Suarez

The Apartment Mid-rise Boom is Fading in Downtown Raleigh

The Dillon Apartments on Hargett Street

It hit me recently during a conversation in a downtown coffee shop that The Metropolitan apartments would have seen residents moving in this month. If you don’t know the history, the project, while under construction, met an unfortunate fate and went up in flames in March of this year.

The developers plan to rebuild and the site is currently being cleared.

If it wasn’t for the fire delaying the delivery of The Metropolitan, we could easily see the end to the multi-unit, mid-rise apartment product line in downtown Raleigh. At least for the foreseeable future.

Site of The Metropolitan Apartments fire site.

Site of The Metropolitan Apartments fire site

Barring any new project announcements, the apartment pipeline would have ended with The Dillon opening in 2018. Taking a look at the latest list of projects released by the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, we can see that there are no planned projects similar to these.

To be clear, I’m referring to the 5-7 story, wood-construction buildings with a larger footprint. Typically to make these work, developers have had to acquire multiple properties and combine them.

That’s not to say the residential projects aren’t flowing. The product is just changing.

Smokey Hollow plans to bring 445 residential units in a 12-story building on Peace Street. FNB Tower will mix up office and 247 residential units across 22 stories. 400H will also mix office and 220 units in a 20-story building. Details are still light on 301 Hillsborough but with a similar style to the other projects there’s no reason to guess that more residential units could be included.

That’s 900 units across three projects right there.

Rendering of 400H

Most recent rendering of 400H

The other side of the picture is the rise in townhome projects. These are adding infill to the periphery of downtown. Currently under construction, we have:

  • The Saint – 17 units
  • Hargett Place – 19 units
  • 10 Arros – 10 units
  • West + Lenoir – 12 units
  • 611 West South – 42 units
  • The Ware – 15 units

115 townhomes are in the works and more are in the planning stages.

Perhaps we’re at a point where combining multiple parcels for large footprint developments isn’t economically feasible for mid-rise buildings. There could be other changes in the market that are affecting this. Downtown could also be much more livable than before, enticing buyers to purchase units than rent.

Maybe there is a hold on projects as plans for a downtown soccer stadium and big infrastructure changes to Capital Boulevard need to pan out for developers to pitch new projects.

You could look at it from a lot of angles. It’s certainly a great topic to discuss.

by Leo Suarez

The Metropolitan is Lost in Overnight Fire

East Raleigh view of fire

Not much to say here about the fire that took place this weekend. The Metropolitan apartments had just recently topped out and is now burnt to a crisp. Nearby buildings including the Quorum Center and The Link apartments suffered damage as well.

Above is the view from East Raleigh, about 12 blocks away. See the local news networks for more but it is great to hear that there were no life-threatening injuries.

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Northeast corner of Jones and Harrington Streets, February 2017

Northeast corner of Jones and Harrington Streets, February 2017

Southeast corner of Lane and Harrington Streets, February 2017

Southeast corner of Lane and Harrington Streets, February 2017

I present two wide shots of the currently under construction The Metropolitan Apartments. Judging by the height of the stairwells relative to the wood construction apartments, the building is almost topping out along Jones Street. There is still a lot of room for more units as you go down Harrington and turn around Lane Street.

At this pace, the units along Jones could have residents moving in before the year’s end. August 2017 was a planned move-in date about 6 months ago, according to the folks behind the project.

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Demolition of the Greyhound Bus Station on Jones Street

The former Greyhound Bus Station on Jones Street has now been demolished. With the site cleared, construction of the Greyhound Apartments should begin. Personally, I hope they change the name but that’s just me.

Imaps shows the property having a built date of 1971 so the Greyhound Station made it 45 years if that is what the data is referring to. The small warehouse next door, at the corner of Jones and Harrington, probably was around longer. Not demolished was the Levin-Tarlton House which rolled through downtown this February to its new home on New Bern Avenue.

The new apartment building should go from Jones to Lane Street. I expect a similar configuration as The Lincoln because the footprints are about the same and so is the developer.

Last thought, looking at a map of the nearby area I can’t help but wonder if Lane could be extended to West Street? (or even Glenwood) A traditional street with sidewalks and travel lanes may not work but perhaps something nontraditional that is only for bicycles and pedestrians. Lane doesn’t end at the state government complex like other nearby streets but rather goes way east.

Riding a bike or walking, in some way, to Glenwood Avenue would be fantastic down Lane.