Tag / Winston Hotel

by Leo Suarez

The State of Hillsborough St.

Hillsborough St. gets my vote as being one of the most important streets for downtown. From the Capitol building out to Glenwood, the first six blocks will be a major route that connects Glenwood South and Fayetteville St. The zig zag route should become the spine of activity for downtown. It is pretty clear that Fayetteville St. and Glenwood South are already budding entertainment centers but Hillsborough St. is on the rise.

What Is Planned
The weak economy and I’m sure a couple other factors have held back some of these projects and they are currently on standby. It is still a bit exciting to see these proposals because if all are eventually built, Hillsborough St will be its own urban corridor.

Winston Hotel Tower

A 25 story hotel and condo tower will occupy the block shown above.

The Hillsborough

Another 25 story hotel and condo tower. It is currently on hold because of the bad credit market.

Campbell Law School Relocation

Classes should start in summer 2009. I think this a key move that should create traffic on Hillsborough St. I’m worried though because there is a serious lack of rentable apartments nearby and students will be prime renters.

HBS Properties Tower

HBS Properties has bought up a majority of this block. Last I heard, they were floating around the idea of a 10 story tower that would wipe out this streetscape.

The Potential

There are a couple of empty lots and surface parking lots that are in prime locations. There may be controversy in the future over established churches and businesses versus developers willing to offer big money for these lots. However, we are still not there yet so let’s save that argument for later.

I see this stretch of Hillsborough St. becoming a hotel row. Two hotels are in the list above and The Clarion is already in service in this location. This is a central, easy to get to area and with a wider street, it is car traffic friendly. It connects our two major entertainment centers and any visitor has an easy walk to either one.

I also think that the triangle near the Hillsborough/Edenton merge could be something really unique for downtown. I had an idea once.

by Leo Suarez

Hotel development in the works

Nice article in the N&O about some hotels, the Winston’s want to bring to Raleigh.

RALEIGH – Winston Hotels wants to bring another tall tower to downtown – one that could rise 25 stories and feature two hotels and hundreds of condominiums on an entire city block.

…….

Winston’s plan to include two hotels from two chains in one building is part of a strategy to take on two emerging, diverging sectors of downtown’s hospitality landscape: boutique and business class. It attempts to do so in two merging sections of downtown: Fayetteville Street and the Glenwood South entertainment district. It’s on the one-acre block bounded by Hillsborough, Edenton, West and Harrington streets, where weathered, one- and two-story buildings now sit.

……

The project will also include a 120-room Hampton Inn, which is expected to attract visitors who like uniformity in services and amenities – stuff big chains are known for.

“But it will have a little more panache than a typical highway Hampton,” said Winston Hotels CEO Bob Winston.

……

Plans for 200 to 250 condominiums are still fluid. Construction is expected to begin in early 2008 and wrap up two years later. By then, the housing market could change radically.

“We think now it makes sense to do the condos,” Winston said. “But we’re flexible about that.”

With the condos, the tower would rise 22 to 25 stories high. Without the condos, the project would stand half as tall.

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