Raleigh Renaissance

Downtown Raleigh was abuzz this weekend with Raleigh Wide Open II, a basketball tournament and a movie in Moore Square. I didn’t get a chance to get downtown until late at night, and by that time I was in full “photographing fireworks mode”. Every account that I’ve heard is that it was a great success and a great experience. So I’ll leave you all with this picture and feel free to comment with your expereiences about Raleigh Wide Open II!

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Official news that the block bounded by Davie, Wilmington, Blount and Martin streets will be the site of a new project called the Edison. The Edison, being developed by Gregg Sandreuter and Cherokee Investment Partners will have two tower components (tentatively of 38 and 24 stories) and a central parking deck with 1,242 spaces. The parking deck will feature a green roof and will serve these towers and RBC plaza. The taller tower will be split between condos and hotels, while the second tower will be mostly office. It is hoped that ground breaking on the parking deck will start in October of this year and will be completed in 2009 along with RBC plaza. The towers probably wouldn’t start construction until around 2009. Additional information coming later.

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A quick update on the Wake County Parking deck which will be going up on the corner of Davie and McDowell.

The deck will contain 800 spaces and will have 2 stories of retail/offices along two sides. In addition there will be 44 condo units above the parking deck. This project will start construction in early ‘07.

A video can be found here at News 17 Wake County Parking Deck Story

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In 1990 Progress Energy (then CP&L) was Raleigh’s tallest building but things were changing: two buildings were being built that would soon define Raleigh’s skyline for the next 17 years. These buildings, Wachovia (then First Union) and 2 Hannover, were both about the same height and several blocks apart. 2 Hannover was in the heart of the CBD, next to a few other highrises. Wachovia, while only down Fayetteville Street Mall, was much taller than anything else around it.
Flash forward to September 26th, 2006 - Downtown Raleigh is about to break ground on its new tallest building. At 538 feet, the new headquarters for RBC will stand 100 feet above our current tallest. Just like 1991, however, our new tallest building won’t be alone. The long awaited Reynolds tower is expected to break ground next summer. While we don’t know the final height or final plans, it’s recently been announced that the building might go up to 31 stories. Whether or not it will surpass RBC isn’t known, but one thing is for sure: Wachovia and 2 Hannover are getting some company, our “bookends” are getting some books.

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Pyrotechnics danced around the base of the old Raleigh Civic and Convention Center on a cold February morning. Seconds later, a deep rumble reverberated down Fayetteville Street towards the Capitol. The convention center lurched forward as a cloud of dust and smoke enveloped the building. As the dust settled, the top of the Progess Energy Center for the Performing arts was visible over the ruins of the Civic Center.
Convention Center Demolition Gallery
I’ll be the first to admit that the write up is probably a little more dramatic than the actual “roof lowering”, but the fact remains that Raleigh has taken an important step in its future. With the demolition complete, several important projects located in the south end can get underway.

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The News and Observer recently printed an article giving an update on the status of the “Reynolds Tower” project. Here is a quick summary followed by commentary.

Timeline of the project

2001

Reynolds purchased 309 Hillsborough from the city in Aug 2001 and planned to build a mixed use project; The city had a buyback option if permits hadn’t been filed within 3 years.

2004

In November 2004 Reynolds filed for an extension and planned to purchase an adjacent lot for a larger building. The buyback option was extended, but with a progress update due by February of 2006.
Construction began on the 15 story Quorum center, which should be complete in 2006.
The Quorum has 45 residential units and 75% have already been sold as of today.

2006

Preliminary plans presented to the city.
City expects construction to start by late 2006

Original Plans

32 Story

Mixed use

688,500 sq ft.

200,000 sq ft office

70 room boutique hotel

25 residential condos

Parking garage

There has been some trouble with landing office tenants, but worst case scenario, the office space will be replaced with residential units.

Commentary/Random Thoughts

For the past 2 years, this project has been one of the most eagerly anticipated private projects for Downtown Raleigh.
Before RBC announced its move, it was long speculated that they might end up as a tenant in the Reynolds Tower.
Additionally, there were also rumors of Suntrust moving in and creating a Downtown Raleigh presence.

While I’m not sure if this building will become downtown’s tallest, its definitely good to see that the developer doesn’t plan to scale it down.
Originally I feared that the city would push for a shorter building, but I think the Soleil Center’s approval has set a precedent.
It seems that Raleigh should have a 32 story building under construction by the end of this year.

*I still secretly suspect that Suntrust still might have a future in this building. I wouldn’t expect to hear about this until the RBC headquarters is a little further along in its development.

*This is a pretty large building! The floors will be larger than 2 Progress’. (21,000 ft^2 vs 20,562 ft^2)

*The elevation if this lot is about the same as Wachovia’s and about 10 ft above BB&T.

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