Raleigh Renaissance

The other major development (pun intended) was the announcement of RBC-Centura relocating its US headquarters to Downtown Raleigh. Although this has been a rumor for quite some time, it was very reassuring to hear the formal announcement and to see the renderings of the new HQ. Although it probably won’t be Raleigh’s tallest, there is a good chance that this will become the tallest building Downtown.

With Fayetteville Street’s Renaissance making progress and the Convention complex moving along, 2006 promises to be an exciting year for Raleigh. Below is a list of things to keep an eye on for 2006 and also a wish list

Things to keep an eye on . . .

• Reynold’s Projects: Should be interesting to see how high it will go. It could really stretch out downtown and bring more emphasis to Hillsborough St.
• Fayetteville Street With the lion’s share of the Renaissance to be complete in May, expect the street to jump to life in the first half of 2006. Space will be at a premium though, so hopefully Wilmington and Salisbury will inherit some of the spillover.
• South End: although the Convention Complex is still a couple of years away, this area will change dramatically. The city owned parcels already have interesting projects lined up, but I expect to see some private interests following in the areas to the northwest of the new convention center. But more on that in the wish list.
• News and Observer: New headquarters? What are the plans for the existing space?
• Blount Street Redevelopment: Should breathe life into northeast downtown.
• Potential Residential Tower on Martin and Wilmington: Potentially Downtown Raleigh’s tallest residential building?
• Progress North: Along with the previous could make Martin and Wilmington the tallest/densest corner in the city.
• Wake County Courthouse: not expecting anything spectacular, but more density is a good thing

The Wish List

• The second most important street in Downtown Raleigh, Hillsborough St. : Ok maybe Glenwood Ave would be listed above Hillsborough, but that should change. I’ll admit I probably wouldn’t have though this before the Reynolds plan, but I think Hillsborough between the Capitol and Glenwood should be just as tall and dense as Fayetteville. Starting across from St. Mary’s and following out into NC State’s Campus, I’d love to see a vibrant street with ground level retail and condos/apartments over them. I’d love to see a large part of State’s student body living on this road and State itself approaching downtown via Hillsborough. I’d like Hillsborough and State to have a relationship similar to Broad St and VCU in Richmond.
• Nash Square: A block and a half from Fayetteville Street, halfway between Glenwood South and the convention district. We need a residential explosion in this area. The pedestrian friendliness of the Dawson/Mcdowell pair is a deterrent, but I think that in 10-15 years we’ll have thousands of people living around this square. Hopefully a full grocery store as well
• Another corporate relocation: The more workers downtown, the better. Only way we’ll get anymore office towers in the next few years, and we need to become the primary employment center in the region