Brought to you by Rufty-Peedin Design Builders.
Week of July 24, 2017
40-acre mixed-use development coming to St. Albans
Urban Outfitters coming to The Dillon
Plans for a soccer stadium in downtown Raleigh
Renovation begins on new restaurant on Lenoir
Jaycee Park gets upgrades
Won’t You Be My North Hills Neighbor
DeWitt Carolinas announced its plans for a 40-acre mixed-use development along St. Alban’s Drive last week. A Raleigh based company, DeWitt Carolinas began acquiring property in the area in the late 90s, when it developed its One Renaissance Centre headquarters along Benson Drive. The new development will consist of “office space, retail and dining storefronts, hotels, multifamily and senior living residences, with green space and water amenities.” The project will come about thanks to years of negotiations that culminated in the recent purchase of 18.8 acres that lie adjacent to the 20 acres DeWitt purchased in 1998.
Todd Saieed, CEO of Dewitt Carolinas, stated, “We have been persistent and strategic in assembling this property, pursuing the zoning required and earning the trust of our neighbors, City Council and business partners.”
A rezoning case unanimously approved by City Council earlier this year will allow for buildings ranging between seven and 20 stories in height. DeWitt worked with the Midtown Citizens Advisory Council to put in place a range of development conditions to address concerns related to “height, noise, signage, light, traffic, parking, building uses and setbacks.” The CAC voted 66-26 in favor of the case, and the conditions include everything from electric car charging stations and emergency phones in the parking garage, to a requirement that bars/nightclubs must be at least “300 feet from the St. Albans right of way and located in a multi-tenant building.”
Patrick Martin, the chairperson of the Midtown CAC commented on working with DeWitt, “DeWitt Carolinas took an unprecedented collaborative approach from the beginning and through a series of meetings and public hearings we reached consensus on a package of development conditions. It was truly a pleasure to deal with this developer and we look forward to their future endeavors”
This news comes less than a month after Kane Realty filed plans for the first phase of its 32-acre expansion known as North Hills East II. While Kane has been responsible for the vast majority of the transformation of North Hills over the last 14 years, we’re excited to see what new concepts and ideas DeWitt will bring to the area. As long as they deliver on the promised water amenities (paddle boats? a wave pool?), we’re sure it’ll be spectacular.
Advertisement
Urban Outfitters Coming to The Dillon
Urban Outfitters will open at The Dillon in downtown Raleigh in 2018. The Dillon, a major development in the Warehouse District that will include two 6-story residential buildings, 18-stories of Class-A office space, and street-level retail, made the announcement Tuesday morning.
COMING SOON: @UrbanOutfitters to open at #TheDillonRaleigh in 2018. pic.twitter.com/0nY81DTDCT
— The Dillon Raleigh (@thedillonral) July 25, 2017
There had been a lot of speculation around what retailer would land in The Dillon. Early renderings from WNFIV showed a potential lazy river surrounding the building, with Bonner’s Surf Shop as the top floor tenant.
Founded in 1970, Urban Outfitters now operates over 200 stores in the United States, Canada and Europe. This will be their first store in Raleigh. Urban Outfitters is described as “a lifestyle retailer offering on-trend fashions for women and men, accessories and quirky home decor items.”
Soccer Stadium Complex Proposed for Downtown
The North Carolina Football Club unveiled their plans last week for a brand-new, $150-million, 22,000 seat soccer stadium complex located at the northern edge of downtown Raleigh.
Situated at the edge of Halifax Mall and stretching along Peace Street to the Capital Boulevard bridge, the development would include not only a Major League Soccer stadium, but also at least 300 hotel rooms, more than 1,200 residential units, 100,000 square feet of retail, 750,000 square feet of Class A office space, and additional parking. When you combine this with the Smokey Hollow mixed-use development, located immediately to the west of the stadium, we’re talking about adding nearly 1,500 housing units and 160,000 square feet of retail to this section of downtown alone.
Of course, development of the new stadium hinges entirely on whether the NCFC can win a bid for one of the new expansion slots from the MLS. Twelve cities, including Charlotte, have submitted proposals. For a more in-depth look, read Finley’s write-up of the announcement.
Should the stadium get built as proposed, Halifax Mall, downtown Raleigh’s most underrated gem, would remain largely intact. The infamous Archdale Building, however, which looks like a PlayStation 2 and was once described by Governor McCrory as appearing as though it was “built to protect the French coast from the Allied invasion,” would have to come down.
In a letter to Governor Roy Cooper, Representative Time Moore, and Senator Phil Berger, team owner Steve Malik requested to establish a public-private partnership between the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina Football Club. In the letter, Malik notes that soccer games are just one of many events that would be held at the stadium. “It will be marketed to attract a robust set of uses in professional, amateur, collegiate and youth sports including: soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and track and field. The venue will host festivals and concerts.” They also note that the Lessee is projecting an average of over 85 events per year, including 20 MLS soccer games.
A facility like this has the potential for turning an underutilized green space into the Raleigh equivalent of Durham’s Tobacco Road District. All we’d need is a killer water feature, something that looks to be included in these early renderings.
North Carolina FC Announces Preferred Location for Stadium Complex in Downtown Raleigh
Read | https://t.co/qg0CzJzFfG#919toMLS #NCRaiseUp pic.twitter.com/WG9UNoA2Jq
— North Carolina FC (@NorthCarolinaFC) July 19, 2017
Goodnight Dusty’s
More than four months after the long-standing Dusty’s Service Shop at 502 W. Lenoir closed its doors for good, developer James Goodnight has begun renovating the property he purchased back in 2014.
We covered this back in our very first ITB Insider™ post, when we reported on site plans Goodnight had filed that would turn the old service garage into a new restaurant. Although scant details are available about this new eatery — we heard a rumor on Twitter (I know…) that the place was going to be called Raise Up.
On July 21, permits were issued to Ellington Contractors for “structural repairs to a vacant building.” Interestingly enough, it was the very same Ellington Contractors that worked to restore another old downtown building for Goodnight a few years back; the old Raleigh Industrial Bank at 200 South Salisbury, which is now home to Ashley Christensen’s Death & Taxes restaurant. We’re not sure if Goodnight is getting the entire band back together, but the fact that Ellington is involved — which did an incredible job at 200 S. Salisbury — is definitely a good sign.
Jaycee Park Gets More Comfortable
After opening a brand-new “dog run” in February, the City last week began work on a new picnic shelter and comfort station (bathroom) at Jaycee Park. The two must be related, right? Surely the massive influx of people drawn in by the dog run — which, as far as we can tell, is basically a smaller version of a standard dog park — has created such demand that the park had no choice but to expand.
In October 2016, a comfort station and a picnic shelter were torn down at Jaycee Park in order to make way for the dog run, which actually makes this a replacement rather than an expansion. The project is being done by the Beau Chene Company out of Raleigh for just over $400,000.
