Brought to you by Rufty-Peedin Design Builders.
Week of July 3, 2017
Boutique hotel planned for Peace Street
The Cortez opens on Glenwood South
Bruegger’s closes North Hills location
Empire Properties buys former Occidental Life building
Another Atlantic Tire & Service is coming, courtesy of Rufty-Peedin Design Builders
Chubby’s Tacos expands
Sunnybrook Pointe apartments could be coming soon to East Raleigh
Boutique Hotel Planned for Peace Street
A near-vacant lot on West Peace Street in between McDonald’s and Starbucks (go America!) could soon become home to Glenwood South’s first boutique hotel.
MJM Group, a local developer, filed a request with the City that would upzone the .36 acre parcel from Neighborhood Mixed Use with a three-story cap to Commercial Mixed Use with a five-story cap, paving the way for a “unique, smaller hotel product type as compared to existing full service or limited service hotels.”
County records indicate MJM purchased the land through a subsidiary in November 2016 for $1 million, about $60,000 more than its tax-assessed value. An old sales flier for the property lists a potential building capacity of three stories and 30,000 square feet. Should the rezoning be approved, we imagine that capacity goes up by another 20,000 square feet, but that’s just speculation.
We don’t have much information on what the hotel will look like, or whose brand it will operate under. The rezoning application includes materials that will be allowed for the building’s facade: glass; concrete and/or clay brick masonry, cementitious stucco, cementitious siding including lap and panel products, native and masonry stone, natural wood, precast concrete, and metal panel and/or trim. That really narrows it down.
The site layout also remains a mystery at this point. The application notes that “building and parking placement will be determined at site plan.” MJM Group, specializes in hospitality projects, and has built hotels under the Marriott, Hilton and Choice Hotels brands.
The Cortez Opens on Glenwood South
Glenwood South’s newest restaurant, The Cortez Seafood & Cocktail, held its grand opening this weekend following nearly six months of renovations at 413 Glenwood Avenue. We first reported on this project back in January, although we were unaware at the time that they would specialize in “fresh, eclectic seafare.” The concept comes from the brothers Ibarra (Hector and Charlie) and their chef, Oscar Diaz from Jose and Sons.
While there’s certainly no shortage of Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants scattered throughout Raleigh, we’re pretty sure there’s not many offering “eclectic seafare.” Hopefully this means that Cortez, like the sea from which it draws its offering, will cast its spell on diners and hold them in its net of wonder forever. With apologies to Jacques Cousteau.
Bruegger’s Closes North Hills Location
Bruegger’s Bagels closed the doors at their North Hills location last week, after Kane Realty declined to renew their lease. John Kane of Kane Realty told the Triangle Business Journal they wanted to go in a different direction with the space, and were looking to place a tenant that would operate both day and night. No word on whether Bonner Gaylord’s dream of opening his own surf shop in North Hills will become a reality.
Bruegger’s operates 14 other locations in Raleigh alone, so North Hills customers won’t have to travel too far to find another location. We imagine the folks who left 1-star reviews on TripAdvisor aren’t too upset.
Empire Expanding
Greg Hatem’s Empire Properties, which owns large swathes of downtown Raleigh, added another piece to its collection last week when it acquired the former Occidental Life building on Wade Avenue near Cameron Village.
The property, which was once home to the Occidental Life Insurance Company and built in 1956, recently underwent millions in renovations and remains in use as an office building. Empire Properties will handle the leasing while Trademark Properties will continue to manage space in the building.
Raleigh’s Hottest Tire Shop
Raleigh’s second location of Atlantic Tire & Service will be built out by none other than Rufty-Peedin Design Builders. After a groundbreaking in May, permits were issued for the project last week. Steven Peedin, co-founder and President of Rufty-Peedin Design builders, said that “Atlantic Tire has been a trusted service business within our community for nearly two decades. Owner Anthony Blackman and his Atlantic Tire team have worked hard to build a thriving business serving our community with integrity and commitment.”
The new facility will feature “eight service bays, the latest in environmentally friendly design as well as comfortable and accessible customer service areas” in a 6,534 square-foot space located at 3001 Wakefield Crossing Drive. Atlantic Tire & Service owner Anthony Blackman said they had chosen to work with Rufty-Peedin for their “experience with complex commercial building projects and ability to manage site engineering, permitting and design, and the construction process.” We couldn’t agree more!
Chubby’s Tacos Expands in Size
The Chubby’s Tacos at the Lake Boone Shopping Center looks poised for a minor expansion, as indicated by permits issued last week to the Culver Building Company.
The $215,605 permit is described as an “interior expansion and alteration.” We’re not sure how much it might be expanding by at this point, or if it’s branching out into an adjacent space. Hopefully the work doesn’t force the restaurant to close for any length of time. While we do think the place is a little small, it’s more than worth it once you taste the food. Plus: you can always sit outside.
It’s Always Sunny in East Raleigh
A plan to develop an eight-building affordable housing apartment complex in east Raleigh off Sunnybrook Road could move one step closer to construction, pending the outcome of a Board of Adjustment case.
The Sunnybrook Pointe Apartments would house 180 units spread across eight, three-story buildings on a roughly 13 acre lot. The units would break down into 66 three-bedroom units, 108 two-bedrooms, and six one-bedrooms.
This new multifamily complex is being developed by Sunnybrook Pointe Partners LP. We couldn’t find much out about the firm, although it appears to be linked to Raleigh developer Mark Tipton. Tipton is also behind the firm Carolina Equities, which received a tax-exempt bond in 2013 to develop the site as Grace’s Landing. At some point, the name — and the architect — changed, but the plan to build affordable housing on the site has remained in place the entire time.
In April 2017, Raleigh’s City Council voted unanimously to approve granting the Sunnybrook developers $2 million from the City’s affordable housing fund. That vote also authorized funding a number of other affordable housing projects, which Councilor Baldwin described as “awesome work” and said was the most progress she’d seen to date on affordable housing.
Did I miss the location of the new Atlantic Tire in the blurb above?
There was a Subway next to Chubby’s that has been closed for awhile.