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Week of April 10, 2017
Peace Street businesses set for demolition
Renovations for Peace Street approved
New Pizzeria coming to Oakwood
Flythe Cyclery primed for redevelopment
Anisette Sweet Shop plans second Raleigh location
Peace Be With You, And Also With You
The Southland Ballroom. ComedyWorx. Peace Camera. ThemeWorks. These Peace Street-area properties, along with a service station and office building will soon be reduced to rubble, cleared out to make way for Smokey Hollow, a mixed-use development.
Developed by Kane Realty, Smokey Hollow will stand 12 stories tall and include 445 apartments, 61,000 square feet of retail, and 295,000 square feet of parking. Scheduled to open in 2019, Smokey Hollow’s footprint required the acquisition of several Peace Street parcels, including a handful of long-standing businesses. As we did with Shelton’s Furniture a few weeks ago, we say goodbye to these buildings.
ComedyWorx: The 57 year-old building at 435 West Peace Street has been home to Raleigh’s oldest improv club, one whose performances we’ve had the pleasure of attending a number of times. Late last year, the building’s owner sold the land to Kane Realty and the organization sought a new home, temporarily, at Goodnight’s Comedy Club.
Peace Street Camera: One of Raleigh’s most beloved camera shops opened its doors at 421 West Peace Street in 1996, the same year Canon introduced the Powershot, its first consumer digital camera. The photography world has undergone a drastic change, but Peace Camera, which relocated to the Quail Corners Shopping Center on Falls of Neuse in late 2016, has managed to keep up with the times. Offering everything from high-end DSLR cameras to tripod mounts for smartphones, we’re thrilled that the shop, originally named Southeastern Camera, has found a new home.
The Southland Ballroom: Southland Ballroom was, until recently, an intimate 350 capacity live music and events venue. Host of many Smell the Glove holiday concerts, they managed to stay open for nearly 10 months after being sold to Kane in February 2016 for more than $4.5 million. Southland’s final show was on New Year’s Eve 2016, and performed by the Talking Heads tribute band Same As It Ever Was. Most residents still can’t seem to face up to the facts that this place will be no more.
ThemeWorks: Per Finley, this shop, previously housed at 600 North West Street, is ITBs *premier* place for fancy party needs. ThemeWorks, which now operates out of a space at 1125 Capital Boulevard, is also a full-service event company, producing and designing weddings, corporate events, galas, and other social gatherings. We think it would only be fair if Kane selected them to help plan Smokey Hollow’s grand opening.
That’s a lot to take in for such a small area, so WNFIV provided another viewpoint of what’s to come.
Peace Street Upgrades
With death, there is life. In a long overdue and desperately needed overhaul, the City approved a $2.1 million project that will widen sidewalks and add trees on the more than quarter-mile stretch of Peace from West to St. Mary’s. While the project has been talked about for almost a decade, the N&O’s Andy Specht reported on progress that occurred at last week’s City Council Meeting.
Project design is about 80 percent complete and the City plans to bid out the construction portion some time this fall. In addition to the new brick paved sidewalks on both sides of the street — and grated trees, the project will also upgrade pedestrian ramps and traffic signals, bury some overhead utilities, consolidate a few business driveways, and add a bus stop at the corner of Peace and Glenwood.
More Mixed-Use on Peace?
Across the street from the future Smokey Hollow development sits Flythe Cyclery, a beloved bike shop whose Raleigh roots stretch back more than 70 years. After owner Skip Flythe announced plans to shut down last year, the property was sold to the Raleigh Development Company. RDC is also the owner of several of the parcels adjacent to Flythe’s, opening the door to what could become another Peace Street mixed-use development. We haven’t seen any plans or heard any formal announcements as to what RDC plans to do with these properties, but it is worth noting their only other property in Raleigh is the prestigious downtown Capital Bank Plaza building on Fayetteville.
Person Street Pizzeria
Anthony Guerra has announced plans to open his own pizzeria in Raleigh’s historic Oakwood district. Guerra told the News & Observer last week that the Oakwood Pizza Box will be located at 610 N. Person Street, offering pizza both by the pie and by the slice. While the space will require extensive renovations, no work has yet been permitted and no opening date was mentioned.
Finley’s take: There’s no way this place is as good as Capital Creations.
Sweet Little Oakwood
Anisette Sweet Shop, a local bakery and coffee shop operating out of a location on Bickett Boulevard, announced its plans to open a second Raleigh location. The Anisette Little Shop will be located at 222 North Bloodworth Street. Although renovations for the recently-sold property are not scheduled to begin until the fall, the Little Shop will be open Saturdays only beginning in late May.
Hot Sauce & Ketchup Coming
Despite the name, it turns out a restaurant coming to North Raleigh will carry more than just condiments. Hot Sauce & Ketchup will feature “gourmet burgers, wings, fries, hot dogs and more.” While there’s something of a glut in the quick-service gourmet burger category right now, we imagine Hot Sauce’s unique name will help it stand out from the crowd. Permits were issued last week for work at the restaurant’s future space at the Peachtree Market on Six Forks Road, which means the restaurant should be opening its doors well before the end of this year.
Fire Drill
Morrisette Paper Company, a North Carolina industrial and personal service paper company, received permits last week to add sprinklers to its offices at its 3081 Business Park in Raleigh. We were told this upfit is in response to an unauthorized fire drill conducted by an overzealous salesman with the company. That individual, who also serves as the assistant to the branch’s regional manager, is said to have started a wastebasket fire in order to teach his co-workers a lesson in the importance of safety.
Developer Seeks Rezoning for More Crabtree Apartments
The Crabtree Valley area could soon add yet another apartment complex: this one a mile south of the mall off Creedmoor Road. The 7.78 acre parcel at 4020 Edwards Mil Road is currently zoned R-4, which allows for the development of up to 14 dwelling units per acre. The property owners are seeking to rezone/upzone the land to RX-4, which would allow for a density of up to 20 units/acre.
The application claims that the project will be a benefit to the public because it will be “providing additional housing opportunities in close proximity to office (Glen Lake), retail (Crabtree Valley Mall and Olde Raleigh), a major employer (Rex Hospital), public park amenities (Laurel Hills Park and Crabtree Greenway) and major transportation improvements (I-40/I-440). In a sense, that’s fair. And at least this place, unlike all the other recent Crabtree apartments, isn’t on Glenwood Avenue.
So, the building where Peace Street camera was used to be a Paint Store back in the 70s and if I remember, had more storefront windows down the side than now. When I was a kid my brother and I got dragged along with my mom when school was out and she was running some errands.
Having a super long car of the day, some kind of Pontiac I think, she pulled in when no one was on either side of a space. While we were there, cars pulled in on both sides. When we went to leave, she backed right into a floor to ceiling window trying to get out of the parking space. Fun times for a 6 year old! Not so much for her.
The ComedyWorx building was once a chiropractor’s office.
Lee: so funny about the paint store window. Your poor Mom! And hey, at least it wasn’t a camera store at the time, or I imagine that would’ve been a much costlier accident.
Anon: Interesting about the old ComedyWorx building. That’s the thing about these old building a getting torn down: they’ve been home to so many businesses over the years that they mean different things to a lot of different people.
James
When does the actual demolition start?