by William Needham Finley IV™

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Development Beat: Peace Out, Seaboard Station For Sale

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Week of March 19, 2018

Seaboard Station For Sale

Olde Towne to be developed again

Update on Capital Boulevard’s new park

Raleigh Rite Aids rebranding as Walgreens

Work begins on Publix at new Leesville Marketplace

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Peace Out, Seaboard Station For Sale

William Peace University is selling most of the Seaboard Station property that it acquired for $20.75 million back in 2013. On Tuesday, the university announced plans to put up 5.68 acres for sale in early April. That includes a parking lot, the lot where the university tennis courts are located, and three retail buildings that house J. Betski’s, Oak & Dagger, and O2 Fitness. TradeMark Properties has been managing the property for Peace University. Don’t worry, Peace doesn’t own Logan’s and Sunflower’s Cafe isn’t going anywhere.

What we all really care about is the status of the much anticipated Harris Teeter. In June of 2016, it was announced that Harris Teeter would be coming to Seaboard Station. This was before Publix was confirmed for the nearby Kane development on Peace Street, which is actually under construction.

According to this article from WRAL, Harris Teeter was supposed to open in Seaboard in 2017. In this article covering the 2017 Peace China lawsuit against William Peace University and TradeMark Properties, TradeMark indicated the Harris Teeter would be breaking ground in 2018.

We did some digging and discovered that it is currently March of 2018 and Harris Teeter has not broken ground. Notice in the aerial photo from Google that there are no Harris Teeters to be found. None.

This week, the N&O reported that “Harris-Teeter remains committed to Seaboard, TradeMark says, and delayed its opening to take into account future development of the property.” Some are skeptical.

Whoever buys the property will probably have to build up in order to make their money back, with or without the Harris Teeter. So expect some 3-5 story (or higher, depending on zoning) stick-built apartment buildings with retail on the first floor. Getting to Seaboard Station is already a nightmare due to the construction of the Capital Boulevard improvements and the demolition related to Kane’s Peace project.

Don’t forget that the City of Raleigh plans to tear up Peace Street between St. Mary’s and Glenwood to put in underground utilities and make other improvements. We imagine tenants will be dying to sign a lease in Seaboard Station with all these great improvements in progress in the area over the next five years. TradeMark Properties and Urban Investments are representing the university in the sale. They are not publicly stating the anticipated sales price, but if it sells for less than $40 million we’d say Peace really botched this whole real estate play. We’ll keep you posted.

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Everything Olde Is New Again

In 2007, Greystone Development announced it would begin work on a new golf course community known as Olde Towne on a 600-acre parcel of land in Southeast Raleigh near the intersection of Rock Quarry Road and New Hope Road. Two years later Greystone abandoned the project, having already cleared the land required for the golf course and the first 531 homes.

Olde Towne was to have housed 5,000 people, and included 500,000 square feet of retail and an 18-hole golf course. Nearly 10 years after Olde Towne’s demise, a new development team has stepped in with plans to redevelop the land for single-family housing, a grocery store, a park, restaurants, and retail.

We look forward to seeing what becomes of this massive, underutilized parcel of land. We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available. For more details check out the article from the N&O.

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Capital Idea for a Park

It’s been almost four years since I first covered the City’s plans to turn a dilapidated strip of Capital Boulevard — once populated by such icons as The Foxy Lady, The Milner Inn, and Capital Inn — into a public park. Last week, City staffers presented an overview of the Devereux Meadows Park Project to the Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board. Details on what will become downtown Raleigh’s first water-front park were shared.

UPDATE FROM WNFIV: Hi, thanks for reading. We know that Devereux Meadows is not where the Foxy Lady was. We were simply stating that this park is part of the larger plan to improve Capital Boulevard. You can stop emailing me with this correction. We’ve never been wrong, and never will be. Have an ITBlessed day!

“Devereux Meadows Park will cover approximately 14 acres, consisting of all the area between Capital Boulevard on the east, West Street on the west, Dortch Street on the north, and Peace Street on the south, with the exception of the parcels containing existing commercial and/or industrial buildings between West Street and Pigeon House Branch.”

The project will be completed in phases, and is now undergoing an environmental review. Design of the park should be finished by Summer 2019. Construction is scheduled to begin in January 2020, after the DOT has wrapped up their Capital Boulevard Project. Devereux Meadows Park is expected to be finished by January 2021.

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Rite Aid Rides Off Into The Sunset

Raleigh’s Rite Aids will soon be going the way of Happy Harry’s and Kerr Drug, both of which were absorbed by the Walgreens empire. Some of Raleigh’s Rite Aides have already been rebranded to Walgreens, and we imagine we’ll see a number of signage permits issued over the coming months as the transformation moves forward.

Of course, this change is not limited to Raleigh. Walgreens is purchasing 1,932 Rite Aid stores nationwide, for which it will pay $4.4 billion.

Publix Coming to Leesville Marketplace

While many residents eagerly await the Publix coming to Kane’s development on Peace Street, another Publix is coming to North Raleigh. Permits totaling more than $5 million in listed value were issued for a Publix that will anchor the Leesville Marketplace shopping center. The work at this stage includes the new 50,000 square-foot Publix and a two-story 15,000 square-foot “shell building” that will host the center’s future tenants.

According to its website, the 7.8 acre Leesville Shopping Center, located at the corner of Leesville and Strickland, will feature 13,000 square feet of specialty retail and dining space, and is expected to open in December 2018.

Development Beat: Hayes Barton Baptist Schism And Our Solutions

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Week of March 12, 2018

Hayes Barton Baptist plans to tear down 6 houses to add parking

Moore Square seeking contractor

House of Swank finds a new home

Gusto Farm to Street begins work on first Raleigh location

1965 State Capital Plan Envisioned a Different Future for Raleigh

“Mystery Room” coming to Triangle Town Center

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Church Wants To Pave Paradise, Put Up A Parking Lot

Note: This section is co-authored by William Needham Finley IV. He’s seen how controversial this issue has been and figured that if we co-authored this, people wouldn’t know who to get mad at.

Hayes Barton Baptist Church at Five Points created quite a stir last week when they made public their plans to demolish a row of 6 rental homes they have owned since the 1960s. Was this a Crusade to evict 6 Satanic families from Five Points? Not quite. The church wants to put 78 parking spaces where the houses, built between 1920 and 1925, currently sit.

We assume HBBC got the idea from Mark 4:22, which recalls how Jesus turned 6 dwellings into 78 donkey stables to accommodate all the townsfolk lining up to check out His water in to wine miracle. These parking spaces would add to approximately 170 parking spaces already on the property. HBBC told the News & Observer that the spaces are needed to accommodate the 500 to 600 members who attend the 11:00 am Sunday service.


We’re unclear as to why this plan is being proposed at this point. For decades, local businesses have opened their lots to church members on Sunday, while the church has allowed Five Points customers to park in their lot during the week, a deal that was struck during the First Council of Nicaea.

Members of the church spent last week informing thy neighbors of thy plans. We first heard about it from an Olde Raleigh post on Facebook, since we’re millennials. We then obtained a document covering the church’s plans, since we’re basically Spotlight-level journalists.

The document states these are “concepts only!”and summarizes a report by the Long Range Capital Planning Committee. The report was presented in a February 10th meeting to the members of the Diaconate, which apparently has something to do with Deacons and is not the name of a dragon from Game of Thrones.

In the document, titled, “Change for the Next Generation,” seven points are listed under “Parking and Rental House Solution.”

-Provides covered drop-off area with closer access to nursery, sanctuary, chapel, and educational building.

-Provides additional handicap parking with closer access to the sanctuary.

-Helps eliminate longstanding parking issue – adds 78 spaces.

-Costs less than half of the parking deck option.

-Retains real property for expansion and other uses.

-Provides truck delivery entrance, reducing the need for food service and other deliveries coming through the Welcome Center and the main church corridor.

-Creates a more attractive and welcoming entrance from White Oak Road.

Missing from the list was “Announce plans that infuriate neighbors and cause them to start a petition,” which is exactly what happened.

The petition on Change.org, created by Five Points neighbors, has received 751 signatures as of 11:13 am, March 15th. The authors of the petition offer the following alternatives:

-Continue using the houses for affordable housing, refugee support, or a community home for people with intellectual disabilities (essentially some use that lines up with the Church’s overall mission).

-Sell those homes to families that would love them and use the money to find another option (such as paying for shuttle buses and/or alternate parking solutions).

-Adding additional Sunday services to mitigate the high volume late Sunday mornings and alleviate some of the traffic and parking needs.

Those all sound reasonable. However, we understand that this property belongs to HBBC and they can do whatever they want with it. Since we don’t want to piss off the Five Points residents, and also don’t want to piss off God, we’re offering our own solutions.

1.) Add parking to the front of the church.

It’s a well known fact that this area has been mistaken as parking for years now. Why not just make it official?

2.) Put parking spots on existing land that no one is using.

We found plenty of potential parking spots in front of HBBC on White Oak.

And on the Whitaker Mill side of HBBC.

And behind HBBC.

HBBC will have to cut down some trees if they go with our plan. But just think of the money they’ll save on landscaping and leaf blowing.

Our main concern is the use of White Oak as the pick-up and and drop-off spot for HBBC preschool. I can already see a line of 15 Yukon XLs stretching out onto Glenwood from White Oak and creating a traffic apocalypse.

Hopefully our ideas will create constructive conversations that lead to a solution that appeases everyone. We aren’t trying to tell anyone what to do with their land. We’re just here to make the world a better place, one photoshop at a time. And remember, if you’re upset with our coverage of this, Jesus would have wanted you to forgive us. Have an ITBlessed day!

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Moore Square Seeking Contractor

The City of Raleigh is seeking a contractor for an exhibit in the Moore Square Visitor’s Center. This will be separate from the $10.3 million renovation contract awarded to American South General Contractors in September 2017.

The City is looking for a design that incorporates “interactive elements, interpretive panels, and complimentary displays” in a 14.5′ x 14.5′ room and an adjoining 26′ x 4′ hallway.

The exhibit will “shed light on Moore Square’s evolution since 1792, as well as its uses over time.” The exhibit will “identify how Moore Square has been at the center (both figuratively and literally) of Raleigh’s history since the city was founded.”

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A House of Swank Makes A Home

House of Swank, a local screen printing shop, is moving to 119 E. Hargett St, in the historic Raleigh Furniture Building. Co-owner John Pugh said, “Our goals for the new location are twofold. First to establish the House of Swank shop as a retail fixture in the downtown. Second to have a space that is easily accessible to host music and maker workshops for community engagement and corporate events.”

The new location is a three-story brick building built in 1914 in the late Romanesque Revival style. The Raleigh Furniture building was a furniture store for much of the 20th century.

House of Swank is having a sneak peek popup shop at the new location from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm Saturday, March 17. They will also be discussing their new interactive Maker concept floorplan for the retail space, as well as selling Raleigh and NC-inspired clothing.

Gusto Farm to Street Coming to Wake Forest Road, JITB

Gusto Farm to Street, a healthy fast casual restaurant specializing in pizzas and salads, is coming to Wake Forest Road, in the same shopping center as Trader Joe’s.

Gusto boasts of its “scratch kitchens,” which complement their “vibrant farm-to-table flavors.” They make promises of using “healthy grains” and “antibiotic free meats.”

Permits were issued for the fit-out of Gusto’s 1,820 square-foot space to Battino Contracting Solutions just last week, so we imagine it won’t be opening for at least another month or two.

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Blast From the Past

Courtesy of Oak City CRE

Oak City CRE, which puts out a weekly newsletter covering commercial real estate in Raleigh, uncovered a real gem last week when they published an excerpt from the 1965 North Carolina State Capital Plan. The plans were for future land use and development in the city. They offer imagery of some things we wish had come to fruition, like the lake across from the Governor’s Mansion, which would feed nicely in to the larger downtown canal. Take a look.

Courtesy of Oak City CRE
Courtesy of Oak City CRE
Courtesy of Oak City CRE

Side note: I love how they thought Raleigh would be so classy that people would be wearing tuxedos and formal dresses while eating at “Terrace Restaurant,” wherever that is.

Magical Mystery Mall

What has anchors, railings, sales, and floats on a sea of concrete? An indoor shopping mall, of course. Solving mysteries much tougher than that will soon be part of a new venture at the Triangle Town Center mall.

“Mystery Room: Detective Story” (as listed on the permits) will soon open in a 3,780 square-foot space in the mall. We’ve deduced from the name that it will be a detective-themed “Escape Room” where participants must solve a crime in order to “escape” the room. This is an interesting addition, considering that most people think Triangle Town Center itself is one giant escape room.

I found examples of places like this in NYC, where I’d make everyone call me Briscoe, and Los Angeles (Sergeant Joe Friday). If I make it out to the grand opening I’ll be going by Sheriff Andy Taylor and bringing ITBlake the intern along as Barney Fife.

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Development Beat: More Townhomes For St. Mary’s

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Week of February 26, 2018

More townhomes planned for St. Mary’s Street

One Glenwood Developer acquires nearby land

North Ridge Country Club adding Golf Swing Building

Rebus Works to add convenience store and coffee shop

Calavera closed

More Apartments coming to Crabtree

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More Townhomes Coming to St. Mary’s

When plans were announced in late 2014 for a new, upscale townhome community on St. Mary’s street, it was a welcome break from the countless apartments that were quickly cropping up all around the Glenwood South district.

While the 17-home complex known as The Saint, located between W Jones St. and W Lane St., won’t be complete until next year, a smaller townhome complex known as “St. Mary’s Subdivision” is being planned just a few blocks down.

Set on a .302-acre parcel of land between Tucker St. and W North St., this new complex will feature a total of six adjoining units designed by the Dynamic Design Group out of Cary.

According to current plans, the townhomes will stand no taller than 40′, range in size from 1,600 SF to 2,290 SF, include amenities such as a bike rack, a mail kiosk and a public alleyway, and have willow oak and golden juniper trees planted on-site.

The parcel consists of three separate properties; 414, 416, and 418 St. Mary’s. Although a one-story, 1,348 SF single family home built in 1920 sits on the lot at 414, the other two addresses sit vacant, their homes torn down several years earlier.

The subdivision plans for this project are currently undergoing a rigorous staff-review process, and we imagine it could be some time before any work begins on these new homes.

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One Glenwood Developer Buys Surrounding Land

11 S Boylan Avenue, a 70s-era office building currently home to the NC Department of Insurance, and 623 Hillsborough Street, currently home to Dram & Draught, were both recently purchased by Heritage Properties.

Heritage Properties is the same developer behind One Glenwood, a 10-story, 219,500 square foot mixed-use commercial office building located at 605 Hillsborough Street (former home of the legendary Blue Tower Restaurant). The .39 acre site on S. Boylan sold for $5.2 million, while the .28-acre site at 623 Hillsborough sold for $1.5 million.

The developer has not commented on plans for the newly acquired properties. If history is any indication, they may find themselves going the way of the aforementioned Blue Tower building, and Shelton’s Furniture on West Morgan, which was also demolished last year by Heritage Properties.

The $86 million One Glenwood development is scheduled to open in 2019.

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A Swinging Good Time

North Ridge Country Club began work last week on a 2,127 square-foot “golf training facility” that will allow its members to work on their swings.

At first, we assumed this swinging facility was being built in a certain neighborhood in Cary. Then we dug deeper into the permits, which refer to the project both as a generic golf training facility, and a slightly more specific “golf swing building.” Callahan Construction of Raleigh is handling the $220,994 construction of North Ridge’s training facility.

“No matter how many golf swinging facilities they build, they will never produce a player as phenomenal as Broughton legend and U.S. Open winner, Webb Simpson,” said an anonymous representative from the Carolina Country Club.

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Rebus Works Wrestles Retail

According to our friends at iheartretail.com, Rebus Works, the popular art gallery and event space at 301 Kinsey Street off Boylan Avenue will soon add a local convenience store and coffee shop. Open Monday-Friday from 7-10 a.m., the market will offer locally-sourced breakfasts, baked goods, and coffee.

The setup will seek to mimic, to an extent, Rebus Works’ popular Saturday Market, and will offer patrons the options to purchase a variety of local and artisanal products.

Calavera Closes

Calavera Empanadas & Tequila, a well-loved Mexican Cantina that’s been operating out of a space at 444 S. Blount Street since 2011 is now closed. Earlier this month they announced plans to shut down by the end of February.

“Our kitchen and its small size has kept us from really growing the menu and allowing us to change and add where we would like. We’ve entertained the idea of looking for a location more suited to what we want to do for awhile but have never found anything that matched our needs and wants. We were out of the blue approached with an offer to sell, and while we weren’t actively exploring that, with our new restaurants on the horizon we felt this was the best time to step away.”

Co-owner of Calavera Kenneth Yowell, noted that they were working to place staff at their other restaurant, the Oak City Meatball Shoppe, as well as their upcoming ramen restaurant Kaiju Bowl and Bao. Kaiju is set to open in mid-April.

County records indicate that unit 101, home to Calavera, was sold in October 2017 to HHH Investments, LLC. As the firm was registered through an attorney, we’re not sure who’s behind it, so we can only assume it’s none other than Hunter Hearst Helmsley himself, the WWE superstar better known as Triple H.

Triple H and his business partners.
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Developer Finds Way to Build Even More Apartments Near Crabtree Mall

Work has now begun on the latest apartment complex in the overcrowded area of Crabtree Valley Mall off Glenwood Avenue.

The Crabtree Lakeside Apartments, an upscale 221-unit complex whose amenities will include a “resort-style” swimming pool, received its first batch of building permits last week, including the seven three-story residential buildings that will house between 20 and 56 units each.

Developed by Dominion Properties, the construction on Crabtree Lakeside — which overlooks a small pond off Homewood Banks Drive behind the mall — is being handled by VCC General Contracting out of Irving, Texas. The $40 million complex is expected to open by mid-2019.

Development Beat: Work Begins on Peace, Raleigh Plans New Government Complex

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Week of February 19, 2018

Permits issued for Peace (Smokey Hollow) development

The Creamery building sold

Raleigh is planning a new civic campus

Regal North Hills is getting new seating

Work begins on Raleigh’s newest fire station

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Work Begins on Peace

In early 2016, Kane Realty announced plans for a new residential mixed-use development along West Street just north of downtown. Initially named Smokey Hollow in honor of the long-gone neighborhood, the project was later renamed “Peace,” and although permits issued last week hinted at yet another name change, we were told by Kane Realty that the official name is Peace.

On February 13, Clancy & Theys Construction received a total of nine permits with a combined listed value of $192 million that will allow for the construction of the first nine phases of Peace.

According to the permits, the phases are as follows:

Construct an 11-story shell building at 417 West Peace (the former site of Peace Camera and other retailers) that will host a parking deck and a ground-floor Publix that everyone is obsessed with

Build a seven-story parking deck at 600 N. West, the former site of the Southland Ballroom

Build out the 11-story 417-unit apartment/retail complex, also at 417 West Peace.

The project is expected to be completed by 2020.

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Creamery Building Sold

Glenwood South’s iconic Creamery building was recently purchased by a Chicago developer. Northpond Partners finalized their $24.4 million purchase of four parcels, including The Creamery building, which was built in 1928 and was once home to the Pine State Creamery.

Creamery Limited Properties paid just $3.37 million for the parcels back in 1999. The building and surrounding parcels are home to Milk Bar, Sullivan’s Steakhouse, and a law firm. According to the Triangle Business Journal, the developer has no immediate plans to redevelop the parcels, which also include a smaller building that houses Heat Studios gym and two parking lots along North West Street.

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Raleigh Planning to Centralize City Government Buildings

The City of Raleigh is planning to build a brand-new civic campus that will consolidate all city downtown administrative services into one centralized location. Before we get into the plans, here’s a timeline of how Raleigh got here:

Currently, the City owns four buildings in downtown. They also lease over $1 million worth of office space in three privately-owned buildings each year. The new campus would be located at the existing municipal building at 222 West Hargett, and consist of three main sections.

At the ground level, a “Piano Nobile” (Italian for “noble floor”) would house activated plazas, a gallery, and council chambers.

Atop the nobile would sit two adjacent office towers, providing space for administrative functions and staff amenities.

Behind these public structures, the City plans to allow third-party development that could include residential, retail, co-working, parking, and office space.

The plan would also see the expansion of Nash Square, which sits across Hargett from the municipal campus, as well as an investment in “lush, walkable streetscapes” in the surrounding area. The City was kind enough to send over a copy of the presentation, available here.

A timetable included in the presentation seems to imply construction could be underway within five years. Sadly, we saw no mention of LaCroix fountains, or references to the downtown canal. We’ll keep an eye on this as it develops.

Sitting in Style at Regal North Hills 14

Regal North Hills 14 is getting some upgrades. A series of permits were issued last week to Bailey Construction for seat upgrades for all 14 of the theater’s auditoriums. We aren’t sure if the seats will be the same reclining style that can be found in the Regal Brier Creek 14 theater. “I don’t care if they recline. North Hills could replace their seats with a bed of nails and I’d gladly sit on those instead of going to Brier Creek,” added WNFIV.

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February’s Hottest Permits

Work is now underway on Raleigh’s newest fire station. Mike Legeros, the city’s premier expert for all things fire-department related, has discussed this new station at length in the past, most recently in January when the construction bid for the project was awarded to Pro Construction, Inc. for $6.8 million. The company received permits to proceed last week.

The 18,162 square-foot fire Station 14 will be located at 3510 Harden Road and include three apparatus bays. According to Legeros, while the building construction itself is standard “the location of the building requires considerable site work consisting of grading, filling and backfilling, retaining wall, utilities, concrete parking and fire truck aprons, and concrete sidewalk.”

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Development Beat: Carmichael Gym Demolition, Restaurant Openings

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Week of January 29, 2018

NC State’s Carmichael Gym to be demolished and upgraded

Work begins on new hotel on West Morgan

Downtown’s latest pizza joint opens

Michael’s English Muffins opens first retail location

O-Ku Sushi coming to The Dillon

LoveSac store coming to Crabtree Mall

South Moon Under coming soon to North Hills

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Carmichael Gym Looks to Improve Its Physique

NC State’s beloved Carmichael Gym is getting ready to bulk up. Subcontractor selection is underway for a $45 million project that will see the existing 48,000 square-foot east wing torn down and replaced with an 82,000 square foot addition. The new facility will house student recreation spaces, such as fitness training, alongside classrooms and administrative offices.

The job was awarded last year to Frank L. Blum Construction, a local firm that’s worked on a number of higher education projects, including the Dianne Dailey Golf Learning Center at Wake Forest University and the Dean E. Smith Center at UNC Chapel Hill.

Blum will be breaking the job down into two phases: demolition and site work (bids will be due some time in May) and then the remainder of the work (anticipated to bid in October). Subcontractors looking to get in on the action will have to prequalify with Frank L. Blum Construction by March 16.

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New Hotel’s Origin Story

Work has begun on the foundation for the new 126-room, 7-story Origin Hotel, also known as Shelton’s graveyard. Slated to open in 2019 on West Morgan Street, the new hotel will feature a wine and tapas restaurant, a cold-pressed juice counter, locally-sourced coffee and a gym with “Rogue Equipment.” The hotel will seek partnerships with local brewers, roasters, and other artisans to give the location a distinctly unique feel. Work on the $1.1 million foundation is being handled by Whiting Turner Contracting.

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Cowabunga Dudes, It’s Pizza Time(s)

The Pizza Times they are a-changin’. The latest addition to the “Times” family of downtown Raleigh restaurants has arrived, and is now serving takeout pizza by the slice and by the pie from 11 a.m. — 2 a.m. seven days a week.

Slices will run you $2.50 each, a 12-inch pie goes for $8.50, and an 18-incher for $16. Toppings include everything from the traditional pepperoni, sausage and onions to more controversial offerings like the dreaded pineapple.

The Pizza Times is located at 210 South Wilmington, around the corner from the Morning Times and the Raleigh Times.

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The English (Muffins) Are Coming

The brick and mortar location of Michael’s English Muffins held its grand opening at the Towne Square shopping center on Tuesday. They’ll offer customers a small cafe location where they can either purchase muffins in bulk or enjoy them on site with a variety of spreads.

When we first reported on the store back in November, the shop’s owner, Michael Annabelle Comisar, told us she hadn’t even been looking to open a retail location, and was instead looking for a space to grow their production. We’re glad it didn’t work out that way, and can’t wait for a chance to stop by and try an English muffin slathered in peanut butter with a sprinkling of cinnamon — Comisar’s personal favorite.

LoveSac, Baby LoveSac

LoveSac, an “alternative furniture store” is coming to Crabtree Valley Mall. Although the retailer does offer a more traditional sectional couch, its real specialty — and namesake — are a variety of “sacs,” or upscale beanbag chairs. That’s right, beanbag chairs.

The store sells sacs for every occasion; from the “compact yet cozy” Citysac to the 6 foot wide and 4 foot tall Supersac. If that’s not big enough, LoveSac also offers “The Big One” which is 8 feet wide, four feet high, weighs 95 pounds and seats 3+ adults. It’s described as “a cloud you can climb on.” If you’re in the market for a new sac, we found plenty on Amazon.


We don’t have a solid idea on when the store will be opening. Side note: we were terrified to Google the word “lovesac” while researching this story.

O-Ku Sushi coming to The Dillon in Summer of 2018

Kane Realty Corporation announced that O-Ku Sushi will open at The Dillon this summer. According to the exclusive press release e-mail we received, O-Ku was named a “Top 20 Best New Restaurant” by Esquire magazine in 2010, and a “Best Sushi Restaurant in the U.S.” by Travel + Leisure in 2013. More details from the press release:

“O-Ku celebrates authentic Asian cuisine with a southern approach with a menu that focuses on unique ingredients and sophisticated presentations. From petite plates to sushi specialties, O-Ku showcases the freshest fish from the world’s finest markets and producers in areas such as Norway, Scotland, Hawaii and New Zealand, as well as local sustainable sources.

While the menu is still being finalized, guests can anticipate a unique blend of elevated sushi, sashimi and nigiri options, hot entrees and other traditional Japanese dishes. O-Ku managing partner Kimball Brienza will work with Palmer to recruit local talent to the Raleigh team to complete the food and beverage program.”

ITBest of the Week January 26

South Moon Under, It’s a Natural Wonder

South Moon Under, a “leading fashion e-commerce and brick and mortar retailer,” is coming to the Main District at North Hills. Permits were issued last week to Management Resource Systems for the fit-out of the 3,032 square foot space next to Ruth’s Chris Steak House.

South Moon Under got its start as a “surf shack”  in Ocean City Maryland in the summer of 1968, and currently has about 28 brick and mortar locations. The chain has been described as a “multi-brand boutique” that is known for carrying an “ever evolving and eclectic mix of women’s and men’s clothing, swimwear, accessories and gifts.”

The store was originally set to open in Spring 2018, and with construction now underway, we imagine they’ll be able to hit that deadline.

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ITBest of the Week January 26

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Welcome to ITBest of the Week, a look at the most important events of the last week. It’s like if an e-mail newsletter and Buzzfeed (who follows me on Twitter) had a baby at Rex Hospital.

Twitter is lit over Taco Bell Cantina news

Fyre Festival Still Burns

Chrissy Teigen follows me on Twitter

Grandma tries to sell 30+ years of Playboys on Facebook

UNC System spends $250,000 on a new logo

Dogs of ITB of the Week

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Inside Taco Bell Insider

When James Borden covered the Taco Bell Cantina in this week’s ITB Insider Development Beat I figured we’d get the standard replies of “Ugh, Hillsborough Street is losing its character.” While that reaction was shared by many, it was heavily outweighed by people who were ecstatic over this news. Exhibit A: the engagement stats for my Taco Bell tweet.

That’s a lot. The blog post had over 12,000 pageviews in less than a week. As a result, ITB Insider will now be known as “Inside Taco Bell Insider” and will cover everything Taco Bell related. I was going to put all the Twitter reactions here, but there were too many. Here are the ITBest.

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Fyre Festival Still Burns

Earlier this week, Vice published a story about how Fyre Festival attendees were getting e-mails that could potentially be scams. Vice and a few others had seen my Tweets about these emails that I posted in December.

Since I have a PhD in Fyre Festival, I was quoted in the story: Fyre Festival attendees are worried they’re getting scammed again.

The e-mails we received were offering things like dinner with LeBron James, meet and greets with Taylor Swift, and tickets to The Masters, Burning Man, the Met Gala, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show, and other events that I’m sure will be lit, fam. I’m just speculating, but I assume the guy/company sending these e-mails probably bought the Fyre Festival email list from Billy McFarland, the founder of Fyre Media, and is now using it to offer Fyre attendees tickets to these events. I don’t know if these offers are actually legit, so I’ll probably just buy tickets to each event and see how things go.


The Vice story brought Fyre Festival up in the news again, which resulted in this:

Which leads to my next topic…

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Chrissy Teigen Is My Best Friend

Well, now it’s official. #itbffs #bffs

A post shared by William Needham Finley IV (@wnfiv) on

When I saw Chrissy Teigen’s tweet about the Fyre Festival e-mail story, I assumed it meant that she now thought of me as a friend. I figured this was as good a time as any to see if she would help ITBlake the intern get a date to Broughton’s upcoming Queen of Hearts formal. So I tweeted the following:

I followed up by Tweeting a link to a video of ITBlake the intern.

ITBlake the intern doesn’t actually need any help getting a date to Queen of Hearts, but I knew it would be great for him if he could put “Chrissy Teigen knows of my existence” on his college applications.

And now, he can.

Grandma Tries to Sell Playboys in My Facebook Group

This is not a joke. The title says it all, but there’s so much more to the story.

Grandmother Attempts to Sell Three Decades’ Worth of Playboys In Facebook Group

UNC System Logo Unites All

The UNC System paid $250,000 for a new logo that has now unified all 17 of its academic institutions. From Appalachian State to UNC-Wilmington, fans of every school were united over the fact that spending $250,000 on a new logo and rebranding is absurd. Yes, I realize that includes research, branding, marketing and so on, but it’s still an absurd number for a logo that no one even cares about to begin with. That didn’t stop me from throwing my hat in the ring for the next time they need a new logo.

Full disclosure: I am red/green colorblind. But it looks like that won’t be a problem based on their approval of the new logo.

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Best Dogs of ITB of the Week

Look, Palmer, everything the light touches is ITB. 📷: @zaa1169

A post shared by Dogs of ITB (@dogsofitb) on

Snow dog staring contest. Swipe ➡️. 📷 @helickteeva

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Sampson, kicking the week off with a good dig. @goldendaysofsampson

A post shared by Dogs of ITB (@dogsofitb) on

This brunch isn’t going to make itself. 📷 @marksanchezsimmons

A post shared by Dogs of ITB (@dogsofitb) on

Snow golden loves the snow. 📷@katiezsmith

A post shared by Dogs of ITB (@dogsofitb) on

Jalapeño the Frenchie, fashionable AF in the snow. @jalapenothefrenchie

A post shared by Dogs of ITB (@dogsofitb) on

@rowyn_the_giant_coyote playing snow fetch.

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Grandmother Attempts to Sell Three Decades’ Worth of Playboys In Facebook Group

in Humor by
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ITBreakdown: A grandmother posted “30++ years of playboys” for sale in micITBit, a private Facebook group that I run. People had a lot of questions. This serves as a historical record of the event. Everything in this post is real.

A Funny Thing Happened in the Facebook Forum

Something magical happened on Sunday night in micITBit. First, let me explain micITBit.

micITBit is a secret and private Facebook group used mainly by Raleigh moms as a forum to buy and sell smocked clothes, furniture, Lilly dresses, and other mom stuff. Like many other buy/sell/trade or “BST” groups, micITBit cannot be found by simply searching on Facebook. To gain entry, one must be added to the group by a friend who is already a member.

The group operates like Craigslist, but on Facebook and without the serial killing (so far). It even has its own language and rules (yes, there are rules, otherwise World War III could break out at any moment). In short, a seller posts a picture and description of an item to the group and buyers comment “Interested!” to purchase. If someone has already commented “Interested!” the person next in line will comment “Next” in hopes that the person ahead of them will get stuck in the White Memorial pickup line or get hit by a bus, preventing them from following through with the purchase. It’s very cutthroat.

The majority of transactions are “porch pickups” or “PPU” which means the seller leaves the item on their front porch and the buyer leaves cash under the doormat after picking the item up. It is an entire economy that I knew nothing about until last year. I’m convinced that because of these groups there is roughly $4 million in small bills sitting under the doormats of Raleigh homes on a daily basis.

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So why does a 33 year-old single guy start a Facebook group for moms? Like pretty much everything I do, it started as a joke. In April of 2017, a similar group with 15,000 members shut down. That’s a whole other story for another day, but it resulted in mass hysteria and I became a hero for these people when I created micITBit. Members joined my group and began using it for real. A lot. Here are the stats on group activity from the last 28 days.

Over 64,000 posts, comments, and reactions from 8,570 members. That is insane. Here’s the demographic information for all you advertisers out there. (Email me at wnfiv@itbinsider.com if you want to talk ITBusiness.)

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You may be thinking, “Wow, you’ve got a captive audience of thousands of people with similar interests. You must be making a fortune off of the people using your Amazon affiliate link and your eBates link. What a great decision!” Yeah, not really. Creating this group was the worst decision I have made while running a media empire, and possibly the worst decision of my entire life. Yes, Fyre Festival was a dumpster fyre, but I at least made some money off of it and got to spend time with my lawyer and ITBFF Stacy Miller because of all the lawsuits. As the father of micITBit, I have to deal with constant complaints from total strangers. I have some wonderful moderators that help me run the group, but it’s still a huge time suck.

The silver lining of micITBit is that it provides some of the most hilarious #content on the internet. I am now ready to share these moments with the world. We begin by taking a look at a night micITBit will remember the same way they remember the moon landing or the New Year’s Eve episode of The O.C.

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Without further ado, I now present “And the Playboys Gonna Play Play Play Play Play: A Screenshot History of 30++ years of playboys.”

The names and faces of the innocent have been redacted. We’ll call the original poster “Martha.”

At approximately 8:04 pm on January 21, 2018, Martha posted the following to micITBit:

Here are the pictures she included in her post:

One odd thing I noticed (I’ve been watching The Wire recently) was that the date on the computer clock was 10/18/2017. Was the clock wrong or were these pictures taken over three months ago? Were these pictures from an earlier attempt at selling 30++ years of Playboys? If so, why was she unsuccessful?

Now, I’m not judging Martha at all. I just think she should have known her audience better. You’re offering hundreds of Playboy magazines to a group that consists mainly of married women. Sure, the handful of guys in the group could have been Interested!, but do you not realize that the same internet that you’re using to post these Playboys was actually invented to replace these types of magazines (or so I’m told)?

A member of micITBit mentioned me in a comment, alerting me to the post.

What followed resembled being in an AOL chat room with 50 friends who were all freaking out over this real time train wreck. I was genuinely amazed by the post and wanted to know more. I even thought about buying these and reselling them. They’ve got to be worth more since Hugh Hefner passed away.

There were questions about whether Martha was real. Someone discovered she had posted another item for sale in the group, proving that she at least was a real person selling more than just hundreds of Playboys.

That’s when the most important question of the night was brought up. (GUC and EUC mean Gently/Good Used Condition and Excellent Used Condition).

I wanted more answers on the number of Playboys.

micITBit members did some investigative work to confirm this was real.

Someone pointed out that the $1,350 price was a bit high.

 




Someone offered a trade for some Teen Vogue issues.

 

The comments were coming in so fast that I got distracted while playing my first HQ trivia game and lost.

People started suggesting that ITBlake the intern look into this.

Since we were on the topic of magazines, I figured most of the group members would jump at the chance to own an issue of 16 with JTT on the cover. Note: I don’t actually own this, but I was sure I could find it on eBay if someone wanted to buy it from me.



 

The group continued to investigate.

At this point, I believe Martha began to understand that there would be no buyers in this group. She deleted the post and I removed her from the group. I felt somewhat bad about doing that, but I was honestly doing it for the greater good. The comment sections in these BST groups are not for the faint of heart. One time in a different group a mother told another mother she hoped her child “breaks its neck” in a dispute over a pair of snow bibs. I’m not making that up. Plus, I have a #brand to uphold. What if one of those Playboys fell into the wrong hands and ruined a marriage? I can’t have that on my conscience.

 

There were many more comments, but I couldn’t keep track of them all. As a founder, it is my duty to recap this event for all the micITBit members who uncharacteristically were off of Facebook for 30 minutes and missed this saga. I truly hope Martha finds a buyer for all of those Playboys.

ITBest of the Week January 19

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Development Beat: A Place At The Table and Other Restaurant Openings

in Development/ITBNN by

Brought to you by Rufty-Peedin Design Builders.

Week of January 8, 2018

A Place at the Table opens

Brookside Pizza opens

Pooleside Pie practice

Work begins on the News & Observer’s new offices

The Willard on Glenwood South

Manhattan Pizzeria coming to Falls Pointe

Renovations to North Carolina Railroad Company offices

Finding A Place at the Table

After years of planning, Raleigh’s most charitable restaurant has finally opened its doors. A Place at the Table is now serving breakfast and lunch from its brand new space at 300 West Hargett.

Monday was the first official day of business for the pay-what-you-can eatery, and if the lunch crowds we witnessed are any indication, the restaurant should be able to provide low and no-cost dining options to Raleigh residents for years to come.

The set up isn’t too different than the space’s previous tenant, Cafe de los Muertos. You order at the counter, choose a seat at the bar or at a table upstairs or downstairs, and your meal is brought out to you. I enjoyed a late breakfast of mouth-watering waffles and bacon, while my dining companion, none other than William N. Finley IV himself, had a panini.

How the pay-what-you-can concept works: you can choose to pay the “suggested” menu price, set your own price, pay for your meal and someone else’s, or eat for free in exchange for some volunteer labor. Any gratuity added counts as a donation rather than a tip. Nearly every employee there was actually a volunteer, as A Place at the Table only has five paid employees.

I went in prepared to love this place, mostly because I think the concept is fantastic, but I had no idea how a restaurant staffed almost entirely by volunteers would operate. It operated just fine, and then some. In addition to the volunteers, A Place at the Table received support from partners including: York Properties, Plan A Architecture, Kevin Israel, Venture Law, Riley-Lewis General Contractors, Bagchi Law, bu•ku, so•ca, and more.

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Brookside Pizza is Open

The long-awaited upgrades to Brookside Market are starting to take shape. The shopping center, located at the corner of Brookside Drive and Glascock Street, saw the opening of Brookside Market & Pizza last week, bringing the number of pizza restaurants in the downtown and nearby areas to…..we’ve lost count by this point. Fortunately, you can never have enough pizza.

We haven’t had time to try it out, so we checked out their Yelp review and came across some major drama. An Elite Yelper had given the restaurant a 3 star review back in December. That caused another Yelper to call her out for abusing her Elite Yelper status. The Elite Yelper went back and updated the review, which you can read below if you have nothing better to do. What a time to be alive.
Read Cassie B.‘s review of Brookside Market & Pizza on Yelp

Pooleside Pie Pizza Practice

Speaking of pizza, acclaimed chef Ashley Christensen has been working on some pizza recipes of her own. Her new pizza restaurant, Pooleside Pie, is expected to open in 2018.

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Renovations Underway on N&O’s New Offices

Permits have been issued for the future home of the N&O’s offices, which will be on the 14th floor of One City Plaza on Fayetteville Street. The roughly $1.6 million alteration of the 20,583 square-foot space is being handled by Inner-Tech. We hope the renovations end up nicer than their holiday party, which looked like a scene from the Saw movies.

No word on whether construction will be held up due to constant Kroger pop-up ads. The good news is they’ll be located right next door to our favorite lawyer, Stacy Miller.

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A Peek at The Willard’s Paperwork

The developers of Glenwood South’s new seven-story hotel/condo combo known as The Willard appeared before the Board of Adjustment to receive the necessary approvals to move forward with the project.

Despite being mind-numbingly boring, the paperwork gave us a glimpse at the plan review process. For starters, there’s a minimum of eight(!) City staffers working on this project, each analyzing a different trade aspect of the job, from stormwater and fire protection requirements to urban forestry and transportation impacts. Take a look at the list of questions the City has for just one of those eight trades.

We’ll keep you updated as the project progresses.

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Made in Manhattan

A new pizza joint will be opening soon at the Falls Pointe shopping center at 9660 Falls of Neuse Road, as permits have been issued last week for the fit-out of Manhattan Pizza. The restaurant will open in the space once occupied by Greek Fiesta, following $232,034 worth of renovations.

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Railroad Tycoons Redecorate Lavish Offices

When we learned that the North Carolina Railroad Corporation had offices in Raleigh, we imagined their offices would be a spectacle of mid 19th-century Biltmore extravagance: Persian rugs, leather sofas, fine wood-paneled walls, rich mahogany desks.

It turns out, this isn’t the 1850s, and the corporation isn’t staffed by robber barons. NCRC is actually housed in a 1,413 square-foot space in a 1980s-era brick office building on Highwoods Boulevard. The amenities apparently include a kitchenette and an outdoor picnic area; no mention of a billiards room or even a bowling alley. The $95,870 renovation will be handled by Spec Con Inc.

2017 Year in Review

in Humor/ITBNN by

What a year. After recovering by watching 49 hours of Netflix (2 seasons of All or Nothing and 3 seasons of Bloodline) in five days after Christmas, I took some time to look back on 2017. In late 2016 I decided to go full-time with ITB Insider because nothing sounded more fun than working constantly and having weekly anxiety attacks. Here are some stats and highlights from my first year as a full-time media empire startup.

In 2017, ITB Insider had 114 blog posts, 382,038 pageviews, and 126,136 visitors.

For context, in 2016 ITB Insider had 38 blog posts, 119,371 pageviews, and 61,948 visitors.

Special thanks to James Borden for writing the Development Beat every week and keeping me informed of actual news in Raleigh.

My tweets in 2017 had over 56.2 million impressions, thanks to Fyre Festival (it was lit). My family still doesn’t understand what this means. Or maybe they just don’t care. Regardless, I’m putting this on my tombstone.

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Before I get to the year in review, I’d like to say thank you to a lot of people. Special thanks to all of the sponsors and companies we worked with in 2017, especially Miller Law Group, Stacy Miller, Beacon Street Development, Rufty Peedin Design Builders, Seaboard Wine & Tasting Bar, Downtown Dental, PBX®, Rise Cameron Village, Walk West, Humdinger Juice, Glenwood South Tailors + Alterations, Express Yourself Paint, Tradition Scarves, Trophy Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing, Southern Ego Clothing, High Cotton, and more that I’m probably forgetting.

Thanks to all the dogs who were featured on Dogs of ITB. We’re going to do a better job with this account in 2018 now that I know how much ITBlake the intern loves dogs.

Thanks to all the customers of the new fashion and merchandise empire.

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Thanks to Broughton for giving me ITBlake the intern.

And most importantly, thank you to all of you for reading, sharing, and following along as the media empire grows. We’ve got even more planned in 2018. And now, some of my favorites from 2017.

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January started off with a robbery in Cameron Village that was thwarted by a heroic York security guard. If you actually dig into this story it’s pretty insane. I’ll leave it at that. Full story.

A Five Points couple, and their dog, struggled to deal with the unpredictable weather. Life can be so hard sometimes. Full story.


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Mordecai residents were outraged when they heard rumors of Dave & Busters coming to the neighborhood. Full story.

The Velvet Cloak Inn came down. RIP.

Cary passed an ordinance requiring beige colored Easter Eggs. Full story.

Someone stole the Lake Boone chicken. Full story.

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Goodberry’s kept using pictures from my Sunday night anxiety digital art installation without my permission. This issue is still unresolved.

We literally saved lives with our Raleigh fire coverage. Full story.

Photo from Photojournalist Brian James Patrick Oschwald

I incorrectly predicted that The Rock would play football for NC State. Side note: The Rock retweeted @spencerspicy the other day and I’ve never been happier for one of my friends. Full story.

Thanks to Bonner Gaylord, I got to put a fidget spinner and half of my Fyre Festival wristband in the North Hills time capsule that will be unearthed in 50 years. That’s right, in 50 years people will still be talking about Fyre Festival. Full story.

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I helped Meredith College bring attention to their campus lake dilemma. The President of Meredith sent me a nice thank you e-mail. For real. Full story.

Protests spread across Raleigh in support of the Brunch Bill. The mimosas were freed and the streets ran red with Bloody Marys. Full story.



A Hayes Barton family camped out for brunch at NOFO. Full story.

Five Points residents filed a class action lawsuit against a train for blocking their view of the July 4th fireworks. Rumor has it that Stacy Miller settled the case for $7 billion. Full story.

A Hayes Barton mom tried to sell her child online for Pullen Park Holiday Express tickets. Full story.

“The chalkboard, Charles. The fucking chalkboard.” A dad faced divorce after ruining the back to school picture. Full story.



I totally botched a Tweet about the top Broughton graduates. Fortunately, Peyton Reed understood after I wrote him a letter, recorded a video of me reading it, then tweeted the video at him. Full story.

As always, Raleigh dominated the 2017 Deb Class. Full story.

I was on a panel with actual journalists.

ITBlake the intern joined the media empire. Yes, he’s getting school credit for this. Yes, the fame of being recognized at Starbucks and in Cameron Village is going to his head. No, he is not my son. Full story.

I came up with the most ITB Halloween pumpkin carving templates. Full story.

A Five Points family spent weeks preparing for the Angus Barn Trail. Thanks to multiple YETI coolers and Go-GURT laced with Ambien, no one died of dysentery. Full story.

ITBlake the intern and JDog the YouTube star covered their first Raleigh Christmas parade and almost won Sundance. Full story.

ITBlake the intern turned 18. Full story.

Residents were distraught over Starbucks closing for roughly two days. Full story.

I was asked to speak at the Raleigh PR Society awards dinner.

This was really one of the few bright spots of 2017. Our story about a Raleigh couple living in Panama and saving orphans. Full story.

The fashion and merchandise empire launched in December and everyone loved it. ShopITB.com.

Finally, I survived Fyre Festival, which was probably the best representation of 2017 as a whole. My coverage was in pretty much every news outlet on the planet. Thanks to Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, VICE, and a few others for covering it accurately. Full story.

I was in Vanity Fair. Full story.

I was in Vanity Fair in Spain. Full story.

My coverage was on Andy Cohen’s television show. Full story.

As soon as our lawsuit against Billy McFarland, Ja Rule, and others wraps up, I’ll be able to launch the Dumpster Fyre Podcast. It’ll be like Serial and Dumb & Dumber had a baby, then left that baby on an island with nothing but a cheese sandwich. It’s gonna be lit.

Best Tweets of 2017

 

Development Beat: Vita Vite Coming to North Hills and More Grand Openings

in Development/ITBNN by

Brought to you by Rufty-Peedin Design Builders.

Week of December 18, 2017

Vita Vite adding location in North Hills

Shop ITB opens

Grand opening set for A Place at the Table

Update on the hotel replacing Shelton’s Furniture

Seaboard Ace Hardware acquired by Ace Hardware

Bookstore at RDU to close

Bella Mar opens in Cameron Village

Another brewery plans to open in February

Ramen bar coming soon to South Wilmington

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Vita Vite Opening Another Location in North Hills

Vita Vite, a wine bar and art gallery located in downtown Raleigh, is opening its second location. Branching out from downtown, the new North Hills location is scheduled to open in late spring 2018. Vita Vite Midtown will “unveil a welcoming, comfortable wine bar complemented by craft beers, small plates, Southern art and local goods for purchase”.

According to the exclusive press release that WNFIV received from North Hills, the 6,000 square foot space will have a mezzanine level with outdoor seating and bars on both levels. Located in the Park Central building, Vita Vite Midtown will also display a collection of southern art along with goods from local artisans and vendors. Make sure you take Lassiter Mill to get there.

Shop ITB Opens

Shop ITB, an e-commerce startup focused on the inside the beltline market opened this month. Founded by William Needham Finley IV, who also created this website, the shop features ITB fashion, merchandise, and glassware lines. “People have been asking for t-shirts for years, so I started a fashion empire,” said Finley IV. In addition to the signature ITB t-shirt, customers can purchase koozies, onesies, stickers, and ITBlessed wine glasses.

Last week, ITBlake the intern and JDog, known for their work covering the Raleigh Christmas parade, debuted their home shopping video to promote the grand opening. The video was met with rave reviews and has been viewed over 4,400 times. Be sure to shop ITB this holiday season, or else your family will disown you.

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A Grand Opening at the Table

A Place at the Table announced their pay-what-you-can cafe’s grand opening in the former Café de los Muertos Space on W Hargett Street in downtown Raleigh. The first day of opening will be January 8, 2018.

A Place at the Table will be open Monday through Saturday from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm. According to the press release, their menu includes “buttermilk biscuits with sage sausage gravy, an assortment of sandwiches including delicious smokey chipotle pimento cheese, and a delectable waffle selection like the chai spiced waffle with butter, warm maple syrup, and whipped cream.”

All food and beverages will be pay-what-you-can. The model allows patrons to pay for their meal in one of five ways: to pay what they can afford, to pay a suggested donation, to pay what they would typically pay plus a donation, to pay specifically for someone else’s full meal, or to pay by volunteering.

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Updates On the Hotel Going In the Old Shelton’s Spot

In March, we reported that the historic Shelton’s Furniture was set to be torn down, bringing an end to the building’s 75-year life. The building at 607 West Morgan Street was demolished to make way for what was being called Two Glenwood, a 150-room hotel and parking deck. Further details have now been unveiled about the future boutique hotel, which will be named Origin.

The 126-room 7-story hotel will be developed by a company named the Thrash Group out of Mississippi, and will be one of a number of “Origin” hotels it builds across the country.

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Seaboard Ace Hardware Acquired by Westlake Ace Hardware

In what seemed like an odd bit of news, the Triangle Business Journal reported last week that the Seaboard Ace Hardware at Seaboard Station was being acquired by Westlake Ace Hardware out of Kansas. Which means it will remain an Ace Hardware. The new owners have even announced plans to keep “the store’s name, management, employees and product lineup.”

So Ace Hardware is getting bought out by Ace Hardware? And there won’t be any big changes? So does it matter? We’re glad to hear the management and employees will remain in place, and figure, if the store has to be sold, it might as well be to a company willing to keep everything the same.

The acquisition will be completed in February, and apparently will give Westlake a total of nine North Carolina Ace Hardware locations. We assume they’ll be having a celebratory glass of wine at Seaboard Wine.

2nd Edition Goes Out of Print

In a bit of tragic news this week, it was announced that the 2nd Edition Used Bookstore at RDU would be closing its doors for good at the end of December, following more than 30 years and a variety of locations at RDU Airport.

The owners, Walter and Karen High, both former librarians, plan to sell off the majority of their merchandise through closeout sales, although they will be holding on to a number of books for themselves. It’s impressive the store managed to remain open so long in the advent of Amazon and e-readers, and it makes sense the couple who owns it want to retire and do some traveling of their own, after decades of serving customers who were set to fly around the world.

Women’s Clothier Opens in Cameron Village

Bella Mar, a women’s clothing boutique based out of Wendell, held a grand opening celebration Saturday for its new Cameron Village location. We first reported on work beginning on the new store back in September. The store will feature  “trendsetting brands for women’s everyday style.”

Grand Opening today from 2-6pm or later 😉 #saturdaystyle

A post shared by Bella Mar (@bellamarnc) on

New Brewery Will Sprout Up in February

Funguys Brewing announced last week that they will be holding a grand opening celebration of their new Raleigh brewery on February 24, 2018. Funguys, which is currently seeking to raise money for the venture on Kickstarter, describes itself as a “start-up microbrewery”. They’ll be located off Wake Forest Road near Mami Nora’s.

Ramen Bar Coming Soon to South Wilmington Street

Permits issued last week will pave the way for the long-awaited Tonbo Ramen noodle shop on South Wilmington Street that we first covered in late August.

Drawn up by friend of the media empire Ted Van Dyk of New City Design, the design is intended to “honor the Moore Square Historic District, while bringing a contemporary interpretation to the aesthetic.”

“As a restaurant and night spot,” Van Dyk notes, “appearance and attractiveness, and connection between inside and outside are important.” The building’s original facade has been completely missing for decades. The new facade will be comprised mostly of glass and ceramic tile, and will “echo the ‘two-part’ composition of other facades on the street.”

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Development Beat: Paint the Town Yellow

in Development/ITBNN by

Brought to you by Rufty-Peedin Design Builders.

Week of December 4, 2017

City of Raleigh to Repaint 20,000 Fire Hydrants

Cafe Lucarne Reopens As Lucarne

5 Lounge & Discotorium Comes to Glenwood South

Tapas and Wine Bar Announced for The Dillon

DriveShack Begins Work on Three-Story Driving Range

Iron Yard Coding School Copies and Pastes New Coding School

Penn Station Coming to The Stanhope

O2 Fitness Opens Fourth Raleigh Location

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Paint the Town Yellow

Driving through Raleigh over the past year, you may have noticed an odd phenomenon: the changing color of fire hydrants. In June of 2016, the City announced a massive repainting project involving about 20,000 public fire hydrants. Public hydrants in Raleigh, Garner, Knightdale, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Wendell, and Zebulon were all to be changed from red to yellow. Chrome yellow, if you want to be specific about it. Friend of the media empire, Andy Specht, covered this last year.

We recently noticed that the City’s Public Utilities department is looking for a contractor to “plan and execute a project” that will involve the application of a “Safety Yellow” primer coat, and a final coat of Chrome Yellow on our beloved hydrants. Proposals for the painting are due on December 22nd and we would like to officially endorse our sponsor Express Yourself Paint for this project. Sure, they’re mainly focused on exterior and interior painting of residential and commercial buildings. But we’re confident they could handle 20,000 fire hydrants.

The City notes that the project is expected to take about two years, with the contractor finishing about 10,000 hydrants per year. If you want to know even more about the “why” behind this project, Mike Legeros has more information.

Notes from WNFIV: While researching this story, we found that many of these yellow hydrants are often painted to resemble Minions, the lovable characters originally seen in the movie Despicable Me.

There was even a Mario hydrant. 

So, why can’t we have these? Why not LaCroix themed hydrants or Lilly Pulitzer themed hydrants? Or hydrants for each neighborhood. I want more fire hydrant diversity and I want it now. Your move, Raleigh.

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Cafe Lucarne Drops the Cafe

After nine months in operation on Blake Street in City Market, Cafe Lucarne shut its doors in March, only to reopen last week after another nine months as “Lucarne” — a late night spot serving small plates, craft beers, and cocktails.

When it opened in July 2016, Cafe Lucarne was a “casual, counter-service” restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The same group behind both incarnations of Lucarne also opened the high-end Royale restaurant (which WNFIV gave a 5 out of 5 beltline rating to) in November 2016. The new Lucarne was designed to serve as a companion restaurant to Royale and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to midnight.

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5 Lounge & Discotorium Opens

Glenwood South’s newest bar comes with a twist — and we don’t mean the citrusy garnish they’ll be serving with the craft cocktails. It turns out, the owners of 5 Lounge & Discotorium want the bar’s patrons to “Party With a Purpose!” as the five owners of 5 will be donating five percent of their proceeds to a different charity each month. No word on if they’ll offer $5 footlongs as well.

While  it’s wonderful the owners are looking to give back to their community through these donations, we’re pretty sure most Raleighites would prefer a charitable bar/nightclub in the vein of A Place at the Table; that is, a pay-what-you-can concept for booze.

Until then, drinkers tragically paying full price for their cocktails can take solace in the fact that some of the cost is funding a local charity, such as the Women’s Center of Wake County. 5 Lounge is located at 517 W. Jones Street off Glenwood Avenue.

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Barcelona Wine Bar Planned for The Dillon

The latest tenant for Kane Realty’s The Dillon development in downtown’s warehouse district has been announced: a wine and tapas bar that’s chosen Raleigh as its first North Carolina location.

Barcelona Wine Bar, which features dozens of tapas and charcuterie and cheese dishes ranging from Drunken Goat — semi soft goat’s milk soaked in red wine — to spiced beef empanadas with Piquillo sauce, currently operates in six states and Washington D.C.

We love a good tapas bar, and the menu prices for the Philadelphia location were surprisingly reasonable. The chain currently operates locations in Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. We’re excited they chose Raleigh as their first location in the North State, but we’re even more excited they didn’t choose Charlotte.

Driving it Home

DriveShack, the TopGolf competitor whose plans to open up shop in Raleigh were announced exclusively here on the Development Beat back in May, received permits last week for their three story driving range with a “large bar and dining area.”

The new 63,885 SF, $8 million facility is getting built by Ashland Construction and will be located on Corporate Center Drive in West Raleigh next to Interstate 40.

Former Home of Iron Yard Coding School To Be Assimilated by New Coding School

Control C. Control V. The Iron Yard Coding School, a sort-of franchised venture that sought to train workers for a career change with three months worth of schooling, shuttered its Raleigh and Durham locations this past summer. Now, some of the former owners of Iron Yard are planning to open a brand-new coding school, Momentum, which, like its predecessor, will be housed in the American Underground building at 213 Fayetteville. In an interview with the Triangle Business Journal, Momentum CEO Jessica Mitsch said the intense local focus of Momentum would set it apart from Iron Yard.

New Sub Joint Coming to the Stanhope

Penn Station East Coast Subs will soon be serving their signature sandwiches from the ground floor of the Stanhope at 3001 Hillsborough Street. Permits for the interior completion of the 1,622 square-foot space were issued last week to Callahan Construction and Development, which is unfortunately not a subsidiary of Callahan Auto Parts.

O2 Fitness Opens at North Ridge

Raleigh’s fourth location of the popular O2 Fitness chain is now open at North Ridge on Falls of Neuse in North Raleigh, less than four months after permits were issued for construction.

Although we noted this is O2’s fourth location — they’ve got gyms at Brennan Station, Seaboard Station and another one on Falls of Neuse — this location will technically be the fifth to open in Raleigh. An O2 Fitness on Person Street closed earlier this year.

Raleigh Couple Moves to Panama, Saves Orphans

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Being a growing media empire means we sometimes have to look outside of Raleigh. Today, we’re covering an amazing story out of Panama with deep ties to Raleigh. Since it’s also Giving Tuesday, we’d like to encourage everyone to donate to Heart’s Cry Children’s Ministry to benefit the work being done in Panama.

Starting an orphanage for special needs children in a foreign country, where adoption law is basically nonexistent, is simple. You just need a couple with a background in international adoption law and real estate development to drop everything they’re doing, move to that country, and devote their entire lives to the cause. Fortunately for Panama, that’s exactly what Matt and Misty Hedspeth did.

Matt at Fort San Lorenzo, where he often takes his steady stream of volunteers visiting Panama.

I met Matt Hedspeth in November of 2016. I was just beginning to run my media empire as a full time job and Matt was entering his 9th year living in Panama with his wife Misty and saving orphans with special needs through their non-profit, Heart’s Cry Children’s Ministry. We were both doing the Lord’s work. Matt and I were introduced by a mutual friend (Broughton legend Will Roach) and met for lunch in Cameron Village to talk about an upcoming banquet for Heart’s Cry.

“You’re coming to Panama, you just don’t know it yet.” That was one of the first things Matt said to me during our lunch. I quickly learned how intense and passionate he was, about everything. He had some incredible stories about his time in Panama. From having machine guns pointed at his face by local law enforcement over a simple misunderstanding, to how Heart’s Cry literally wrote the adoption laws in Panama, their current life seemed like a movie or a TV show.

Their former life in Raleigh was much more relatable. Matt and Misty had met on a blind date while they were both attending NC State. Misty was studying accounting and Matt was pursuing a degree in Forest Management. Misty earned her law degree and MBA from Campbell University and eventually opened her own law practice in Raleigh. She began focusing on adoption law and became an expert on the Hague Convention. She went on to help a local adoption agency, Amazing Grace, form a new adoption program in Panama.

Matt and Misty Hedspeth with their children (from left to right) Rosie, Peter, and Isaac.

As Misty progressed through her career, Matt was busy finding his niche in real estate development. As the manager and owner of a 95-unit town home development, Matt honed his skills in management and building rehabilitation. In his spare time, Matt pursued his love of music by writing and playing in a band with John Teer and Chandler Holt, two of his Broughton classmates, who went on to form the band Chatham County Line. Years later, they would play together at the Heart’s Cry Banquet that Matt and I had discussed over lunch.

Shortly after marrying, Matt and Misty discovered they weren’t able to have their own biological children. They decided to adopt internationally from Panama through a new program Misty had helped forge at Amazing Grace. They booked a 2-week trip to submit the adoption paperwork, establish the international adoption program, and go on vacation in Panama. 

The vacation never happened. Upon arrival, Matt and Misty somehow ended up meeting with prominent Panamanian officials who were desperate for someone to help the government fix the adoption and orphan care system. They even ended up talking with Vivian Torrijos, the First Lady of Panama at the time. 

The main crisis was, and still is, within the government. However, a few other factors contribute to Panama’s unusually large amount of orphaned or abandoned children. Panama is a Catholic country, where abortion is illegal and birth control is frowned upon. Somehow prostitution is legal and you can actually get a prostitution work visa. This combination results in a lot of abandoned babies. The Panama Canal also provides a gateway to the world for every kind of human trafficking, which also contributes to the crisis. Poverty obviously plays a role, with the mean annual income per family in Panama at $5,500 per year.

After several trips, Matt and Misty realized they needed to move to Panama to help fix the country’s orphan crisis. They sold everything, shut down the Hedspeth Law Firm, kept the real estate Matt owned as a source of income to live off of, started their own non-profit (Heart’s Cry Children’s Ministry), bought a condo in the middle of Panama City, and began the adventure. What they thought would take a few months turned into six months. Nine years later, they are still in Panama. 

Over those 9 years, Matt and Misty adopted Peter, a brilliant, beautiful child with special needs. They then adopted Rosemary, who was hearing impaired and now thriving in the family.

Matt and Misty with a Panamanian judge being granted full custody of their adopted daughter Rosie.

In 2013, against all odds, the Hedspeths had a child, Isaac (also a special needs child with Autism). As if one miracle wasn’t amazing enough, Matt and Misty are now currently expecting their fourth child, Josie, in April.

While taking care of a growing family they also ran Heart’s Cry, which has made an incredible amount of progress to date. They set out to evaluate the systems in place in Panama, create improvements or new systems, then implement those solutions with their ongoing in-person support. For example, here’s Matt at Panama’s medical distributor buying $7,000 worth of Pediatric HIV meds for orphans who, at the time of the picture, had gone 2-months without medicine critical to their survival. The Panamanian Minister of Health had forgotten to order it that quarter.

Heart’s Cry, but mainly Misty, wrote the new adoption law (Law 46, passed in 2013) which shortened the time and limited the number of family members requiring investigation by the government for the Family Investigation period. The law also included guidelines for a new foster care system.

Heart’s Cry signing the new adoption Law and their formal working contract with the Panamanian Government.

They also funded the creation of Case Manager, a software enabling the government to track every case file (orphan) according to the requirements of Law 46. They then created and implemented Panama’s first Foster Care system, so that the orphanage is no longer the only choice of placement once a baby is abandoned. They also established Heart’s Cry Family Services, Panama’s first local adoption and foster care agency. The agency currently has an attorney, social worker, clinical psychologist, and office administrator to provide free services to Panamanian residents.

The project that Matt currently gets most excited about is the renovation of a 43,000 square foot former U.S. Army building. This building will house Casa Providencia, Panama’s first and only special needs orphanage and therapy center. Scheduled to open in February 2018, it will house some of Panama’s most severely disabled orphans, and provide the best in all therapies, education, nutrition, and healthcare.

Casa Providencia – Panama’s first Special Needs Orphanage and Therapy Center

Matt called me a few weeks ago to see if I’d be able to make it to their second banquet in December. His day had consisted of managing the renovation of the new orphanage, bartering with local Panamanians for some hard to find construction supplies, and visiting with orphans at several orphanages. Misty had spent the day in and out of the Heart’s Cry offices scheduling short-term missions teams to help with construction, negotiating foster care legislation over the phone with Panamanian officials, and taking care of their three children in their own home. The least I could do, before going to Panama at some point, was to share their story here.

So on this Giving Tuesday I’d highly encourage everyone to visit their website to donate to Casa Providencia. Donate $100 and send me the receipt and I’ll send you a free soon to be released ITB t-shirt and koozie.

The Best Raleigh Christmas Parade Coverage Ever

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Welcome to the first ever Raleigh Christmas parade coverage from ITB Insider™. As many of you know, Shop Local Raleigh puts on a fantastic Christmas parade in downtown Raleigh every year. This year, WRAL lost the broadcasting contract for the parade but decided to broadcast it anyway. That’s when I realized it was time for my growing media empire to provide coverage that everyone could ITBelieve in.

Knowing I needed the perfect spot to broadcast from, I reached out to my friends at Downtown Dental, who were more than happy to provide us with exclusive access and a front row seat. The goal of our broadcast wasn’t to outdo ABC11, who was the official broadcaster of the parade. I simply wanted to provide you all with a closer look at the ITB floats.

However, I knew that due to WRAL insisting on broadcasting the parade there was a chance some legal disputes could arise from me being there. So to avoid breaking any rules I sent ITBlake the intern to cover the parade for me, since interns can’t be prosecuted in media court. To make sure ITBlake got through his first live broadcast I brought in a co-host for him. I hired Jdog, a YouTube star from Raleigh who taught the Holderness Family everything they know, to show him the ropes.


We arrived at Downtown Dental on Fayetteville street around 9:30 am and tried to set up a live stream on Facebook. The signal kept dropping, possibly because Facebook or other media empires wanted to censor us. Or possibly due to tens of thousands of people clogging the cell towers while trying to upload pictures of the parade. We scrapped the live coverage and everything went exactly as planned, resulting in the best video that ITB Insider™ has ever produced.

Let’s take a closer look at the most ITB floats in this year’s parade. First up was the micITBit float, full of ITB moms who love to buy and sell smocked clothing, strollers, and literally anything else they think they can sell for $3. Two moms did their best job reenacting one of the biggest controversies in Buy/Sell/Trade group history, known simply as “the snow bib incident”.

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Up next was a Yukon from Thompson Cadillac, obvi, pulling a Tahoe, pulling a Suburban, pulling a float with Flash riding on the back playing his guitar and singing “When the Caps Go Marching In”.

Crowds cheered as Broughton legend and Hollywood Director Peyton Reed made an appearance on the float. He was in town filming a new movie based on Fyre Festival and Jurassic Park. The film is set in Dix Park, where dinosaur bones were recently discovered.


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Our friends from PBX® had the only float with zero percent body fat, a true testament to the PBX® method.

Next up was the Country Club Hills Mansion Fire float, a reminder to avoid having parties in mansions that are under construction.

Next came the Beacon Street Development float, which featured a lovely miniature version of their new project, The Wade. You may recall that I got ITBlake a condo here for his birthday.

A small child ran out into the parade when her parents became distracted from laughing hysterically at the performance being put on by ITBlake and Jdog. Fortunately, Stacy Miller jumped in front of a float and saved the child from certain death.

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No parade would be complete without Dogs of ITB. And there were a lot of them. ITBlake almost didn’t give this dog back to its owner.

The Trolley Pub showed up…

The day wrapped up with a huge highlight for ITBlake, who got to interview all three Stacy Millers at the same time.

Even though Facebook, and possibly other jealous media empires, tried to crush us by shutting down our live stream, the show went on. ITBlake and Jdog won the hearts and minds of everyone that day. They’re looking forward to next year, when they’ll have their own broadcasting float.

Seriously, ITBlake was more excited to see Stacy than Santa.


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Development Beat: Cameron Village Welcomes New Starbucks

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Brought to you by Rufty-Peedin Design Builders.

Week of November 13, 2017

New Starbucks opens in Cameron Village

City Plaza construction shuts down Ice Raleigh

Target opens on Hillsborough Street

Moore Square closes for renovations

Michael’s English Muffins to open permanent retail location

Remedy Diner relocates

New hotel announced for Glenwood South

Last week, we asked everyone to donate to the YMCA’s We Build People Campaign. You still have a day left to donate and enter “ITB” when you credit a campaigner.

We’d also like to remind everyone that Share the Pie is selling pies to support StepUp Ministry and Alliance Medical Ministry. You can purchase pies here.

Our third and final cause of the week is Hilltop Home’s annual “A Christmas Carol” sponsorship. Sponsorship opportunities are available for the Thursday, December 7th show of Raleigh icon Ira David Wood III’s beloved musical, held at the Duke Energy Center for Performing Arts (also known as Memorial Auditorium). You can also purchase individual tickets for $95 without a sponsorship package. Includes ticket and donation to Hilltop Home, a private, non-profit intermediate care facility that is home to 22 children with severe to profound developmental disabilities. Children receive individualized medical, therapeutic, and educational services in an intimate, homelike setting.

New Starbucks in Cameron Village Opens

It’s an early Christmas miracle. Residents rejoiced as the new Starbucks in Cameron Village opened this week. The new location is across the street from the previous location inside Harris Teeter. The temporary closure during the move left many distraught last week, so we’re glad to see this up and running.

While there is not a drive-thru at the new location, contractors appear to be finishing work on an outdoor seating area that could potentially double as a helipad for Tahoecopters or drone pickup/delivery. We’ll keep an eye on this as it develops.

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No Ice Skating in Downtown Raleigh

Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile, and on every street corner you’ll hear: “When does Ice Raleigh open this year?”

Well, we hate to be the bearers of War on Ice Skating news, but Ice Raleigh — a seasonal outdoor ice rink located in City Plaza — will be closed this year. It’s sort of a long story, but basically the City told the Downtown Raleigh Alliance (the group that puts on Ice Raleigh) that the Astroturf space normally used for the rink would be unavailable due to construction on the new 22-story FNB Tower. DRA tried to find another location but was unable to. The FNB tower groundbreaking got pushed back to Feb. 2018, meaning the Astroturf location was available, but it was too late for DRA to secure the location for proper installation.

This doesn’t mean Christmas is canceled in Downtown Raleigh. The annual 2017 ABC11/LeithCars.com Raleigh Christmas Parade presented by Shop Local Raleigh is November 18th from 10:00 a.m. to noon, and the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony will take place December 2 in City Plaza from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.

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Hillsborough Street Target Now Open

Last week, the Hillsborough Street Target welcomed the students of NC State into its bright-red, scaled-down space in the former home of The Alley. The 23,000 square foot space is officially a “flexible-format” store, which runs smaller than the average 135,000 square foot regular Targets and the 174,000 square foot Super Targets.

WNFIV was invited to the sneak peek but, out of respect for The Alley, couldn’t bring himself to attend. Here’s a tour of the new space.

Considering the majority of the items purchased at the new store will be furnishing micro-sized dorm rooms or cramped four-bedroom apartments, it makes perfect sense to have a smaller store (they were once known as CityTarget or TargetExpress stores) in this location. But was it too much to hope that they’d find enough spare room for at least *one* bowling lane?

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Moore Square Park Closed for Remodeling

Although the official groundbreaking ceremony for the loooooong-anticipated Moore Square Park renovation was held last Thursday, it wasn’t until yesterday that one of downtown’s oldest parks was closed to the public.

While planning on the Moore Square renovation began more than 8 years ago, and was finally bid out to contractors (for the first time) last year, it was not until September 2017 that Council finally awarded a construction contract for the $10.6 million overhaul to American South General Contractors of Sanford.

American South had bid the job at more than $13 million, but worked with the City to come within the project’s remaining budget. In order to do this, a few modifications, including the size of the trellis, changes to the seat walls, and the removal of a “grove room,” were required.

Construction is expected to take about a year and will include landscape renovations, a new public pavilion, a new central lawn, planted areas, pedestrian walkways and gathering spaces, sidewalk improvements, site lighting and furnishings, a play area, public art, and a jet-field water feature. No word on if the water feature will feed into the potential downtown Raleigh canal.

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Michael’s English Muffins Getting A Retail Location

Raleigh’s only source of fresh-baked English muffins will soon have a permanent spot to call home, now that permits have been issued for the renovation of a space at the Towne Square shopping center.

The shop’s owner, Michael Annabelle Comisar, told us she hadn’t even been looking to open a retail location, and was instead looking for a space to grow their production. The English muffins are currently sold at a number of farmers markets and other retail locations around the area.

“Per the landlord, the space needed to be open to the public,” Comisar said, and she decided to open a small cafe location where customers could either purchase the muffins in bulk or enjoy them on site with a variety of spreads. Her favorite: peanut butter with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Comisar, who named the English muffins after her late father Michael, said she hopes to open by the end of the year, but doesn’t want to set a hard date due to the high expectations associated with the holiday season.

Remedy Relocates

Remedy Diner, the downtown vegetarian mainstay that first opened on East Hargett Street in 2008, officially moved in to its new space at 927 Morgan Street last Wednesday. The new, larger space can now seat up to 60 diners at a time, nearly double the amount that could squeeze into the original location, allowing Remedy to serve up twice the number of Buffalo Non-Chicken Wings, Veggie Reubens and Fake Meatball Subs.

New Hotel Planned for Glenwood South


In a move no doubt designed to capitalize on the influx of tourism set to flood Hillsborough Street now that the Target has opened, plans were announced last week for a new AC Hotel by Marriott near the intersection of Hillsborough and Glenwood.

The new five-story hotel, known as “The Willard” will have about 125 rooms. An additional two stories will house 25 condominium units. Four office buildings known collectively as Cooper Square at 21 Glenwood Avenue will need to be torn down in order to make way for the new development.

Residents Distraught Over Temporary Closure of Starbucks

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The closing of the Cameron Village Starbucks has left a community reeling. The store closed its doors this week as it prepared to move to a new location, about 30 yards across the street. Unfortunately, many regular customers were unaware of the closing and showed up to find the doors locked.

A sign on the door informed the public that the store was closed, but would reopen in the new location on Thursday, November 9th. Customers stood outside not knowing what to do with themselves.

“This is killing my down-line,” said Jason Bass, holding a Staples legal pad and off-brand YETI tumbler filled with coffee that he brought from home to save money. Bass is part of a pyramid scheme that sells energy drinks and paper towels, and often uses the Starbucks to meet with potential employees.

 

Pyramid scheme representatives weren’t the only group affected by the closure.

“Look, I know I should be buying local, but I technically am, since I moved here from Seattle,” said Asher Austin, as he sat down at an outdoor table and pulled his decal covered Macbook from an earth tone messenger bag, attempting to use the free Wifi.

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Moms in desperate need of a caffeine and gossip fix during their Mother’s Morning Out were horrified to learn of the closing.

“I (clapping emoji) need (clapping emoji) my (clapping emoji) PSL (clapping emoji),” said Mary Anna Davis, referring to the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.

(Editor’s note: with the recent iOS issues surrounding the letter “I” we figured it best to type out “clapping emoji” so everyone could read it.)

“We need to discuss the micITBit drama and how we are all going to donate to the Y’s We Build People Campaign,” added Anna Mary Hurst.

Many potential customers got back in their SUVs and rushed to the nearest Starbucks on Peace Street, .9 miles away. It was a madhouse.

Not surprisingly, sales at Seaboard Wine spiked, as moms started drinking early to deal with their caffeine withdrawals while also stocking up for the weekend.

“Friday is a teacher workday and my kids are still jacked up on Halloween candy,” said one mother, as she purchased a case of red and a case of white wine.

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Back at Harris Teeter, employees took time to reassure unknowing customers that everything would be ok.

“I thought we had lost this Starbucks location for good. It really shows how fragile life is. Hug your Venti Chai Latte a little tighter this morning. You never know when it can be taken away for 48 hours,” said Davis.

It’s rumored that the old Starbucks space in Harris Teeter will be turned into a LaCroix section, with Express Yourself Paint doing the LaCroix themed interior painting. Hopefully, that news will appease residents as they work to overcome this struggle.

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Development Beat: North Hills Superchargers, N&O Building to be Sold, HQ Raleigh Expands

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Brought to you by Rufty-Peedin Design Builders.

Week of October 23, 2017

Superchargers coming to North Hills

News & Observer selling downtown building

HQ Raleigh expands into Capital Club building

Charter Square North to break ground in February

Greek Fiesta on Western to be replaced with Popeye’s

Galaxy Fun Park To Add Mini-Golf

Superchargers Coming to North Hills

Kane Realty announced last week that North Hills would soon be adding Tesla Superchargers. We had hoped these would wirelessly charge your iPhone battery as you walked around North Hills. Apparently, they’re for charging your Tesla electric vehicle.

North Hills will be the first in the Raleigh market to offer this amenity and they have also secured a spot on the Tesla Model X Mobile Gallery tour. As part of the nationwide tour, the Tesla Model X and Airstream gallery will be in the Commons of North Hills from November 27th to December 4th.

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News & Observer To Sell Downtown Building By Year’s End

Nearly three years after announcing plans to sell its downtown offices, the News & Observer has reportedly found a buyer with plans to close on the property by the end of the year. Although the three-acre site has been home to the News & Observer for nearly 110 years, the paper did not move its editorial offices into the three-story brick building on South McDowell Street until the late 1950s.

In November 2015, the News & Observer had reached a deal to sell the property for $20 million to the cleverly-titled LLC Above The Fold. Plot twist, the deal fell through. The sale of this historic property was reportedly announced during an earnings call last week, although the buyer was not named. We can confirm that it was not ITB Insider™.

The existing office building will almost certainly be torn down or drastically re-altered — back when they first announced plans to sell, the N&O’s publisher described it as “an old and inefficient space” — although what will be built in its stead remains to be seen.

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HQ Raleigh Opens New Space in Capital Club Building

“So we beat on, startups against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the shared workspace.” – an entrepreneur, probably.

HQ Raleigh, a co-working space in downtown Raleigh, held a “Great Gatsby inspired” grand opening/five year anniversary party this past week to celebrate their expansion into the historic Capital Club building.

William Finley IV actually spoke at the Raleigh Public Relations Society awards dinner last week and said the space looked fantastic.

We first reported on this move back in February, when we noted that the $2.2 million project would renovate about 31,000 square feet of space. Included in that space were floors 9-12 of the 12-story building, which originally housed space for the Capital Club’s offices, “as well as a billiard room, lounges, kitchens, dining rooms, and a ballroom.” It seems these amenities were a must have since, according to a historic landmark application, “the Capital Club Building is associated with the lives of the individuals who dominated the governmental, commercial, and industrial affairs of the state during the five decades beginning in 1885.”

Groundbreaking Announced for Charter Square North

Raleigh’s most anticipated sequel is set to begin production in February 2019, when Dominion Partners will commence with the construction of Charter Square North, a 22-story office and residential tower on South Wilmington Street. Why they chose to go with Charter Square North instead of my suggestion, The Magna Charter, is beyond my understanding.

Designed by JDavis Architects, the $110 million tower has gone through a number of iterations through the years, from the 2015 unique stacked structure that looked like the Tet Corporation’s Hammarskjöld Plaza in Keystone Earth’s New York City, to the more sleek and modern look unveiled last year. The latest rendering includes signage for the building’s anchor tenant, F.N.B. Corp, a Pennsylvania-based bank that will occupy about 40,000 square feet.

Charter Square North will include a total of about 156,000 square feet along with 239 apartment units. The space is reported to be about 50 percent leased at this point.

The original Charter Square, one of North Carolina’s only privately-owned, LEED-platinum certified buildings, opened in 2015. Dominion sold the building to another local firm, Highwoods Properties, in September 2016.

Popeye’s Chicken Coming to Western Boulevard

Western Boulevard’s Greek Fiesta restaurant will soon be replaced by Popeye’s Chicken. Bringing in a Popeye’s to replace it is an interesting choice, considering there’s a Bojangles about 100 yards away. Although we imagine the proximity to NC State means they won’t have much trouble keeping the doors open.

Galaxy Expands

Go-Karts. Bumper Cars. A Rope Course. Laser Tag. A Trampoline Room. Galaxy Fun Park has it all, right? Wrong. Unlike its counterparts Adventure Landing and Frankie’s Fun Park, Galaxy, which opened just over a year ago on Falls of Neuse Road, is missing one key component of the family attraction center formula: mini-golf.

But that’s about to change. A $200,000 permit was issued to Carolina Building Systems for a “change of tenant space to miniature golf.” A Galaxy employee told us the course should be open within a few months.

How to Improve Voting in Raleigh

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In 2015, voter turnout in Raleigh was less than 15%. While that is pathetic, we shouldn’t shame these non-voters. Voting is hard, y’all. If you have young children you might as well kiss democracy goodbye. Between dropping the kids off at White Memorial, running to Starbucks, then picking them back up three hours later and heading to multiple afternoon play groups, voting is the last thing on the minds of ITB moms.

They aren’t the only ones struggling. You think an ITB dad can cut a 2 hour lunch meeting short, or skip playing the back 9 at the Club just so they can drive to a polling place and wait in line to vote?

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Here are a few simple ways to make voting in Raleigh easier.

Drive-thru Voting

Curbside voting is great, but it’s not available to everyone. Solution: drive-thru voting. Just add a voting booth to every drive-thru in Raleigh. We’ll be sure to add two voting machines to the Cameron Village Chick-fil-A double drive-thru.

LaCroix Voting Machines

Voting machines should be on every corner. What happens to be on corners all over Raleigh that aren’t being used right now? Newspaper dispensers. Convert these dispensers into ballot boxes, brand them with La Croix, and watch the millennials come out in droves.

Sharpies

It’s a known fact that cases of carpal tunnel skyrocket on election day. Filling in those tiny circles with a Bic pen takes hours. Give citizens Sharpies and they’ll be in and out in under 6 seconds.

Social Media Stats

Let’s be honest, most citizens have never heard of half of these candidates. To help educate voters, the candidate’s social media following should be posted next to their name. We should also come up with some sort of “engagement rate” so voters know how responsive their candidates will be on social media.

Better Stickers

The “I Voted” sticker should be monogrammed. Plain and simple.

If we can come together and agree on common sense voting reform I guarantee voter turnout will be at least 90% in future elections.

Development Beat: Iron Works Coming to Atlantic, New Condos Near Dix Park

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Brought to you by Rufty-Peedin Design Builders.

Week of October 9, 2017

Raleigh Iron Works mixed-use development coming to Atlantic Avenue

Condos near Dix Park announced

Vietnamese restaurant coming to Glenwood South

Luxury apartment complex on Hillsborough Street to hold grand opening

Raleigh Iron Works Coming to Atlantic Avenue

Now the time is here, for Iron Works to spread some cheer. The latest endeavor from Grubb Ventures on Atlantic Avenue will be a sprawling, 510,000 square-foot mixed-use development named Raleigh Iron Works, according to recently filed site plans.

Iron Works will redevelop the two existing industrial buildings, originally built in 1957, into office, retail, and restaurant space. Specifically, 177,779 square feet for office, 22,314 for retail, and 20,064 for restaurants.

A new six-story mixed-use apartment building with ground floor retail around a parking deck will also be added to the property located at 2200 Atlantic Avenue. The 204 residential units totaling 148,215 SF will be made up of 82 studio units, 84 one-bedroom units, and 38 two-bedroom units. The developers are proposing 673 parking spaces and 79 bike parking spaces at the development, which seems like a lot.

Grubb recently acquired an adjacent parcel of land at 2315 Atlantic, which we reported on two weeks ago, although that land does not appear to be a part of Raleigh Iron Works — Phase I.

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Condos Near Dix Park Announced

The Fairweather, a new luxury condo development boasting spectacular views and close proximity to Dix Park was announced last week. The development will stretch along West Lenoir Street between South West and South Harrington.

Although the formal announcement of The Fairweather was made last week, site plans for the development were actually filed last year. The plans line up closely with what was announced last week: a five-story building with about 45 units (47 in the plans, “about 45” in the announcement) that will offer structured parking and street-level commercial space.

The Fairweather’s units will range in size from 838 to 2,645 square feet, with one, two, and three-bedroom units on the first four floors and penthouse suites on the fifth. Those penthouse units, offering a panoramic view of downtown Raleigh, will reportedly be priced between $700,000 and a $1 million.

In order to make way for the new condo development, several existing structures will need to be torn down. These include the old Motor Parts Warehouse, built in 1960 at 522 S. Harrington, and a pair of unoccupied single-family homes built in 1930 at 517 and 523 S. West.

Construction is expected to begin early next year with plans to open in early 2019. The site plan filed last year is currently listed as “under review” and will require approval before any permits are issued.

Grand Opening, in Theory

A grand opening celebration for a luxury student housing complex that opens in the fall of 2018 is scheduled to take place later this week. Theory Raleigh, the high-end, fully-furnished (all units come with a 50″ Smart TV) student apartment building will be located at 1505 Hillsborough Street, on the former site of the beloved Velvet Cloak Inn. Our very own William N. Finely IV did some great reporting on the tragic teardown of the old hotel, which you can revisit here. He’s still working on a podcast and award-winning documentary about it too.

The grand opening celebration on October 12 will, shockingly, not be held on an active construction site, but rather, at a temporary leasing office down the street at 2010 Hillsborough. The event will run from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm, and offer attendees free food, music, giveaways and “early-bird” rates for the condos.

The preleasing office also houses a model home, allowing potential tenants a glimpse into a luxurious future. In addition to the 50″ TVs, the units will also come with queen-sized memory foam mattresses, full-size appliances, 1 Gig internet, walk-in closets, a washer/dryer, a resort-style pool, and a game room with a golf simulator. RIP University Towers.

You won't want to miss out. #TheoryRaleigh is where you'll want to be!

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Goodnight, Glenwood: Saigon Grill & Bar Coming to Glenwood South

The new Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Grill & Bar will open soon on Glenwood South in the former home of whatever was there before it. We really can’t keep track of what’s been there at this point. Was it Indio? No one cares.

Saigon will be run by John Tang, the owner of Sushi O, which also operates out of a ground-floor space in 222. Although we don’t know when this new Vietnamese restaurant will open, Tang posted on Facebook back in August that he was looking for employees for his new spot, which makes us think it should be opening pretty soon.

Development Beat: Beer Garden, Makers Mart, Food Trucks, and more coming to Capital

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Week of October 2, 2017

Beer Garden, Makers Mart, Food Trucks, and more coming to Gateway Plaza

Fate of Hillsborough Street tractor sign to be decided by Council

Forest Ridge Park Opens

Updates on the Dix Park Flower Cottage

Zaxby’s Returns to Hillsborough Street

Beer Garden, Makers Mart, Food Trucks, and more coming to Gateway Plaza

The stretch of road once known as “Downtown Boulevard” (and what WNFIV likes to call “Capital Boulevard of Broken Dreams”) leading into downtown Raleigh is getting a major overhaul. The City of Raleigh has spent the last few years transforming the “most traveled gateway” into downtown into a “showcase for multimodal transportation and green infrastructure.” Those are fancy words for “rebuilding bridges, sewers, and putting in a park.” But the City can’t do all this transforming on their own.

In June of 2016, plans were announced to transform the Gateway Plaza shopping center on Capital Boulevard into a destination spot for new restaurants and retailers. The 6.8 acre property, which is owned by Loden Properties and managed and leased by York Properties, is located inside the beltline, next to the North Carolina Food Bank and across the street from The Green Chair Project (an ITB approved non-profit).

Last week, the project’s design firm, Gensler, released a set of new renderings showing off plans for a Beer Garden, space for a Food Truck Rodeo, a Makers Mart, a stage area, and more. Combined with the redevelopment of Capital Boulevard, the reopening of the nearby greenway, and the opening of a new City park, we imagine this stretch of Capital Boulevard could soon become the City’s newest destination spot. Gateway is scheduled to get underway later this year and should be substantially complete by summer of 2018.

Originally built in 1968, the Gateway Plaza shopping center lost one of its biggest tenants in 2015, when the Wake Tech Adult Education Center moved out.

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Save the Tractor Sign

More than two and a half years after Landmark Properties filed a rezoning case for the old North Carolina Equipment Company building at 3101 Hillsborough Street, City Council may finally approve the street’s newest five-story, 233-unit student housing complex. This would be the one billionth student housing complex to be added to Hillsborough Street in the last five years.

A public hearing this evening will determine the fate of a new rezoning case filed back in June. Landmark’s initial rezoning case was rejected last year by Council. Unlike the previous rezoning case, this version won the approval of the local Citizens Advisory Council (18-5 in favor) during a June 2017 meeting.

The new version includes a condition requiring the preservation of the iconic tractor sign currently perched atop the two-story, 81-year-old brick building. “The tractor sign will be placed on the Hillsborough Street frontage and lighted.”

Note: The News & Observer has referred to the sign as both a tractor and a bulldozer, showing how out of touch they are with the working class. Those who say the sign is a bulldozer point to the fact that the sign has continuous track/tank tread wheels. Those who say it’s a tractor point to the lack of a blade in the front of the vehicle. Either way, we’d like to see the sign kept intact to serve as a reminder that Hillsborough Street was once something other than a SimCity riddled with roundabouts.

Fun fact: the sign was the inspiration for Rey’s speeder from The Force Awakens.

Forest Ridge Park

The City of Raleigh celebrated National Public Lands Day on Saturday with the opening of the new Forest Ridge Park near Falls Lake. The 587 acre park offers a variety of outdoor recreational programs, including Mountain Biking, Multi-Use and hiking trails, picnic shelters, and a playground featuring a zip line.

The land itself is actually owned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and is managed by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. The 2003 Parks and Recreation bond funded Phase I of this project’s development.

Dix Park Flower Cottage Renovations

In our first edition of the Development Beat, we reported on the plans for Dorothea Dix Park’s first tenant: the non-profit Dix Park Conservancy.

The Conservancy signed an agreement to occupy the early-20th century Flower Cottage at 2105 Umstead Drive for the staggering cost of $1/year. Last week, nearly $200,000 worth of renovation permits were issued in order to upgrade the space. Renovations will include a new deck, and alterations to both the interior and exterior of the 107-year-old cottage.

Built in 1910, the 1,200 square foot cottage was initially used as a residence but currently sits unused. The Conservancy will be responsible for all renovations and improvements and will also have access to the adjacent 2.75 acres of open space, which can be used for public and/or private events.

Zaxby’s Returns to Hillsborough Street

Although The Technician reported in August that construction was wrapping up on the newly remodeled Zaxby’s on Hillsborough Street, it appears permits for the job were not actually issued until last week. The restaurant unexpectedly shut its doors in March; a new owner was brought in and the renovated restaurant is set to open sometime later this fall.

 

Development Beat: Marbles Expands, Shelton’s Furniture Closes

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Week of September 25, 2017

Marbles is expanding

Gordon Grubb buys more property on Atlantic

Shelton’s Furniture is closing near Five Points

New tenant for Morgan Street Food Hall

StateView Hotel to open soon on Centennial Campus

Work begins on Wahlburgers

Movie trailers for FNB Tower and StateView Hotel

Marbles Buys Land Next Door

Marbles Museum will soon be able to offer an even wider array of experiences to its visitors, thanks to a recent purchase of the adjacent property at 207 East Hargett Street. The two-story, 15,658 sq ft building was built in 1950 and previously owned by the Longleaf School of the Arts. Marbles purchased the building from MDO Holdings for $3.1 million. We’ve been told that Owner and CEO, Michael Olander, Jr., passed up multiple opportunities for more lucrative buyers, so we’re assuming he and the folks at MDO Holdings probably received free lifetime IMAX passes as part of the deal. Marbles has said that new construction will likely not begin until 2020.

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Expansion Continues Near Dock 1053

In January, we reported that Gordon Grubb, who developed the Dock 1053 project on Whitaker Mill Road, had purchased an adjacent 19-acre site at the intersection of Atlantic and Whitaker Mill known as Peden Steel. But wait, there’s more.

Wake County real estate records indicate that a subsidiary of Grubb Ventures recently purchased another nearby property for about $5.5 million: the 4.64 acre site at 2315 Atlantic Avenue.

The site is now home to a 127,875 square-foot warehouse built in 1973. Grubb Ventures has not yet announced its formal plans for the site, but we imagine its redevelopment will line up nicely with their plans to revitalize the Atlantic Avenue corridor. When Grubb purchased the Peden Steel property in January for $10 million they announced plans to develop a project similar to Dock 1053, which houses a brewery, a distillery, a neon art studio, and more.

Shelton’s Furniture Is Gone Again And So Is Its Old Building

Earlier this year, Shelton’s Furniture, a beloved Raleigh furniture store, moved from its location on West Morgan Street to make way for a new 150-room hotel and parking deck. Shelton’s found a home in Clayton, but realized ITB residents wouldn’t drive that far for furniture. So on June 1st, Shelton’s returned ITB and moved to a spot near Five Points on Bickett Boulevard. Sadly, it was announced last week that they would be going out of business.

Friend of the media empire, Ashton Smith, grabbed a picture of the demolition at the West Morgan spot last week.

FNB Tower Video

Commercial real estate is so hot right now. So hot, in fact, that new buildings require their own movie trailers. A few months after announcing plans to open a new headquarters in downtown Raleigh, First National Bank has released a video rendering (movie trailer) of the new 22-story residential and office development. Located at 501 Fayetteville Street, the 22-story FNB Tower will sit adjacent to City Plaza, and offer more than 150,00 square feet of Class-A office space, 240 residential units and street-level retail. First National itself will occupy about 40,000 square feet of that Class-A office space.

Watch the video here.

Hook & Cleaver Coming to Morgan Street Food Hall

The latest tenant for downtown’s Morgan Street Food Hall & Market has been announced, and they’re coming to us all the way from Fuquay-Varina. Hook & Cleaver on Morgan will feature seafood, fresh meats, and prepared foods. This will be the second location of owner Joseph Fasy’s popular restaurant, which got its start in downtown Fuquay in 2015.

The new location will be joined by more than 60 dining and retail outlets, which Morgan Street’s owners, Hibernian Hospitality, promise will offer a range of “high-quality, chef-driven specialty foods.” The Morgan Street Food Hall now has commitments from about 35 restaurants and other vendors. Originally set to open this summer, Hibernian announced last week that Morgan Street will be opening in early 2018.

StateView Hotel

Set to open next month on NC State’s Centennial Campus, Marriott’s StateView Hotel will be accompanied by a five-story parking garage. W.M. Jordan, the project’s general contractor, will handle construction of the 117,940 square-foot parking garage. Interestingly enough, the permits we saw also describe the garage as a “park and ride” location for the State Farmers Market, which is about a mile from the new hotel.

The StateView Hotel is part of the Marriott Autograph Hotel collection: independent hotels that utilize the Marriott Branding. You can check out one of the most over-the-top movie trailers for a hotel we’ve ever seen. Be sure to turn the volume on, as it sounds like you’re about to ride into the battle of the bastards as you tour the lobby, pool terrace, and other parts of the hotel.

Work Now Underway on Wahlburgers

Just one week after local restaurateur Zack Medford challenged superstar Mark Wahlberg to a burger cook-off contest, contractors were given the go-ahead to begin work on the newest location of the actor’s popular burger chain Wahlburgers.

Permits for this particular project had been in limbo since early May. According to the permits, the 3,680 square-foot restaurant will be allowed a maximum occupancy of 103 people at any given time, although it is unknown how many of those 103 will be members of the Wahlberg family. Wahlburgers will operate on Fayetteville Street in the former home of The Oxford.

NY Bagels Coming to Shoppes of Greenway

The Shoppes at Greenway on Ramble Way in North Raleigh will soon be adding a bagel shop to their mix of offerings, as permits were issued last week for a $28,000 fit-out for NY Bagels. Although we were unable to confirm whether this new shop is associated with Raleigh’s best bagel spot, NY Bagels & Deli, the name does give hope that Raleigh residents will soon have greater access to bagels made the New York way.

Development Beat: Wahlburgers News, a New Brewery on Capital, Condos Planned Near Cameron Village

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Week of September 18, 2017

Raleigh Man Wants to Fight Mark Wahlberg

Kilwins Coming to North Hills

Pilot Brewery Coming to Capital

Maiden Lane Demolition

Condos Planned for Clark Avenue

ComedyWorx Opens in new location on Hillsborough Street

Raleigh Man Wants to Fight Mark Wahlberg

In September 2016, it was announced that Wahlburgers, a burger chain owned by brothers Mark, Donnie, and Paul Wahlberg, would be opening its first location right here in Raleigh. Mark, the most famous Wahlberg, is known for his roles in film, production, and bringing us one of the most hype songs of the last century:

Last week, a company spokesperson told the News & Observer that the burger chain was set to open this fall. Although permits for the space at 319 Fayetteville, which previously housed The Oxford until it closed in January 2016, have not yet been issued, we were able to learn that the permits were applied for back in May.

While scant details are available from that initial application it does list Wahlburgers as the tenant, and notes that the permit is now under review. Although the length of time between when a permit is applied for and when it is issued can vary, a sampling of restaurant projects over the past 12 months shows an average of 33 days between application and issuance. As of this morning, it’s been 138 days since the Wahlburgers permit was applied for.

Without knowing a thing about the existing conditions or the plans for the new space, we imagine that it would take no more than two months from permits issued to doors opened.

The original announcement of the restaurant was met with backlash from those who don’t want downtown Raleigh to become overrun with chains. One of the more vocal opponents was Zack Medford, first of his name, King of Coglin’s and Issac Hunter’s, owner of bars, and breaker of chains.

In a video message posted to Facebook last week, Medford challenged Mark Wahlberg to a “burger contest” that would be held at The Sir Walter Smoke-Off on October 7th at Dix Park. The event is actually a barbecue cook off that will help raise money for the Raleigh Wake Partnership to End Homelessness. So if Wahlberg doesn’t show up, it’s pretty clear that he hates…….burger contests.

Tonight I'm laying down the gauntlet. Mark Wahlberg, if you and Donnie Wahlberg want to bring a Wahlburgers to my…

Posted by Zack T Medford on Thursday, September 14, 2017

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Kilwins Coming to North Hills

Praise be to Bonner Gaylord, Kilwin’s Chocolates & Ice Cream will soon be making its way to North Hills, as permits were issued for the newest location of the national sweets shop at 200 Park at North Hills Street.

The store, which has about 150 locations nationwide, offers everything from candy and caramel-coated apples to fudge, truffles and a wide array of chocolates. Among its dozens of ice cream flavors are Blueberry Waffle Cone, something called The Perfect Apple Pie and Marsh-Mallow S’more. To sum it up: Kilwin’s is going to hands-down be the best store in North Hills, if not the entire city. The store is set to open in November.

Pilot Brewery Preparing for Takeoff on Capital

A warehouse space on Capital Boulevard previously used as a church will soon be turned into Raleigh’s newest brewery.

Work is now underway on transforming the 56-year-old warehouse at 1323 Capital Boulevard into Pilot Brewery, which looks like it will be owned by one John Conger Glover. While we don’t know much about the plans for Pilot Brewery, we do know that Glover planned a space in Edenton, NC to be a brewery/restaurant with outdoor seating. Whether he’ll be utilizing a similar concept here remains to be seen, but we imagine the business will benefit from the future improvements to Capital Boulevard.

The Alpha and the Omega

In the same week that permits were issued for the demolition of Sigma Chi’s fraternity house on Maiden Lane, permits were issued for the construction of a new 18,302 square-foot home for the brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon at NC State’s new Greek Village.

Although we’ve covered Greek Village and its unique landscape design in the past, we haven’t touched much on the plans for Maiden Lane, a historic Raleigh street that will soon be demolished in its entirety to make way for the new apartment complex Hillstone Cameron Village. For now, Sigma Chi’s house at 4 Maiden Lane appears to be the second home demo’d this year, with 2 Maiden Lane receiving teardown permits back in July.

Clark Avenue Condos

A new high-end condominium complex could be coming soon to the intersection of Clark Avenue and Enterprise Street near Cameron Village, pending approval of a recently filed rezoning case.

Lambert Development out of Manhattan is seeking to rezone a roughly one-acre parcel of land with frontages on Clark Avenue, Enterprise Street and Garden Place in order to allow the development of a five-story condominium building,

A representative for the project told the Wade Citizens Advisory Council in August that Lambert was seeking to build about 45 units, with one-bedrooms priced at a half million. The condos would not be targeted to students and Clark Avenue would be widened “substantially” with on-street parking, while Enterprise would also be widened with a large sidewalk. The development would also include an underground parking deck that would be exposed only along Garden Place. Along Enterprise and Clark, meanwhile, the grass will be replaced by trees.

A representative for the project, who is also scheduled to speak at the September 26 Wade CAC meeting, told the August attendees the developer was currently seeking feedback from local residents; in turn, they expressed concern over potential parking issues, and a growing lack of affordable housing.

In a sign of Lambert’s efforts to allay neighborhood concerns, the rezoning documents include eight restrictions on the development, including a maximum of 4,000 SF of retail and 9,500 SF of office, and a maximum of three bedrooms per residential unit.

Those documents argue the rezoning would allow for a “more coherent mix of residential and commercial use.” that it would be a “key link in Urban Greenway Connector” and offer a unique housing option that is walkable to both Cameron Village and NC State.

 

Yuckin’ It Up On Hillsborough

In April, work began on the fit-out of a space at The Royal Building on Hillsborough Street across from Meredith College. That work is now complete, and ComedyWorx held its official grand opening the weekend before last.

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