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I was recently reading there was some talk about turning the Sir Walter back into a hotel. For those who don't know the Sir Walter is the oldest Hotel in Raleigh. Now being used as apartments for the elderly. I think it might be ok. Under the right circumstances.Just a question. Everyone be nice please!
Have any citations for that rather staunch opinion?
There's actually an undersupply of hotel rooms in the downtown area. David Diaz with the DRA has said on multiple occasions there needs to be more rooms downtown to attract even larger events. In the 2013 "State of Downtown Raleigh" report (page 42) it was even stated that Summit Hospitality is going to help address the problem by injecting $20 million into a new Residence Inn by Marriott downtown.
Your poll isn't really written in "yes or no" form so I'm not sure how to vote on that, but I would rather see it stay affordable housing for the elderly. I think it's a lovely idea and location for that.
First someone would have to identify where the current residents would go. Downtown gentrification/redevelopment tends to ignore the plight of poor folks.
Downtown hotel occupancy is a chicken-and-egg thing. The Sheraton was under-occupied for many years. The old cylindrical Holiday Inn, now an HI again, has also had problems getting occupancy. Consequently both properties are somewhat run-down. Demand is stronger these days, but downtown leadership must walk a tightrope between not enough expansion of hotel inventory and too much.
The Dunhill is nice never stayed there was always full when I checked. Or was a time when an event was in town. Way too pricy for me. But anyway an old historic building can't be faked. Just like you couldn't rebuild the city market or the old post office. As for the residents of the Sir Walter I would hope that the sale of the building would include a nice place for them to relocate in the deal. If it did happen who knows what would happen. But if they didn't take care of the residents could you imagine the PR nightmare. Channel 11 is right across the street. They would set up in front of hotel 24 hours a day lol!
Does anyone know approximately how many rooms are in the property? If there are not too many, it might make for a nice "W" or perhaps something like an "Ace" since I don't recall there being any funky boutique type lodging downtown. Seems like something that the Red Hat & Citrix crowd and their visitors and suppliers might support.
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