North Carolina development thread. (Charlotte, Raleigh: premium, black, uniform)
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Winston-Salem is booming! From Fourth and Main on WSTB:
* Work is finally starting on the Efird Block (601 North Liberty)! That area has looked rough for years and we were so close to losing that building!
* 815 North Trade is now moving forward again, after a few modifications.
* A new apartment building is proposed or visioned on Seventh Street, at a highly visible entrance to downtown from the LJVM and Wake Forest!
* An existing developer has enough demand to build an even more upscale apartment building next to his existing building and it will complete at least part of the ballpark development area.
* A local executive will bring a new divisional office of a Chicago-based company to the city.
* A local law firm will take-over another floor at Winston Tower
* In December, we could see the proposal for 311 East Third, which could become our first skyscraper on the skyline since One Park Vista and it may have the height of One West Fourth, giving it a good presence on the skyline from U.S. 52.
* Hyatt Place WILL grow in size. Will it be taller or will they go with a larger footprint? I don't know yet.
* An existing project, under construction for two or three years, may change into an even bigger project with the bowling alley and the food hall I've wanted to see.
* The developer of Winston Junction is now working on a neighboring building.
* The downtown skate park we've talked about here for the past three or four years now has a site and those behind it are now working to move it forward as an attraction.
* We will soon add two breweries to downtown's total. Both are under construction. Winston-Salem and Hendersonville are gaining recognition as the next brewery cities in North Carolina to watch.
* An Air B&B Hotel is starting construction at Industry Hill
* Winston-Salem is tied with Austin for most startups in 2018! We can say, without a doubt, this city is a startup city! Everything seems to be falling into place for Winston-Salem to become a generator of new companies. And this (start your own company) seems to the city's plan for replacing lost jobs.
* Wake Forest School of Engineering is expanding in downtown, renovating two more floors in their building.
* There is strong demand among investors for apartments in Winston-Salem and profits are being made for sellers.
* A new courthouse is close to breaking ground.
* A grand mall (linear park on multiple blocks and not a shopping center) is proposed leading to that courthouse.
* When financing is finalized, work will begin on Link Apartments 4th Street.
* A new park is moving forward at a major intersection of cycle paths in downtown.
* Another new park with a possible water feature is moving forward on Third Street, along with protected bike lanes.
* Have you seen the cycle paths proposed? They are impressive and funding is there to begin work on them!
* Merschel Park should restart construction when plans are approved to expand the underground parking and change the park design to match our renderings.
* Are you excited about the major art investment at Merschel Park?
* Did you know the streets in downtown will be completely rebuilt, so all of the materials, street furniture, landscaping, lighting standards, etc., will match?
* What likely has Greensboro scared: There is a lot of talk that Alamance County will become part of the Durham-Chapel Hill Metro Area in 2023, making downtown Winston-Salem and Forsyth County the center of the Triad and its workforce. If you're opening just one office, Winston-Salem and Kernersville become better choices to be in the center. All of the Triad's counties will border Forsyth... I guess except for Randolph, but it almost does.
* Interstate 285 will expand northward to I-74, giving downtown an Interstate again!
* Aerotropolis at Smith Reynolds Airport is very exciting. All of the news from the airport is like our wish list for it. As I've said before: This is the biggest project few people are really talking about. It is far under everyone's radar (pun intended).
* 8 West Third should be exciting, now with work starting on its parking deck. The deck will be shared with Winston Tower.
* Ben Sutton's new company has selected 500 West 5th for their headquarters. It's (500 West 5th) becoming an impressive incubator with a lot of big names connected to it.
* Don't forget to watch Tennis Channel to see total coverage of the entire Winston-Salem Open, broadcast internationally! Wow!
* Convention business is up and there are more investments in events for next year.
* A new tower at Novant Forsyth, along with several big hospital-related investments from both medical centers!
"What likely has Greensboro scared: There is a lot of talk that Alamance County will become part of the Durham-Chapel Hill Metro Area in 2023, making downtown Winston-Salem and Forsyth County the center of the Triad and its workforce. If you're opening just one office, Winston-Salem and Kernersville become better choices to be in the center. All of the Triad's counties will border Forsyth... I guess except for Randolph, but it almost does."
This is obviously not true, and that's a good thing as it would mean that Raleigh is a complacent city which is certainly is not.
Some juvenile poster started a thread in the Triangle section asking would Raleigh start looking more like a real city and become more urban within the next 5 years or so.
I replied with about 10 statements saying that people in Raleigh don't talk daily about wanting Raleigh to grow or become a tall city.
I'm a native, so trust me people would not even entertain or continue a conversation talking about tall buildings in Raleigh or urban connections , blah, blah blah.
They are comfortable with the small scale and local feel that the Capital City evokes that well represents a state of hundreds of small towns.
The residents absolutely aren't concerned with being validated by the rest of world like Charlotte because the area is always full of itself from the accolades received on national lists and the one bestowed on the universities.
I said Raleigh is great because of what it doesn't do, rather than what it does. it doesn't follow trends until they're tried and true.
There are no billboards on the freeways.
Quality is prioritized over quantity like with the uniformly good Wake County Public School system
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the very next post had an up arrow by someone saying "All this. I moved here 30 years ago and agree with all of it".
Some young people on here may opine for tall buildings, likely not very well-traveled yet, but Raleigh city leaders are very methodical and restrained in their vision for Raleigh.
I don't believe anyone wants it to change more than what is already happening.
This is ridiculous as the tallest buildings Uptown are currently clustered along the Tryon and College street corridors. Why would you make a claim that's so easily disprovable?
the TVS-designed Duke Energy is far away from the BofA tower they are not all beside each other.
Me thinks you are just trolling to waste my time time responding.
There's a lot of open air and short buildings between the tall ones giving me the impression that it would be hard to walk from one side to the other quickly, and I am entitled to my opinion.
Tiny Raleigh downtown looks very compact with the buildings of even modest height pretty close together except for the Wells Fargo one to the North.
Some juvenile poster started a thread in the Triangle section asking would Raleigh start looking more like a real city and become more urban within the next 5 years or so.
I replied with about 10 statements saying that people in Raleigh don't talk daily about wanting Raleigh to grow or become a tall city.
I'm a native, so trust me people would not even entertain or continue a conversation talking about tall buildings in Raleigh or urban connections , blah, blah blah.
They are comfortable with the small scale and local feel that the Capital City evokes that well represents a state of hundreds of small towns.
The residents absolutely aren't concerned with being validated by the rest of world like Charlotte because the area is always full of itself from the accolades received on national lists and the one bestowed on the universities.
I said Raleigh is great because of what it doesn't do, rather than what it does. it doesn't follow trends until they're tried and true.
There are no billboards on the freeways.
Quality is prioritized over quantity like with the uniformly good Wake County Public School system
--------
the very next post had an up arrow by someone saying "All this. I moved here 30 years ago and agree with all of it".
Some young people on here may opine for tall buildings, likely not very well-traveled yet, but Raleigh city leaders are very methodical and restrained in their vision for Raleigh.
I don't believe anyone wants it to change more than what is already happening.
Raleigh is certainly becoming more urban and it is making that a priority, as it rightfully should. It doesn't have to sport a bunch of 500 ft+ towers for that to happen.
the TVS-designed Duke Energy is far away from the BofA tower they are not all beside each other.
They are both on the same corridor a couple of blocks from each other with a good bit of other towers between them. And the BOA tower in particular has several tall towers in the vicinity (Hearst, the glassy BOA tower, the old NCNB tower, etc.), and I suppose you could say a southern peak is forming near the Tryon/Stonewall intersection with Duke, Legacy 1, and the new Duke tower that recently broke ground. All in all, the Uptown skyline is pretty clustered and saying the tallest towers are "very spaced apart" is simply an inaccurate characterization. They don't have to be all on the same block or adjacent blocks to not spaced far apart.
Quote:
There's a lot of open air and short buildings between the tall ones giving me the impression that it would be hard to walk from one side to the other quickly, and I am entitled to my opinion.
Is this supposed to be a criticism of some sort? How about next time instead of just driving through, you actually take the time to get out of your car and walk the 5 short blocks separating Duke and BOA Tower? But if you consider that a hard walk, then perhaps you're just not accustomed to being a pedestrian in urban areas. And as a pedestrian, I'm not even sure why your focus would be on "open air and short buildings" instead of how the buildings present themselves at the street level. That's what makes the walk easy or "hard," not the height of the buildings. Your unsuccessful jabs just get weirder and weirder. You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but it's so unfortunate that it's one not rooted in reality.
Some juvenile poster started a thread in the Triangle section asking would Raleigh start looking more like a real city and become more urban within the next 5 years or so.
I replied with about 10 statements saying that people in Raleigh don't talk daily about wanting Raleigh to grow or become a tall city.
I'm a native, so trust me people would not even entertain or continue a conversation talking about tall buildings in Raleigh or urban connections , blah, blah blah.
They are comfortable with the small scale and local feel that the Capital City evokes that well represents a state of hundreds of small towns.
The residents absolutely aren't concerned with being validated by the rest of world like Charlotte because the area is always full of itself from the accolades received on national lists and the one bestowed on the universities.
I said Raleigh is great because of what it doesn't do, rather than what it does. it doesn't follow trends until they're tried and true.
There are no billboards on the freeways.
Quality is prioritized over quantity like with the uniformly good Wake County Public School system
--------
the very next post had an up arrow by someone saying "All this. I moved here 30 years ago and agree with all of it".
Some young people on here may opine for tall buildings, likely not very well-traveled yet, but Raleigh city leaders are very methodical and restrained in their vision for Raleigh.
I don't believe anyone wants it to change more than what is already happening.
This is utter bullshat and nonsense as usual. Downtown Raleigh will go tall when the demand increases, both commercial and residential. The office demand competes against the RTP (even North Hills area) as to why it hasn't happened yet. There's a fine line between restraint and reality - the urban boom is in it's infancy in Raleigh, next up, height. There's just no way around it with all the growth. Nashville and Austin are going tall....so what's your point? You romanticize Raleigh as though it's Charleston, Savannah or Wilmington. No, it's more akin to Charlotte, Richmond, Nashville, Austin, etc.
I live in Durham, though well-traveled and have lived other places in the US (even Charlotte) the past 30+ years (mostly in RDU). This isn't 1960/70's RDU that you have pictured in your Mayberryish mind....long gone and so are you.
As a city fills up, the only way you can develop is up. I see what is happening in Charlotte, and see more high rise building out side uptown are going up. The same will happen in Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro and Winston Salem, Even Wilmington is building taller in it downtown. As far as tall office building, demand dives that.
From the above Opinion
Notably absent from this list is significant alterations to Raleigh’s zoning laws, especially height restrictions on new buildings. Currently, all residential zones are limited to a maximum height of 40 feet, and other mixed-use zones have limits of 40 or 50 feet. Although various zones permit anywhere from two to 30 “dwelling units per acre,” there’s a limited number of livable spaces that can be built with these height restrictions.
Raleigh needs to wake up, a developer can't spend million for plot of ground and build low and make any profit.
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