carolina1792

Better look at the whole hotel as soon in the initial render. The design is subject to change as the developer receives input from the city.

The bones of the zoning regulations in Raleigh were designed by a very anti-growth city council in the early to mid 2010s. Not only story limits but also height limits that made it difficult to get max entitlement. No only did most of downtown zoned to only about 4 to 12 stories but made it an ordeal to get rezoned. A pro-density city council was voted into power in 2019 and loosen some of the regulations however the current city council is 50/50 pro-density/anti-density. If you think RVA is an outliner--well, as far as I'm aware downtown Richmond is getting a new office tower over 430 feet. There hasn't been a tower taller than 23 stories or 350 feet built in downtown Raleigh in over 5 years. Apparently there's 4 towers over 30 stories approved in downtown but not a single one has started construction or given a timeline.

North Carolina suffers from not being very prominent in popular culture. Nashville doesn't have this issue. The average Americans doesn't see the difference in size and economy of Nashville vs a big metro like Houston. Also, investors are hoping to make a Las Vegas of the East.

UNC System is no longer headquartered in Chapel Hills and Orange County hasn't kept up with growth like the rest of the counties in the Triangle. Given that the lead for this project lives in Cary I would say RTP, Cary, or West Raleigh.

UNC Health looking to build the state's first self-standing children's hospital at the cost of over $3 billion dollars. https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2024/02/20/unc-health-childrens-hospital-fundraising-land.html

Rumor is that there is multiple parties have joined up and are in the process of creating a final campaign to bring MLB to Raleigh including the City of Raleigh and part of that campaign includes finalizing the stadium location: Downtown South. Now that MLS is out for now, the old MLS stadium plans can be easily retro-fitted for MLB. Located next to a major highway while only being about 1 mile from downtown proper, if Raleigh wins a MLB team, it will accelerate the transformation of south Raleigh from lowly light industrial area with low population density to one of the most vibrant and densely populated areas in Raleigh. Given the lack of wealthy, old neighborhoods the resistance to density in south Raleigh has been mild so far.

Being the first major project on this corridor and also 20 stories it seems really out of place at the moment. However, I'm sure that will change once Lake Wheeler Road redesign project is completed and other projects start to rise.

Another international route being announced on Monday, according to Ishrion Aviation today. Though it could also mean that BA is taking over the London route. "Another week, another new (international) airline and route for Raleigh/Durham. RDU's air service developments over the past years have been exceptional, and the next big one is this coming Monday"

The City of Raleigh city council lacks them yes. This rezoning is not likely to pass this city council that largely only cares about a few wealth home owners versus the overall well-being of the 500,000 citizens of Raleigh. There's even one city council member that votes no to basically every single rezoning case involving large projects, regardless. If it passes it would be a surprise.

For sure it's because of the office element. This project is all residential and funding secure a couple years back while John Kane is old school and wants an office element at Downtown South. Sitting on empty office towers is not ideal.

The Weld south of downtown Raleigh project is going up fast, 3rd 20-story tower plans have just been submitted : 3rd Weld tower (The Weld Phase 2) will include 525 apartments and at least some retail.

Dundon now has the partnership with Wake County and the Centennial Authority to build out a sports-oriented entertainment district around PNC Arena a la "The Battery Atlanta". If Dundon wants a MLB team, the #1 location would be next to his other team and the large sports gambling facility he's hoping to build.

From the Raleigh perspective Charlotte has light rail and Raleigh doesn't--and apparently that is the only means of transportation that matters.

The $1.3 billion in S-Line funding will almost all go to Wake County: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article282968553.html Rated for 110 mph rail line from Raleigh Union Station to Wake Forest will be completely grade separated with 12 railroad crossing closed. Double and even triple tracking to accommodate some freight traffic. North Raleigh might get their own train station as Spring Forest Rd. Several roads in downtown Raleigh will be permanently closed but with pedestrian overpasses to compensate. Raleigh Union Station will get a second northernly facing train platform. NCDOT will try to see if they can use some of the funds to eliminate two major at-grade rail crossing in Cary. Overall, $1.3 billion is not really a lot of money these days and is ultimately just enough to make improvements to a small section of the Raleigh-to-Richmond line. Given that the previous NCDOT "Piedmont Improvement Program" almost all went to improve rail between Charlotte and Greensboro. It's nice to see some love going to the other end of the Piedmont.

A very skinny 16-story hotel maybe coming to downtown Raleigh in the Prince Hall Historic District. A 6 story hotel was supposed to be built next door but that was cancelled I'm not sure if this hotel project is related. Just a block away from the future 550-room Omni Hotel.