ncwebguy

Does anyone know the retail configuration of Skyhouse? It could possibly support a two story grocery like in North Hills, but I do not know if the plans would allow for a grocery, or if the plans call for something on the south side of the parking deck. Part of me thinks Glenwood South is "too close" to Cameron Village, though there are a lot of new beds built or under construction near the Clark/Peace corridor from Oberlin to Glenwood. The Urban Outfitters in Savannah, Charleston, and Providence, RI (only drove by) suggest putting a downtown location in Boylan Pearce. The building between Crank Arm and the chocolate factory is being renovated, but there are no 'coming soon' signs yet. Or they could go into the old vacuum shop across Davie. Signs in the Moore Square side of the old Greenshields building suggest an events/pop up space, but there already is a similar venture in Cobblestone Hall in the back half of that building. With Zydeco out of the space, and if the Stand Up Paddling store moved elsewhere, could Urban Outfitters squeeze in there? I do not know if all that can be reconfigured into one continuous space. If they go the Charlotte/South Park or Southpoint new build route, they could go into SkyHouse, Charter Square, or other new construction like The L. With H&M in Crabtree and Triangle Town Center, does a downtown location (rumored years ago) seem more or less likely? The Subway on Salisubry has now moved across the street into the Wells Fargo building. It almost backs up into Café Carolina. A restaurant or bar looks like it is opening in its old space, which has added a roll-up front door. And work continues on the new AC space on the SW West Hargett/Salisbury corner, still a few months away.

When I walked by the last weekend of the ice skating rink on Saturay, I noticed The Malher (sp?) gallery is gone from City Plaza, but a poster talking about a smoothie/"health food" store inside. Not much work looks like it has happened yet, though. The new coffee shop in the Hue, close to Legends, was pretty busy. They have a neat garage/roll up door that gives the otherwise boring building a nice, open feel. Also in Hue, the mens boutique around the corner seems to have changed hands/owners but is still open somehow. And something looks like it is going in to the former hair salon between the coffee shop and Legends.

RTP wants this to be their version of Reston Town Center, with other towers nearby. That would help redevelop the Nortel and chunks of the IBM/Forest Services land north of that area/north of 40. There are two things the RTP folks are completely ignoring, which will slow the progress of their ambitions. 1. Bad connections to 40 and mass transit. The old Nortel land would have been good -- visibility from 40, and between two exits (Miami and Davis). After Davis, the next exit on 40 to this area is NC 55, miles away. NC 54/ NC 147 is not going to happen due to the proximity of I-40/ NC 147, similar to Alexander/40. Reston Town Center is on a bus corridor into DC and will be close to a stop on the light rail line to Dulles, which will be online in the next year or so. RTP West? Not so much. Triangle Transit used to have their transfer station on that property years ago (damn I've been a way a while!) but that is gone. The rail line parallels Miami a half mile or so east of there. They could have a people mover or something, but walking from west of Davis/54 to Miami/54 twice a day would likely be too much to take. 2. Retail follows rooftops, not cubicles. The area is not well served in the immediate area -- I work in Perimiter Park and can only walk to the occasional food truck rally. But there are few houses here due to RTP, the airport, etc. The nearby housing is well served already by Southpoint to the west, Brier Creek to the north, and Park West/Preston/Southern Davis Drive to the east and south. Reston Town Center is surrounded by miles of wealthy suburban housing and apartments in every direction. A lot of Reston supports DC -- RTP does not have that going for it. Perimeter Park still has some land near 540. And there is a good chunk of land south of NetApp that for another couple of "campuses" if a company wants to go that route. It is doable, but a lot of things need to fall into place. It would have had a better chance at success if they had this vision 10 years ago, but the land owners were stuck in the 50s mindset until recently. I fear this will end up like the old EPA building at 54 and Alexander - an empty lot waiting for "the right" tenant while the world moves on around it.

The *amount* of space H&M has is close (but not quite) to that of Forever XXI's. Though the different orientations -- Forever XXI is on the main axis and H&M is in half the old Hecht's space -- may make it seem off. Plus H&M seems somewhat clausterphobic in the way they segmented their space. The two stores are not adjacent, which probably works for both of them. Not much else going on last time I was there, other than Martin and Osa is gone, but I think that is due to giving up on the concept, not just that particular store/location. Losing Crate and Barrel is bad, but expected. This area deserves a space like the Charlotte/South Park store, and with the work they're doing near the movie theater at Southpoint, that is what is in store there. There is no space that makes sense for them in downtown Raleigh or Durham. The old Storehouse space in North Hills would be good, but there is limited parking over there already. And North Hills East was not built for a Crate and Barrel either.

My wife and I ate there the first weekend it was open. Nothing fancy, but decent, and a bit overpriced for what you get. The waitress said it was owned by the family that used to own Two Guys on Hillsborough, but it was a bit more upscale than Two Guys was. There are two places in West -- Mirage, a sushi/lounge in a small door on the Harrington hillside, and "Still Life", a bar/lounge/club at the West/North corner. Something is going into the old Dunkin Donuts in 222 Glenwood, but not sure what. Kings should finally be re-opening soonish in/above the former Martin Street Pizza space. I want to walk around more downtown, but it is toooooooo hot, even at night, lately. Ugh.

We went to Crabtree last weekend, and the work is well underway for H&M. They have all the space from Harrods (sp?) in center court to Try Sports. If/when Try Sports moves across the hall, H&M's space will be close to that of Forever XXI, which may be where Sue Stock is getting confused.... Didn't noitice much else going on, though we only walked from center court to Crate & Barrel on the first floor.

Rapid Fitness is going into the old Capitol Fitness/Peak space on West Street. Not sure when they are opening, but there was a sign at the Pit a week or so ago. I was a member at Capitol Fitness from day one, and ChiefJoJo's post perfectly surmised the gym's ups and downs under various ownership/management. I don't know if it is a big enough space to attract a well run chain that could bring good managment with the economies of scale, and don't know enough about Rapid Fitness to give them a try yet or not. The Golds at North Hills is nice (from what I can tell from outside), but too far to be practical for me personally. There is a DD/Baskin-Robbins near Jimmy Johns. I could see them moving to Avent Ferry Shopping Center, or maybe the closed Dairy Queen on Western, but I don't know of any other "NC State" area they would fit in. I hope this doesn't sour them on downtown. I could see them doing well in City Plaza, and there are announcements for two more tenants there sometime this week.

The completed north half of the deck below Site One looks to be open for the last couple of weeks. I haven't gone in but there is signs/lighting indicating it is open. I don't know if it connects with the other half under the hotel, but I would think that it does. The left/west lane of Wilmington goes "into" the deck and then is "out" traffic only, which should help with congetion. But getting over quickly enough to go Davie to Blount might be tricky, though those parkers should probably use the Lenoir exit and take that to Salisbury or Blount.

This could be extended even further... Spaces like the Chick-Fil-A in the Sir Walter, Mecca, and the downtown soda shop have done quite well, while retail spaces in relatively newer buildings -- Wachovia (the space west of Cafe Carolina), BoA's Wilmington Street frontage, Sam and Wally's/Global Toast in BB&T/Two Hannover, etc. -- have struggled. It is easier to make retail space office till the downtown market matures (Downtown Raleigh Alliance in the parking deck near Sitti, the architects on Martin near City Market) vs. having an unfriendly blank wall (Progress Energy I, Capital Bank on Wilmington). And the Busy Bee is a good addition to downtown -- a "wider" Raleigh/Morning times with medium sized group meetup space above the kitchen, a late night breakfast food menu in addition to the usual fare, and a few beers that even the Flying Saucer doesn't keep on tap.

I liked Fayetville Street Tavern because it was more "come as you are" than any other place open after 5 downtown, including Raleigh Times and Rockford. They had a limited but decent variety (pub food plus a few pasta selections) on the menu at decent prices. They had poker chips and cards, and the TVs weren't overwhelming a la Woody's. The plywood was down at Busy Bee's a couple of weeks ago, but it had a "shell rennovation to be completed in October" sign just before that. Going from that to open was pretty quick! A few months ago, I caught someone coming out of the "under contract" storefronts on Hargett between Sitti and Landmark Tavern and they said it was only being used for storage for a while. They had too many inquiries so they put up the "leased" sign even though there wasn't a tenant yet. The retail spaces in RBC Plaza and the Edison parking deck seem to be empty still, but if other spaces are being filled up, maybe it will just be a matter of time for them. The difference between directly profiting from power with little to no work done vs. enahncing revitalization through investment and sweat equity is huge, but can be missed with someone blinded by an agenda to push. A developer-controlled Planning Commission is "not a conspiracy" but anything invested downtown is? Wow. The lack of investment in downtown for decades cost the city millions of dollars in lost tax revenue, to say nothing of the costs associated with the hypersprawl egged on by a decaying core.

Did anyone go to the Hillsborough Street Renaissance Festival? It was cold and raining, but Hillsborough Street was blocked off just west of Sadlack's (forced WB traffic to Enterprise) even though it looked like only a few empty tents were still standing. Luckily the St. Patrick's Day festivities were postponed to this weekend, and should get better turnout due to better weather. Clark was a *mess* as an east/west alternate. I hope that was partially due to the weather, confusion, and people leaving. If it is a sign of things to come during the Hillsborough Street rennovations, it is going to be a long year and change for the neighborhood. Campbell is keeping its first floor for offices, library, lecture hall, etc. So nearby storefronts on Hillsborough, Morgan, in Hue, etc. could house supply stores, coffee shops, etc. It looks like rennovations are in full swing, but it will be pushing it to get them finished and everything moved in there in five months for a fall 09 opening. Having a diner/coffeehouse compliment to Second Empire proper and the tavern is cool, and should be a good alternative to the DD/Bruggers pair nearby on Glenwood. Outside of that, there isn't much breakfast going on till you get to IHOP on Hillsborough, Biscuit Station on Edenton, or the McDonalds (Peace and Wilmington near Shaw).

This might be preemtive measure to keep non-goverment all day parkers from parking there and taking the circulator to their job elsewhere downtown. Free parking is slowly migrating east, as people now park on Hargett near the Woodpile block and next to City Cemetary, though the walk to the daytime circulato-R is longer than the Seaboard area. Is there any signs of life at the former Capitol City Grocery? It is probably too big of a space for one restaurant, but it could be a high end pool hall, like Jillians was when it first opened. Though opening something like that in this economy, away from the major nightlife areas -- Glenwood, Warehouse/Depot, and F Street/City Market -- isn't likely.

The city has sunk a lot more than $15 million in roads, etc around several projects -- Brier Creek, Triangle Town Center, North Hills, etc. I don't know if the mayor at that time went to all those, but there have been more than a few ribbon cuttings, etc. over the years. The city isn't spending *any* money on the building, the kitchen equipment, etc. It is getting an immediate return on its City Plaza investment by getting the Simpson Company to build the pavilions, Progress Energy's rennovations on its streetscape (the walls are down, and it looks pretty good), etc. -- investment that otherwise wouldn't happen. Why is it that when the same thing happens in the burbs -- Wal-Mart wouldn't build unless the city built a road to its door -- the same people who complain about this happening downtown selectively point to the suburbs as "success stories"? It is funny that people complain about downtown not being "successful" enough to support a Starbucks, chains, etc. and then when the chains come, then it should be a non-event. In other downtown retail updates, the Remedy Diner has a menu posted on its door -- mostly sanwiches, several vegetarian options, a daily "special" M-F. There was still paper up on the other windows, but probably not for much longer. In City Market, the Native American store is empty, with a sign saying they are moving around the corner to Martin Street next to Subway. And there is a "fashion and wellness store" going in next to Vic's Italian Cafe.

When gas gets above $3/gallon and/or the weather is nice enough for my .5 mile walk each way to a bus stop at both ends of my commute, I take Triangle Transit. But since I don't ride a CAT bus, (sarcasam) I obviously don't support transit, and a train should never be built here (/sarcasam). Improving bus service and building a backbone train line is not an either/or proposition, and does not have to happen before a rail line is planned, let alone funded. Also, funding doesn't only have to come from a sales tax. I still think a "TIF/district property tax" on land that directly benefits from the rail line could be enough, combined with a half cent sales tax to do bus AND rail. Using Charlotte as an option because I went there a few weeks ago and have family in the area, its train "doesn't go to the airport" yet it serves several purposes -- park and ride commutes from south/southeast of town, walk and ride commutes from neighborhoods near the stations, outbound transportation for center city residents, and special event commuting for Panthers, Bobcats, concerts, etc. The same could happen in the Triangle, but never will if we base future projections on how things were 5-10 years ago. Why should we be taxed at the federal level and then told to expect less of it back every year? All those medium sized cities would be a lot smaller if everyone else wasn't helping them, yet we should never expect anything while we continue to subsidize the road network with gas, property, vehicle sales, and other taxes. This is *urban* planet, is it not? Since most of the land has already been acquired, I don't think light rail will cost $100M/mile. And there will be "cheaper" miles between the cities -- Raleigh to Cary, Cary to RTP and RTP to Durham. Especially with the cost of raw materials coming down due to the slowing global economy, etc. From an economic stimulus point of view, a 10% fed investment in a rail system will create a lot more jobs than building and shipping more buses to the area, and the "permanance" of rail makes building/redveloping dense, urban nodes a lot easier to sell to existing land owners. It won't be "every station, right away" but provides a blueprint for managed growth for decades.

The N&O's initial and today's followup stories on Vin's closing seem odd. Computer problems? Really? How were they handling credit card orders at the wine store the weeks before? How were they running an online retail store without reliable computers? Was it that much better than Seaboard's Wine store or the one in Wake Forest? As for Vin, I am not an expert but I think it would be easier to sell it *before* you shut it down, not after. Now it seems like damaged goods. Glenwood is becoming more of a "party" area, not that there is anything wrong with that. Though the higher end restaurants are starting to migrate out to make room for the likes of Natty Greens and Carolina Ale House, though 42nd Street Oyster Bar and Sullivans will probably stay put in the short term. F Street (Posta, The Mint, Fins) and/or Davie near the Depot (Humble Pie, The Pit, and Jibarra) will benefit, with Poole's in between. The vaccum shop near The Pit could have outside dining with pretty good views of the skyline if you can look past the Firestone store. Jibarra is now open for dinner and was pretty busy when I drove by on Monday, as was the Pit.