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North Hills East

dmccall

By dmccall
in The NC Triangle

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ChiefJoJo Town

ChiefJoJo

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I noticed over the weekend that the old Bennigans Tavern and the Comfort Inn (?) on Six Forks are now history. Pretty much the only structures left standing are the old Dean Witter Bldg on the Dartmouth Rd corner and the small office building just off 440.

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tjoad Whistle-Stop

tjoad

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North Hills is on the move.

It's just a recap on what's going on in North Hills/NH East. It looks like Kane still has hope that the TIF request will be approved.

The remainder of the plans are in limbo, however, until the city makes a decision on Kane's tax-increment financing request. Tax-increment financing, or TIF, is a tool used by other cities to help renovate urban areas but still relatively new to Raleigh.

Kane Realty, contending it can not bear the cost of the parking structures on its own, wants the city to authorize the money to pay for the construction of parking garages that would adjoin future buildings on the site. Kane reasons it will free up more of the land for retail, residential and office space, thus increasing tax revenue.

The council has discussed, but not adopted, a policy for appropriate use of TIF in future development. The Wake County Board of Commissioners adopted a policy in April.

John Kane remains hopeful the city might reconsider the request. As such, changes have not been made to the site plan for North Hills East.

"With the current zoning in place, we can put a typical strip center on the land and do well," said Kane.

It's not his first choice, but at some point, he said, "the train has to leave the station." That point, he said, will be in late fall.

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ChiefJoJo Town

ChiefJoJo

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In late fall, Kane expects to break ground on The Lassiter, a 50-unit luxury condominium complex at North Hills along Rowan Street that will include a clubroom, gardens, private conference room and underground parking.

John Kane, chairman and CEO of Kane Realty, said 12 of the 2,300-square-foot units have been pre-sold, including the two penthouses. The units are in the $1 million range and the penthouses are $2.5 million. The presales add up to about 25 percent of the units in the building; once 50 percent are under contract, the company will move forward with construction.

I imagine rising interest rates aren't helping much although at those price points, many buyers are probably not impacted, so it may not be too much of a hinderance either. It's good to see this is moving forward.

It's not his first choice, but at some point, he said, "the train has to leave the station." That point, he said, will be in late fall.

Just in time for after the city council election. We need to get the new candidates (Baldwin, Anderson, etc) to go on the record for what their policy would be in general terms at least. This is a potentially major issue in the near future, and I agree with tjoad, that it should be implemented in a limited basis, and for a very clear public purpose, such as funding transit.

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Subway Scoundrel Hamlet

Subway Scoundrel

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I could be wrong but I think there are actually 2 building in that corner. The glass building that you see behind the trees and if you go to the street in back of it and turn right where St Albans turns left (the crazy corner) , there is another small building back there that can not be seen from the street. I could be wrong. I am sure it will be gone soon.
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ChiefJoJo Town

ChiefJoJo

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Don't look now, but one of John Kane's real estate team members has now been appointed to the Raleigh Planning Commission.

Wasn't it Kane who said about the TIF: ... at some point, he said, "the train has to leave the station." That point, he said, will be in late fall.

Hmm, I wonder how long it will take the TIF issue to come up after the October municipal elections? :rolleyes: I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record, but a TIF for a damn private parking deck would be the stupidest use of this type of financing tool that I can think of.

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orulz City

orulz

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Jones133 may want to step in and take this one, but I believe the stormwater & drainage calculations are based pretty much on impervious surface area (maybe slopes factor in) so regardless if it's a building or a parking deck or a surface lot, as long as the surface area is the same, the stormwater requirements should be the same as well.

But you do need a site plan & permits to begin grading, and if his plans have already been approved, which it seems they must have, he would have to stop work, resubmit, and reobtain approvals from the city to change this into the supposed power center retail with fields of asphalt that he's threatened.

Could it be that he needs the TIF to pay for his deck in order to build tall? If we get the same site plan but with a bunch of low- to mid-rises there instead of a bunch of high-rises by denying the TIF, I wouldn't be upset in the least.

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Jones_ City

Jones_

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Jones133 may want to step in and take this one, but I believe the stormwater & drainage calculations are based pretty much on impervious surface area (maybe slopes factor in) so regardless if it's a building or a parking deck or a surface lot, as long as the surface area is the same, the stormwater requirements should be the same as well.

But you do need a site plan & permits to begin grading, and if his plans have already been approved, which it seems they must have, he would have to stop work, resubmit, and reobtain approvals from the city to change this into the supposed power center retail with fields of asphalt that he's threatened.

Could it be that he needs the TIF to pay for his deck in order to build tall? If we get the same site plan but with a bunch of low- to mid-rises there instead of a bunch of high-rises by denying the TIF, I wouldn't be upset in the least.

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ncwebguy Burg

ncwebguy

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The planning commission is the tail that wags the proverbal dog that is Raleigh's City Council.

If the planning commission's decisions are insignificant, then why has the real estate lobby stacked the deck there in its favor? Why wouldn't the Betsy Kanes of the world be allowed to serve instead of being all but kicked off? Because most members are willing to trust the planning commission has done the necessary legwork and rubber stamp anything that makes it on the council's agenda. The only members that have enacted "last say of the council" in years are Thomas Crowder, maybe Mayor Meeker, and maybe Russ Stephenson. The Soleil Center approval highlighted this. Despite Crowder's "this is going too fast" discussion, it was approved anyway.

Construction stormwater control would be different than final product control, as the CC/hotel/site one dig demonstrated. And I don't think stormwater cares if it is hitting a 30 story building or the tin roof of a Home Depot.

The TIF is a different tool, a screwdriver to the normal zoning hammer. But just because you have a screwdriver doesn't mean it should be used if there are no screws to drive. Building a private parking deck in a well-off part of town is not a screw the TIF screwdriver needs to install.

If the "TIF to help private projects" train leaves the station, every developer will have their hand out. This will freeze the tax base at current levels and make everyone else have to shoulder the burden of providing more services, etc.

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cthayes75 Whistle-Stop

cthayes75

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Since we're on the TIF issue, I have a question...

Could I petition the City to issue a TIF for the renovations to my house?

If we're going to use creative financing to borrow against future tax payments, why can't I get in on it.

I'm going to increase the value of my house when I renovate and thus generate higher property tax rates, so I should be able to get a TIF for the project, right?

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DwnTwnRaleighGuy Hamlet

DwnTwnRaleighGuy

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Except that that parking deck won't be public. Here's an easy fix I've said many times: tell Kane if his development is so incredible, surely patrons would pay $1 to park there (just like they do DT)... use that to finance the deck. Using $75M in taxpayer dollars on a private parking deck would be incredibly terrible public policy from a financial perspective and would set a dangerous precendent that would have developers lining up at city hall for a piece of the action.

Use TIFs to finance transit, parks, or to help out with relatively small revitalization projects in areas that truly need it--not for this.

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ncwebguy Burg

ncwebguy

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The Planning Commission approves requests for projects. This in and of itself has nothing to do with the TIF issue. And it wouldn't... until the PC started approved TIF-ready projects. With North Hills East, the PC and city council now have approved such a project.

Charging for the parking deck, either by the hour and/or via rent per square foot for office/retail/residential space, should be part of the cost of doing business, not a cost paid for by the increased property taxes due to increased valuation. The city already does this with public decks built downtown, so why should this project be any different? This falls squarely into the "high cost of free parking" debate as well.

This fall's elections won't be the "train leaving the station" as much as it will be the proverbial other shoe (city council) falling. With that pair of shoes laced up, developers won't be able to run fast enough. I am not saying that NHE would fall into this category, but an "approve everything" PC and council will encorage unnnecessary ego-stroking developments that care little about their surroundings.

It sucks, but a little money to help local candidates win and then building your own deck with diverted tax collections from the county's budget is a *lot* cheaper than building a $60 million parking deck with money out of your own budget.

As for house improvement, if the house is in one of the lower income areas of the city, a loan assistance program is already in place. It uses community development funds to create loans that are forgiven over time if the owner stays in the house. The same kind of improving blight that TIF was inteneded to do. If you're fixing up a house in Wakefield, you should be able to afford it yourself and/or won't negatively impact the neighborhood.

edit -- link to city's home repair loan assistance program and tax budget vs. NHE budget comment

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