RBC Plaza

[NCMike1981]

Last night I was driving down Lake Wheeler Rd and since the RBC tower was front and center in my view looked at it and I must admit it makes a huge impact, and I like the color of the glass but the building itself looks kinda...jagged. I can't describe it but it doesn't flow well, and the top hat looks like an afterthought....but it is still a handsome building overall...

[ChiefJoJo]

So, we are constantly talking about the crown, topping out, and the skyline impact... what about the street retail?

Other than a prominent RBC bank branch (on the Martin/Fayetteville St corner, I presume), does anyone know what is planned for the retail space?

[jumboman]

The lobby floor plan shows a huge retail space along Fayetteville St. (13,560 sf) - possibly the bank's branch?, the office entrance lobby on the corner of Martin St. - probably similar to the Capital Bank Building, and then two small retail spaces along Martin (1,780 sf and 2,375 sf) with the larger on the corner with Wilmington St. The residential lobby is between these two. Wilmington St. will have two loading docks and the entrance to the parking deck.

As far as what tenants will fill these spaces, I have no idea. I bet either coffee shops or a deli to take advantage of the built in customer base from the office component of the building.

[CliffyB]

I saw the crown in the street next to the tower off of F-street and hopped the fence and touched it before they put it up.

Now when I point at the building I can say I did that.

[ncwebguy]

The smaller non-RBC Centura branch retail spaces have been hidden behind the construction fence, and I've never seen a "(insert business here) coming soon/now hiring" signs. When is the building officially opening? Last I heard, it should be in the next six months (Nov 2008), but I hope discussions on leasing the space should be pretty far along by now. The same could be asked of the Convention Center Marriott, since it is opening in 2-3 months. It would be nice to avoid the repeat of Progress Energy II where the spaces sat empty for a while after the offices in the building were occupied. It would be nice if Martin/Wilmington follows in the footsteps of Harget/Wilmington, with Mecca providing the Morning Times/Times Bar "anchor" presence and other businesses filling in around it. If Dunkin Donuts/Baskin-Robbins opened here and in 222 Glenwood, that would say a lot about their confidence in downtown.

The RBC Plaza website doesn't have anything other than the webcam.

If the crown is downtown, they might be lifting it up this weekend? The crane has been idle since the "steeple" has been finished... I might need to get my "touching" in.

[st8fan]

The spire is being hoisted up as I type this.

[ChiefJoJo]

N&O has a feature on this, including a time-lapse video. FYI.

EDIT: WRAL has video of the spire being placed on top. Amazing seeing the worker up on top moving it in place.

[JRNYP2C]

The Charlotte Observer had a picture of the new RBC building in the local/state section the other day.

The spire was being placed.

Looking really good over there! Good to see the growth in Raliegh!

[Atlside]

Here are some photos from Flickr of the RBC Tower/Plaza Condos

View of downtown Raleigh's government district looking north from RBC Tower

View looking south showing the BB&T/Two Hanover Square tower, new Marriott Hotel the new Convention Center and future Fayetteville Street road completion.

[RaleighRob]

RBC Plaza adds another office tenant: Williams Mullen law firm.

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1106452.html

[ChiefJoJo]

RBC Plaza adds another office tenant: Williams Mullen law firm.

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1106452.html

Telling that an old time Raleigh firm that left downtown in the suburban exodus of the 1980s has decided to return, and they are planning to fill about three floors of RBC. Oh BTW, downtown's occupancy rate is a miniscule 4.4%. If there was ever any doubt that downtown has begun to bloom again, look no further.

[Euphorius]

Just to let you guys know, Raleighskyline has a few pics of the RBC crown lit up.

[billS55]

The crane is coming down.

[DPK]

Drove by early this morning. They're out there and have the crane down to about the 5th/6th floor area. That was fast. It'll probably all be gone by around noon today.

[Atlside]

Here are some cool photos of the RBC Plaza on Flickr

To be Raleigh's tallest building is look really short in the top photos doesn't it?

Two Hanover Square (BB&T) would have looked even nicer if it had been at least 10 floort taller.

[ncwebguy]

They closed the Martin Street side off last night to demo the concret base the tower crane was on. It was several feet high and the constant jackhammering was loud. I hope they got it all!

The sidewalk is still unpaved on the F Street side, but the "advertising" fence is gone, leaving the chain link fencing. The street level glass looks really good. Still no signs of potential retail tenants, other than bank tellers. I hope the bank doesn't take a lot of it, like the nearby BB&T, Wachovia, and First Citizens.

[Jones_]

Last night Taz informed me that his butcher shop would be going on the ground floor. In my slightly buzzed state I hope I understood that correctly.

[ChiefJoJo]

A friend who was up their recently said of RBC Plaza's pool: "I saw guys laying the liner with my very own eyes. They will have a very large hole to fill up if they have cancelled it."

On the pool, I had heard that it was cancelled from someone I thought to be in the know--could be wrong. I looked on the webcam and you can't see that high.

Last night Taz informed me that his butcher shop would be going on the ground floor. In my slightly buzzed state I hope I understood that correctly.

Cool. I hope you remembered right. Man, if that's true, it's got to be some of the priciest retail space in the city. BTW, the timeframe for bldg occupancy--at least for the office tenants--is the 2nd week in October. FYI. Interesting that RBC, RDU Term 2, and the RCC will all open about the same time. The DT buzz meter will probably go way up.

[ncwebguy]

The "transition" floor -- below where the pool will go (facing the south toward the Hudson) -- still did not have a glass exterior. It migth not mean anything, since a lot of other equipment will probably go in there, but I can't see how they'd justify a bait and switch with an amenitiy such as a pool.

They were still working on the base last night. If Taz is in the ground floor of RBC, either they can't get tenants, or they really want a butcher shop and will cut him a deal on rent!

[Jones_]

They were still working on the base last night. If Taz is in the ground floor of RBC, either they can't get tenants, or they really want a butcher shop and will cut him a deal on rent!

Also what I thought, so I asked twice to be sure I heard correctly. I still kind of doubt it myself...maybe we had our thoughts crossed.

[Cecil]

I believe you guys are right. Taz has had his eye on the RBC for a long time now. He had this grand plan of taking all available retail at one point I believe. I remember him telling me while I was also tipsy how much they wanted for the spaces, but I can't remember what those numbers were now. They were understandably pretty outrageous though.

My hope is that if he has a butcher / produce shop that there's no incense and cigarette smoke in the mix. I can't drink a beverage from the original city mart without pouring it in a glass because of the smell.

[ChiefJoJo]

They are taking down the construction elevator as I type this. I'm guessing they now have the interior freight elevators working. Pretty soon, the windows will onthe east side will be placed and the retail frontages enclosed. Only about 3 months until occupancy...

[Jones_]

I was thinking....this project had everything come together so perfectly....so many other projects are delayed or canceled....the timing was perfect, apparently the product offered was perfect (type of residence, location of them, price points, amenities etc.)....bravo to RBC for proving with this project alone that they have some people that seem to know what they are doing.

[Gard]

^^^

Well one thing that certianly helped this project as opposed to others is that its built for a bank and financed by that bank, so they obviously aren't going to tank their own HQ. I do give them kudos for filling up those condos so fast.

[ChiefJoJo]

RBC Plaza adds another office tenant: Williams Mullen law firm.

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1106452.html

Now it's confirmed with the leased signed. That means RBC is 95% pre-leased, and of course all the condos have been sold for about a year. Good stuff!

The overall vacany rate is below 5% and there isn't much contiguous office space available in downtown at the moment. This bodes well for the L-Bldg (100k+ sf) and Charter Square (300k+/- sf) fill up some of their space.