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Blount Street Commons

capitalapts

By capitalapts
in The NC Triangle

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mikebeatty Crossroads

mikebeatty

Posted
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If i'm not mistaken, there has recently been a change in the executive leadership at First Citizens, and they are much more forward thinking it seems. If they continue to grow aggessively, begin to need more Class A office space, and become interested in raising their company's profile, a tower in downtown may not be out of the question.

Think I found the perfect spot for them:

Raleigh - Main

239 Fayetteville St Mall

Raleigh, NC 27601

919.716.7050

:-)

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DPK Hamlet

DPK

Posted
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Let's get back on topic. If you want to discuss FCB, feel free to start a new topic.

Has anyone been out to the BSC site lately?

I drove by this week and it looks about the same as last week. The only thing I've really seen them do is cover up all the exterior plywood with that white vapor barrier material. Then things kind of seemed to grind to a halt (at least from my drivers point of view).

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Captain Awesome Whistle-Stop

Captain Awesome

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I drove by this week and it looks about the same as last week. The only thing I've really seen them do is cover up all the exterior plywood with that white vapor barrier material. Then things kind of seemed to grind to a halt (at least from my drivers point of view).

I drive by there, on average, every other day and aside from the vapor barrier, the entire site looks the same as it has for a while now.

Although it is possible that they are doing interior work, I'd at least expect to see work trucks and the like parked outside.

On a side note, is this the William Drummond that one of new side streets is named for? I'm thinking that I should stop telling people it's named after Phillip Drummond's brother on Diff'rent Strokes.

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Gard Burg

Gard

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Holy Trinity Anglican Church has purchased a chunk of land inside the Blount Street Commons development to put up a new church. The piece of land was originally planned for urban lofts. The church does not require any rezoning, but according to the article, the city is likely to review the plans very closely to see what kind of parking is planned and the plans have to be reviewed by the Raleigh Historic Districts Commission. I would like to seem them build and old world-style church, kind of along the lines of Sacred Heart. Other than that, I think a church is a good fit into a community like that. Of course a church doesn't provide night life and stuff like that, but it is guaranteed not to be an empty box like retail stores can become and I think it adds a stable element to the community surrounding it.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/08/570249/anglican-church-to-buy-peace-street.html

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RaleighRob Burg

RaleighRob

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Well, definitely the city needs to scrutinize any plans for a parking lot with this church. But otherwise, I guess I have no opinion either way...especially if they are restoring that old house as the article mentions. I agree traditional architecture would be best for neighborhood.

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Euphorius Whistle-Stop

Euphorius

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I am not at all happy about this. We all know what goes along with churches, massive parking lots. The other thing that gets me is the fact that they want to turn one of the old homes into offices. Was it not the point of this project to revert these homes back to what they were intended to be? Now a church comes along and wants to pull a state government trick and turn one of the historic homes into offices. This is not the place for another church. There are already scores of churches in downtown. I know this is the bible belt, but is there really a need for another church in downtown?

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miamiblue Whistle-Stop

miamiblue

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What a huge disappointment. There are more than enough churches within a one mile radius of downtown Raleigh. Not only do they not provide tax revenue, but they also only have activity a few days a week. The rest of the time the are basically dead zones. A perfect example of this is St. Paul's AME Church on the corner of Edenton and West Streets. For quite some time I actually thought the church was abandoned because it looked so dead and deserted all the time. And turning the historic house into offices? Don't get me started. This is the opposite of what Blount Street Commons was supposed to be.

I wonder how the current residents feel about this? If they are against it, I wonder if they have any recourse.

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RaleighRob Burg

RaleighRob

Posted
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I guess we urbanists need to keep the pressure on here. The city probably can't stop a church from being built there (that would be political suicide anyways) but we need to fight hard any intention on building a big parking lot there.

There are a good few churches in downtown and nearby that do not have big parking lots. And in a neighborhood like this, that currently does not have many churches competing for street parking, the city needs to have a clear message to them to limit what they put in their site plan. A decent number of handicap spaces is really all they need, plus one or two administrative spots for staff on weekdays. That's it. Period. The congregation has plenty of street parking nearby if they're not too lazy to walk a block or two. They probably could strike a deal with Peace College to use some of their spots...I doubt they are full on Sunday mornings. And I think there's a big state government lot at the corner of Wilmington and Polk Streets that is surely empty on Sundays.

As far as preferring these old houses are residences instead of offices...I totally agree. Here's a good idea---could the church use it as a Vicarage instead of just offices? If it's big enough, it could contain both.

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DPK Hamlet

DPK

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If a church ultimately does end up at that location, I hope that the design of it "fits" with the surrounding neighborhood. It had better not be a cookie-cutter brick thing that just exists for services. There needs to be a well thought out usage plan.

I doubt they have the money to pull something like this off, but wow would this be beautiful:

mNP0x.jpg

If we end up with this (extreme case I know but) I'm going to be pissed as hell:

pihKN.jpg

There also needs to be a time-line for when they think that they are going to pursue construction and not just sit on that property and do nothing for 10-20 years.

I'm bitter if you can't tell.

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citiboi27610 Whistle-Stop

citiboi27610

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If a church ultimately does end up at that location, I hope that the design of it "fits" with the surrounding neighborhood. It had better not be a cookie-cutter brick thing that just exists for services. There needs to be a well thought out usage plan.

Except for the no tax revenue, I don't necessarily mind a church in this part of downtown because it would add to the diversity and character of the neighborhood. But, I would have to agree with DPK, that a church project (like anything) should have a usage plan that coincides with the district, and fits the surrounding neighborhood. Many churches like to incorporate Life or Community Living Centers (not sure if thats the right wordage), with fitness centers, classrooms, pools, bookstores, etc. Not to say that the city should sponsor this, but again if done right, the church could be more vibrant than say St. Pauls.

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JeffC Hamlet

JeffC

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FWIW, one of the people behind this church is John Kane (the North Hills guy), so this isn't your average group of underfunded Tea Party right wing nutjobs. This is going to be an Anglican church--these are the conservatives that have split off from the Episcopal church. Still, a conservative Episcopal is more from the country club wing of the Republican party. These people will understand the historic context of this site and this neighborhood, and I'd be shocked if they try to put something cheap and tacky on the site...

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ctl Hamlet

ctl

Posted
Posted

FWIW, one of the people behind this church is John Kane (the North Hills guy), so this isn't your average group of underfunded Tea Party right wing nutjobs. This is going to be an Anglican church--these are the conservatives that have split off from the Episcopal church. Still, a conservative Episcopal is more from the country club wing of the Republican party. These people will understand the historic context of this site and this neighborhood, and I'd be shocked if they try to put something cheap and tacky on the site...

JeffC is correct. A lot of this congregation came out of Christ Church, one of downtown's architectural treasures and a National Historic Landmark. I think it's unlikely that Kane and his fellows will erect an ugly church.

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