I wish my car was RWD, lol.
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IS this a new purchase for Highlands or is TBJ just very slow with reporting. Looks like already a parking lot that adjoins there just build one.
Must be new based on the 6500 sf. (The lot that had that narrow modern tower rendering a while back.) Total Highwoods assemblage at this corner right at 1 acre now (same as 400H).
Great. My only hope here is that theyâre assembling to sell for an actual project vs a parking lot.
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The latest purchase is where this pie-in-the-sky project was teased:
I wish the reporters would do more than just report on âoh hey look, Highwoods bought another property!â and instead maybe question the economic contributions (or lack thereof) the company is providing to the communities vs the shareholders. But, I guess no one really cares about that.
/bitterness
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Yea $2.25M is a lot to pay for 27 parking spots. Really gotta think there is a bigger plan here.
Also, current zoning: DX-12-SH. Would think there would be rezoning for more.
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General idea here. I am not 100% for it because you canât just apply it everywhere. But I like the idea for parking lots.
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I would argue some actual building of things falls into this as well. Like the most cheaply built, yet absurdly priced apartment units we keep seeing, house flippers etc.
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Yall talking about needing more density for Weaver Street Market⌠a Skyhouse building would fit perfect on Highwoodâs land assemblage. Pre-designed and quick construction. Just need rezoning which the city council seems more inclined toward now anyway. Maybe they could buy a couple floors of parking from the Dillon? Or âshareâ with the office parking.
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Sure. Just make that sh&t look different than Skyhouse.
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Would much rather John Kane build the Walter no. 2 on that lot.
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Lest we forget, that RUSBus is going to have a lot of housing to help Weaver Street Mkt.
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Absolutely no thank you to any additional cookie-cutter pre-designed Skyhouse buildings in our city. The McDonalds of apartment towers.
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Disagree. It could be much, much worse than Skyhouse, so Iâll take ten of them. Maybe not right next to each other, but that density is fantastic. If that helps reduce costs (it would) then I would be fine with it.
Plenty of awesome places have monotonous architecture. I spent a lot of time in Japan where boring monotonous apartments are the norm. Hong Kong has lots of places with forests of monotonous towers. Even Paris is full of monotonous mid rise buildings.
To me idea that every separate building has to be uniquely awesome and make itâs own special distinctive statement, is more about getting the Perfect Ripped Toned Tanned Skyline rather than actual city building. The sooner we let go of it and get down to the business of mass production, the sooner weâll be on the right track for density and urbanism.
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I get what youâre saying, and weâve had this conversation before. It does not have to be world-class distinctive architecture vs. copy paste architecture. There is a middle ground, and a HUGE number of cities are successful with it. Itâs not as if ugly prefab buildings make it much easier to develop and densify than⌠not ugly buildings. Developers that cut costs just pocket the extra profit â that efficiency does not get passed on to consumers in terms of housing costs, and it doesnât necessarily speed up densification, or perhaps weâd already have seen ten Skyhouses in Raleigh.
Nobody looks to the jail-like apartment blocks in China as an enviable model for city life. The way I see it, all of the cities you named are enormous urban centers with distinct identities, and the lackluster buildings are like a drop in the ocean because of that. Paris has a rich heritage of beautiful architecture; Hong Kong has sleek world-class skyscrapers, Tokyo has beautiful eye catching minimalist works scattered around the city.
What does Raleigh have, in terms of an established architectural identity? Do we have enough of a built up urban environment where a sea of bland buildings wouldnât become our identity?
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I mean I donât even think Skyhouse is ugly. 
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I agree I donât want Cabrini-Green or some of the gigantic Corbusian estates of Hong Kong. Nor do we need to hire a separate starchitect for every blessed building either.
But Skyhouse, to me, seems like it is a reasonably attractive, though not distinctive, probably durable, but not high-end, building that fits that middle ground perfectly. To me the only reason to get upset about Skyhouse is that it is not unique - it is something that also exists in Charlotte, Atlanta, Houston, Austin⌠etc. But Raiegh isnât actually that unique. We donât actually have that much about us that is different from any other sunbelt boom town. Sure the people, institutions, businesses, and physical layout of the city is different, but what do we have to really separate our heritage from Charlotte, Atlanta, or Columbia? The cultural connection is very high up the tree. There nothing here like the difference in vernacular architecture between Switzerland and France etc that stems from the cultural branching happening much closer to the root of the tree.
I realize that some may take offense at the idea of Raleigh sharing nearly all of its heritage with other sunbelt cities, but I really think itâs true. So if we wind up with a few Skyhouses, like all the other Sunbelt boom towns, then it kind of just ⌠makes sense?
Building one Skyhouse, then waiting 4 years, then building another - probably not much to be gained. But when Novarre was going around building skyhouses everywhere, he had a pipeline going. For some building systems they just hired local contractors, but for others, there were individuals and teams that would go around and work on systems for the Skyhouse in one city, and when done with their step, move on to the next, etc. Doing two (or more) skyhouses at the same time in one city improves things even more. You have your foundataion team start with one, and when they are complete, immediately move on to the next - already familiar with the plans, all the key milestones, any gotchas, etc. Same for structure - just move the forms to the other side of the lot. Cladding, plumbing, electrical, fire, hvac, interior finishes. That sort of mass production is exactly how you reduce costs - just ask Henry Ford. We could have a veritable assembly line of density.
I get that Skyhouse ainât stunning, but it also is far from ugly. It seems like a good mix of economy vs appearance to me.
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The only other place in downtown I would not want see another Skyhouse is side-by-side in the last âEdisonâ lot. Otherwise, donât care.
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I understand completely and wouldnât be mad about another skyhouse tower. However, if we were to have another skyhouse, I would want it very near the existing tower. It would seem very Sims city to me if there was a skyhouse in the warehouse area, or glenwood⌠disconnected from the original skyhouse but still a replica.
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