That kind of sucks that we’re losing that block to parking. I wish a deck was incorporated into the tower.
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Just hope they don’t take down the old house at 709 Hillsborough. I have always liked that house.
Is Char Grill part of that property?
I’m guessing two really small retail spaces facing Hillsborough since I can’t imagine them fitting more into that small space. Hopefully the City of Raleigh comes down hard of the design of the facade. If they build it like Alexander Square then shame on the City of Raleigh.
No. Other side of the street.
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I realize that it is premature to speculate on what will happen at 701 until plans are filed. Maybe this will be more than just a parking deck making this a mute point. However, I am now beginning to be persuaded that these pre-approved height limits are playing a role in the development proposals we are seeing. I agree with many who say that height does not matter as much as street activity, but I would much rather see this parking incorporated into this development rather than on a separate parcel across the street (especially fronting Hillsborough). Maybe the interest for tenants just isn’t there to justify a variance?
I looked up 701 and it was listed for $1.75M. How much more does it cost to include 487 spaces into Two Hillsborough and more importantly, just how expensive and inconvenient is it to petition for a height variance and build higher than the pre-approved heights defined by the city? I’m guessing it is must be more than whatever the purchase price of the 701 parcel actually ended up being. I also wonder if it has to do with lenders leveraging only certain amounts on a project, with parking (unoccupied space) throwing a wrench into their calculations? It would be interesting to hear from an actual developer/lender on this.
Does this structure resemble what we possibly have to look forward to at the 701 Hillsborough site? What a pity to waste such a perfectly good parcel on a parking deck, wrapped in retail or not! I would much rather see a height variance approved.
Slimy? Mudhole? My home this is!
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To certain degree (just a CERTAIN degree) I almost prefer a parking-only deck because I’d like to think Raleigh is on a path where transit and alternative travel modes will make them less productive sites in the future. Build the decks for now but when the land cost keeps going up and Raleigh can get around without a car reasonably well, demolish it and put something really productive on those sites in 15-20 years.
#OptimisticPost
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Agreed, but then we’d have to live with a crappy concrete fortress for 15-20 years because a developer is not going to put any money into that garage. There are examples, even locally, of garages that are elegantly designed. Stick a coffee shop or retail at the street front and I’d be happy.
Also, it’s worth pointing out that many architects are now designing buildings with integrated parking levels that have adequate floor-to-floor for future conversion into conditioned space. I don’t think this is a Raleigh-specific issue; with the rise of autonomous cars and Uber, there are plenty of people who think care ownership in general is on its way out.
EDIT: does anyone know why replies don’t always show up that way? This was a reply to @dtraleigh 's previous comment but isn’t showing up that way for me.
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(You clicking the Reply button in the bottom right corner of my post? If not, then that’s strange, can I direct message you to figure it out?)
Great points. I would love for there to be decks built with “flat” floors and not angled floors as in the future, they may be re-purposed. The incentive behind that though, I feel, is small for Raleigh.
Unfortunately, even with a very robust transit system parking will still be at a premium as long as we have cars. Parking spaces are a much sought-after commodity in the densest parts of Boston, Philly, NYC etc. That may or may not change if everyone starts using autonomous cars, but that’s anyone’s guess at this point.
Don’t think so. When I go to edit the comment, it shows correctly as a reply. Sure, drop me a message.
Joel Whitaker House. I have seen dates ranging from 1875-1882. Fabulous, and intact house. The house behind it is a similar vintage, though less noticeable with its asbestos siding hiding it’s beauty.
Stew that structure is the Wake County parking deck. It replaced the old Wake County parking deck when the new Justice Center was built. All Wake County downtown employees park there not to mention people doing business at the Court House and special events not to mention those parking there who now live in the apartments. The new Justice Center has two levels of parking underground. I park there. Personally I think the project was well conceived and is very much an upgrade over the old parking deck which covered just as much of a footprint as this deck does. Only negative is that I think the apartments look drab.
I live in that building. Inside the apartments are nice, and the location can’t be beat. But I do wish there were balconies.
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Hey we waste tons and tons of space on cars. Reddit had a gif of rush hour in Amsterdam recently. For every car there were about 30 bikes. They choose not to tear down buildings to widen roads and everyone seems quite content with living like that. I digress…I agree all parking decks are wastes, but this is where we are in the US…shackled to cars. “Buy this car to drive to work. Drive to work to pay for this car” Those lyrics say it all. I digress again! Stuck with parking decks as a near absolute necessity, the El, was not a bad project at all. I know some people think it looks like a college dorm (not my terrible dorm but whatever folks say I guess) but it seems like a pretty tight way to accomplish many sought goals at once (parking, residential, several retail spots.
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You should read Asphalt Nation. I live in the burbs, but within walking distance of many establishments that we regularly use on a day to day basis. My kids actually ask if we can walk to the store rather than driving. I also lived in Cameron Village while I was at NCSU and went two months without cranking my car. That was the life I loved. My situation has changed now, but we were finally able to get into a neighborhood within walking distance of two shopping centers. There are still two cars in the driveway, but they get slightly less use now. #BabySteps 
Now if we could get some decent transit into DTR, we would be in business. (Oh and convincing my office to move the 400 of us to DTR too. haha)
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I haven’t used my car since April I think. Whatever happened to that protected bike lane idea?
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If your referring to the “West St Cycle Track”
I got this response from “Raleigh Moves” back in May.
“The project got delayed until later this summer as we are now doing bike signal phases at Morgan and at Edenton. More design, more hardware, higher cost but ultimately better product.”
No clue where their timeline currently sits now.
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