Downtown hotels

That spool makes me think it’s just fiber going in. Doesn’t look like a test bore rig.

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https://danella.com/ Utility construction company…so it could be just someone laying fiber or something or it could be moving the utilities for the start of the hotel. BTW that little area is going to be the hotel district with hotels on that site, the Firestone,Nash building and across the street at the Enterprise site. The Downtown Hotel district… DoHo if you will…

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Or, it could be the D’oh Ho district with Homer Simpson as the mascot. :wink:

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I saw the same thing this weekend and it looks like it’s just for laying (either boring or poles) more fiber. Probably a contractor for AT&T or the like.

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I would love to have a small pod hotel/youth hostel in DTR. Anyone know if it’s against city or state policy to have a passport requirement?

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7 posts were split to a new topic: Longleaf Hotel (former Days Inn)

This could be nothing, but workers were covering up the prominent Firestone signs at Dawson and Davie this afternoon. This is the site that Winwood Hospitality Group bought in November with plans to construct a hotel there.

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Was this a sign FOR FireStone? Or a sign at the FireStone’s location???

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It was a neon Firestone sign.

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It’s gonna be weird coming down Dawson and not seeing that sign.

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Unfortunately it’s probably McLaurin getting ready to sell parking for the owner.

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There were bulldozers tearing up pavement at the site next door at the corner of Davie and McDowell yesterday.

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Another fine parking lot for downtown Raleigh.

I used to park in one of those parking lots for a number of years. Much cheaper than a parking deck that is for sure. Besides I view parking lots as holders in place for future developments.

“Fiber is coming” - Google, January 2015

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I feel like I heard that sign was one of those grandfathered in with a variance to the sign ordinance. I’m not saying I want a downtown full of neon signs again, but I think that is the second to last one from a bygone era (the last one being pretty obvious…). Maybe it could be repurposed or reused as ‘art’ instead of as a sign. Whiskey Kitchen started life as a Firestone…might be cool to tack it up there…

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I guess it’s kind of an eyesore, but there was one just like it in my little town in upstate NY where I grew up. The first time I visited Raleigh I was blown away that they still had one, too. I’ll miss that factor. That being said, I wouldn’t mind some cool neon signs downtown if they’re done well. Retro or cool-looking (hard to legislate, I get that) only maybe, with the emphasis being on art and not LIVE NUDES HERE type of signs. I’m thinking of Deco’s, which looks awesome.

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Deco is nice. Mecca is old school similar vertical style. Bittersweet to a lesser degree too.
FWIW, Hillsborough St was solid ‘live nude’ neon signs as late as the mid 80’s. Inside, Cup a Joe still has the sidewalk ‘advertising platforms’ for the ladies and windows from the bar to the performance room.

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The Firestone sign is being preserved in the renovation of their former location in Miami Beach. I think those signs are totally worth saving.

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Just thinking out loud here. Between the Nexus Phase 2, 301 Hillsborough Phase 2, the AC, the Origin, Nash Square, the Courtyard on the Enterprise lot, and whatever’s going on with the old Firestone lot, we’re gonna see a lot of hotel rooms come online in the next few years. Of course not all of these will be built at the same time, if at all, but it sure seems the dam is finally breaking. This also means an expansion to the convention center is going to look a lot better when it comes time to spend the hotel/food tax. Don’t get too attached to going to concerts at Red Hat.

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