Fayetteville Street needs an “anchor” draw. Something that is popular enough that other places will setup shop around it intentionally, and people who have current concerns about safety in the area will ignore those concerns and still go.
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As other’s have said, the Kimbrell’s spot is THE perfect place for a big, multi-use entertainment anchor.
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I’ve always thought a bowling alley + movie theater would be great there.
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Or a Gucci store, or Louie Vitton.
My Way Tavern while small is also a great go-to for sports.
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Might be hard to land a Louie Vitton store… I don’t think it exists 
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yeahhhhh that’s the opposite of what would bring tons of people to Fayetteville street hahahaha. That’s something that could work well after more entertainment and more affordable retail is in place and already bringing in more foot traffic
Right! And also a rooftop sports bar 
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That’d be the icing on the cake!
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Something like that belongs in North Hills or the Village District. I’m fine with more chain stores coming into downtown, but I think one thing that’s super unique about downtown Raleigh is the locally-owned emphasis. Luxury stores like that aren’t going to drop somewhere that doesn’t already have a lot of high-end chain retail, and downtown has none of that. It’s just not that type of shopping district, and it probably won’t be for quite awhile considering the direction that Midtown is going.
This is the way.
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Which festivals have been killed off? Brewgaloo, Bluegrass Festival, Artsplosure, International Food Festival, Hopscotch, MAKRS Holiday Festival, Christmas Parade, First Night, and others all happened in 2021, and are scheduled again in 2022. Food truck rodeos should be back as well. Not too mention weekly lunchtime band performances in City Plaza, the soccer field, chimes, etc.
I live at 511 Faye in the FNB building and definitely have noticed more foot traffic in the latter half of 2021. But I’m also one of the first to complain that Fayetteville Street needs more. I like the idea of a larger entertainment venue, as well as getting better shows into the Performing Arts center. But there are plenty of unfilled spaces that need tenets that could help a lot. My building has zero retail or food, and never has filled the open spots. B. Goode next door has been closed for a while, and they also lost Living Kitchen. Kings and Neptune’s being closed has hurt a ton as well. The north end of the street just saw the closure of Paddy o’Beers (my favorite hangout spot) and the candy store next door. And nothing has gone into Tasty 8s since they closed, giving that area a dead feeling. I’d love to see a relaxed beer place like Paddys, a sports bar, and some quick and cheap eats that DTR sorely lacks. Seems like the price is super prohibitive to prospective businesses like these though.
So I guess I’m joining the optimistic crowd in saying that I see firsthand every day that it isn’t dire, but also recognize there’s a lot of room for improvement.
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Lol, I really think in order for it to recover and thrive is to activate the street with places people really want to to to shop, eat and be entertained.
I hate to point out North Hills and it’s Main Street which is most likely as long as Fayetteville if you laid it out straight. It’s always active from sun up to sun down. Yes it is car centric, ppl don’t care because it has cool and interesting places people want to go. As it gets redone it will be an even bigger draw. Grocery, gyms, hotels, local stores and restaurants, movie theater, target, bowling, hotels, apartments and condos.
If the capital city’s main st is to be a main stay it has to come on much stronger.
I hope she does.
How NH got this way is most likely because the way it is managed, nurtured and maintained. It has a talented team behind it that actively championed for its success and it never stops getting after it to bring in what people want.
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There are skilled people doing that for downtown (I’m thinking Bill King at DRA). NH is just shiny and new (again). It will be something else again eventually, just as Leo said about shifts. Office just hasn’t come back yet, simple as that. Also, landlords got a little greedy after Fayetteville St. once again became the center after the remake, and now the long shift back has occurred and people are freaking out or hand wringing about its ‘death’. CRE leases don’t change as quickly as some on this board think. It will be ok and still is in many respects. Agree about DPAC eating some of our lunch though. I don’t like seeing shows there, too open for me and feels like I’m watching music in a place meant for plays. But it’s still yanking biz.
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Correct me if I’m wrong here, but another difference between North Hills and DRT is that NH is all leased by one entity whereas DTR has many separate landlords leasing spaces. NH can designate certain types of tenants in different areas, whereas DTR the landlords aren’t really working together to build a “dining district” or an “entertainment district” between various properties.
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This is it right here. A curated experience versus a collection of them. The DRA recruits businesses to a certain degree but they only make the connections between the landlord and business where as North Hills can negotiate as the landlord.
Both have their pros and cons and don’t forget that North Hills Mall was seen as pretty empty once upon a time. I hope they still stay hot forever but it’s always a possibility they have down years. At one point, they will run out of developable land.
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And that’s part of the value the DRA brings (to DTR).
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It’s a small thing, but Fayetteville St. could use more interesting signage. Neon signs (think Mecca) and bring back that huge TV screen proposed for the FNB Tower.
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What I’d like is for them to close and replace the street with a “Lazy River” type of experience, where you could float down on an inner tube, stopping at bars/restaurants along the way, and live music playing at the Mall end all weekend. In the winter it would be frozen into a giant ice rink/luge track. And of course a tram to take you back up to the other end.
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I always thought that was the best way to bring a water feature to Raleigh. Close off a street and convert it to a canal. Make all the cross streets bridges.
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Like Frederick MD. Of course here in water featureless DTR, the whole thing would need to be run using pumps to bring water up from walnut or Crabtree creek.
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