Notice that it is RX-12 and not R-12 (which isn’t a thing, I think R-10 is max) which means 12 units per acre. The “X” indicates mixed use which then means the 12 is height.
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This is a good area for creating some proper urban build out since the street grid is more or less conducive to it. I am all for some 12 story building here, and a ton of 5 story apartments fronting every sidewalk in the area.
The core Iron District is Atlantic-Hodges-Capital. The Greater Iron District is Wake Forest-440-Capital. It has the potential to either expand or be a truer midtown than North Hills. I would work on getting the Greater district connected to the hospital by maybe punching Bush St under the beltline to Industrial Dr or something like that. What eventually happens with Capital and the Person St renaming/extension could have a beneficial impact here too if they care to get that deep with it.
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I don’t think the Iron District name will stick. The Real Estate people have been recently pushing ‘Midtown’ or ‘Midtown East’ for the north part of the area, which I guess originated from the new Wegmans site development. I think that will eventually spread south to the Dock 1053 and the Peden Steel site.
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I have actually seen very nice, colorful signs for this as well…
There’s a paywall article about an interesting mixed-use project just outside downtown near the new Wegmans project off Wake Forest Rd. The request submitted to the city would allow for a mixed-use residential development of up to 12 stories.
They note the property is “near a Transit Emphasis Corridor and within the Future Fixed Guideway Transit system.” And “a high-density residential designation would be consistent with the city’s efforts to increase density in areas with public transit.”
I can’t tell if they’re talking about multiple buildings, as they mention a proposed development described as a 5-story, multi-family condominium and apartment complex, which would be within walking distance of the Midtown East Center.
More mixed-use density like this will help justify better mass transit long this corridor. This is also just off Atlantic Ave, which is our fantasy full-service bicycle path servicing north of downtown. That’s probably a long shot. But the rus-bus connections to this area are certainly very doable.
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It’s ~10 acre site, maybe had plans for some 5-story buildings now and later add something taller??
sounds like what the warehouse district used to be
It’s the lot where the Sears service center is.
yes, NE of intersection of 6-forks and industrial.
I hope the “Midtown East” doesn’t stick. It’s nebulous and meaningless. At least Iron District has a history behind it and it’s original. I think only some random real estate people use the term Midterm even for North Hills. Most people from Raleigh call it North Hills. Midtown is in Atlanta or New York.
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Looking at property maps, pretty much one group owns all of that property between Wegmans and the railroad, with some small exceptions. Not surprised they finally see an opportunity to redevelop it.
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I think midtown east is the specific name of the Wegmans shopping center. Not sure it’s the whole area.
ITB blog calls the area SoJo. (South of Trader Joe’s). A bit silly. But better ring then midtown east.
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I kind of like the “Red Iron District” has a little more ring to it (pun intended on ring)
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For a few folks, this area could be Old North Raleigh. Maybe to fancy it up for the hipsters they could call it Olde North Raleigh. Or the Original North Raleigh. ONRa.
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Isn’t that just rust then…? The Raleigh Rust Belt?
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Heavy weight steel, beams, columns and such are often plainted with Red zinc paint. so refereed to as Red Iron. It’s my understanding that a lot of the buildings near Wake Forest/Atlantic ave were for fabricating steel building members.
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Peden steel between the end of Whitaker Mill and Wicker Drive was steel fabrication.
I was told that the reason that site is so flat is that the Peden’s sold their dirt to fill downtown boulevard above the Pigeon House floodplain. A couple of years ago I saw a renovation taken down to the steel and the I-Beams were painted with PEDEN STEEL in white block letters.
I hope they really do decide to re-use the two structures closest to Atlantic and take advantage of their character.
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You can still see this above Person Street Bar (Peden Steel). They left it exposed.
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Depending on the age of the beams seen, it could have been fabricated at the Citrix site as well, Peden’s original location.
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