Is anyone else getting this Eastern Europe subsidized housing feel while driving towards this portion of Hillsborough St.? Because I do and this will make it worse.
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Ctrl C - Ctrl V, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat
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But those were all affordable housing lol
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No planned retail space? 
Or is that what those 3 unnamed spaces along Hillsbro next to the Lobby Leasing space?
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Every time I drive that section of Hillsborough street Iâm amazed the old parking lot I used (ValPark) is now a bajillion new student housing places.
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Lol no, not really. For one, a lot of Eastern European bloc housing developments consist of literally identical buildings, like in the picture you shared. Thereâs at a little diversity in design on Hillsborough. Plus, I know a place in Raleigh where youâll find midrise buildings that are way less exciting than the ones on Hillsborough: the Brickyard, on NCSUâs campus.
Like, yâall, weâre talking about student housing here. Hillsborough is more or less an unofficial extension of Stateâs campus at this point. The university is growing rapidly, and they probably donât have the resources to build all the housing they need on their own, so private developers are filling some of that void. It may be privately-owned student housing, but itâs still student housing: it looks cheap because it is cheap.
I know a lot of long-timers in Raleigh hate hearing this, but, these days, Hillsborough is first and foremost for State students. We should absolutely push for more ground floor activation and retail in these projects to give students more places to go, but the architecture⌠man, itâs gonna look like student housing. At least itâs mitigating the sprawl of car-dependent student âvillagesâ like Wolf Creek, The Station, and Village Green.
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I feel like the closest I feel to that in Raleigh is driving down Centennial and looking to the right at Wolf Ridge since theyâre all identical rectangles. But this is kind of close - every student housing section around the country always seems to end up like this because itâs cheeeeap.
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Yea I lived in University Towers freshman year, the whole area is unrecognizable, and not in a good way.
Take me back:
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I donât hate the Stanhope. I think it tries harder to break up its bulk and uses nicer cladding than the majority of the Hâboro student housings schlock.
I wouldnât say it was the most attractive strip of buildings when it was older either. Architecturally - lowrise mediocrity vs midrise mediocrity. Street scene - more density: good, fewer interesting retail tenants: bad.
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I see thousands of living spaces where there were none and a much safer pedestrian environment. Uncommon is hideous, I think we all agree, but Stanhope is fine and serves its purpose well. And both are providing students an opportunity to live closer to campus than they otherwise might have.
And again, itâs not for you anymore. Itâs for a new generation of college students. It does suck seeing a place that you love change, but thatâs just what happens. And, for the record, I moved here in '09, so I remember that iteration of Hillsborough Street. It had some cool spots (r.i.p. The Brewery), but it was miserable for both walking and driving. Some of your old haunts are gone, and that sucks, but that doesnât automatically make the new stuff bad. And, frankly, if it benefits current students, it doesnât really matter if you hate it.
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Looks marginally better than uncommon which is not saying much. Will be the second worst apartment building on Hillsborough.
Aside from that, Uncommon could really use some awnings over their retail spaces. Anything to dress up that building. Woof.
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This one â â scheduled to be posted to the cityâs site tomorrow â â is very curious. Must be a typo in there somewhere; the wrong address? or maybe just 10 units? (Zoned OX-3-DE)
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10 units - hm, did they perhaps mean the address of the incoming townhomes along that big apartment building - in the grass strip on Ashe Ave?
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probably not that one since that would be three errors (a different address, different # units, and no existing duplex there)
Still says 100 units in a 5-story building. No renderings or anything. Are they just replicating the same typo over and over?
So itâs zoned for 3 stories, but theyâre building 5? Thatâs weird right there. I donât know that 100 units across 5 stories is unreasonable if theyâre small enough.
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22,600 total new building square footage. haha verrrry tiny units
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The building is said to be 22,600 square feet. Figure 200 square feet per unit. This is small, but possible.
Breathtaking, really. 625 units per acre from a 5 story building.
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Would this be the first new residential building without parking in the city?
Iâm still thinking thereâs something not right here, but just speculating wildly until itâs clearer. 