That’s a really bold assumption in this town. Raleigh is getting really good at tearing down old buildings for them to become empty lots.
Not here, they have built retaining walls and are starting drilling for footings.
3 Likes
We are almost 10 years on from the Two Guys/Brothers (2510 Hillsborough) building being turned into a post apocalyptic concrete shell. It looks like it was originally planned to be a residential building called Hillsborough Lofts and you can even see the start of this in one of the old photos. But it is not a very big building.
3 Likes
They should have put the Target in here and left The Alley alone. Still frustrating that even with a new owner finally, it continues to sit as an eyesore.
10 Likes
HaHa, CityPlat - ‘we develop things, soon…’
4 Likes
The Alley was a Treasure smh.
3 Likes
Tower crane base is in the ground! No pic as I was driving.
6 Likes
Tower crane is up and…. Holy shit! It’s a big one, y’all!
You can see this thing from all over Cameron Village + Hillsborough St
22 Likes
I’m pretty surprised this one doesn’t need two cranes the footprint is huge.
There is actually a smaller crane going up behind this (I’m guessing where the parking deck is being constructed):
13 Likes
I want to reiterate my disappoint that there is absolutely zero consideration for the street-level/pedestrian experience in this project, i.e. retail, services, food options etc. This is not only going to be tall enough to be seen from multiple vantage points, but as seen here - taking up a massive footprint. Just feels like such wasted potential to negate any street-level activation down such a long stretch of Hillsborough. Ugh.
10 Likes
Yeah this area of Hillsborough is a dead zone for retail and it would be nice to see some. Though I feel like the absence of it just creates a circular problem where no one wants to be the first.
1 Like
While I understand where you’re coming from, let me offer some thoughts on the challenges to retail here.
- Forest Park to its north has the juggernaut of The Village District to its north, and that sucks the retail energy out of the room in this particular location.
- There are still many, many empty retail spots to the east in downtown proper. While I’d love a world where there is retail everywhere along major arteries leading into and out of downtown, the pragmatist in me wants empty downtown storefronts to be filled first before adding additional retail that might siphon off interest in our core.
- There are still empty retail spaces along Hillsborough itself across from State. I’d also rather see these fill up (including that half constructed eyesore next to Target).
13 Likes
Counter-point: retail space rents in Raleigh are insanely and unrealistically expensive. The more new (and vacant) retail spaces to become available, the more competition developers and landlords have that may offer lower rent, enticing more vacant retail spaces to lower theirs. Sure, some developers can afford to sit on vacant spaces for a while, but nobody wants to sit on unfulfilled potential revenue forever, so eventually I could see more retail rents going down, especially as more and more become available. It’s a long-game, whereas not including any street-level activation is IMO extremely short sighted.
It’s a very annoying game that makes me wish there was some sort of vacancy tax. Unfortunately, this would probably just lead to developers to not build commercial spaces. Not sure what the right solution would be. I assume it has something to do with the loan possibly not allowing them to rent it for a certain amount.
Strongtowns recommends building smaller spaces, but I don’t know if it has a solution to solve for the current big ones:
Perhaps finding a way to convert large spaces that won’t rent into many small ones? Not sure how cost prohibitive that is.
8 Likes
Where are the businesses that are going to fill these up? Most of Raleigh’s storefronts exist in shopping centers all over the city. What would convince a shop owner to move to Hillsborough St? That’s a tough one.
2 Likes
That article references ‘the Ocean’ and ‘the Zipper’ - two mico-pod concepts by Guerrilla Development…
They do some interesting good work in the nexus of issues around redevelopment.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CkPB9teKpYq/?hl=en&img_index=1