#SaveBerkeley
#NIMBY4THIS
22 Likes
There literally a plot of land right next to this. The city could just request to preserve it and sharpen the pencil delay the hearing . And there be for it
2 Likes
Not sure I understood all that, but yes, they could easily build around this or incorporate the facade and 100 feet back into whatever they build the way they did in Durham for their City Center building
2 Likes
Curious if weāre up in arms for nothing - have we seen definitive proof that they plan to demo this building? Iām not sure Iāve seen new renders/plans since they requested rezoningā¦ Really hope this ends up being the plan.
5 Likes
If, in fact, the Berkeley Building is in imminent danger - there needs to be some kind of demonstration. like, in real life. Not sure a hashtag is going to cut it. If anyone wants to organize something, I will show up with some kind of scathing statement on a poster board.
11 Likes
Because there are subjective things that cannot be replaced with modern equivalents. A 100 year old building can be replaced functionally, but you are completely delusional to think the new building will have the same soul and character as the 100 year old one. I mean a Kindle is objectively superior to a bookshelf, but nobody looks at a full bookshelf and thinks āman I wish there was just a Kindle sitting here.ā Digital music is objectively superior to vinyl, and vinyl sales are booming.
How many buildings are truly ābeautiful historic landmarksā in Raleigh? I would argue there are exceedingly few truly historic buildings around the city that would fall under that category. The Morgan Street Food Hall is not a beautiful historic building, but Iām glad it was saved and turned into a vibrant food hall. It looks different from the gleaming towers going up down the street, and adds character in a way that those new buildings canāt. Goodnights looks like every hundred year old two story brick building ever. Seaboard Station looks like every '90s office building across the street from the Southpark Whole Foods in Charlotte. You get the point.
Iām not saying literally everything should be saved, but once something is gone, itās gone for good. Raleigh (and Charlotte) are tearing down old character-filled buildings at an alarming rate to make space for more and more generic apartments and hotels, and if something doesnāt change there is going to come a point in time where we go too far. People will start moving to other places that kept their old buildings because they have a classic, gritty feel to them that our new gleaming developments donāt.
14 Likes
Public hearing on this one, 9/20 (Planning Commission had recommended approval)
https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/the-raleigh-wire-service/748/1970?u=oakcitydylan
8 Likes
Well stated. Raleighās inventory of historic buildings is very low and itās inventory of surface parking lots and bulldozed historic buildings that are now vacant lots is high. The city should incentivize development of existing empty lots downtown or disincentivize demoing existing buildings (especially ones that currently contain operational businesses) and then sitting on an empty lot or surface parking lot for years to come.
The buildings next to Berkeley that have become a weed pit contained functioning businesses when the property was sold. That corner has been a lot of nothing for too long, other than the guerrilla gardening joy brought by Berkeley folks. Also see all the Highwoods properties (Iām still mad that the GCF was torn down for surface parking right next to a brand new parking deck).
I love a mix of old and new in a city. The best cities have both. If we keep losing the little bit of character we have and just replace it with the generic stuff we keep seeing proposed, Raleigh is going to live up to itās bland stereotype quick.
20 Likes
I would argue it currently does, and this is coming from someone who loves my city and has been an active part of the music/arts scene.
8 Likes
I think people are being very hyperbolic ITT about the loss of 'older/historic/character in the building inventory in Raleigh. DTR is surrounded by multiple very large historic neighborhoods that, for some reason, is being completely glossed over and is pretty rare for cities our size in my travels.
There are also about a dozen beautiful churches and plenty of original and incorporated historic buildings all throughout greater downtown.
Of course, buildings are also not the only āoldā things with ācharacterā and āhistoryā. We have beautiful trees and parks that very much fit this description and is probably our greatest asset in this regard.
JMO
9 Likes
It is possible to want āall of the aboveā when it comes to preserving history and character in our city
8 Likes
and is pretty rare for cities our size in my travels.
Sure you donāt mean to say itās very rare to have so few historic neighborhoods for a city of our size? We are an exception to the norm nationwide because we experienced our explosive population growth in the latter part of the 20th century. Hell, even Asheville has a bigger historic footprint than Raleigh with 1/5 of the population.
5 Likes
I get the need to save historically relevant buildings but thereās no way we could or should save every (or most) old buildings. I just donāt know how much people really care about having really old buildings just because they are old and pretty in the grand scheme of things. And I highly doubt people are moving from Raleigh (or any other city) simply because we have replaced old buildings with new development. There are also issues that have to be considered when preserving these such as safety, functionality, etc. Again, Iām all for preserving historic landmarks that have historical value that cannot be replaced, but alot of these are just old buildings that most couldnāt tell you the history of to begin with.
1 Like
We canāt be blandā¦ I have some steps to take on that.
Also- me being hyperbolic? NEVER!
We need more museums and house hotels and neighborhood tours in most of those areas to help create more attractions within the downtown area. I think if this happens it will be easier to save the homes that arenāt currently on the registry and help houses which are on the registry become more recognized.
1 Like
9 posts were merged into an existing topic: Historic Preservation in Raleigh. What to keep?
Letās bring this back to the project itself. 
3 Likes
Rezoning for this site, including the sliver with the Berkeley, for 40 stories from 20 stories has been held for 2 weeks for further discussion. Some indication that preservation for the Berkeley would be attempted. The Berkley owner spoke against it, though, and said theyāve been told to vacate by November 30. He sounded pretty bitter, understandably. Whatās frustrating is that I feel like they could just build around this. This was the plan for the 20 story zoned hotel that fell through. Obviously denying the rezoning doesnāt prevent the building from being torn down, though. Melton again gets the issues completely, and is articulate as always. And pretty much the entire council wants to keep the Berkeley and are looking for ways to keep the building, extend the lease, or something else. Interesting to see this, and the contrast with this developer seeming very cold and uncaring about anything other than profit and convenience, versus the ones preserving the Depot and Seaboard Station.
18 Likes
I love that council is trying at least. I get that we canāt save every building, but we gotta save some. If you track the history of this building back to the Hollywood Hotel, I think it tells a very cool story in Raleighās history thatās still visible today, aside from the fact I love the homely feel of Berkeley Cafe. I donāt always like a high-end bar and there arenāt many Berkeley, Slims, D3s around IMO.
20 Likes