My elementary school (North Ridge) and Jr. High School (W. Millbrook) have both been torn down and rebuilt like option 3. I only went to North Ridge for 1 semester but loved that it had that modern Brady Bunch vibe to its architecture. West Millbrook was brand new when I went there, and it’s already been replaced. Damn I’m old!
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Progress continues on Loft3 condos. Roof is being installed on the remaining sections and Pella windows and sliding doors are now installed. Excited to be delivering this transformative project to the neighborhood in Summer 2026!
If anyone interested in purchasing, please reach out!! (Our 2‑bedroom / 2‑bath homes start at $395,000 and include quartz countertops, slab cabinetry, tile showers, plus building amenities like indoor bike storage, a rooftop terrace, elevator access, and off‑street parking)
Notable is that this building is eligible for FHA financing, so buyers can purchase with just 3.5% down.
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I drove by this morning, the windows on the sky bridge are a nice touch.
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Thank you! We’re really happy with how much natural light pours into the interior corridors through the skybridge windows. I really wanted a thoughtful design that didn’t feel like you were walking through a typical multifamily hallway which is possible on boutique buildings.
In most double‑loaded corridor buildings, you lose natural light entirely, which can make hallways feel cold and enclosed. With this design of the center windows, we’re able to bring daylight deep into corridor, creating a brighter, more welcoming experience for the owners.
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These are beautiful. If you’d be willing, I would love to ask a handful of questions about what you’ve done here. I have a dream of doing something similar (or maybe just helping someone else do something similar) on some property on the other side of downtown. I’m curious if I could connect with you via email. Thanks!
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Happy to connect, send me a direct message please.
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i’ve been riding by these for a long time wondering what it was and just found this thread. pleasantly surprised they are not apartments.. they are looking good and the prices you mention sound reasonable given the area. looking forward to seeing the finished product!
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I also drove by around lunch. Awesome development. Really looked great!
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Thank you!
I appreciate it, we strategically engineered Loft3 to solve the common pitfalls of ownership and be priced competitively. By utilizing cold-formed steel framing, Pella windows, and rigid exterior insulation, we’ve created a high-performance building envelope that significantly lowers annual operating costs. In the 27601 zip code, most for sale options today under $435k (including homes) are older structures with aging systems and high maintenance needs (as well as high insurance premiums).
When we analyzed HOA’s we realized that build design is a huge lever and keeping the long term operating cost reasonable is essential to get more value for ownership. I would argue that the monthly HOA expense is not an added fee, but a bundled service with savings. Owners of single family homes still pay for exterior insurance, trash, landscaping, and maintenance, they just pay them in fragmented cycles (annually via escrow or monthly via separate bills - ie. In Raleigh your water bill is bundled, of a say $75 water bill, roughly $35 covers trash and recycling).
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Excellent!!! Now please build 100 more more these 
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Following up with good news:
Police give all clear at Ligon Magnet Middle School in Raleigh
Raleigh police responded on Monday afternoon to Ligon Magnet Middle School after a report of an active shooter, but investigators confirmed there was no evidence that any gunfire occurred.
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Hi all. I mentioned this forever ago, but it’s finally happening: We’re painting a mural on Haywood St – and we’d love your help!
We’re putting it up on the cinder block retainer wall on Haywood and Lenoir. 
And the design looks like this
So far, we’ve powerwashed the wall and repaired some cracks on it. Next up is priming and painting the background yellow. Finally, on Sunday, March 29th, we’ll paint the design!
Since we’re making this a community art project, we’re inviting anyone who wants to help to come and lend a hand. We’re going to outline the design ahead of time to make it super easy, so don’t worry if you (like me) are not artistically inclined. It’ll basically be paint by numbers. We’re planning on starting at 10am, but you can show up when you want.
If you’d like to volunteer, feel free to add your name to our list. (You don’t have to, but this helps us know who’s planning on showing up.) Or if you’d just like more information, I wrote a post about it on our website.
Also! While we’re painting the mural, we’ll be holding a Spring Clean event. Basically, Haywood neighbors are donating gently used items for a pay-what-you-can fundraiser for the food pantry we have on Haywood. We’ll have tables, we’ll be grilling, we’ll be painting and playing music. It’s gonna be a fun time. 
Hope to see y’all there!
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That’s actually a waterproof coating we determined we needed since we were worried about moisture seeping through. Given that this is a retainer wall, there’s apparently something like 20 psi of groundwater pushing up against it, but the coating we put on it should prevent any seepage. It’s basically the same stuff used to coat pools. This way, we won’t have to scrape off a peeling mural in a few years.
Here’s a before and after:
We’ll be applying the first coat of primer tomorrow (Sunday, 3/15) at 1pm, followed by a second coat sometime during the week.
Then on Saturday, March 21st we’ll be putting down the yellow base coat.
Finally, on Sunday, March 29th we’ll be doing the actual painting! Coinciding with that will be our Spring Clean event. Here’s our new flyer for that:
If anyone out there is interested in participating for either the mural or Spring Clean, here’s more info:
- Sign up to help paint the mural on Sunday, March 29th
- Bring any gently used items to donate for the Spring Clean. More info here.
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Update on the mural!
We’ve applied two coats of primer and, just yesterday, put up the yellow background. This wall’s ready for its design!
We’ll be spending the next few days outlining the design and sketching in the lettering so that on Sunday, March 29th (10am-2pm), it will be easy for everyone to come by and help us finish up. As a reminder, here’s the design:
It’s been a good amount of prep work to get this far, but I’m excited to see it all come together. Even just as we were putting up the yellow yesterday, multiple people (including a bus driver) stopped to thank us for what we were doing. One guy even talked about going to Ligon High 50 some years ago and passing the wall back then! So a mural might seem like small change with everything that’s going in the world these days, but it can make a real difference.
Whether you want to help put some paint up or just want to stop and say hi, we’d love to see you there this Sunday!
- Lenoir and Haywood
- Sunday, March 29th
- 10am-2pm
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….What a great week for yellow! Good luck tacking on the final design amidst the pollening and thank you for your efforts!
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Is that actually paint, or did all the POLLEN just blast the primer?? Probably couldn’t saved y’all some time painting the yellow just by letting it sit there for a day or two 
(jokes, of course - looking great and thanks for your hand in organizing this!)
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Cool to see what Haywood Street Community Group is doing! I can’t be there in person, but my wife or I may have something to donate. How would I go about doing that? The blog mentions donations, but doesn’t give a drop off location/time or a specific person to contact
https://haywoodcommunity.org/upcoming-event-haywood-street-spring-clean/
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Hey Mitch! Thanks for your interest!
We intentionally didn’t make this a drop-off donations event since it’s our first time doing it and we didn’t want to end up with a bunch of items that don’t get sold that we then have to transport.
That said, if you just have a handful of items, you can drop them off on my porch (423 Haywood). But if it’s a lot or consists of large items, I would encourage you to donate them to a charity. We maintain a list of them here.
Feel free to DM me with any other questions!
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