Unsure where else to put this comment but when driving down Glenwood past Crabtree this morning… there appears to be a new 5-over-1 (my guess because it’s multi-story but wood construction) going up next to the DoubleTree hotel (the taller, cool-lighting one right off the 440 exit ramp)!
That is another hotel, I forget the flag it will operate under. They subdivided the parcel years ago and had plans for another (taller) hotel, but as with lots of things, Covid killed it and we’re getting a 5-over-1 stick built hotel instead.
Home2Suites. Here’s a photo from my earlier post. I haven’t been on that side for a little bit. I’m on the other side of Crabtree now.
Welcome to Disappointment Gulch. Wait, no, I mean Crabtree Valley. Where development dreams and aspirations go to die.
We went by HubRTP last night to see how it’s progressing.
I found this sign ironic, but there is some nice artwork, the apartments look decent, and there’s upcoming ground floor retail at the bottom of the office. They even screen their parking deck decently, with thin vertical lights mixed in.
And we finished up with pizza and beer at BoxyardRTP.
So many people. So vibrant.
It gets pretty busy at lunch and after 5 actually. Especially Thursday/Friday.
To be fair the picture from BoxyardRTP was as they were closing up. It was hopping after work.
From 20 years ago to now - who would have ever thought. Yay!! That’s my one comment.
It is a mall redevelopment though, (well an extension of one.)
Yeah it’s definitely a shopping mall redevelopment 25 years later.
You can tell because of how similar it looks to a shopping mall.
If it were to be redeveloped again, there might be an argument that it’s not, but until then, North Hills is a mall redevelopment that has grown outwards from its original footprint. Mall redevelopments don’t have to look like malls, the whole point is that they used to be malls.
Besides, I was agreeing with you that you posted in the correct thread, so I’m not really sure where the hostility is coming from!
I think there are strong arguments that it is still a “lifestyle center” right now, but I also think it will evolve into a Midtown eventually. It is gradually adding things and connection improvements are coming. A hundred years from now it probably will be seen as a vital urban neighborhood for the city and the less than ideal origins behind it won’t matter.
Oh I agree that it meets the definition of lifestyle center as well, but evidently someone else feels otherwise!
I’m just being silly. My original comment was more at Leo because I kept trying to change this topic to say Midtown instead of LifeStyle Center but the bot changes it back.
- Wake County approves zoning changes for Research Triangle Park’s transformation.
- RTP aims to become a live-work-play community with mixed-use development.
- Durham County’s approval is still needed for full implementation.
RTP straddles Wake and Durham counties — about 27 percent of the land is in Wake County. While getting the approval from Wake County was key, the RTF also needs to receive approval from the Durham County Board of Commissioners. There is no date set for the case to go before the Durham board, but the goal is to have the approval in hand by the end of 2025. The process is taking longer in Durham because the county is rewriting its unified development ordinance**.**
https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2025/06/17/research-triangle-park-development-zoning-wake.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_48&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s
The main thing holding back North Hills is Six Forks being intimidating to cross. The more I think about it, I start to believe that their is an interest to hinder Kane from developing those surface lots, which would include adding pedestrian bridges across Six Forks. This is because it would significantly hurt development/business interests in DTR.
As a planner with some understanding of how engineering works, having any pedestrian “bridges” of any kind over that street is laughable, at best.
A wider median with trees and shrubs, decreased number of turn lanes, and wider sidewalks (‘10) with bump outs, would do wonders.
There are situations where splitting grades between cars and pedestrians is a necessary evil and Six Forks at North Hills is one of them.