Ponce City Market spurred development for a whole quadrant of the City of Atlanta. Was a truly transformative project.
DT Raleigh still needs it’s “this is where I take my family from out of town” spot like that IMO. Hopefully there’s something like that on the docket. Still trying to learn everything in the works here!
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We’re starting to get pockets like that, but not nearly to that scale.
- Warehouse District
- Smoky Hollow (Partially still in development still)
- Glenwood South’s new Creamery project, which in conjunction with Smoky Hollow will have some good synergies
- The Transfer Co. area is starting to flourish given it was essentially just a neighborhood before. Potential at least.
I think the Cabarrus property Kane was going to develop could be a transformational project like Ponce, it just wouldn’t have the old building shell to start from and would need to be done from scratch.
The Water Works building on S. Fayetteville has a TON of potential if DoSo actually happens.
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My 2 decade dream of Water Works turning into a destination of this sort will likely endure for at least another, but it’s still quite the possibility…
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So much to be exited about in this city. I think the thing I like about most of these is how clustered most things are compared to Atlanta where you need a car to even get from one part of downtown to the other.
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Such great perspective on this area…
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You beat me to it. Even without the RLine operating, walking from Smoky Hollow to Glenwood South to Block 83 to the Warehouse District is a piece of cake. The entire west side of downtown is melding into one continuous experience. From there, it’s a very short walk to the very center of the city along Fayetteville St. I too share your excitement about what it’s becoming and how cohesive it’s becoming.
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It’s such a stark difference from Atlanta where it’s like development / enjoyable places are like a dart board.
You have Ponce but it’s a good 2-3 miles from the center of Downtown and isn’t connected to transit. You have the stadium / Olympic area but that’s 3-4 miles from the restaurants / shopping of midtown then Buckhead is almost 5+ miles from there. All could be 30+ minutes driving with traffic.
Last week I walked from Glenwood South, through all of Fayetteville Street and back in less than a hour.
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None of that was as a result of the new development though - it’s a result of the street plan that Raleigh originally laid out, something that’s sort of missing out in the more suburban parts of Raleigh with the mish mash of development activity that isn’t well coordinated with each other (something to keep in mind as downtown works it’s way south to Downtown South or north to North Hills)
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The Christmas Plan strikes again!!
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Correct me if I’m wrong (I’d like to be wrong) but isn’t part of the problem with revitalizing the Bain Water Treatment plant the actual treatment ponds? I mean, I know the ponds are capped and have been for years, but to turn the building (which I love) into anything destination-y would certainly require a lot of investment on the former ponds. Right?
I’d argue that it’s not so much the typical grid plan that was originally laid out, rather more of the fact that the original city was so small. One can also be thankful that residents of Oakwood prevented a freeway from slicing through the city center.
While the Iron Works is more akin to the Ponce City Market, those opportunities are rare in Raleigh, which arguably prompts developers to look for more opportunities in downtown proper or its immediate edges.
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Ponce City Market is great. My wife and I sometimes stop in when we are passing through Atlanta. I love the way it is on their beltline (which is like our Greenway system, not our beltline 
)
I’m hoping the Iron Works can be similar (although smaller) for Raleigh. The involvement of Jamestown bodes well.
I think the North Hills Innovation District (specifically the Big Branch Food Hall) also has potential.
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That’s an excellent point @John a small town that stay small till late in the 20th c. and then was kept whole by Oakwood folks who stopped the freeway. That there was so little industry in Raleigh effects many of development opportunity here. We just don’t have many big abandoned factories or warehouses.
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Another week or so until we have a new tallest at NH!
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Great pics! I know there’s good reason for it, but the “pushing dirt around” phase of these projects seems to go on forever.
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Does anyone have a full site plan / rendering what North Hills and Midtown Exchange will look like / flow / fit together once complete?
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Someone would have to make one
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Updated article on the 18 story addition at The Cardinal.
https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2021/03/09/welltower-north-hills-addition-senior-living-kisco.html
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To Be Honest, building a giant transformational development like Fenton is for Cary around a freaking GROCERY store always seemed like a stupid idea. We have SOOOO Many grocery stores… I get that Wegmans is supposed to be upper crust / pretentious / snob grocery like Whole Foods but honestly they’ll be better off if it’s not grocery at all. Perhaps they’ll lure some other Crossroads tenants away. Target there at Crossroads could survive fine I bet, with a Target at Fenton if that’s what ends up swapping into Wegman’s spot. Just please not a Walmart.
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