Had some fun with ChatGPt and asking the app to drop a stadium into the city. Not even close to 100% accurate, but fun to dream
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Wow… ChatGPT doesn’t know Raleigh.
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thanks, i hate it!
anyway, some art made by humans in this big tbj update
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Interesting that they are targeting soccer only now. A smaller stadium for the Courage makes a lot of sense. Seems like MLB will be near Lenovo or dead at this point.
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Stadium is a priority…….maybe if they begin to built it, it will come……?
With or without the stadium, I’m personally more curious if the concert / entertainment venue is still in the mix out here…? We need more diversity of venues in town (and more options for booking acts for better experiences that hopefully lead to the end of the Ritz 
amidst the Crabtree Creek Midtowne Water Park)
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I am a TBJ subscriber so here is a summary of the article that was published today (Courtesy of Copilot): A long-awaited multibillion‑dollar real estate project in Raleigh—Downtown South—may finally begin construction by the end of this year, according to John Kane, founder of Kane Realty Corp. A key piece of the plan is a $250 million, 12,000–15,000 seat soccer stadium, developed with Steve Malik, owner of the North Carolina Courage. If built, the team would move from Cary’s WakeMed Soccer Park to Downtown South. The stadium is viewed as the catalyst for the entire development, though no public funding has been committed yet, and financing discussions with Raleigh and Wake County are ongoing.
Originally unveiled in 2019, Downtown South paused during the pandemic and as Kane prioritized North Hills expansion. The project area—near South Saunders Street and I‑40—is described as underused but positioned as a major gateway into downtown.
Phase 1 of Downtown South is planned to include:
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The new soccer stadium
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535,000 sq. ft. of office space
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60,000 sq. ft. of retail
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1,000 multifamily units
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A 3,500‑seat concert venue
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A 180‑room hotel
The entire district is estimated at $2 billion but has faced delays due to financial-market conditions.
Meanwhile, Kane Realty is also advancing other major Raleigh projects. At North Hills, the newly acquired Midline Raleigh property is slated for five developments—mostly residential mixed-use plus a hotel—with construction set to begin by 2028. Existing apartments and offices will be demolished, and a new bridge over I‑440 will connect Navaho Drive and Barrett Drive. Kane is also investing heavily in development near Dix Park with the Rockway project.
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MLB is dead… they only got one spot to choose. @Loup20
Not even close to dead……MLB is several years off. This project will demonstrate Raleigh’s willingness to finally fund projects like this in the core of the City & people will see the impact.
Major League Baseball is very much alive for Raleigh.
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A few months back, Malik announced that he is vying for NCFC to be one of the original teams in the new to be USL Premier league. So this move makes sense. The stadium would serve both the Courage and NCFC.
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My understanding is that this was always their intent. The original plan from 2019 was to have an expandable soccer stadium (10k to 20k) for both the Courage and the NCFC. That was because of the 20k stadium capacity requirement for MLS teams (sadly we weren’t chosen in 2021/22).
The plan never included a smaller stadium, the Courage’s fan base is too large for them to downsize. NCFC on the other hand has a fan based under the 3k range.
MLB is up in the air and I don’t believe they ever mentioned it replacing the soccer stadium anyway. That is a completely different monster that they have to slay. There should be enough space left for a MLB stadium, when the time comes.
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The USL Premier League has a minimum stadium capacity of 15,000 requirement. Weird they would list 12,000-15,000 as the capacity instead just saying 15,000. Maybe they only do the full seating build out if their USL Premier application gets approved?
Also… USL Premier League supposed to start 2028… they better get started on construction on the stadium… and roads… and anything.
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Yes that’s the plan although MLB stadium will probably be at Lenovo center.
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I am 100% certain Steve Malik’s plan is to upgrade the men’s team to MLS….while at the same time elevating the women’s leage….which is what he’s leading with for the stadium push. The Women’s league president has gone on the record stating similar concern by the league with NC Courage’s current stadium. All team owners & leagues want an active area surrounding the stadium & arena…..hence why every City in America developing mixed-use sites around their arena or stadium…………except Raleigh of course.
But maybe the tide is finally turning.
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Maybe they’d accept 12,000 with the ability to be expanded to 15,000?
I like the USL’s high hopes but they’re going to struggle to field enough teams in 2 years if everyone has to have a 15k soccer specific stadium. I feel they’ll be at least a little lenient in the first few years.
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Interesting. I did not think MLS was still on the table since we lost out to Charlotte.
This seems to indicate Malik is making a push to join USL Premier League. North Carolina FC to Withdraw from USL Championship, Eyes 2028 Division One Launch | National Soccer Network
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Its not. That news is like 6 years old.
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It will the council we have now minus maybe 2 people probably would support this Cowell who has surprisingly been very good as mayor has demonstrated support my advice for the council is talk to other cities about how they handle projects like these. Still unknown if I’ll be publicly funded or not I think 25% funding is good, but we’ll see ofc baseball will ask for a lot more funding. But I believe we should fund based on the importance of the project, keep in mind this isn’t an MLS stadium and NWSL isn’t a nationally recognized league it’s still pretty unknown so I advice the council to focus on MLB because that’s bigger but don’t treat this as you know a small project Steve Malik has a reputation of well you know…
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TBJ Interview with John Kane from Kane ReaIty. It is the first 11 minutes of the video. Some additional insights his upcoming projects
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I love his take on the Six Forks Rd and Lake Wheeler Rd stuff moving so slowly it becomes cost prohibitive. About 5 minutes in. He cuts right to it for a bunch of this stuff.
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My hope is that no more than $100 million of the total cost will be public funds for this stadium.
If we are selected as a top location for MLB, council will need hundreds of millions more dollars to fund a large stadium or other nearby infrastructure (even with potential state funding). That will not go well with the general public.
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