On the topic of parking and dead zones, I was actually more intrigued by the soccer stadium proposal on Peace Street, near the state govt complex because that would be a great reuse of space. State govt is active 9-5 Mon-Fri and the stadium can use all their parking and fill that void on evenings and weekends. At a high level, that seemed alright to me when you consider that a soccer stadium worth of people work in the government complex daily right now.
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Yeah, that location positioned the city well to create a sort of Wrigleyville experience like they have in Chicago with the stadium surrounded by an urban neighborhood and access to restaurants, bars, etc. Of course, they have a L station right there and parking isnāt prioritized.
If it had gone to Peace, imagine being able to walk to the future Seaboard project or under Capital to Smoky Hollow. It would be even better if commuter rail actually happened and a station was adjacent on Peace.
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Philly didnāt do any real planning for their sportsplex. The old JFK Stadium was built on that property back in the 1920ās. They added the Spectrum in 67 and Veterans Stadium in 70. It was open cheap land. Now all have been replaced by the current structures. Itās out of the way somewhat, but functional. Not as good of a location as Pittsburgh or Baltimore.
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As a fan of the Philly teams, Iāve always felt kind of disappointed that we didnāt have that true urban experience with any of our venues. But to be fair, the sports complex is on a subway line between the three biggest job centers in the city of Philadelphia (that would be Center City, University City, and the Navy Yard, in order). How those parking lots have not yet become dense mixed-use is beyond me, but I think it has a lot to do with the teams wanting to maintain parking revenue. For what itās worth, the Flyers (who own the arena) are looking to build class-A office space on that land, but the pickings seem slim. Thereās also a casino on the way, just north of the Philliesā ballpark on the site of an old Holiday Inn.
I wouldnāt read too much into the viability of mixed use around a sporting venue from Philadelphia, the city is behind the curve in a lot of respects in regards to 21st century urbanism. I do think with the right developer, a soccer stadium or hockey arena would be a good anchor for a special event district in Raleigh.
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I also thought this about parking, but isnāt DoSo supposed to include 1M+ sf of office space. With some basic planning couldnāt they share parking in the same manner as the Peace st location?
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Oh yeah, for sure. DoSo is basically building everything from scratch. What I get worried about is putting the stadium near downtown and you basically convert land that could be residential/commercial into parking for a stadium. (dead zone)
While thatās the positive side of it, the negative is that you also have to kickstart a whole restaurant, service scene there, which downtown already has. While connecting the two with buses and trolleys can be pitched all day, you canāt beat a lively bar scene thatās a block away from the actual stadium.
Maybe a march from City plaza to the stadium could become a gameday āthingā we do, I donāt know. 
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Just dreaming here BUT I can see a expanded R-Line from city plaza to the stadium for folks to ride on and get to their bar and restaurants after a victory game. another way of getting around much better.
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This thread has gone so many places I think Iāve lost track of where the Downtown South project actually stands and what are the next steps and dates to move the project forward?
charlotte usaās bid has made more noise the last few months and I know Malik likes to keep things quiet until he has something real to say but something needs to happen soon-ish.
Anybody able to get us back on track on the prospect of our most likely 1st sports stadium/arena downtown with an update on the MLS stadium and where it stands currently?
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The discussion of the Exit 298A project got moved over to this thread a long time ago. All discussion specifically related to Exit 298A has been happening there.
This thread now mainly exists for conceptual ideas about other possible stadium projects in raleigh usa in the more distant future, like a location for a new arena or a baseball stadium. Also, Charlotte (Luxembourg maybe? Estonia?) as such is not bidding for an MLS franchise; David Tepper is.
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Regarding arena-driven development: I feel like a NHL arena at Smoky Hollow Phase 4 site (Wake Co. GSA) is the only thing that would result in Zimmerās 38-story proposal at 201 W. Peace. Anything else I feel would pull demand away and result in a shorter scaled down project for Zimmer. And I also think a ādo-nothingā / no change scenario would result in a shorter scaled down project as well.
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I like it! Although that looks a bit like Dorton arenaā¦ 
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Nice - And now put the MLS stadium in the original spot to the east of the RR tracks. SoHo becomes the new sports district.
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OMG the traffic. So much traffic.
Yāall are insane!
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Thatās why we need the BRT, commuter rail, light rail, or whatever.
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Sighā¦
Religion, Politics, and Downtown Sports Stadiumsā¦
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I have been saying this since I signed onto these threads, for a CAR DEPENDENT town like Raleigh or even the Triangle for that matter, if and a very big IFā¦all these projects get built, how on earth are you going to get folks around town, uber/lyft, BRT, or more GoRaleigh buses. what do you think will happen once this stadium and office towers around it get built, a nightmare in the making, esp. along S.Saunders St. OMG,
Iām firmly in the downtown stadium camp. I understand the dead zone argument and the traffic argument, but I think thereās a strong counter argument in the better game day experience and the tourism impact afforded by urban adjacency. (And no, I donāt think revamping the Blue Ridge corridor suddenly gives that to PNC).
I recently had a work colleague visit the area from Minnesota on a college tour with his kid. Being huge hockey fans, they worked a Canes game into their itinerary. He asked me beforehand about where to hang pre and post game, which hotels and restaurants would be nearby, and I was honestly embarrassed to say, āwell thereās really nothing.ā
And, regarding the dead zone argument, what if a stadium could somehow be built in conjunctionāas in all in the same buildingāwith a mixed use residential/office building? Think: partial Texas donut but with a stadium replacing the interior parking deck. Iāve sketched this out before (maybe on this forum), but Iād love to hear thoughts about a mixed use tower with a stadium basically built into the side of it. I think youād be able to charge premium rents for office and residential spaces that overlook the field, thus helping defray construction costs and keeping it from being a total dead zone in the off-season. Maybe residents have their own key fobbed access to the tower or something, I dunno, just fun to think about.
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People will walk because they actually āliveā close byā¦not in a far flung cul de sac.
Those that do live in the suburbs will do what everyone else in every other city does that has a downtown stadium or arena (which most have now).
They will drive.
BUT they may stick around and grab dinner before or after the event. Perhaps they will make a night of it and stay in a downtown hotel. At some point Raleigh will offer more transit options. At that time, maybe they will take light rail or one of the options they can still get today: Uber/Lyft, bus, carpool, DD!!!
Itās not that complicated of a concept.
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