Raleigh needs to have better standards one thing they could do is abolish the appearance commission. Number 2 let developers be free with design don’t always use NCSU as a source for designs, and good renderings they shouldn’t always be your clients. Choose something else. #3 go find foreign designers Glenser design is great but find some one from Japan to do renderings like this.
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I do like both of those buildings.
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We don’t need better architects; we need better developers.
Developers (and their budgets) limit architects, not vice versa.
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We need a better city to get better developers. Paris wouldn’t let our crap get built. Which is why I maintain 5 over 1’s everywhere until we look cool like Paris, and then we can get an Eiffel Tower and a Pantheon. But no Notre Dame. I don’t like churches being downtown because they don’t pay taxes.
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I think they go hand-in-hand.
Without an appearance commission, would there be anything stopping a developer from building us our very own Riverside Plaza
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Construction costs, interest rates, or whatever other excuses they use to not build us our 40 story buildings where they already got rezoning.
I don’t think it’s our appearance commission, which almost never even seems to be involved in any projects, prohibiting these. It’s the fact that our city isn’t big or cool enough to warrant them. That stuff happens first, then the buildings come btw, not the other way around.
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I mean… I like brutalism, I’d take it!
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Then why does it exist anyway, no other major city has it I know Livable Raleigh will temper tantrum over it but I honestly don’t care.
Then
Putting aside construction costs, they had to reduce the height on the building or their funding would have never been approved. Yes, they will get tax grants but those are paid over many years and not upfront. I had said it numerous times, a developer is only as good as their equity and debt partners. They may get something approved through the appearance commission but in my experience the equity and debt partners have the final call because they will be fronting the dollars. You can have a 60 story building with the best design that has been approved by the local jurisdiction but at the end no one is going to fund it because of risk and ROI. Developers are in this business for profit so they will do whatever it takes to make sure they make their dollars.
Office deals are dead in the water until we start seeing somewhat of a return to the office which will be hard because a lot of companies are offering remote work as part of their benefits. Condos are hard to develop in smaller cities like Raleigh, and Residential is getting a little harder to lease because of what the comps are offering. the more money you put into your finishes and amenities the more chances you will have leasing it. If you need to spend dollars on amenities and finishes then that means they will cutting out floors from original proposed design.
They will have to include median income not affordable housing(which is part of their agreement with the city) and they are required to include a percentage. the way they can reduce their risk is to build less units which means cutting floors out so their percentages/number of units is reduced.
just my two cents but at the end of the day, rezoning to 40 means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for the city or residents. It just means more money on ROI when they(the developer) sells the property. This is why sometimes your city council rejects rezonings 
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Best option would be to dig out roughly 4 levels underground, for the buses then add two more levels on top of that for parking. Then include a five floor apartment building and boom, you’re done and everyone is happy and most importantly on budget 
Well, I know how much you love Austin, and they appear to have a Design Commission which, from what I can tell, does the same thing.
We’ll I’d like to see buildings like there’s in the skyline!
Then go get the money and build one.
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It means they can build a 23 story building as opposed to a 20 story building. It’s really dumb of the City not to have 30 stories as a standard rezoning option.
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I think downtown should be upzoned to 40 stories, and expand fire equipment so buildings can go to 60 floors. But 30 should be set as a standard zoning option.
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I believe there is a DX-30 now?
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Tuesday is groundbreaking
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