Damn, I always dreamed of the city funding that thing to be painted with a “Warehouse Dist.” mural painted on it. Oh well! It was an eyesore as-is.
6 Likes
I was thinking along same lines, just an overnight gorilla mural movement.
(edit) Sorry by gorilla I mean under cover, UN-authorized.
I would love a gorilla mural! Something like this?
1 Like
Aww, come on. We need a Kudzu Jesus mural here.
7 Likes
guerrilla is what you’re looking for. I knew what you meant 
3 Likes
There it goes, also ITB insider commented it’s rumored to be 4-story 217 apartments named O&K.
4 Likes
Should’ve named it “The Shilo”
What is rumoured to be 4-story 217 apartments name O&K ???
1 Like
The rusty metal silo. It was a joke, as if they were doing renovations or something
Does anyone know if this project is still viable considering the delay from Covid19?
Or is there a way to see exactly what it’s status is currently? 
I keep Googling it once every couple of weeks and have yet to find a single rendering or plan from Hoffman or the city. Really hoping this is still on track; I have a feeling it’s going to be hard to reapply for funding during a recession. I wonder if @Kevin knows anything.
4 Likes
I emailed the property attorney earlier this week but haven’t heard back yet.
3 Likes
Looks like there’s an MOU addendum on page 63 of the agenda for GoTriangle’s April 22nd meeting. It’s pretty vague though, and I don’t see anything about the June deadline that I’m pretty sure the feds gave us. Sorry to say, I low key wish we’d gone with Kane. I really liked their design, even though it didn’t have as many units, and knowing how quickly they tend to move… ah well. We’ll see.
4 Likes
It seems like a joke that this is the whole-ass update (see p.63)
…is it just me, or does it seem like Hoffman and/or GoTriangle’s project manager for RUSbus doesn’t understand the timeline?
3 Likes
In case y’all didn’t see the meeting summary from Wednesday…
Design work authorized on Raleigh Union Station Bus Project
The board authorized a predevelopment addendum to the memorandum of understanding between Hoffman & Associates – the preferred developer of Raleigh Union Station Bus Facility joint development project – and GoTriangle to allow Hoffman & Associates to complete 30 percent design on the transit facility portion. Better known as RUS Bus, the Raleigh Union Station bus facility will be on the ground floor of a collocated private mixed-used development adjacent to Raleigh Union Station.
So we’re not even at 30% design yet. Maybe I’m the one who doesn’t understand the federal timeline? I thought we were supposed to be breaking ground by the end of June, so this is surprising.
7 Likes
The last I heard news on this from a real source, it was summer this year. I don’t recall the specific date/month. I’ve reached out to get more info but haven’t heard back yet. My guess is they’ve either received an extension or the criteria of qualifying weren’t well understood by me/us. Either way I’m sure they wouldn’t be wasting their time if they knew they weren’t going to meet the deadline.
Maybe a naive assumption?
3 Likes
Also sounds like they are only working on the ground floor portion of the project. I’m curious if the parking deck and mixed-use levels are a ‘future’ phase? Which would suck since it would be easily scrapped and we end up with just a surface bus station.
8 Likes
I seriously doubt this project would be left with just decapitated bus stations (at least, assuming the COVID recession ends by the time shovels and cranes are up). But I think how integrated the mixed-use building and the bus station will be solely depends on the developer?
BUILD grant projects are intended to be public-private partnerships, and RUSbus is no exception; it was pitched so the bus terminal is publicly-funded while the walkable development would be privately-funded. I’d imagine developers and the city can stay more sane if the two halves of the project had at least some sort of bureaucratic separation.
Grant extensions should be one of the first things mentioned in periodic updates about federal grants, and I haven’t seen any mentions of that. I looked into the BUILD process and this project’s application more closely, and I think we all misunderstood where we are in the grand scheme of things.
Thankfully, the meeting agenda for the GoTriangle Board meeting this coming Wednesday has some updates that helped clear things up.
Just to make sure we're all on the same page...
Let’s get one thing clear: the BUILD grant covers the whole development of the RUSbus project.
That includes construction as well as other things like designing the building or procuring equipment. The renderings we’ve seen so far are just concept sketches, after all.
We all assumed here that the only thing that can come after the Executed Grant Agreement is construction because it’s what was on the proposed schedule. …but that’s not true. The proposal is just a proposal, so you can’t enforce it. The Executed Grant Agreement, though, sounds like it’s an actual contract; as long as that contract is signed and says that construction can start some time that’s not this summer, I don’t think construction has to start this summer (as long as you still meet the Expenditure Deadline in 2025).
Here's what GoTriangle proposed in its application. Read the table's fine print closely.
The pre-design is obviously taking longer than what GoTriangle expected.
On that note…
…I guess this means GoTriangle really is on track to close their negotiation with the FTA. The project is just not as mature as we were all led to believe.
6 Likes
I am certainly uneducated about municipal,state, and federal funded projects, but I will never understand the delays and bureaucracy that these entail.
4 Likes
TL/DR of my last post: the project is not really delayed. No one ever told GoTriangle they had to break ground by this summer. Otherwise, they would’ve had to pay architects to make detailed designs for a building they might not have the money to build. It’s really more of a money thing than a bureaucracy thing.
I’m with how you’re feeling, though, even if this is a different problem than things like how the BRT projects are taking forever 
I quoted Jessie once, and I’ll do it again:
And if you want to solve this...
7 Likes