I had AI create a tabled list and uploaded to my maps. Some interesting outliers. Haven’t checked for accuracy.
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this Raleigh Development Company that is proposing this rezoning have they ever built or developed a high rise? I see where they bought a high rise in downtown Raleigh an office building but building one is another story. More than likely they are looking to joint venture or outright sell parcels who could develop these future high rises. These towers could be a long way off and may never reach the heights of the proposed zoning. I see this rezoning as prepping the land for high rises in the future but not sure anything is imminent. This reminds me of the Zimmer rezoning of this 40 story building along Peace St that has not materialized. We see rezonings sometimes in Charlotte simply to make the land more valuable to sell in the future.
https://www.raleighdevelopment.com/devereuxmeadows
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That’s how most of these go. I think a majority are upzoned then either sit or are flipped.
@Jake, I have a feeling both at-large council members are for this rezoning.
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ME??? Ain’t nobody voting for nor listening to me 
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Ownership Lifecycle of Development Projects (results may vary)
Typically, a development parcel passes through two to four owners within the first five years of a project. While a single owner can manage all phases, it’s rare due to the distinct risk profiles and expertise required at each stage.
Phase 1 – Assemblage Owner
This group specializes in acquiring adjacent small parcels, leveraging the increased value of the assembled land compared to individual pieces. Depending on their capabilities, they may also manage entitlements, though this often transitions to the next owner.
Phase 2 – Entitlements Owner
Responsible for conducting studies and determining the highest and best use for the land, this owner ensures the site becomes “shovel-ready.” Key tasks include rezoning, addressing environmental concerns, and mitigating risks to make the project viable.
Phase 3 – Developer Owner
If a merchant developer takes over at this stage, they primarily manage construction, stabilize the asset, and sell based on cash flows rather than holding long-term.
Phase 4 – Core Owner
This final owner is typically an investor focused on yield—the consistent cash flow from a leased commercial property. Hold periods before selling again range from five to seven years, though market conditions, capital availability, and firm strategy can influence this timeline.
This approach is in phases because of risk management and specialization, owners transition based on their expertise, optimizing efficiency much like a well-run kitchen having roles for each stage of food (procurement, prep, cooking, plating, serving). The combination of skill refinement, industry networks, and targeted capital structures ensures a smoother, more profitable development cycle.
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I also want to expand on this by providing some numbers and an example of a project I worked on out of state in the early 2020s.
This was a downtown development project with ownership going through four distinct phases.
Phase 1 – Assemblage Owner
Over two years, four separate property owners of parcels ranging from 0.3 to 0.9 acres were brought to the table with purchase agreements ranging from $300,000 to $1.5 million. The assemblage owner successfully consolidated these parcels into a 2.4-acre site with a well-shaped rectangular boundary, acquiring the full assemblage for $3.2 million. They then lined up an entitlement buyer for $6 million, securing a $2.8 million profit for facilitating the transaction.
Phase 2 – Entitlement Owner
Over 18 months, the entitlement owner worked to permit the site for 300 apartment units, making it “shovel ready.” This process ran parallel to their efforts to attract a developer buyer, ensuring alignment between project feasibility and market demand. Upon reaching substantial entitlement progress, they secured a developer buyer for $9 million, equivalent to $30,000 per unit, netting a $3 million profit for executing the vision.
Phase 3 – Development Owner
During the entitlement phase, the institutional development group focused on securing Limited Partners (LPs), typically institutions and family offices, to fund the project beyond traditional bank debt. By acquiring a construction-ready site, they were able to immediately begin development and closely manage the project to meet financial and timeline projections.
Upon completion and lease-up, the development owner sold the stabilized asset based on future cash flows. The property, projecting net operating income of $4.75 million, was ultimately sold for $105 million against total costs of $9 million for land acquisition and $75 million for construction, resulting in a $21 million profit for successful execution.
Phase 4 – Core Owner
The final buyer leveraged the purchase with low-cost debt, capitalizing on interest rates lower than the 4.5 percent yield generated by the asset. Their goal was to achieve a 5 to 6 percent annual yield on their investment capital portion, making this acquisition a strategic long-term hold.
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No surprise to me that 4 of the participants are in the houses that are at the end of their streets and up against the railroad tracks.
I’d go further - I’ll happily put up signs for whoever is running against any CC members (my district or not) who vote against this
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And no surprise that both Boylan Heights and Oakwood represented. I’m guessing LR ties.
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Wow, how’d they find that clearly realistic and likely render of what massing will look like??
This ain’t how anything works lmao - These people must think their neighbors are seriously that f*cking stupid… or they’re just as stupid, themselves.
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Wow you did a fantastic job of explaining that process my D man. Development 101 Day 1 in a nutshell
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How do I made 
20 characters?
Oh look! I already did!
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Take a look at Hub over on Hillsborough. Maxing out the buildable envelope (or, nearly maxing it) is something that does happen in the real world. The reason it doesn’t usually happen, is that development ordinances prevent it from happening.
If the developer wishes to avoid having to confront this “boogeyman” scenario, they should do something like include a max Floor Area Ratio, or total built volume, or some restriction on massing (eg stepbacks), or a master plan showing a structure of blocks and towers, as a condition of the rezoning.
TBH a massive slab of a 20-30 story building would be pretty ugly. Would rather the tall portions of it were broken up into towers.
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Isn’t it already 2 different heights per @OakCityDylan post?
There is a lot of fear mongering going on there.
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You are correct. There are 2 zones of the full plot with different max heights.
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Technically, this is a new request. The recent debates have been about allowing the developer to submit again prior to the waiting period ending after the previous attempt. All these efforts on the developers part… I hope that means an actual project is in the works if it does get approval.
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An 800 foot long slab is still an 800 foot long slab, even if the northern half is 240 feet tall and the southern half is 360 feet tall.
The developer should propose some zoning condition that breaks up the mass.
The rest of downtown doesn’t quite need rules to break up building massing like this, because the rest of downtown doesn’t have any 800’ long blocks. This is an exceptionally long block, and merits special conditions as a result.
Developers are awesome because they build the environments that we live in. They are the ones with the capability to build Raleigh out into a first-rate urban environment. But they are not saints. If they are allowed to build a single massive slab, more than likely, they will.
It would save quite a bit of money to do this - they would only need one elevator core and would need to provide only 2 stairways for the entire development.
Look at Hub. A huge mass of a building. Probably okay at 12 stories (mind boggling though!) - but a mass like that, two to three times taller? No thanks. Imposing and impressive, perhaps, but inevitably ugly and weird.
Dont get me wrong. I think 360 feet is entirely appropriate here. Build higher, for all I care. But just include a provision that prevents this from being a massive 800’ long slab.
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God I love that massing. I hope it gets approved and built exactly like that.
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It’s NOT going to be a massive slab, what you’re directly reacting to is just a hypothetical massing render LivableRaleigh people have made that (incorrectly) shows what approved heights could look like if the ENTIRE PROPERTY FOOTPRINT was developed end-to-end lmao. It’s incorrect, however, because they’re requesting 2 entirely different zonings, so it would not be one massive, equal-height slab. One half of the plot would be 20-story zoning with max height of 240’, the other 30-stories with max height of 360’ - and there are setback rules and other limitations.
It’s literally in the screenshot of the actual proposal/request @OakCityDylan shared.