State of Downtown Raleigh

Yes, and frankly I hadn’t noticed that – only that the thread had become active again. That said, given the recent actions of President Trump there are many misconceptions about what’s feasible with respect to manufacturing in the U.S.

9ed0d5ef-d017-4350-b2f9-68be9205d6e7.pdf (5.9 MB)

embargo is over. here’s your state of downtown 2025, enjoy!

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and you can review online here too

Reports, Publications, and Plans | Downtown Raleigh, NC

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There’s a lot in this report, so everyone should take the time to at least skim it!

…but I know many of y’all get too lazy and/or overwhelmed, so here’s a rundown.

  • Raleigh leads among peer cities in getting its rental units occupied
  • Total rental inventory increased by 255% since 2015
  • …but with a 12.5% absorption, it’s still not keeping up with demand

As for housing units for sale:

  • #4 best large city for first-time homeowners
  • $635k median listing price (2025Q2)
  • 18 median days on the market (2025Q2)
  • 139 for-sale units planned or proposed

Demographic trends are exactly what you’d expect:

…and availabilities for office space seems to still be matching demand; class A direct markets for office space is the lowest in DTR out of the whole Triangle.

DTR’s also had a net addition of 13 new storefront businesses this year, with another 28 on the way.

…though it seems pretty clustered:

As for what could happen in the future, ten strategies were proposed, including:

  • Energize downtown core with daily activation and placemaking to bring more people downtown

  • Elevate public art to create a unique experience that celebrates Raleigh and North Carolina

  • Diversify retail opportunities to address downtown needs

  • Position Downtown Raleigh as the Creative + Design Center of the Triangle

  • Integrate the government campus with the downtown core

  • Create a bold connection to Dix Park

  • Design streets that encourage walking, biking and public transit

However, the final report does not explicitly say anything about gondolas or any other specific ways to connect downtown and Dix Park.

The report does pitch the idea of linking NC State’s campus, Dix Park, and downtown as an “innovation triangle-within-the-Triangle”, but there’s no real specifics on the matter except for this conceptual image:

There’s also:

Also, pretty picture (and data) tax payment:

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Pretty wild to think they’re expected the downtown population to jump from 15,000 to 25,000 just in the next 5 years. They’re also projecting 6,500 more housing units to come available by then. Not sure I buy those projections.

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They’re most likely getting those numbers from the State demographers office which also predicts the region’s population will double by 2055 (1.2 million more people, 900k in Raleigh).

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My favorite things from the State of Downtown report:

And this made me very happy to see some thought going into this:

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