I may be able to help with that.
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My in laws are in town. Is there a way to tour the mansions on Blount?
It was supposed to be. The original plan for the Blount Street Commons stretched all the way down to the Governor’s Mansion as part of a plan to revitalize Blount Street. I’ll see if I can dig up the original site map. After the housing crash in 2008 everything stopped. The developer, LNR, started phase one prior to the crash which is what’s currently know as the Blount Street Commons and stopped there. They were bought out multiple times after the crash and the city never pursued the plan after the market rebounded. Hopefully the city will pick this back up one day.
I bought one of the infill lots between the historic Mansions and built a new historic looking home. After we purchased the lot at a huge discount the owners of the historic homes bought the other lots to keep people from building next to them.
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516 N Blount St. was purchased this month and will be revitalized over the next year. Very exciting for the 500 block as everything else is in great condition.
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I actually found this in an old entry. This was the city’s plan for the houses along Blount before the market crashed.
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Heard it was owned by an older couple who couldn’t really keep up with the maintenance anymore and their son had some personal issues. Glad to hear it’s in better hands. Once Blount goes slower and two-way it’ll really be a prime spot.
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Saw a group hanging out at this one today with Stars and Bars license plate covers, so on at least it’s not totally abandoned I guess…
Welcome to the Community! Yeah, would be great to incentive this to a certain degree but I have no idea how one does this. Need someone to work a master plan maybe and then have owners execute against it.
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The interior is looking close to livable, all the gorgeous detailing on the porch is getting redone and put back in place, this one keeps chugging along. What a project!
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Yet there are voices here in the community that would advocate for tearing it down. We have so little of this in Raleigh that we need to keep it, even if only for our brand alone.
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They have expired their useful purpose and its financially prohibitive to fix them! oh, and density at all costs!
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The density at all costs drives me crazy. Especially when it pushes into single family residential areas. I’m sure I’d be called a NIMBY for that, but there needs to be a middle ground. Thankfully, this area is historically protected.
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Yeah, don’t care about the single family houses unless they are old. Actually, I’m probably in support of that town home project they want to do in Hayes Barton. We definitely need density AND old buildings.
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Single family residential neighborhoods close to big city centers densify all the time. It’s part of the city growing up, and the alternative is Houston- or Atlanta-style neverending sprawl.
That said, treasures like the Blount Street mansions should be protected, and finding a good balance that maintains cohesive historic districts (hello Boylan Heights and Oakwood) while letting surrounding areas get tall and dense is the trick.
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It makes sense to an extent. I’m just glad that we have so many protected neighborhoods close to downtown. It gives people more options and keeps some of that original character alive. I live in one of the single family historic neighborhoods and love having the best of both worlds.
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Phil, I thousand percent thought you were being sarcastic and I was agreeing with you. 
I want density, and we’re continually moving in that direction. I’m just one of those unrealistic people who want everything to be perfectly balanced and work for everyone.
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And I am happy for you as long as these neighborhoods don’t use protectionist measures to prevent development on the edges of downtown proper for shadow, traffic or nebulous quality of life issues, thus preventing others from enjoying the advantages of being downtown.
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I can’t imagine any of the neighborhoods having that sort of authority. I’m not well versed with the history though, so I could be wrong. Ultimately the city is always going to do what they view is in the best interest and right now that’s expanding and increasing density.
I don’t have a problem with people expressing their opinions or concerns. The conversation should always include communities that will be impacted. It’s part of the zoning process that the city requests input from nearby owners. People express opinions about everything, why wouldn’t they when it comes to something as personal as their home.
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So here’s where the problem is. People who are already in these neighborhoods have their voices elevated over those who want to be in or near that neighborhood. It’s a fundamentally protectionist process.
Isn’t that what the city is asking for though? They specifically ask for the concerns of the people living there, because they already live there and they want a well rounded view on potential impacts from the residents point of view. The people requesting the rezoning would be making the argument for the change and representing the people who would want to live in the future development. What do you mean by their voices being elevated?
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