Yes please!!! 
…
All jokes aside, developing that lot the right way would truly connect Smoky Hollow/Glenwood South to the downtown core. Hoping for tall, but mainly hoping for a mix of uses with ACTIVE street level experience (looking at you, Link and Metropolitan single use(less) suburban trash buildings)
8 Likes
The fire was 3 years ago today.
11 Likes
I remember hearing about it on the today show.
I remember that like it was 3 minutes ago. I was standing outside Neptunes after a comedy open mic, chatting with some of the comics. This dude fishtails around the corner in his car, screeching to a halt when he sees us, and screams “THE WHOLE BLOCK’S ON FIRE!” We’re like what??? “AROUND THE CORNER!!! WHOLE BLOCK’S ON FIRE!!!” and then spun out hauling off. We figured something had to be up, so we walk to the corner of Martin x Salisbury and see the sky lit up beyond the N&O building… he wasn’t kidding. I called it IMMEDIATELY that it was the Metropolitan.
6 Likes
A look back in pictures. I have a friend that lived at the Link, top floor closest to the construction. Some of these are of her apartment and/or from her balcony. Some aerial shots sprinkled in.
9 Likes
I remember being able to smell the smoke the next morning the whole way over below south street. We’re still really lucky as a city that fire didn’t turn into a much bigger disaster, perhaps if the winds had been blowing in a different direction.
3 Likes
I remember watching it burn and feel the heat. Then I got paranoid about it spreading this direction. Didn’t sleep too well that night. 
4 Likes
I guess that you were feeling the Bern, huh? 
2 Likes
Yup! I face the other side, but saw flickering orange lights.
Outstanding and dramatic photos. It’s shocking how much damage there was to the nearby buildings.
That poor Quorum Center! #DowntownWoodBuildingsSuck
4 Likes
I’m not exactly sure where to post this, but since these properties basically touch each other, I figured here would work. The buildings next to the Metropolitan that were damaged during the fire has fencing and demolition signs surrounding both corners of the property.
I don’t recall a development being proposed here recently so the city might be doing this.
8 Likes
Wasn’t there talk of the property owners looking for an opportunity to redevelop those properties after they were damaged? Maybe this is some prelim work before they are going to be listed.
1 Like
From 2018… so 
https://www.cbre.us/about/media-center/dt-raleigh-rfq
CBRE|Raleigh is pleased to announce it has been engaged by The North Carolina League of Municipalities, The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners and The Local Government Federal Credit Union, (“Principals”), to solicit a request for qualifications (RFQ) from the market to identify a development partner for 2.02 acres located at the corner of West Jones Street and Dawson Street in downtown Raleigh, NC. Submissions are due by 5:00pm on June 15, 2018.
The RFQ site has three existing buildings that were heavily damaged in a 2017 fire that occurred adjacent to the site. As a result, the Principals are seeking a partner developer to create a large office/mixed-use development that would include approximately130,000 square feet of office space for their own occupancy. The Principals also require a minimum parking ratio of 3.5/1,000 square feet.
The RFQ site offers developers a unique urban infill redevelopment opportunity strategically located between the State Capitol and the surging Glenwood South district.
11 Likes
Oh no. More surface parking lots.
Perhaps that’s an improvement over the abandoned buildings…
4 Likes
Surface lots are opportunities for development. Glass half full! 
2 Likes
True. I’ll take a surface lot over a garage; much less permanent.
3 Likes
This is new. The bank is enlarging their conference center.
7 Likes
What bank??? I’ve seen no plans for a bank next to the Recovering Quorum Center. Btw they way it’s been nearly two years since that fire the badly damaged the Quorum center cause it was next to the apartment construction site that burned, that rebuilt quicker than this recovery.