I got a tour of The Saint and those units are high-end, high-quality stuff. Sure, the price is high (for me) but I’d love to see some elements that make The Saint very sound proof incorporated into other existing projects going forward. We may have less noise complaints if we just let standard building practice take place in a “noisier” downtown.
10 of 17 units have sold so far.
https://dtraleigh.com/2018/08/the-saint-townhomes-take-shape-and-elevate/
It’s interesting how the front and rear elevations are so different from each other. I do appreciate that that rear of these units aren’t a horrible afterthought. They at least have interest in form and material. The top floors are also physically separated from each other. with many of the master suites on those floors, it should make them more pleasant for the owners.
Do you know if they’ve done anything particular with the glazing assemblies to reduce noise intrusion? Even so, I am not sure that St. Mary’s street is particularly noisy compared to either Glenwood or Boylan.
They sure are tall; I wonder what their neighbors think of them?
Lastly, I wish that the site allowed for a full block row of them to face St. Mary’s Street. It’s a missed opportunity in my opinion.
One thing I forgot to mention is that the city didn’t allow them to build a through street so the “interior” access streets will sort of look like this.
The blue are the buildings with the orange being the access streets. No, they do not interset so owners along St. Mary’s, with a St. Mary’s street address, will use the access along Lane. The other owners gain access along Jones and their address is the name of the new street. (which I can’t remember what they named it)
The units sealed tight. Noise reduction was greatly considered and the walls have foam insulation plus those concrete blocks (help me with the name) to reduce noise. Also, cast iron pipes so you don’t hear running water. The windows are the good stuff that block a lot of noise. We did a test during the tour and when he shut the folding doors for the patio, it sounded like a vacuum seal. Very quiet.
Very nice project! A few years ago unthinkable that quality, townhomes could sell for +$1m in Raleigh
I am surprised that no rooftop patios were foreseen at these given the height and location.
Finally it seems as though there’s a high end project that’s going to deliver with high end construction methods and materials. I wonder who the “buyer” is? I’m imagining empty nesters with deep pockets, or transferees with deep pockets and teenage kids.
It would be nice if the developer could assemble the three properties at the corner of St. Mary’s and W. Jones to add a 3 story condo building that would complement and unify that project visually.
These were designed in large part by a recent grad, fresh out of school. Mentioning that only to say that if this is what we can do with minimal experience; imagine the potential if developers start to team with more well-known architects in the area.
Although they’ve clearly used high quality materials and finishes, the elevations are really quite busy and could’ve used more refinement – I hope it doesn’t scare neighbors off from modern design. In any case, it is nice to see more diversity in the cityscape and I hope it continues.
There’s a rather interesting story here with these townhomes I think. In short, you have a developer that had a lot of local support, neighbors showed up to the planning meetings to say they were FOR it. However, it took the team probably 3 years to get variances and back and forth with designs to make everyone happy.
The longer I follow development as a person looking in from the outside, you start to notice that atypical buildings are pretty much discouraged with our process and development code. If it doesn’t meet code, the city seems to have to take longer in order to “understand it.”
We have got to get out of this pattern of approving developments that fit the “standards” and bring in some real development creativity and real engineering. (not just following a manual) That will help greatly with incentivizing developers to actually try to do something of high-quality.
The market may drive it, sure, but that results in much higher price points. If the review process could be much less painful, I’d say we’d get the same units for slightly lesser cost.
Actually the neighbors welcomed the development, with the Chairperson of the Cameron Park HOA saying as much in front of City Council.
Is there a separate thread for the townhouses just north of The Saint? I ran past there tonight and they are topped out and bricking up. Should look nice. Good scale for the area good townhome support to go along with The Saint on the corridor.
I thought that there was. I’ll go look for it. Hopefully it’s not a wild goose chase.
This one works.
Only two remaining units of these $1.5+ million townhomes left. 
