I sure hope that they are going to use those scraps of old signs that are piled up against the wall. One of the things that I really like about their current space is the eclectic nature of the space…well, at least the central space with the bar.
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Walls have been standing since 1920.
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Indeed. Any idea if it’s some sort of early square cinder block or a concrete cast of some sort based on the picture? @Deb?
It is a typical construction from the era of CMU and terra-cotta block. Lynch Mykins is a structural engineering firm and leased 5k SF in this building. Social media allows for plenty of speculation and conjecture. I will trust the opinion of educated and reputable professionals.
Terra-cotta block is my guess as well. Was quite common in guess pre-WWII construction. There was a nice old hotel in my home town that was built using these type blocks. Had a standard brick facade and plaster interior, some of the plaster was quite decorative. Was 4 stories and only time I went in it was as when was being torn down. You know us teen boys, “keep out - unsafe” signs do not apply. After removing reusable items a wrecking ball removed it in a couple of days, with lot’s of dust.
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If it were my restaurant, I’d paint that block wall a flat black, light it interestingly to bring out the wall’s mood at night, then let it be.
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It’s not, @John. It could have been, but you spend too much time in Miami. Come back to Raleigh and let’s open a restaurant and paint the walls black. 
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My guess would be what @Michaeli said.
Another tidbit of trivia is that many of the original windows in this building had been blocked in over time, but they have now been restored to their original locations. Five Star is likely going to turn the rightmost window in my photo into a door for ADA compliance.
I think Five Star is going to do something really cool with this space (apparently they have general contractors in the family), but it’s definitely different and feels much smaller than the existing location.
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Settle down hot shot. I don’t think you detected the tone of my original comment…the combination of those blocks and bricks just looks pretty bad. Very “Vernacular”. I wasn’t actually questioning whether or not it would stand up…though now that you are getting huffy about it, I don’t see any headers in there so do sort of wonder what they did to give it lateral strength. Is the terra cotta enough, even not uniformly placed? There are no straps. Rebar would have to be even more haphazard than the block/brick situation. Also, I had only seen terra cotta blocks used in the Mediterranean so just wasn’t expecting to see them here.
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“Those walls look like they barely stand up.” -Mark
I will unlock the door to this suite for you to inspect this structure, which has been standing since 1920, so you can interject your opinion as to whether the walls of this building are barely standing. Let me know when you are available for a site walk, hot shot.
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@Mark what is going on here LMAO. Y’all take it easy, it’s all love on this site. Let’s not get petty!
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Some people can argue with a brick wall. Or wait is it Terra Cotta…
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I think the big bad wolf can huff and puff and blow this wall down with no problems.
Let’s bring this back to the topic please.
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We appear to have some reconstruction activity at the West/Harrington tracks! Note the railroad tie stacks and the concrete lines cut in.
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I didn’t know those tracks were also subject to realignment. …so that’s a surprise.
Also, it looks like City Council’s finally going to talk about updates to the West St. extension in its meeting this coming week!
Note that this project is totaled for a $10M budget in total (including construction), so it’s nothing to be freaked out about, financially. Assuming City Council awards Kimley-Horn this contract, they’ll still need to design the actual underpass (including how they’ll pull it off without disrupting rail services too much) before they can put shovels into the ground. …but this current step’s still been a long time comin’
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That’s amazing!!! Holding my breath!!!
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I’m making all kinds of Squee noises. 
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