I’m not getting my hopes up. They’re going to wait for a big tenant.
Further, at least in Durham, there are some indicators that builders are postponing their big projects. the American Tobacco Expansion is radio silence, and the Austin Lawrence Partners 5 points project seems to have postponed its start to Q4 2020. The Durham ID project has also gone silent as well.
So if Durham is any indication, there is a slow down there.
I’m not sure that’s quite as relevant. The exact opposite could be said for Raleigh and a lot of it’s bigger projects (relative to Durham) moving forward. Some on spec which is rare for the DTR market.
Also @Alan…I believe this Zimmer proposal has been changed to either all or mostly residential. They initially said they were waiting for a “unicorn” tenant but since then the buildings make up has been changed. That still doesn’t mean the project will go forward. I too am skeptical. But the last I knew they were not necessarily going to need a mega tenant anymore.
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I follow both downtown markets developments parallel and Raleigh definitely has the momentum now. Not sure why Durham commercial development pipeline got soft despite great absorption of Durham ID, One City Center and 555 Mangum. Besides the projects you mentioned also the Veneable Center Development got silent (John Kane’s son). Old police HQ hopefully goes ahead by Fallon
I wonder if mayor/council election could also play a role there
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There’s weird politics behind Police HQ too… city staff recommended the council choose Fallon, but the official decision was delayed at the city council meeting last week. The Fallon scheme might not be a done deal yet after all.
Where did you hear they were not going to need a unicorn tenant anymore? The last I talked to them that was their plan.
Didn’t they change their plans from 40 story office to 40 story mixed use? With most of that being residential?
I don’t believe so but maybe I missed something. The did say they’d consider kicking off construction with 50% of the building leased but that wouldn’t imply resi I don’t think.
There is only so much office space that Duke can fill. They seem to take most of it that comes on the market.
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The reality is that the Raleigh side of the Triangle adds way more people than the Durham side, and it has been that way for years. It’s not surprising to me that Raleigh could accelerate while Durham doesn’t.
Also, development patterns aren’t necessarily linear. They ebb and flow as a normal part of the ongoing process.
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Yeah it’s now listed on their website as multi-family. No longer as commercial. Though I’m not positive they completely removed the office portion, that is where I was hearing the change of direction may allow them to do the tower without needing a unicorn company to pre-lease a huge chunk of space.
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If it goes strictly/mainly residential, expect the design to significantly deteriorate from the flashy renderings that we’ve been seeing.
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Their decision not to build a tower downtown is just that. Their decision.
No it isn’t. They made sure to demolish a historic block to make room for a parking lot on the way out as well. That they are headquartered in Raleigh instead of Charlotte is kinda meaningless. They have branch offices with hundreds of employees in downtown Columbia and Charlotte. Raleigh has branch offices for other banks in its downtown, but the only Fortune 500 company headquartered in the city stays out of its downtown… which sends a message to any other company locating here.
Simply being in a city isn’t the same as being a good civic partner. Just look at Durham’s relationship with Duke for instance.
They were headquartered on Fayetteville Street in the 70s as Superior Stone Company. The change of that street to a pedestrian mall forced them over off of Lake Boone Trail. I don’t think they have any further obligation to the city.
And in what capacity did the pedestrian mall impede their business, exactly?
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FCB does not have an office downtown Charlotte with hundreds of people. Most of that office is leased out.
Superior Stone didn’t choose to leave their office on Fayetteville St. It was decided for them.
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Potentially. Though The Vue in Charlotte is an example of a good looking residential tower. I don’t see the proposal happening though simply because of how ambitious this is for Zimmer.
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@R-Dub could you explain a bit more about Superior Stone being forced out?
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I’ll ask my dad next weekend. I’m 99% sure their building on Fayetteville Street was knocked down as part of the conversion but wouldn’t swear to that.
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Em, building coming down would certainly do it, lol. Thanks.
I wanted to follow up on my Superior Stone comment. They were not in fact forced to move. They moved from Fayetteville Street over to the current location on Wycliff Road in the 70’s because they needed more space. Not directly because of the conversion of Fayetteville Street.
Martin Marietta is 601 on the Fortune list with almost 9,000 employees. However, only about 300 of those employees are in Raleigh.
My apologies for posting inaccurate information about them being forced to leave their office downtown.
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I haven’t heard or read anything about the Zimmerman Tower lately smh, was hoping for more information by now does anyone have any updates 
???