May Modernist House Tour Tix On Sale
The recent April tour of six local modernist houses was an enormous success. In response Triangle Modernist Houses is sponsoring
another tour on May 30
. Though this tour only features one house, it is a cool one. The Johnson House, which sits up on the hill overlooking the Lake Boone Trail/Beltline intersection, will be featured.
Designed by Jessica Johnson Moore and Chad Everhart, the 2007 era house, at 4,062 square feet, is actually on the market (for $950K, $233/ft!, an awesome deal). The house has three bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms and features Brazilian walnut floors, large windows, whole house entertainment with a theater room, a fantastic master bathroom, great schools (Lacy, Martin, Broughton), and an open design.
The tour will be May 30 from 1:00pm to 4:30pm. Advance tickets are available ($5.95), and likely required as these tours usually sell out way in advance. Tourists will meet at Lake Boone Shopping Center ( Chubby’s is going to be packed that day!) and ride shuttle buses. Tourists are reminded to wear shoes that can be easily removed.
Noir Bar & Lounge Coming to Glenwood
The little building to the left of the Armadillo Grill parking lot will be transformed to Noir Bar & Lounge.
Big Ideas To Be Reviewed
The Discussion Group gathering on “Big Ideas for Raleigh and the Triangle” is set for this Wednesday evening, March 18, at Tookie’s Grill (Seaboard Station, Raleigh) and will provide an up-to-date look at Raleigh’s planned development, Triangle transportation initiatives and a sneak peek at the October elections in Raleigh, Wake County and elsewhere in the Triangle.
- Date : Wednesday, March 18
- Time : 6:45-8:30pm
- Location : Tookie’s Grill at Seaboard Station , just off of Peace Street beside 18 Seaboard Restaurant and Peace College. (Great parking. Reasonably priced. Variety of food, drink.)
Agenda & Speakers :
- 6:45-7:40pm: Dan Douglas of the Raleigh Urban Design Center will provide an update on ideas shared in the City’s “Big Ideas” visionary brainstorming exercise last year and an update on planned development for Raleigh. Dan’s presentation will touch on Raleigh’s transportation plans, transit-oriented development and regional cooperation.
- 7:40-8pm: NC Representative Deborah Ross will then discuss bipartisan (Ross/Stevens) legislation in the NC General Assembly to allow local governments to levy an additional sales tax to fund regional transit.
- 8-8:15pm: Perry Woods , campaign consultant and manager of recent winning Raleigh mayoral races (among other races), will close out the evening by providing a very brief sneak peek at municipal and school board elections being held in the Triangle later this year.
- 8:15-8:30pm: Final Comments, Announcements.
As always, the discussion is open to all and varying viewpoints. No membership or fee required.
Boylan Bridge Brewpub Now Open
The
Boylan Bridge Brewpub
is finally open. If it weren’t for the Fairweather house on St. Mary’s, this would be the longest renovation in the city’s history. Gawd!
Urban Planning Panel Session Today
At 5:30 pm today, the planning department will present a 4-person panel discussion concerning design for urban living. The panel features guests Simon Atkinson, Robin Moore, and Michael Pyatok, as well as Raleigh Planning Director Mitchell Silver. The free event will take place in the Council Chamber of city hall (222 W. Hargett St.)
Wake Delays Courthouse Construction
The News & Observer is reporting that the Wake County Commissioners has delayed construction of the county’s new courthouse (planned for Martin and Salisbury Streets) for one year. Demolition of the Garland Jones building and its adjacent parking garage (which recently closed) will continue.
City Votes To Buy Back Reynolds Site
As anticipated the Raleigh City Council voted 5-3 in favor of exercising a buy-back option which will end the current plans of Ted and David Reynolds at 301 Hillsborough Street. The site for the project formerly known as “The Hillsborough” is currently a hole in the ground, and will likely be filled and paved for parking to create revenues while the real estate markets get revived.
Dissenting councilors Isley, West, and Koopman echoed concerns about what happens to the land in the meantime and what the long term plan is for the land. Philip Isley stated that these developers who have done due diligence and come so close to developing a much-anticipated project, deserve the right to a return on their investment.
Isley is also concerned about the precedent set by this measure, as Empire Properties finds itself in a similar position with its planned Lafayette hotel. Isley wants to extend the same courtesy to Empire when time comes to discus about their own extension in the face of a down market.
Reynolds Tower Likely Dead
In today’s 1:00pm meeting, the Raleigh City Council will review Ted and David Reynolds’ offer to purchase and contract for 301 Hillsborough Street ( agenda: pdf ). The team had planned a mixed-use tower, “ The Hillsborough ” standing around 25 stories, however depreciating real estate has caused a financing shortfall. (The News & Observer’s article today explains this well.)
The council will be deciding whether they should offer the Reynolds an extension, or retract the offer and wait until the real estate markets grow again. It appears that no parties involved are interested in proceeding. Mayor Meeker said, “I’m inclined that we should take the property back and then review the situation when the economy improves.” (way to say it with gusto). David Reynolds said,”…only a fool would get something started right now. There’s just so much uncertainty.”
Likely what will happen is the project will be retracted, the lot will sit fenced in, and the site will the subject of a new Request For Proposals in a couple of years. In the meantime, the possibility that the City of Raleigh will reconsider the site’s future is very real. The city currently has planned to replace its police headquarters with a highrise local governement complex. The long term goal is to replace the current city hall and police headquarters, but the future value of the land on which the current facilities sit is not to be ignored. Land adjacent to one of Raleigh’s two downtown parks would be exceedingly more valuable than land on Hillsborough Street across from…the round Clarion. Keep an eye on this one!
News of The Hillsborough’s demise both gets filed in City Manager Russell Allen’s “See I Told You So” file, and casts much uncertainty on another of the city’s properties, the planned Lafayette hotel, adjacent to the Convention Center Marriott. This story, too, is one worth watching.
New High School Planned For NE Corner
As Wake County’s populations grows, the Wake County Public School System must also grow to meet rising demand. This week the planning department received plans for a new public high school (.pdf). This site is off of Louisburg Road, about 3 miles outside of I-540. The site plan shows two main buildings, as well as a football stadium, two practice fields, six tennis courts, two outdoor basketball courts. The layout does a good job of separating the bus loading area from the large student parking lot (about 550 spaces).
The big problem with the design is the layout of the athletic fields. It appears that the baseball team gets the shaft, as they have to carry equipment across the campus to their field. The school’s main entrance will be from Forestville Road, but the football stadium will be at the back of the property. Most fans attending the games will be parking in the large student lot, and will bottleneck when leaving, as this lot has only one exit; one that requires a left turn onto the campus’ main street.
There is desperately needed back entrance planned. It will be near the stadium and will basically be an extension of Canyon Road. The whole school’s flow depends on this access. Hopefully the county will turn a deaf ear to the certain complaints from the neighbors. We need better connectivity in outside of 540. If everything interconnects, then no street carries an undue burden.
Natty Greene’s Coming to Powerhouse Square
The site at 505 W. Jones St., formerly occupied by Southend Brewery and later Prime Only, will soon be home to Greensboro-based
Natty Greene’s Brewing Company
. The brewpub specializes in its own beer, and has a
menu
similar to that at Village Draft House (and its siblings). Full of perfect price point items, the menu is heavy on appetizers and sandwiches. The Greensboro location features a loft area that can be rented. Most likely the back right section of the Raleigh location will fit the bill well.
This sounds like a repeat of the Southend Brewery theme for the space. While Southend’s beer was about the only microbrew I’ve actually liked, their menu was far too ambitious. With much more affordable price points, that Natty Greene’s might just hit the spot for that site.
111 Seaboard Undergoing Facelift
111 Seaboard was planned as another low-rise condo project in downtown Raleigh. However with the real estate market taking its turn, owners have decided to renovate the existing structure for now.
The building will be transformed into a very visible and accessible office and retail strip that stands at both the entrance to Seaboard Station and at the northern gateway to all of downtown Raleigh. Spaces range from 1,100 square feet up to 10,000 square feet, all of which can be subdivided.
Along with facade improvements, the owners will open up the rear of the building (facing south), exposing the space to the rest of downtown. The anticipated availability date is late summer.
Blount Street Commons Slows, Loses Local Management
TBJ is reporting that LNR Property Corp is asking for more time to purchase parts of the Blount street property it had agreed to buy. Also, the state is keeping the lieutenant governor’s office, the Hawkins Hartness House. The economy is being blamed for the changes.
The delays aren’t the only bad sign revealed in the article. It also mentions that Doug Redford, the local guy who made this his pet project from the start, has left LNR. The project is being managed by executives in Charlotte and Atlanta. Uh oh.
North Hills East Revised Plans Submitted
This past week revised plans for North Hills East were submitted to the Raleigh planning department. The site plan (.pdf) merely shows street placements and building footprints, so it is difficult to appreciate the scale of the project without knowing the heights of the buildings. However there seems to be better integration with hidden parking and the supporting streets. There are roughly 20 buildings proposed with very little open space. The plan also uses the existing surrounding street network well.
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