500 room hotel + Office/Residential Tower

[rolly]

There's a proposal by the City of Raleigh to attract a developer to their lots across from the Performing Arts Center.

 

[po-boy]

Anything even close to this would be amazing. 

The request says that groups can propose either just the Convention Center hotel or the hotel plus office building. RFI will go out soon, and be due at the end of March. Can't walt to see what is proposed and selected. 

[KJHburg]

Raleigh needs a big hotel downtown (more hotel rooms in general) I know some are in the works but it really slow.  It would help getting tech conferences among other things. 

[RALNATIVE]

Hopefully with this project they won't take up 0.5 acre of the land to build a parking deck. Integrated into the tower(s) would be ideal.

I say more tower, less parking deck.

Edited January 22, 2020 by RALNATIVE

[JeffC]

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article239498378.html

Like Baldwin's comments about the design.  The rather blah Marriott was a huge missed opportunity.  Downtown continues to lack a signature hotel, and it is a major drawback.  Don't think this smallish parcel is going to be the answer, though...

[RALNATIVE]

It's interesting that the taller tower in the rendering has "HQ"  in the upper left corner. I'm wondering if interest by a major company in establishing a downtown headquarters is driving the city to push forward with this RFI.

[DanRNC]

On 1/22/2020 at 11:31 AM, JeffC said:

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article239498378.html

Like Baldwin's comments about the design.  The rather blah Marriott was a huge missed opportunity.  Downtown continues to lack a signature hotel, and it is a major drawback.  Don't think this smallish parcel is going to be the answer, though...

Never underestimate Raleigh's adeptness at missing opportunities (probably on purpose) and building "non-offensive" boxes of schlock.

[NOLA2CLT]

This is a chance for Raleigh to get, not one, but two signature towers that would change the skyline dramatically...my guess is it will get scaled down significantly, but I agree with Dan RNC.

[Phillydog]

20 hours ago, DanRNC said:

Never underestimate Raleigh's adeptness at missing opportunities (probably on purpose) and building "non-offensive" boxes of schlock.

You're right -- like rail transit.  There are still people here who think "we don't have the density to support rail".   

[SydneyCarton]

The office building looks good.  The hotel looks absurd, though I guess these are just ideas.   They’d be nice additions to Raleigh.

[SlackJack]

These are simply conceptual renderings. However, the intent is to convey that the City Council is expecting something  dramatic in this prime location, not "boxes of schlock".  This will be reflected in the selection process for selecting a developer. The city owns the property, and can dictate what it wants to see here. They have already demonstrated this with picking an internationally known architect to design the City Hall campus.

I really dig the new mayor and City Council  for being more pro development.

[Dale]

Yes, please.

[The ATX]

If this turns out anywhere close to the vision it will be awesome.

[SlackJack]

29 minutes ago, The ATX said:

If this turns out anywhere close to the vision it will be awesome.

Raleigh-Wake County already has $ 30 million dollars saved and allocated towards this project. I truly believe that they want a major high profile project here, per their public statements. There's no doubt the hotel is sorely needed, and the tower will likely be used to lure another high profile corporate  tenant (or tenants). Extremely prime location.

On another note, the influx of out-of-state developers will increase the level of quality architecture in Raleigh (think Fallon and Hoffman as two examples). 

[RALNATIVE]

On 1/25/2020 at 4:55 PM, SlackJack said:

Raleigh-Wake County already has $ 30 million dollars saved and allocated towards this project. I truly believe that they want a major high profile project here, per their public statements. There's no doubt the hotel is sorely needed, and the tower will likely be used to lure another high profile corporate  tenant (or tenants). Extremely prime location.

On another note, the influx of out-of-state developers will increase the level of quality architecture in Raleigh (think Fallon and Hoffman as two examples). 

Totally agree with you.

Now that the city has some new blood and fresh ideas on the city council, I think that we will quickly see city attitudes change towards major developments.

[InitialD]

It would be nice if they could build some underground parking here, especially if they combined both lots and made parking under both connected. Duke Energy Center in Charlotte has 7 levels of underground parking I believe.   I see they want to extend Fayetteville to help with traffic but I think it would be cool to keep that one section pedestrian and make it a (possibly covered) pedestrian mall with restaurants/retail along it. Nice place for outdoor seating. 

I still worry we're going to get another situation of a 7 floor box atop 10 floors of parking.

[InitialD]

I'm trying to think of comparables of recent hotels in the region. So many of them are just bland. Westin and Omni in Nashville - meh. JW Marriott Nashville is a lot better. Twelve or W hotel in Atlanta. Houston Marriott Marquis - meh. San Antonio Grand Hyatt - yikes. Austin: Fairmont, eh okay, JW Marriott - meh. 

 

In any case, residential above hotel would be the best combination here.

[dmccall]

The garage under City Plaza cost $40,000 per space 20 years ago. It costs far less to have those garage levels on 2-9ish. They don't interfere with the pedestrian experience, they aren't unsightly, they make the building more prominent on the skyline, they feel safer to the person parking, they ventilate much better, and they give better views to everyone in the building (above 60ft everyone in the tower is removed from the street experience anyway). That's seven major arguments for elevated parking over underground parking. 

Edited January 29, 2020 by dmccall

[Phillydog]

Talk amongst yourselves...

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2020/02/21/hotelier-wants-to-build-110m-luxury-hotel-in.html?iana=hpmvp_trig_news_headline

[MothBeast]

13 hours ago, Phillydog said:

Talk amongst yourselves...

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2020/02/21/hotelier-wants-to-build-110m-luxury-hotel-in.html?iana=hpmvp_trig_news_headline

Can anyone summarize the details for those of us without subscriptions?

[Raleigh Walker]

1 hour ago, MothBeast said:

Can anyone summarize the details for those of us without subscriptions?

A 6 floor luxury chain hotel that would be a pedestrian black hole. Grand Bohemian and looks really pretty, but I swear it better not go in that spot. 

 

Edited February 22, 2020 by Raleigh Walker

[SlackJack]

This is a concept floated by a potential RFP bidder. This doesn't come even close to meeting the requirements specified in the city's RFI docs, so I wouldn't put much thought into this ever becoming a reality, at least as these initial sketches indicate. Raleigh wants a high profile project on this site, and also wants a 500 room hotel on this site.  Other companies will also put forth their own proposals (likely Kane will as well). It's much too early in the process to render any judgements.

 

[orulz]

IIRC the 2005 era plan that resulted in Charter Square, The Mariott, and rebuilding Fayetteville Street, called for smaller mid-riseish buildings on these blocks. Which was always a mistake. But perhaps this developer was going based on this.

I think Kessler would be a great operator for a hotel at Dix, but I know the idea of a hotel at dix hasn't exactly gone over like gangbusters during the master planning process.

[NOLA2CLT]

On 2/22/2020 at 11:30 AM, Raleigh Walker said:

A 6 floor luxury chain hotel that would be a pedestrian black hole. Grand Bohemian and looks really pretty, but I swear it better not go in that spot. 

 

This is wildly underwhelming.  Based on what I hear about the new mayor and pro  build city council, they will by pass this quickly.  I do think a luxury hotel like a grand bohemian is needed, but even the one in Charlotte is 15 stories, which in my opinion is underwhelming as well, especially when the inter continental being built will be 35 stories

[SydneyCarton]

Wow!  That looks awesome.  Six stories is fine with me.  

While I find Charlotte (my old home) to be dramatically superior to Raleigh, this Grand Bohemian is so much nicer than the one under construction in the QC.

Edited February 24, 2020 by SydneyCarton