News & Observer mixed-use project

[ncwebguy]

McClatchy and K-R each have "interactive" divisions, which will probably be merged in some fashion once this is approved. The "new" McClatchy west will be based in either San Jose or Sacremento, the "queen bee". East coast operations could be consolidated and expanded here in Raleigh, and their space in the rennovated mill north of Capitol Park won't be big enough...

Moving the printing operations out to southeast raleigh and selling part of the land on their block to a developer for a mixed use project could generate some cash to help pay down that $2 billion and upgrade the facilities. Of course this is pure speculation, but is a plausable scenario.

They see growth in the area continuing, or else the N&O would have been included in the fire sale.

[Justin6882]

The N&O is one of the few papers nationwide that actually has seen circulation increases over the last few years I believe. It would be awesome to have an "East Coast" McClatchy HQ in Raleigh -- and this would be a great opportunity for them to do it.

[RaleighRick]

Looks like the N&O is moving ahead with their new building.

Link:

http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/446520.html

The project will possibly be one of two scenarios. One is a 6 story office building with a seperate parking deck with a .5 acre lot to develop into shops and condos facing Nash Square. The other is an 11 story office building on top of parking with a 1.3 acre lot for development. Either project would start in 2008 and be completed in 2010. The N&O expects to receive development proposals from selected companies in about a month.

This sounds like another great project for DT. A nice 11 story building with an adjacent condo/retail building overlooking Nash Square will impact that entire block. This should again help to expand the density of DT toward the Warehouse District and Glenwood South.

Map:

Windows Live Local

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=...6O%2520Block___

[rooster8]

I hope they can go with the 11 story idea.

[dmccall]

I've got an idea for them. Build a 30 story building which has condos above the newspaper offices. Include a rooftop pool, too. Better yet, build it out at US1 and 540!!

[RaleighLover]

Yeah, I agree that the 11 story idea would be the way to go.

[Nindec]

How many of the existing buildings will be torn down? I'm not familiar with this block of DT, but judging from the ariel photo it looks relatively developed with a good mix of smaller buildings. It seems like a great project, but it would be like a shame to replace good, fleshed out mix of urban buildings with one or two new developments (even if they are larger).

Do these buildings actually contribute, or are they 1960s/70s era cubes?

[DanRNC]

The N&O building is pretty ugly as are the surrounding ones-won't mind seeing them go.

[Tayfromcarolina]

Exactly, it would not be a crime if those buildings came tumbling down. Glad to see some definite steps being taken witht the N&O project.

[avery]

Exactly, it would not be a crime if those buildings came tumbling down. Glad to see some definite steps being taken witht the N&O project.

Agreed. After the sale of N&O's parent company, I wondered if this would even happen. I can't wait to see some of the RFP submittals.

[Justin6882]

Actually didn't N&O's parent company purchase another company? Even with that scenario I was a little nervous about this coming to fruition - glad to see they're moving forward.

[avery]

Actually didn't N&O's parent company purchase another company? Even with that scenario I was a little nervous about this coming to fruition - glad to see they're moving forward.

I can't recall.

[ncwebguy]

McClatchy bought the N&O from the Daniels family in 1996, a year or two after they did the rennovations that put the big windows by the printing presses on Martin. McClatchy bought another newspaper chain (knight-ridder?) cherry picking the papers they wanted.

The N&O already owns a lot of the McDowell/Martin/Salisbury/Hargett block, including the fugly "parking deck" that makes for a pedestrain-unfriendly block along Salisbury. They also own the classifides building west of Father and Sons, and (I think) the parking lot next to it. It might hurt short term, but they could take down the old deck, build it higher and more compact, and put some life on that block of Salisbury Street.

Greg Hatem recently bought the buliding on the Hargett/Salisbury intersection, which may have been bought to get a foot in the door/leg up on being a partner with McClatchy. The professional building, at the corner of McDowell and Hargett, is at least seven stories, so 11 next to it won't feel out of place.

When they are ready to move the printing presses and delivery truck bay in 2015, they have another decent sized parcel to develop into something else.

[Nindec]

I saw the old N&O buildings today. Ouch. Yeah, no loss there.

[RaleighLover]

Anyone know how tall the current buildings are?

[pack-man]

tall enough to jump off and live..

[MR-2]

Tall enough to step down from.

[RaleighLover]

Ah! I was getting the buildings mixed up. By the way, in my search to figure this out I ran across the following article:

News & Observer crossing fingers for new office

Link

(Moderator edit: no copy/paste posting of articles, please. It's plagarism and it's in the rules. You may, however, post a link and a summary in your own words, and even a few lines of quotation.)

[MR-2]

I've got an idea for them. Build a 30 story building which has condos above the newspaper offices. Include a rooftop pool, too. Better yet, build it out at US1 and 540!!

Since this is the N&O we're talking about, it'll probably be a 1-floor campus near Falls Lake. By being out at the edge of the city on 540 you see, that gives them more inserting capacity. It's all about following the market.

[DanRNC]

I think its pretty funny that the N&O is so pessimistic about downtown development and slams every project but these hypocrites are the ones ready to head for the burbs. What a bunch of clowns. If the N&O disappeared tomorrow I wouldn't shed a tear.

[pack-man]

news/observer only cares about themselves and the money they make. the parent company doesn't care one bit about the local community other than good news. as for the downtown redevelopment, n&O has been against it since day 1. i'm sure they will maintain an office downtown to provide its customers with the sense that they are a the paper for the city, but i'm not buying it.

[RDUairport]

I think its pretty funny that the N&O is so pessimistic about downtown development and slams every project but these hypocrites are the ones ready to head for the burbs. What a bunch of clowns. If the N&O disappeared tomorrow I wouldn't shed a tear.

Love it! I'd have to agree. I'm really surprised they didn't have something bad to say about the Hurricanes winning or the celebrations that went along with it...

[ChiefJoJo]

I hadn't realized the N&O was against DT redevelopment. They do a pretty good job of promoting new developments in the paper I think. Their editor-in-chief, Orage Quarles, is on the city's DT promo video. Yeah, they aren't the greatest paper, but where is all the hate coming from? They are constructing a DT HQ afterall.

[carynative]

I hadn't realized the N&O was against DT redevelopment. They do a pretty good job of promoting new developments in the paper I think. Their editor-in-chief, Orage Quarles, is on the city's DT promo video. Yeah, they aren't the greatest paper, but where is all the hate coming from? They are constructing a DT HQ afterall.

agreed. i had to run an errand to the NandO bldg for my boss yesterday, it's an ugly heap. Anything to make that block better would be great. I noticed that it's a very non-ped friendly area. Absolutely no street level space whatsoever. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never seen an anti-development story about downtown in the paper Maybe my eyes are closed.

[MR-2]

agreed. i had to run an errand to the NandO bldg for my boss yesterday, it's an ugly heap. Anything to make that block better would be great. I noticed that it's a very non-ped friendly area. Absolutely no street level space whatsoever. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never seen an anti-development story about downtown in the paper Maybe my eyes are closed.

They wrote a series of very anti-TTA articles when that still looked like a possibility. Off the top of my head, I don't remember what they said about downtown. Their reader comments are burned into my mind though. Every other article, someone comes in saying they should bulldoze downtown or just ignore it.