Jump to content

RBC Center


raleightransplant

Recommended Posts

City planning/zoning has to bear some of the blame for the dark deserted wasteland that surrounds the arena, don't they?? The entire area should have been declared a special overlay district, and developers forced to set aside space for street level retail in any office building built within 3/4 of a mile. Anyone know if there will be retail in that enormous develpment going in at Wade and 440 that is accessed from Edwards Mill?

I find it incredible that noone has snapped up the former Damon's location. A half-decent restaurant (which Damon's was most certainly NOT) should make money hand over fist as the only sit-down place within walking distance of the arena...

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 211
  • Created
  • Last Reply

They really need to build a couple parking decks on existing parking lots and then sell off adjacent parcels of parking lots fields that are no longer absolutely necessary. But that would be a logical process... and this is government.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If people are locked outside, they're not going to attend a pig picking inside. And requiring a ticket to get to the arena's restaurant does not make it open to the public, it makes it open to ticket holders who want barbecue and know that option exists.

There are traffic disturbances on more than 150 nights a year on Glenwood, Six Forks, Wake Forest/Falls of Neuse, and Capitol Blvd, yet plenty of people with deep pockets decided it was a good risk to open restaurants there. Somehow traffic is a good indicator for where businesses should open when it is part of suburban sprawl. But when it is generated by sporting events (the arena) or civic events (downtown) it becomes "bad" and is a sign that businesses should not open there. To say nothing of mass transit. As far as I know, there wasn't even temporary CAT service to the arena for the tournament, via Hillsborough St to downtown or Edwards Mill to the Crabtree area. Crabtree isn't the most pedestrian friendly area, but some of the participating teams (and their fans) were staying in that area.

Walking around the RBC Center would seem shorter if there were things to do nearby. It doesn't seem like that long of a walk from the North Hills Harris Teeter to the movie theater, or Crabtree from Best Buy to the food court, because there is more in between than acres of surface parking. If the "airport" hotels were built in this area instead, and better access to I-40 via Trinity Road, there wuld be a lot of business guests to support a restaurant/shopping district. Throw in some nice apartments/townhouses/condos, and you have a built in market of year round residents.

The "horse track" component to make the area more "Meadowlands-like" was on the fair grounds, but they tore it down to make room for a bigger midway. The horse complex remains nearby, but there is no race track/grandstand in the complex. It could be another draw for the area, with the Brookhill Steeplechase losing its site, and a fair number of horse farms in the state, but will never happen.

The "drumbeat" is the demands of people who bought the Fetzer/Isley lie that "the market" would develop the then-empty land into restaurants, hotels, and other arena amenities, not a private high school and office buildings set back from Trininty Road with nothing to offer the public. The Damon's was ok but was hardly a draw, game day or not. Other than 40/Wade, the non-state owned land is locked up for a while. Cardinal Gibbons just moved out there from their land on Centennial. They aren't going to be in a hurry to move again. Its baseball field and football/track stadium eat up prime land off Trinity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hate to be a naysayer, because I love the RBC Center, I love going to Hurricanes games, I think the tailgating hockey culture is great, and I love that the Tar Heels play well in the RBC Center too. BUT...

It would probably be cheaper and more feasible to build a new arena in downtown in 15-20 years, than to try and develop a new urban center out there. Without a developer with HUGE pockets that can scoop up lots of land along Trinity, I-40 and Edwards Mill, I don't see anyone willing to integrate developments into a single "district" or neighborhood. Instead you'll get two, three or four Forty-Wades that nobody wants to travel to and from without a car.

There is a lot of potential with all that pasture land along Edwards Mill all the way to Blue Ridge. But unless the city builds a street grid first, we would need a REALLY good and progressive developer to make it work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's no way a new arena is going to be built anytime soon. It just doesn't make financial sense at all, when we just spent $150M+ on RBC in 1999. Was it a mistake in hindsight to built it at the fairgrounds area? Probably. Did that fact cost Raleigh the CIAA? Probably. Do I wish it were built downtown? Yep. Is it going to happen in the next 10-15 years? Nope.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Problem is that so much of the land out there is state-owned. Until the state sold the land for Forty Wade, it was almost totally govt land on all sides of the complex. I don't know what people were expecting, but you have a de facto urban moat of parking lots and grassy fields and trees that separate the area/stadium from potential redevelopment. Even with forty wade, only the most diehards pedestrians are going to make that walk before/after a game.

Steve Stroud wanted the "Meadowlands of the South," and that's what we've got... a FB and BB complex surrounded by lots of parking and not much else. It's fine, just don't expect much walkable development to start popping up anytime soon. The failure of Damon's points to the struggles that development in this area will encounter, unless there is a completely new approach.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know some people who were associated with Damons and what I have been told is "the lockout season" hurt Damons and they were not able to keep payment to Damon's Corp up. The rent on that place was around $17K a month but I was told from a good source that they can do $17K a night of a hockey game. When that went away for the year, no way to pay any franchise fees.

I think someone will move but with Hockey season coming to an end, could be a while.

I also think the formal plan of the Wade site but due to the downturn after 9/11, that could not happen and I am not sure the current plan by "bubba" is the right kind of development that solves any issues. I have riden up into that area and I just don't get a good feeling on this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

this area is a waste of time. charlotte imploded their old coliseum and now that area is an office park. if the football stadium wasn't there, this area would see the same fate in the next 10 years. in cities this size, downtown is the way to go with these arenas. raleigh is about 20 years too late to the dinner and will never get more than a first round NCAA nod.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The old mayor, city council and NC State really screwed the pooch on this one. They should have located the arena in downtown from the onset. NC State's campus is no further from downtown than the area near Carter Finley. I think they should hand over the arena to NC State and pursue a new arena downtown.

The walkability aspect of the RBC is terrible. You have to walk a huge parking lot expanse to even get to 40 Wade. A more urban arena would have been better with the use of parking garages. Maybe the Canes could share a new arena with Shaw.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
I know some people who were associated with Damons and what I have been told is "the lockout season" hurt Damons and they were not able to keep payment to Damon's Corp up. The rent on that place was around $17K a month but I was told from a good source that they can do $17K a night of a hockey game. When that went away for the year, no way to pay any franchise fees.

I think someone will move but with Hockey season coming to an end, could be a while.

I also think the formal plan of the Wade site but due to the downturn after 9/11, that could not happen and I am not sure the current plan by "bubba" is the right kind of development that solves any issues. I have riden up into that area and I just don't get a good feeling on this.

I wonder if something could be done along Wade Ave which I am not sure but might be an idea. I think where the practice field is would be best location and work their way up to the office buildings.

It is what it is until the next one which I think we will see a proposal around 2020 with the Canes moving to a new arena and NCSU staying put. That will be the decision point for the Canes in Raleigh. Hope I am alive to see a new arena or dead if the Canes leave. ^_^

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.