Charter Square (Site One)

[ChiefJoJo]

RBC is going to have 5-6 floors of office--I'd guess around 140k sf of leaseable space. Site 1 will have 330k sf of space. That already planned and very likely to be built. Throw in Reynolds' project and you are looking at well over a 1/2 million sf of new, unleased office space in the next 2 years. WOW!

Edited April 19, 2006 by ChiefJoJo

[plus2]

How tall is the 20 story building going to be compared to the the convention center hotel??? Are we going to be able to see it over the Marriott?

[Justin6882]

Here is another rendering of Site 1 that I haven't seen yet - it was on News 14's website:

And here is a link to the story. There is also video if you want to watch that.

[dmccall]

How tall is the 20 story building going to be compared to the the convention center hotel??? Are we going to be able to see it over the Marriott?

The Marriott will be 16 stories. However it won't obscure all of Site One from the money shot angle. Here is my metarendering, again, which now needs to be redone!

BTW, I just posted some renderings I captured off of the TV broadcast of the meeting yesterday. I hope to get some better quality images. I think it's odd that there was NO mention of it in the N&O today. No new renderings, no new nothing!

Edited April 19, 2006 by dmccall

[Justin6882]

^Wow, thats really starting to look like a city!

[Transplant]

Any word on whats planned for sites 2 & 3? Seems like those parking lots could be converted into a nice park area or outdoor convention area for concerts.

Edited April 19, 2006 by Transplant

[orulz]

Any word on whats planned for sites 2 & 3? Seems like those parking lots could be converted into a nice park area or outdoor convention area for concerts.

I think there's no way sites 2 & 3 will be entirely open space, they're too valuable. There will, however, most likely be a large plaza on the Fayetteville Street axis between them.

[Tayfromcarolina]

Hmm. That rendering is pretty good to visualize some of the new things coming downtown. "Site One" The 20 story portion will end up being taller than the Bank of America Building I believe as it's only 17 stories.

[avery]

A cleaner rendering from the architect's website

[ncwebguy]

The N&O should be ashamed of their map graphic shown earlier in this thread. In addition to getting the status of the courthouse plaza wrong (it has been under construction for a month or so at least), there is not a box on the map or line connecting to its location (on Fayetville, across from the Hudson). Also, the Palladium box is wrong -- it wraps around Cabarrus and adjoins the parking deck there. The Men at Work car wash building in their graphic at the Cabarrus/Blount corner has been gone for months. On Monday I took (bad) pictures of Palladium construction and a neat mural of an old Lincoln town car on the west wall of Lincoln Theater.

In regards to Site 1, they could get a Globo Gym-ish location similar to the Golds in North Hills. With the Fayetville to Wilmington elevation change, it could take up limited streetfront real estate and have the equipment, etc. upstairs, with floor to ceiling windows with eleveated view of the east side of, well the parking deck, Lincoln Theater, and Shaw McDonalds. The movie theater would not need windows, and would rather not have any, so could be the "interior" of this floor's space. A neat marquee jutting above Wilmington would be neat. I think the Rialto/Colony folks wouldn't mind managing this for the TMC group. The rooftop pool (and maybe basketball court?) could be used by members, and the other tower's pool would be for residents. Street level Wilmington street could have a smoothie/coffee shop, nutrition store, sports bar, etc. Maybe the BoA Wilmington Street storefronts will finally get tenants? They have been empty for years. I have not seen a good Wilmington street side view, so this could happen.

This focus on street level activity is why Meeker was not too worried about the over-EFIS'd Marriot. And getting a unified, underground, four story parking deck with a footprint larger than the old CC is a big motivator as well!

[Justin6882]

I think the Rialto/Colony folks wouldn't mind managing this for the TMC group.

I talked to the guy that owns these places and he said they have approached him about running the theater, but he didn't really offer any details about it.

[Justin6882]

Another story in the N&O today about the need for an anchor tenant for this project. Two companies they metnioned were SunTrust Bank and Red Hat. While either of these would be nice - both could end up hurting other areas of the Triangle (Downtown Durham and Centennial Campus respectively). I wish there was some way SunTrust could keep their presence in DTDurham but still have operations in Raleigh large enough to fill a large chunk of space in this building (or the Reynolds Tower for that matter).

Anyway, here is the story: Anchor sought in city core

[RaleighLover]

It's time to ask ourselves which area to we care about more: Downtown Raleigh or areas outside of downtown?

[Justin6882]

^Well as a graduate of NC State, I do care about the partnerships between the university and one of its largest tenants on centennial campus. I also care about DTDurham - so its very hard. I wish Fidelity would just move downtown - I feel much less angst about stealing something from Downtown Boston.

^That being said, I'm sure there is a way for the partnership between RedHat and NCSU to continue even if they move off campus. It would be neat to see a logo other than a bank's on the skyline.

[ncwebguy]

I think it would be cool if Red Hat went into either Site 1 or Reynolds, opening a satellite classroom like the School of Design's in the Empire building near Hargett and Wilmington. IT learning can happen anywhere, so why not downtown? That building may be cursed, first losing Lucent, then Red Hat, but with Engineering making a big push out there, it could be used as a business incubation space like the venture buildings.

Maybe Epic Games and/or Red Storm/Ubi could locate to Site 1 or Reynolds? Is being in Morrisville all it's cracked up to be? A map mod for DT Raleigh would be pretty cool.

Site 1 could also have other educational options. NCSU's College of Management could look into having a mini-campus there, with students working with Progress Energy and the banks. Nelson Hall is pretty cramped as it is and there is no need for lab equipment. A Wake Tech satellite could also fit. Job training students could take CAT into downtown and walk to class. Night classes for "non-traditional students" would not have to make a long, late trek down 401.

[pdxheel]

The fact that Red Hat is leaving CC is not a good sign. A major objective of CC was the co-habitation of private businesses there.

[Justin6882]

^I don't think its set in stone that they are leaving...it was just an idea that was floating around.

[Tayfromcarolina]

Also Crescent Bank is making it's presence known in the area. With 10 branches and expanding so maybe they would be a good candidate to move into "Site 1"

[RALBOI]

I heard that the 21 story tower,will grow to 24 stories, and may go up in height again,according to my sources, they are very reliable source also.

[Tayfromcarolina]

I heard that the 21 story tower,will grow to 24 stories, and may go up in height again,according to my sources, they are very reliable source also.

This is the same thing a little birdie told me. Also a reliable source.

[Jones_]

This is the same thing a little birdie told me. Also a reliable source.

That just about gets it from mid-rise to high-rise in my mind....to me that would get us to 5 high-rises along with Wachovia, BB&T, RBC and Reynolds. Bank of America, Progress Energy, Capital Bank and the others are also mid-rise to me......blah blah

[Subway Scoundrel]

Talking about a downtown tenant. If you read the N&O, you will see where the State is getting ready to fire the company they awarded the Medicaid management contract to. If you remember back a while, that company was awarded business over EDS who had the contract for 25 years. This project was a major revamp with new software and processes.

But the kicker was that EDS was going to put 500 jobs downtown which was driving the Licthen building down near Progress Energy. When EDS lost, the building plans went south. Also, this building was to house the DT library, but when the building went south, so did the DT library.

Just a thought and a watch item to see what the State does? Do they finish the project themselves or go back and get EDS to clean up the mess and would EDS still put jobs DT?

Correct me if I am wrong on these items.

[Transplant]

Correct me if I am wrong on these items.

I believe you are correct.

Although no one may be asking for it, I see a real positive for a Main Library downtown. I would love to see one go up. And not a half-ass job either, if one does get built, I want a massive one. Something to be proud of.

[DwnTwnRaleighGuy]

Although no one may be asking for it, I see a real positive for a Main Library downtown. I would love to see one go up. And not a half-ass job either, if one does get built, I want a massive one. Something to be proud of.

[ChiefJoJo]

I heard that the 21 story tower,will grow to 24 stories, and may go up in height again,according to my sources, they are very reliable source also.

that would get us to 5 high-rises along with Wachovia, BB&T, RBC and Reynolds

Cool!

RBC..........31 stories

BB&T........29

Wachovia..29

Reynolds...25+

Site 1........24+

I hope the city approves the sale of the land soon so we can get into site plan review and construction.

BTW, how crazy does it seem today that about 2-3 years ago the city actually considered rehabbing the east half of the old Civic Center on this site.