West

[Subway Scoundrel]

I have always thought the this area, between GlenSouth and Capital would make the perfect location for mid to high rize condos and more street shops for citizens i.e more retail, shops, etc.

This area use to be called "Smokey Hollow" because the coal/steam trains use to come through and it would leave smoke in the area. There were only houses there at the time.

Ijust hope the buildings have some character.

[bdp]

Is this sort of near 42nd street? If so, there is a little white house, all by itself over there, and the lady who lives there told me what the neighborhood used to be like when she was a child. she said she never imagined their little house would be the last one standing. she is outside gardening all the time, and is happy to stop and talk with passersby. Ask her about the pomegranite trees on the sidewalk. i am glad that there are finally going to be some condos in the area that i can entertain the idea of moving into... it's about time.

[RALBOI]

The NIMBY's are the ones that should be way out in the burbs...Let the true city folk reach for the sky. Its crazy to hear people say don't build high DT. Against the grain.

Thank god for Soliel Center because it help kill that argument that we should not reach for the skys in downtown Raleigh, meaning if you can build your tallest building outside the city center then why in the world would you try and keep the downtown from having tall nice buildings.

[RaleighRick]

Here is the first rendering of the West. Found it in this weeks TBJ. I had to scan it because the online TBJ doesn't have it yet. What a great looking building. JDavis Architects designed the building. This is going to be a huge addition to downtown/Glenwood South. The article said that the building should be ready in, you guessed it, 2008. Nice art deco style on first few floors with good street level activity. I'm really getting excited about the latest proposed buildings in downtown. They are great architecturally and should add charactor to our skyline.

[jermainew]

looks pretty good, but is that actually '14 stories'??

[RaleighRick]

looks pretty good, but is that actually '14 stories'??

I thought the same thing. It appears from the rendering that the front is 13 stories but as the site slopes down there may be an additional floor below in the back.

[jermainew]

yeah that makes sense- comparable to the configuration of the 'paramount'

[Justin6882]

I think it looks nice...I just hope this style of architecture doesn't get old anytime soon, otherwise there are going to be some very dated looking buildings in downtown Raleigh (Dawson, paramount, this one, 222, etc...). I kind of wish they would have done something just a *little* different.

[plus2]

I prefer the slimmer buildings like the Quorum, where height is greater than width. But this is still nice looking.

[ChiefJoJo]

I really like it. Yes, it has some derivative features, but overall, it looks classically appealing to me--not likely to fade with time IMO (I tend to enjoy JDavis designs I think--they are doing Site 1 as well). The exciting this is that this will be the first project to bridge Glenwood South across the RR tracks toward the TTA Govt Ctr station area. Although the condo market looks pretty full for 2008-09, with plenty of developable land to the east of GlenSO this could be a catalyst for more development in that direction.

[Raleighsfinest]

Ahh man, this is going to look nice. I'm not worried about the styling at all. This is a very safe design.

[avery]

This design looks good. It will fit in with the area very nicely.

[orulz]

I'm not so sure that this style of architecture will stand the test of time.

Dividing the facade horizontally with small, repeating setbacks like that is a relatively new trend, and to me it smacks of McMansions and their hyper-numerous false dormers. In other words, an attempt to circumvent the need to make a well-proportioned building, by giving it a false sense of depth, and making an otherwise blank and boring flat space more visually interesting without adding any elements of design and architecture.

I think the actual architecture will look dated within a couple decades.

However, this building's urban form appears to be exemplary- and that alone will lend the building a timeless quality. Everything else is secondary.

[avery]

I do see a trending simalarity of certain architectural elements in many of the projects around Raleigh. I wonder if this styling is unique to Raleigh or if it is evident across the country. If it is the former, than that may explain why we are seeing the common elements here in Raleigh in an effort to create uniformity and uniquity at the same time.

I personally think that it can create a "dated" look in time, but this may not be a bad thing. Take art-deco design for instance. Sure it is easy to date a building by looking at its style, but it still look good as hell. Same for the Mutual Life building in Durham. Its design is very dated, but I still think it looks cool. It certainly adds to diversity over time. The more I look at Boylan Flats, the more I applaud the fact that they are breaking the mold. It certainly is a fine line and currently, I am fine with this style of architecture. However, if the next 10 proposals for downtown Raleigh look similar, then I might experience boredom.

[Transplant]

For those who do not like the design style of "the West", can you provide a style (with pics please) that you feel WILL stand the test of time?

I would also like to know what other materials can be used aside from Brick, Glass, Stone and EIFS? I've heard complaints about the over use of Brick or EIFS but can't recall options.

-Thanks in advance!

--T

[Raleighsfinest]

I accept the design. Especially considering the fact of skyrocketing building costs. Imagine building structures like the buildings in the earlier 20th century. The costs would be astronomical.

[RALBOI]

Hey folks the News and Observer did a story in the Real Estate section on Downtown Raleighs housing boom saturday April 29, they said most of the condo's that are already built have soldout or will be very soon, but anyways website for WEST AT NORTH is WEST AT NORTH.COM

[avery]

It looks good in color. Look almost like an extension of Site 1

[orulz]

Yeah, thanks for finding out the website RALBOI!

As you pointed out, the site is westatnorth.com.

This really reminds me of both Site I and 222 Glenwood. Again, I'm a little worried that the design may look dated before long, but I'm not really picky about design after all. It's dense, urban, and exciting, and that's what really counts. Is it just me or does it look like there's some fourth-story retail with more restaurant space on top of the parking deck? coool!

Something a lot like this (well, perhaps with a different facade) on the lot south of the Dawson would go over well, too.

[RALBOI]

Yeah, thanks for finding out the website RALBOI!

As you pointed out, the site is westatnorth.com.

This really reminds me of both Site I and 222 Glenwood. Again, I'm a little worried that the design may look dated before long, but I'm not really picky about design after all. It's dense, urban, and exciting, and that's what really counts. Is it just me or does it look like there's some fourth-story retail with more restaurant space on top of the parking deck? coool!

Something a lot like this (well, perhaps with a different facade) on the lot south of the Dawson would go over well, too.

Hey thanks for taking care of that Orulz i was wondering why i couldn't pull that site up my computer skills suck, but anyway thanks again you do a great job up hear playa !

[dmccall]

Thanks for finding that, yall. (I hope that you dont mind me using it on raleighing.) Anyway, I like the look, but yes, we are starting to reach a saturation point with the look. I dont mind us using a dated look. All periods in which weve built downtown look like their era. Its just that weve never built this heavily at one particular time! (tough problem to have eh?)

[avery]

For those who do not like the design style of "the West", can you provide a style (with pics please) that you feel WILL stand the test of time?

I would also like to know what other materials can be used aside from Brick, Glass, Stone and EIFS? I've heard complaints about the over use of Brick or EIFS but can't recall options.

-Thanks in advance!

--T

I like the design, I just think that this style might get old if we see it much more. Obviously, this is a good problem to have. I love seeing all of these proposals, especailly with the ground level activity. I'm not an architect and don't pretend to be one so I'm not going to be overly critical. I'm sure we will see greater variety in the coming months/years.

[Subway Scoundrel]

I have said it before but look at areas like Vancouver that built so much in the last 20 years. So many new buildings were built that they almost looked dated as they were being built. Also, with these condo buildings, they will stand for a long time since they are owned by multiple persons. It is not like someone will come in and buy up all the condos and rebuild. That may happen but will be 50 years (my guesstimation) so whatever is built, will be there for a long, long time.

I know it will not happen but I would love to see a limestone building be built with stone ornate "extras" (gothic or Empire) on the outside with large windows, and maybe inset balconies, instead of the balcony that sticks out with railings right on top of each other top to bottom.

[ChiefJoJo]

It looks like Site 1 + 222 Glenwood + The Dawson... which makes sense since J Davis Architects did Site 1 and Sandreuter developed The Dawson. It looks like EIFS on the top, but that's probably over 100 ft up, so who really cares? I agree with orulz, that the main urban features we'd look for are there: good ped environment, ground floor retail, residential mixed use, near transit (TTA), etc.

[ncwebguy]

From the picture on their website, it looks like there is a plaza on the Harrington side of the fourth floor. It could be for shops/restaurants, or maybe just residents with a pool (a la Paramount). I hope this doesn't take away street life from street level and plop it down on top of the parking deck. There would be a lot of nice downtown views from here, at least until the area east of here is built up. Land slopes down north of here, so buildings there could be even taller but still have the same height. The state and county owns a fair portion of this area until you get to Peace Street to the north and Capital Blvd to the east.

The ground floor could have a small neighborhood market for TTA commuters to stop in and pick up a packaged dinner, drink, snack, etc. I hope this will be used by TTA to say "see, TOD is going on near this stop, and these residents could easily be train commuters".

This and the North Street announcements are nice in that they fill in gaps that already exist. As a Capital Fitness member, I won't be sad to see that parking lot go. It is always easy to find a place to lock up my bicycle, and think other people should follow suit. Even on nice days, why do people who have enough money for a nice car drive to the gym and then walk, run, or bike?