The Lafayette (Site 4)

[avery]

Ok, I am watching the city council meeting on RTN and here is the info on the Lafayette per Greg Hatem:

$70 million project; 1/2 acre mixed use development, 277,000 square feet at 21 stories consisting of 125 hotel rooms and 80 condos. Height to the crown is 263'. Restaurant and retail on first 2 floors, outdoor seating. Restaurant facing the southern end, retail facing the convention center. Hotel sits on top of first two floors, 125 rooms, with 80 condos on top of that. Rectangular shaped with glass balconies. Two square decorative pieces on top of slightly rounded roofline. Restaurant bar on roof with pool that can be reached via an outdoor elevator shaft. Glass elevator shaft changes colors throughout the day. Hatem said today, they would set the shaft to illuminate red for the Canes victory Narrower side of rectangular building facing money shot making it appear taller.

10K for restaurant

5K for retail

13K for spa

25K for meeting space.

125 jobs created generating $1.249 million in tax revenues a year.

1/07-4/07 site plan should be completed.

Looking to purchase property from the city and will have a 6 month re-appraisal. They are looking to lease 275 parking spaces in the adjacent city parking deck. They ask that the city does not redevelop the deck for at least 10 years. Empire is also putting up a $350,000 credit if not completed by 4/2009.

Council approves unanimously!

It looks good guys...

[Transplant]

Excellent update. Thank you.

[DwnTwnRaleighGuy]

Yes, excellent update!!! Thank you!

[yoga]

Wow, great news! I gotta say Greg Hatem does a lot for the Creative Class here.

cheers -

[Tayfromcarolina]

Definelty one of the more unique developments outthere in the Dowtown Raleigh building boom. Gotta love the exterior elevator shaft and the pool on top. You could go on a mini vacation in the same city you live in. can't wait to see the renderings.

[pack-man]

sounds like a nice building, good use for that area.

[Jones_]

Hatem is the best of the group in Raleigh. As far as I know this is his first venture with new construction. Consideration of the money shot and how the building will tie into the convention center surroundings indicate how focused he is on the city as a whole.

[RaleighLover]

Oh wow that sounds awesome! Finally we're getting some unique buildings downtown. I can't wait to see a rendering of this.

[ncwebguy]

Does this in effect remove the "stepping down" transition requirement from the 400 block of Fayetville south? If a 21 story building across from the new CC is OK, this bodes well for sites 2 and 3. Has the Site 1 plan been approved? Proposed? Or just reach the level of acceptance the Lafayett has?

This plus the Reynolds project is a good sign for the future of the CBD. Maybe redevelopment of the block south of South and west of Raleigh Memorial will be looked at more closely?

[RaleighLover]

I found this on raleighmsa.com:

[RDUairport]

I found this on raleighmsa.com:

This looks like another very interesting building for Raleigh. I think the picture here doesn't do to much for how the actual building will look. The rendering is nice, but I have the feeling that seeing a nice quality rendering or it once it built will make this building somewhat of an eye-popper!

[ChiefJoJo]

A new WRAL video showing the new Lafayette. While the video discusses new ownership restrictions on units, the video shows a cool view of the bldg, with it's exterior elevator.

[dmccall]

Thanks for that, Jojo. I hope that the buy it and live in it attitude doesn't put the brakes on some of these condo buildings.

[rooster8]

I like how it blocks the Marriott.

[plus2]

I like how it blocks the Marriott.

The part of the Marriott that is visable is also the more interesting part of the structure. Still sad that there will be no more view of the Progress Energy building.

[ChiefJoJo]

Yeah, but the Lafayette appears to me to be a much more interesting design, so I have no problem with it blocking the Marriott or PE 2.

[DanRNC]

From the rederings of the Marriot, I think its strongest component will be at the street level so hiding the bulk of this building works out nicely.

[DwnTwnRaleighGuy]

Isn't this the tallest, biggest building for Greg in downtown Raleigh? I wonder if he works like the Reynolds group? I.E. does he have plans on the drawing board for one building and planning for one or more in his thoughts or down on paper for others?

[yoga]

Thanks for that, Jojo. I hope that the buy it and live in it attitude doesn't put the brakes on some of these condo buildings.

Why would that happen? Don't we want that instead of buy it - rent it out, or buy it - stay in it seasonally (?!)? Won't it help keep prices reasonable DT if folks buy it to live in it?

[Transplant]

Why would that happen? Don't we want that instead of buy it - rent it out, or buy it - stay in it seasonally (?!)? Won't it help keep prices reasonable DT if folks buy it to live in it?

Yes, prices will be kept down since there will be a smaller pool of folks interested in purchasing them. It would be interesting to see what the breakdown for rentals/investment vs. owner-occupied is.

I don't see why forcing owners to occupy the building should be much of a concern for the developer though.

[dmccall]

Why would that happen? Don't we want that instead of buy it - rent it out, or buy it - stay in it seasonally (?!)? Won't it help keep prices reasonable DT if folks buy it to live in it?

If I were ready to propose a big condo building and couldn't round up the reservations up front, I'd just scrap it and go clear cut bunch of land near 540 and throw up ( ) a bunch of non-descript condos. ha ha

[yoga]

Greg Hatem isn't a run-of-the-mill developer, though. I think he genuinely cares about the community, which is why he is doing this new deal. Investment property doesn't do a thing for people developing relationships with each other. And anyone who could pay that high rent would buy anyway. Hell we have renters across the hall who could care less about the property and cram 3 people in a 2BR just to afford it. If it was affordable in the first place, they'd buy it and give a damn about their investment.

Dana, my dingbat gland must be larger than normal today b/c I still don't understand what you are driving at.

[Jones_]

Flippers (often realtors ) drive up prices much higher than the real owner-occupant market would sustain itself. Flippers are often all by themselves responsible for real estate crashes. While a nice way to make money if a market can sustain it, flipping gentrifies areas and drives out important middle class residents....generally doing nothing positive for teh local living environment. I applaud Empire Properties efforts. Developers must guard against people who reserve several units with no intent to buy them all or risk having their projects fall through...I am sure underwriters caught on to this along time ago though.

[Transplant]

Isn't this a self correcting problem? (Assuming reserved units are purchased).

If theres enough supply, flippers (or what ever their called) would have a difficult time competeing with new construction prices. In the short term, are these flippers helping the developer to build the buildings to the sizes their at? How widespread is this? Would current projects get impacted by the loss of these folks?

[RDUairport]

This looks like another very interesting building for Raleigh. I think the picture here doesn't do to much for how the actual building will look. The rendering is nice, but I have the feeling that seeing a nice quality rendering or it once it built will make this building somewhat of an eye-popper!

Thanks for that, Jojo. I hope that the buy it and live in it attitude doesn't put the brakes on some of these condo buildings.

Man! I think my assumption was correct. Would anyone agree? This building is really eye-popping for Raleigh. I think it'll be nice to have in the skyline.