The Edison

[orulz]

I'm not too optimistic about Raleigh's chances of landing the RS relocation. RS is shopping around to a bunch of places including Tampa, Charlotte, Albuquerque, and Nashville. Who knows, maybe they're just fishing for incentives from Fort Worth and Texas.

[Gard]

The Edison project wasn't supposed to start at all until 2011, if I recall, which would explain why you haven't heard anything else. In addition to that, most developers right now are keeping quiet because of the economy, so I'm not really surprised.

[DPK]

It it worth getting a subscription to bidclerk? It's a hefty subscription commitment for the year, but I'm such a nerd in regard to this stuff that I wouldn't mind really. However I don't want to pay for something that really doesn't update much for this area.

[Merboy]

Someone mentioned in another thread that there had been changes to the original proposal of the Edison. Have there been any new developments with this project or any news?

[Gard]

There was a mention in a recent N&O article on something else about the project being on hold, much like all other projects and there was no mention of any design changes...

That being said, I doubt we will hear much else until either the economy picks up or they manage to sign someone to a large enough portion to start construction.

[orulz]

This project (or at least phase 1 of this project) has been scaled back from a massive glassy office/condo/hotel highrise complex to a ho-hum 6 story, 239 unit apartment building. Cooper's and the historic buildings on the corner of Wilmington & Davie will make way for this mediocre plan.

Read the article on Raleigh Public Record.

Couldn't they at least go for an 8 story project with the same number of apartments and leave the historic buildings alone?

[Jones_]

Coopers said they are looking into negotiating air rights....meaning the new stuff would get built over the old stuff...I have seen similar developments in DC and NY. Hopefully now that the clear retail success of old buildings versus new buildings (as I have been screaming all along) is bearing out, they will realize that keeping the old buildings and doing minor brushing up of them, is the path to success at street level.

[orulz]

In this case I would speculate that an air rights deal would probably not mean that something would get cantilevered over the top of the Coopers building (That's expensive and way out of line for the reported $30 million budget for this project) but rather that Coopers would accept some amount of payment in exchange for an agreement to never build something taller than two stories on their lot.

[Jones_]

I have never heard of that sort of air rights deal and I am not sure how an agreement to not build a new building over two stories accomplishes (even on that lot) any goal...? Can you explain that...I may be missing something. Structurally I am not used to a cantilever setup. I think it'd be much easier to just drop a column in the alley and route the air systems through the new building. A little bit of cost there (6 figure-ish?)but shouldn't be anything for concrete but I may be taking too simplistic of a view.

[RaleighRob]

Update on the Edison; http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/28/1964497/high-rise-apartments-pitched-for.html

[RALNATIVE]

Personally, i'm not in favor of another large apartment development in the central business district. While this will definitely help to boost the downtown economy and bring more life to the urban core after hours, i'm concerned about the long term impact of such development on Raleigh's real estate market. I trully think that prime CBD land should be reserved for future Class A office space, a 5 star hotel, etc.

The Hue is a prime example of a waste of land by developers, for the sake of making a quick buck. And we see how that turned out.

[RaleighRob]

Do what? We're always talking around here about the need for more residents to support businesses downtown. Those office dwellers might venture out for lunch a few days a week, but they quickly head back to their suburban cul-de-sacs at 5 and eat at the Applebees in some stripmall.

If we want downtown businesses to thrive you gotta have residences. And downtown already has more than enough high-dollar condos that no one can afford so apartments makes way more sense.

And the Hue ain't a waste of space as far as its use. We can argue about the architecture, design and quality of the building though, that's fine. I'm with ya there. But truth is, it's done its job of offering new options for people to live downtown.

If you wanna make the argument that we need good towers at the Edison spot where there's retail on the ground plus offices above that, then residential above that....in the vein of RBC Plaza...I'm totally there with you.

But I 100% disagree that we don't need apartments in the CBD. Oh we do...and way way more than this.

And I'm definitely glad this hideous empty lot is finally getting something on it.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

amen

[Jones_]

It depends on the vision a person has for a downtown. I for one don't think a class A office park feels right beyond the spine corridors and the blocks adjacent to them. So for this particular corner, being a block off Fayetteville I do think a hotel or office building would be best. Apartments are an absolute must in any downtown but I think ours should be built into neighborhood-ish areas with concentrations around Glenwood (well on our way there), north Person, and the warehouse district. Sandreuter has a history of getting things almost right. West is a great building, that is poorly oriented and sited. Dawson, is better sited and oriented but feels cheaper on the exterior and fell way short of the original 15 story plan and that I think had some large units carved into smaller units in the final sell out (I know you said you live there ralnative, so correct me if that did not happen). The parking deck in powerhouse square is a wasted chance to add streetfront office or retail space...the deck is barely used in the day, and not all that much at night. Edison never sounded like a project that fit this town in the best of times, and certainly not when it was announced as the economy started its sink. Proposing an apartment 'tower'.....well towers of apartments don't make for great neighborhoods, is an incorrect assessment of apartment demand here and land scarcity, and as I said to start, this site seems like it should be hotel or office anyway.

[Green_man]

Regarding the 6-story Edison Apartments on the south side of the block:  Wasn't there something in an agreement with the City of Raleigh awhile back that said construction had to start by Jan 1, 2013?

 

It'd be nice to get a firm start date for either this project or the Skyhouse project.  Also, if one or both of these projects were under construction, I wonder if the City would let a food truck setup in the empty lot across from the bus station during lunch time.

[Captain Awesome]

Construction sites have food services trucks that are contracted to bring reasonably priced food to the site in those little pickup trucks with metal camper/coolers in the bed.  I can't imagine a construction worker paying for a $9 for a 'gourmet' food truck sandwich when they can get a $3 sandwich from the services truck or go to one of the many reasonably priced lunch spots in the neighborhood.

[Jones_]

Pretty sure he meant food trucks in the meantime...not so much during construction. Regardless, Sandreuter projects seem to take enormous amounts of time to get started which why they end up opening in the middle of economic low points. Five of the other apartment complexes are out of the ground. None of his three have turned a spoonful of dirt. 

[Green_man]

So, we passed the Jan 1, 2013 deadline for the 6-story Edison apartments to break ground and still no construction.  Was there an extension given?

[Jones_]

I didn't hear of an extension. Sandreuters projects always take forever to get going and the three he has under review now are no exception. I do not think all three will actually move forward but hope one of the Edison ones does and the apartments next to West. 

[Green_man]

There is a new site plan posted on the city's website for a 225' office building with 3 ground floor retail spaces (approx 315k sq ft total) at the corner of Martin and Wilmington.

 

So it will be 10' taller than the Charter Square south tower... so 12 floors?  Seems kinda small for that spot - I would've like to see another 10 floors of hotel space on top of this.

 

But downtown is gathering quite a bit momentum right now!  Depending on the timeline for this project, we could have 3 cranes within 3 blocks by the end of the year!

[Green_man]

JDavis has an aerial rendering of the 3 'new' Edison projects:  http://www.jdavisarchitects.com/portfolio/on-the-boards-2/edison/

 

[orulz]

The similarities between this building and the building proposed at Charter Square makes me a little suspicious. Perhas there is a single tenant shopping around for ~200k square feet in downtown Raleigh, and since Charter and Edison are the obvious candidates, each respective developer is moving their proposals forward in hopes of winning the tenant.

[Green_man]

Rendering from TBJ:

 

 

Hopes to break ground this fall.  Orulz, based on the TBJ article, it does sound like its a race with the Charter Square South building and whoever finishes first will have the upper hand on leasing.  ( http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/blog/2013/05/real-estate-horse-race-begins-in.html

 )

 

Also, of note, there is some large crane equipment on the south side of the block today (where the 6-story apartments are planned)

[Euphorius]

That looks almost identical to the Captrust tower at North Hills. 

[RALNATIVE]

I'm not sure why developers in Raleigh have a hard time developing buildings that have more character than what we've seen lately.