Blount Street Commons

[dwntwnraleigh]

There is the Quorum Center which is around 14 and is being developed by Reynolds and I have seen information relating to this larger tower (Reynolds Project) also.  But I thought that the Quorum ended up being a smaller version of the Reynolds Project.  Anyone have any more info concerning this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are two projects, both proposed by Reynolds. The Quorum center is under construction now, while the 34 story project is still in the planning stages. The site for the larger building, as mentioned earlier in the thread, is beside the 301 Hillsborough building.

And just to chime in on the parking / safety issues - there is a surplus of ~10,000 parking spots in downtown Raleigh during peak congestion periods. There is no shortage, only the perception of a shortage fueled by soccer moms ranting to one another about "how tough it is to parallel park the Excursion." The parking decks are free after 7PM in the CBD, while the privately-owned deck at 510 Glenwood only charges in the evenings.

Crime in downtown reduced significantly after Chief Perlov joined the department and installed a comstat system of departmental accountablility. Total crime in downtown has reduced by 67% since 2001, making the downtown district the safest district in Raleigh. As mentioned by other posters - it is the perception of minorities & the homeless population as threats by Jane Suburb that cultivates and perpetuates the the label of downtown as unsafe. And frankly, its their loss. I'm glad I don't have to battle with Jane and her Excursion over parking spots.

[orulz]

And just to chime in on the parking / safety issues - there is a surplus of ~10,000 parking spots in downtown Raleigh during peak congestion periods.

[dwntwnraleigh]

ORulz,

The parking banners went up two weeks ago that show te public which decks / lots they can park in. That problem has been solved, after 20 months of bickering with the City.

There are 473 metered spaces in downtown. Most folks are advocating removing the meters, and turning it all into two-hour parking.

[Justin6882]

ORulz,

The parking banners went up two weeks ago that show te public which decks / lots they can park in.  That problem has been solved, after 20 months of bickering with the City.

There are 473 metered spaces in downtown.  Most folks are advocating removing the meters, and turning it all into two-hour parking.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, there was an article in the N&O today about Margaret Mullen's last day. One of things she talked about was how long it took to get those banners up. It really is ridiculous when you think about it. I've always wanted to get into city government eventually, but I dont' think I can handle the turtle's pace at which everything seems to move here.

Downtown Booster Departs

[orulz]

ORulz,

The parking banners went up two weeks ago that show te public which decks / lots they can park in.  That problem has been solved, after 20 months of bickering with the City.

There are 473 metered spaces in downtown.  Most folks are advocating removing the meters, and turning it all into two-hour parking.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Guess that shows you how long it's been since I went downtown for anything except a bus transfer. >_< Being a student I spend most of my time in the University and Hillsborough St neighborhoods.

As for the metered spaces - are there really 473 of them? Where..? I guess there must be a couple metered surface lots somewhere that I don't know about. I don't do a whole lot of driving (don't own a car) so I don't know how it's all set up.

But why bother removing the meters? Seems like a low-maintenance way to generate some revenue, and I don't know many people who mind tossing in a quarter or two for some quick in-and-out business. That's what metered spaces are for, right? If you're going to be there for longer than an hour you should be using the decks anyway.

[capitalapts]

It's really demonstrative of the suburban mindset that most Raleighites seem to have that downtown could possibly be perceived as having a parking shortage. This really gets my goat, because I think that at best, it reflects the fact that people really don't go downtown all that often, and at worst that people are too lazy to walk a block or two (open spaces are NEVER further than two blocks away from your destination in my experience here) to get to where they're going from their parking space.

dwntwnraleigh made a classic point, also: people generally really can't parallel park here. seldom are people put in that position, but still, it's true

[dwntwnraleigh]

This thread seems to have been offically usurped.

Nonetheless, the reason that it is beneficial to remove the meters is to combat the perception that parking is expensive. Rarely does someone have to pay (or even fumble through their cupholder looking for quarters) when you park at the strip mall. Much as we don't like it, you have to continually compete with suburbia to help grow a downtown. Malls are the competition - and the successful ones are well managed - requiring that downtowns do the same.

[orulz]

Back on the subject of the Blount Street redevelopment, there are two massive surface parking lots on either side of Blount Street just south of the redevelopment area (south of Jones St.). I mean, these lots span two entire city blocks - put them together and we're talking "almost big enough to hold a sports arena." Any idea who owns them? If the lots are indeed state-owned, then why aren't they included in the Blount St. redevelopment district?

[ChiefJoJo]

Back on the subject of the Blount Street redevelopment, there are two massive surface parking lots on either side of Blount Street just south of the redevelopment area (south of Jones St.). I mean, these lots span two entire city blocks - put them together and we're talking "almost big enough to hold a sports arena." Any idea who owns them? If the lots are indeed state-owned, then why aren't they included in the Blount St. redevelopment district?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The state owns them, but they are used for museum parking (lot to the west of Blount) and for parking for DT employees (east of Blount). I sometimes park there myself, but mostly walk or take the bus to work. I personally think that once the Blount St area is redeveloped in the next few years and the price and demand for the lot is right, perhaps the state will sell/lease one or both of the lots and use the funds to put up another office bldg and parking deck for state workers--to me that would utilize the space without taking away from state parking allotment.

[capitalapts]

Has anyone noticed the clearing that's been done in front of the apparently low-end apartment buildings on Blount right where it takes that S-curve from Wake Forest Road and becomes one-way? I remember reading about the shopping center on the same block possibly being razed to make way for a mixed-use development, and I wondered whether or not the clearing was associated with that.

They did clear away some BEAUTIFUL old willow oaks that did not appear to have anything wrong with them . Hopefully it's for a good reason.

[edit-this block I believe is where Franklin St. crosses Blount, regardless, it's across from the Peace College softball field]

[orulz]

Has anyone noticed the clearing that's been done in front of the apparently low-end apartment buildings on Blount right where it takes that S-curve from Wake Forest Road and becomes one-way?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I actually did notice that clearing while touring the town on my bicycle yesterday. Never having been in that neck of the woods before, I didn't think much of it (I just sort of figured it had always been like that) but I guess not?

[ChiefJoJo]

I was just near that area yesterday, but did see what you are speaking of. But...

... slightly off topic, in that same area on Person St., there is a cool place called Conti's Italian Market. I had a nice Priscuitto and Mozarella sandwich and a canolli that was awesome! I strongly recommend anyone that likes the feel of nice old Italian market to go and check it out. It's just down Person street between Governor's Square Condos and Krispy Kreme.

[capitalapts]

I was just  near that area yesterday, but did see what you are speaking of.  But...

... slightly off topic, in that same area on Person St., there is a cool place called Conti's Italian Market.  I had a nice Priscuitto and Mozarella sandwich and a canolli that was awesome!  I strongly recommend anyone that likes the feel of nice old Italian market to go and check it out.  It's just down Person street between Governor's Square Condos and Krispy Kreme.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are they open for lunch, Chief? I pass by there frequently, and it's a charming little shop.

It would be great to have a quality cafe in that strip, that would help cataylze Blount. St.'s revitalization nicely.

[ChiefJoJo]

Are they open for lunch, Chief?  I pass by there frequently, and it's a charming little shop.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes! I ate lunch there on Wednesday. They have pizza and deli sandwiches in the back and Canolli in the front. The owner (Conti?) is a really personable guy, and he said that his grocery biz is not doing so well. I thought that was a shame as there are no other little markets like Conti's that I can think of. He's got a bunch of Italian wines as well.

[foodpainter]

Here's an article in today's N & O about the future redevelopment of Blount Street. Three groups have made bids to purchase the 21 acres around the Gov. Mansion.

These houses along Blount are amazing, although so many badly need repair. If the houses are turned back into private residences, fixed up and landscaped, it will be a beautiful street.

I can't wait to see what happens with this project.

N & O Article- Blount Street

[orulz]

I can't wait to see what happens with this project.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm looking forward to this one too. Not a whole lot to talk about yet, though, because all the negotiations are happening behind closed doors.

On an unrelated note but with a similar project, does anyone know when LandDesign's report about possible uses for the Dix campus is going to be complete? I'm looking forward to that one too.

[ericurbanite]

Good news, finally we have a developer the state settled on for Blount Street redevelopment. I think alot of people in the nc triangle forum kind of forget about the redevlopment of this or dont have it in the front of there mind. There is no concrete plans for exactly what is going to be developed but for more information here is a link to the story from the n and o.

State makes pick for Blount Street

"Sherman said LNR's plans aren't solid yet, but they're likely to include condominiums, townhouses and single-family homes in the style of the historic houses that are to be restored. Most of those homes now contain state offices."

[orulz]

I'm really looking forward to seeing specifically what this developer has in mind for the Blount Street area. Browsing some of the general documents from the workshops, here are a few of my impressions:

I like the idea of a north-south alley one block away from Blount Street. Walking around in the area, I sort of wondered whether it would be possible to make an effective transition from the large homes fronting Blount to the large office buildings on Wilmington, but it seems that this will do the job quite well.

I also like the idea of converting Blount St and Person St to two-way traffic. Handling the traffic at the north/south ends when the current one-way pair tuns into Wake Forest and Hammond might be an issue. Maybe all the through traffic should be routed onto a four-lane Person St? I dunno. I'm sure the traffic engineers can handle it.

It seems that at the workshops people mentioned wanting bike paths to two places: the TTA station, and to Krispy Kreme. These people know their priorities.

[ChiefJoJo]

Interesting to note some history I didn't know:

The Blount St Neighborhood was nearly bordered by a freeway project!

This plan envisioned a modernist [state govt.] complex in place of the old nineteenth- and early-twentieth century Blount Street neighborhood that was planned to be bracketed by a north-south expressway through the Oakwood neighborhood. The state began aggressively acquiring houses in the area beginning in 1969, and several were taken down and replaced by surface parking. At the same time, a citizen movement to stop to proposed expressway coalesced in Oakwood, and with that, a drive to have the neighborhood designated as a local historic district. These efforts met with success: in 1975 the Raleigh City Council designated Oakwood as the city's first historic district (the second such designation in the state), and later the proposed expressway was removed from transportation improvement plan maps.

link

I didn't realize that this was the reason the state had aquired so much of the land in the neighborhood. Pretty amazing, huh?

[JunktionFET]

For better or worse, the freeway probably would've led to a much more active downtown today. Regardless of the principles involved, downtown would be much more marketable with a high capacity transportation corridor slicing through it with easy access to an interstate.

After helping a contractor friend of mine over the summer a few years back, I really don't care much at all for old southern homes. Personally I would rather have the freeway due to the economic impact it would've had on the core today--30 years later.

[ericurbanite]

i was going to post something similar to what you just said. I think it would have made more of an imapct having an expressway going through the city. But i guess citizens of yesteryear and now are about the same, anything taking away from a historic community or a park (dorthea dix) will get rejected because of development.

[jlblaes]

The lack of a limited access highway that connects to downtown will have a significant negative impact on the long term growth of downtown. There really aren't any options at this point in terms of right away and we know that there is no moola for this anyways.

I am having a hard time thinking of a major city that does not have highway access to its downtown business core (Charlotte, Richmond, Norfolk, DC, etc.).

[ChiefJoJo]

For better or worse, the freeway probably would've led to a much more active downtown today.

The Durham Freeway has been there for over 30 years, and DT Durham has just begun to be reinvigorated. A freeway can help, but there's no guarantee.

Raleigh has only been much of a city in the last 20-30 years, so it missed out on much of the freeway growth that occured previous to that time in larger urban areas (Richmond, Winston-Salem, etc.). After 1970 or so, it became much more difficult to build urban freeways due to federal environmental law.

[orulz]

Lest we should forget that downtown Raleigh does essentially have a freeway linking it with the beltline: Capital Blvd. There are also plans to further limit access on Western Blvd by grade separating its worst intersection at Avent Ferry Road. I don't deny that your statement about downtown freeways might be true, but I think it's a sad state of affairs when people consider downtown to be inaccessible when they have to go through a total of four stoplights to get there. The out-of-towner looking at a road atlas doesn't know that, but it's just indicitive of the American freeway mentality that if it's not within a mile of a road with a blue shield then it's "too hard to get to."

I'm not sure about the east side of town, but S. Saunders St/Dawson/Mcdowell, Capital Blvd, Wade Avenue, Wake Forest Rd... they all whisk you downtown from the Beltline in very short order. Improvements are needed on Western Blvd but I say that should be enough.

[jlblaes]

Lest we should forget that downtown Raleigh does essentially have a freeway linking it with the beltline: Capital Blvd. There are also plans to further limit access on Western Blvd by grade separating its worst intersection at Avent Ferry Road. I don't deny that your statement about downtown freeways might be true, but I think it's a sad state of affairs when people consider downtown to be inaccessible when they have to go through a total of four stoplights to get there. The out-of-towner looking at a road atlas doesn't know that, but it's just indicitive of the American freeway mentality that if it's not within a mile of a road with a blue shield then it's "too hard to get to."

I'm not sure about the east side of town, but S. Saunders St/Dawson/Mcdowell, Capital Blvd, Wade Avenue, Wake Forest Rd... they all whisk you downtown from the Beltline in very short order. Improvements are needed on Western Blvd but I say that should be enough.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd agree that Wade,S. Saunders St/Dawson/Mcdowell, Capital Blvd, Wade Avenue, Wake Forest Rd... they all whisk you downtown from the Beltline in very short order. But when I invite my fmaily from Richmond down to DT Raleigh, sending them down US1/Capital is an underwhleming experience for them. I would also agree with the freeway culture/mentality comment but getting access to DT Raleigh from the north (outside the beltline) is easy or pretty.

JB