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"Our effort should be to make the renovations easier, not harder, since they're so valuable," Meeker said. "People much prefer to go to an attractive building. Unlike many other cities with tacky storefronts made of bright lights and cheap materials, the renovations on Fayetteville Street are restoring their historic character."

Other recent 200-block redos include last year's opening of The Big Easy restaurant, a York Simpson Underwood real estate office and the restoration of Carolantic Realty's colorful upper facade.

Elsewhere downtown, developer Greg Hatem's Empire Properties has renovated more old commercial buildings than anyone else.

Two years ago Empire bought the Carolina Trust building on Fayetteville Street's 200 block (also part of the former McCrory's store), which it's restoring now. The basement features an old bank vault, while the upper floors include two light wells, wide spaces and original solid oak doors.

Soaring, airy spaces

Empire plans to put retail uses on the first floor, a bar in the basement, offices on the second and third floors, and an apartment on top, said Andrew Stewart, the company's president.

"It's a great building," he said. "It's a really special space upstairs. There's beautiful woodwork."

Walking into the renovated shops and offices you get an immediate sense of their historic scale and presence: expansive windows, exposed brick walls, plank floors, soaring ceilings and an airiness uncommon today.

"It's fabulous, unbelievable," said Barbara Goodmon, president of the Fletcher Foundation, which occupies the Briggs Building's third floor. "The space you work in affects the quality of the work you do and how you interact with other people. It's a great atmosphere to work in."

Paul, who is in charge of the Mahler building restoration and has worked on others nearby, said the renewals add immensely to downtown's appeal.

"We have so few buildings of that age that I think it's really important that they be preserved and brought back to life," he said. "We've got to have a little heritage and culture not only for ourselves but for people who come here to see that this is a cool place. It's a good investment for individuals and for the city."

Several more renovations are planned.

The Fletcher Foundation is poised to launch a restoration of the historic Boylan-Pearce Building, next to the Briggs Building. As with the other recent renovations, the work will restore the structure's original architecture while modernizing its wiring, plumbing and fire protection. "It's going to be good for Fayetteville Street, and by extension Raleigh and the whole state," Goodmon said. "We're excited."

And for everyone involved in the downtown restorations, that's precisely the point.

"We're all history buffs," Worthy said. "We like the idea of bringing downtown back to life. I can't wait to get down here."

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