Down along the broad new sidewalks of Raleigh's reborn Fayetteville Street, entrepreneurs and preservationists are restoring century-old storefronts in vibrant colors, decorative facades and historic textures.

Like others scattered throughout downtown, the reincarnated cast-offs, standing as thick as seven abreast along Fayetteville Street's 200 block, are helping to revive the city's forlorn heart -- one costly, painstaking renovation at a time.

"When you looked at this block 10 years go, it was primarily vacant, and half the block had false facades," said Myrick Howard, president of Preservation North Carolina, whose headquarters is in the 1874 Briggs Building, which anchors the stretch. "It has turned into a very cool block. It will wind up in a lot of brochures about Raleigh, because it has a very interesting, late 19th-century/early 20th-century streetscape."

Downtown boosters already tout the low-rise revival, which is expected to intensify this year with the completion of several more renovations.

"While most of the focus is on the tall new buildings, there's just as much excitement around the restoration of neat old buildings that remind us of where we came from," said David Diaz, president of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. "Fayetteville Street is our Main Street. That's where we need a soul, a sense of place, and more economic activity."

And greater incentives to renovate, the street's risk-takers say.

Procedures often cumbersome

Building owners, contractors and preservationists say Raleigh's building code and permit procedures for restorations remain too cumbersome, despite improvements in recent years. As a result, they say, renovations can take years and cost hundreds of thousands of extra dollars.

Take the future Mahler Gallery, a pending rehabilitation of part of the old McCrory's discount store in Fayetteville Street's 200 block.

Rebuilding its ornate, lopped-off cornice was the easy part. The owners, including real estate broker Carter Worthy and builder Greg Paul, have been trying for two years to get all the necessary permits to start work inside.

"It's a struggle to get historic buildings back in play," Worthy said. "New building codes are not a good match with old buildings. It takes a long time to get things done, which is frustrating."

Worthy, Paul and gallery owner Rory Parnell hope to open the Mahler building later this year. When it reopens, its uses will be the same as in the 1880s: a shop at street level, an office (Worthy's) on the second floor, and apartments on the third floor.

Preservation North Carolina and the A.J. Fletcher Foundation endured even greater tribulation a decade ago when they renovated the Briggs Building, a landmark former hardware store.

In the end, Howard said, the groups spent $500,000 more than they should have had to -- and the building wound up with redundant fire sprinklers.

"I tell people half-jokingly that if we ever have a fire, you will drown before you burn," he said.

To speed the process, Howard said, the city should establish an inspections permit team specializing in historic renovations.

Larry Strickland, the city's inspections director, said his staff is working toward that.

"We try to use the same inspectors with rehab projects," he said. "Some people are better at the rehab code than others. And rehab work is complicated. We still have a ways to go. It's a learning curve for everybody."

Mayor Charles Meeker, who led the push to reopen Fayetteville Street to cars, said he welcomes proposals for improvement.

"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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