New digs sought in Cary

Throw two more to the dogs. Landlords and developers in Cary are sure to be scrapping over the latest additions to a list of expanding tenants in the western Wake County town:

* Crescent State Bank is looking to at least double its offices in the next several years. Its offices and operations center take up 20,000 square feet in a couple High House Road buildings. The leases expire in a few years. Moving everybody under one roof would help efficiency. A little more elbow room won't hurt, either. "It's not unreasonable to expect that we would take down a minimum of 40,000 square feet," says chief executive Mike Carlton.

Where? That's another question. A decision could be months off.

If Crescent moves, it likely won't be far. "This is a Cary bank," Carlton says.

* Cary software firm SciQuest is also looking to at least double its space.

The company, which last month was named 2007 Growth Company of the Year by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, leases about 21,000 square feet at 6501 Weston Parkway. Unlike Crescent, the company may be considering offers outside Cary.

If they haven't already, Crescent and SciQuest will get plenty of attention from developers who are proposing at least 1.3 million square feet of offices in Cary -- among the most of any area in the Triangle. Cary's office vacancy rate was 9.7 percent at the end of the second quarter, down from 12.1 percent a year ago, according to Karnes Research.

Downtown Raleigh condo projects keep pushing along:

* Trammell Crow Residential and York Ventures paid Bradshaw Parking $4.2 million for a 1.73-acre parking lot at the northwest corner of Hargett and Dawson streets. The developers are using the lot to build Hue, a mix of 208 condominiums, 7,300 square feet of shops and a six-story, 300-space parking deck. Construction on the project is expected to wrap up in 2009.

* The City Council approved plans by York Properties to build 111 Seaboard, a four-story mix of 53 condos and 11,000 square feet of retail near Peace College. Construction, to begin this fall, will take about a year.

* Highwoods Properties converted non-binding reservations to hard contracts for all but two of the 139 condos it is building at RBC Plaza at Fayetteville and Martin streets. The move comes a year earlier than expected. The units, with an average price of about $417,000, will be finished late next year.