Raleigh’s Oberlin Village seeks protection as development looms

A plan for luxury condominiums has stirred lingering concerns about development in a Raleigh neighborhood that was established by freed slaves after the Civil War.

Neighbors who live in the Oberlin community of west Raleigh are skeptical of Kimberly Development Group’s plan to build condos at the corner of Oberlin Road and Van Dyke Avenue. They worry the development won’t fit in with the neighborhood, which is lined with smaller, bungalow-style homes with front porches.

Advocates for Oberlin Village are asking city leaders to designate the area, which spans Oberlin Road about a mile north between Clark and Wade avenues, as a historic district. Some residents and Friends of Oberlin Village, a local nonprofit, want to preserve 34 historic buildings, including a cemetery, a church and three homes.

“Oberlin Village needs to become a local historic district to retain its physical and cultural integrity, protect against unsympathetic alterations and unnecessary demolition, foster community pride and enhance property values,” said Karen Throckmorton, who addressed the Raleigh City Council last month on behalf of Friends of Oberlin Village. “Time is of the essence.”

About 100 people filled the council chambers in City Hall and asked the city to approve the district. The council asked residents to sign a new petition – they petitioned the city in 2015, but that version is now invalid – and come back with a report on the historical significance of the area.

The designation would protect structures with historic significance and enable the city and the Raleigh Historic Development Commission to assert greater influence over the aesthetic character of development.

The city and its residents have few legal mechanisms for regulating architectural design and aesthetics. The N.C. General Assembly changed state laws in 2015 to prevent local governments from regulating exterior building color, cladding material and other details.

It’s unclear what the new condominiums will look like. Signs attached to the fence in front of the project site do not accurately depict the plan, said Chad Stelmok, owner of Kimberly Development Group.

Stelmok said the company plans to soften the appearance of the three-story condo buildings by using a “brownstone” style similar to Hargett Place, which Hyde Street Holdings is building at the corner of Hargett and Bloodworth streets downtown.

The price of the units has also dropped, from up to $900,000 to between $600,000 and $800,000.

“This is a much bigger holistic view of what’s going on down there,” Stelmok said. “The styles are going to feel more residential than commercial.”

If Oberlin Village becomes a historic district, Stelmok’s project likely wouldn’t be affected because it already has approval from the city. But the project is a sign of big changes along the corridor, which leads to the Cameron Village shopping district.

Sabrina Goode, who leads Friends of Oberlin, says she is concerned about “bait and switches” – where the developer promises one thing and delivers another.

Goode’s great-great-grandfather helped establish the village in the 1800s and donated land for one of its two churches. She recalled the drama surrounding Coker Towers, a 15-acre “urban village” with seven-story buildings that developers proposed in 2001.

The project eventually transformed into the Oberlin Court apartments, which has a much smaller footprint. In the planning process, the developer told members of Goode’s church, Wilson Temple United Methodist, that they could use the building’s parking lot on Sundays.

“But then, when we parked there, we got warnings from the apartment complex,” Goode said.

Management told churchgoers they could park on the top floor of the parking deck, she said, “but that doesn’t help the elderly.”

News of tweaks to the plan for Kimberly Development Group’s condos resurrected deep-seeded feelings of mistrust, Goode said.

“I was sick to my stomach when I saw what’s on the construction fence, because that’s not what he showed us,” she said.

Crystal Bish, owner of The Community Deli at Oberlin and Van Dyke, said she’s not against development. The new project, like others that have come before it in the neighborhood, is bound to bring in more customers.

But Bish said she doesn’t want to see the neighborhood’s character or road safety sacrificed.

The developer is in talks with the city to potentially partner to build a traffic circle, also known as a roundabout, at the intersection of Oberlin and Van Dyke. It would cost a little more than $1.4 million.

“Something has to be done about the traffic. It’s terrible,” Bish said. “The condos will be good for business. But at the same time, I don’t know how $600,000 condos can blend in with the houses that face Oberlin.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2017 at 2:39 PM with the headline "Raleigh’s Oberlin Village seeks protection as development looms."