City approves two projects

Raleigh backs student housing, shops

RALEIGH -- Two redevelopment projects in West Raleigh received the City Council's support last week despite concerns that they go against city land-use plans.

The council voted 6-2 to allow Capstone Development to build a private, 10-story apartment building and parking deck off Hillsborough Street for N.C. State University students.

The council voted 5-2 to approve Crescent Resources' request to rezone 2.7 acres at Clark Avenue and Oberlin Road in the Cameron Village shopping center to allow the construction of taller buildings for shops and homes.

The votes are a defeat for Councilmen Thomas Crowder and Russ Stephenson. Both opposed the proposed developments largely because the projects don't conform to their respective city "small area plans," which are meant to guide land uses.

Capstone's Stanhope Center tract is within the boundaries of the city's Stanhope Village Small Area Plan, a document that Stephenson, an architect, helped draft before he was elected to the City Council. The Crescent property is part of the city's Wade/Oberlin Small Area Plan.

Crowder, also an architect, said those guidelines were adopted after much consultation with nearby residents and property owners -- and should stick.

"It seems like the city is willing to throw them out the window at a moment's notice," Crowder said.

Crescent has yet to submit a site plan for its project, which will require City Council approval. The rezoning increases the height limit on any new building there from 50 feet to about 85 feet. It could include up to 28,000 square feet of shops and 232 apartments or condominiums.

Council members Nancy McFarlane and Rodger Koopman both said the global financial crisis influenced their decision to vote for the $85 million Stanhope Center project.

"I feel I have a real fiduciary responsibility to the city to make sure we have good development that would help the city as a whole," McFarlane said.

The Stanhope Center project will cover about three acres and will include 277 multifamily units and a six- to seven-story parking deck with 787 spaces. The parking deck is to go on the south side of Stanhope Avenue.

Before the council vote, Capstone agreed to make several changes to the site plan to address concerns of nearby homeowners. The changes include lowering the parking to two levels where it is closest to single-family homes.