Raleigh City Council casts critical vote on Downtown South
Raleigh city leaders agreed this week to rezone the future Downtown South site, securing a key step the developers say they needed to keep the $2.2 billion project viable.
And they voted again Thursday to make sure it counts.
The City Council’s 7-1 decision came after more than two hours of public comments Tuesday night and competing press conferences the day before. Council member David Cox cast the lone vote against the rezoning.
“This is about humanity and who we are as a city,” Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said. “And southeast Raleigh, there have been a lot of promises made but not a lot of promises kept. ... This is an opportunity for jobs, an opportunity for investment in the community. I have heard from southeast Raleigh and southwest Raleigh for 10 years that they want to see investment in their community.”
The City Council voted a second time because the city clerk received written comments after the public hearing ended. The second meeting was at 1 p.m. Thursday and the vote remained the same.
The developers want to transform 140 acres near South Saunders Street, Interstate 40 and South Wilmington Street into a new southern entryway into downtown. There would be housing, stores, restaurants and hotels, all anchored by a massive sports and entertainment stadium.
John Kane, of Kane Realty Corp., and Steve Malik, owner of the North Carolina Courage and North Carolina FC, have said they need the rezoning by year’s end to close on the property. A representative for them said Tuesday night there are other offers on the property.
“Is this project perfect? I’m going to go ahead and tell you it’s not,” said Council member Corey Branch. “If we wait for a perfect project, as some of the elders would say, we would say, ‘We will be waiting until the roosters come home.’”
But southeast Raleigh has pleaded for increased investment, and Raleigh can’t wait on this opportunity, he said.
Cox said he objected to this “rushed” meeting and believed the vote is the start of the council’s due diligence and not the end.
“The Downtown South project could very well be a good project for Raleigh and southeast Raleigh, in particular,” he said. “But so many of Raleigh’s citizens have come forward with concerns. We as a council need to take the time to openly and transparently consider these issues and work with citizens and developers to resolve them.”
Tuesday’s decision came one week after the city’s Planning Commission voted unanimously not to recommend the rezoning.
The proposal
The rezoning allows up to 40 stories to be built on the property, though some areas are limited to five, 12 and 20 stories. There would be a maximum of 16,700 residential units, 12 million square feet of office space and nearly 1 million square feet of retail on the site.
The maximum square footage across the project is nearly 21.5 million on the roughly 140 acres, however, it’s unlikely the maximum would be reached, according to the developers.
Downtown South would need additional changes to address “development intensity and impacts” and transportation, add more public benefits and community involvement in the project, according to the planning commission’s recommendation to deny the rezoning.
Representatives from Kane Realty and Downtown South partners spent about 30 minutes outlining the vision for Downtown South while also trying to clear up what they called “misconceptions” about the project.
“We have a vision for a mission-led district,” said Josie Reeves, director of design for Kane Realty. “One that is inclusive and reflective of the values of us all.”
The project has the power to bring much-needed community benefits to the southern part of Raleigh, said Bridget Wall-Lennon, one of the consultants brought onto the project to recruit minority and women-owned businesses.
“To be quite honest, my thinking as it relates to this project is to create room at the table for others to bring the chair to the table,” she said. “And when the table gets full, for us to create another table.”
LeVelle Moton, co-founder of Raleigh Raised Development and head men’s basketball coach at North Carolina Central University, said gentrification and affordable housing aren’t the biggest problems facing southeast Raleigh. It’s not owning the land and homes in the area.
Raleigh Raised Development will work with Downtown South to recruit local, minority-owned businesses to participate in the development, including contracts and construction.
Moton said someone questioned him about whether he was “on the right side of history” on this project. He shared his response.
“I’m on the right side because I was on the inside of it,” he said. “Long before anyone thought this was fancy and a trending topic. I was here when this area was filled with crack cocaine. And not a soul gave a darn about investing or cared about anyone’s feelings or emotions back in this community.”
Project misconceptions
Bonner Gaylord, Managing Director of Operations for Kane Realty, outlined the misconceptions the company has heard from opponents throughout the development process. He said the process has not moved too fast, saying a downtown stadium was first pitched in 2008. This particular site has been discussed since 2019 with neighborhood meetings and numerous Planning Commission meetings, said Gaylord, a former Raleigh City Council member.
Several opponents wanted Kane and the developers to engage in a community-benefit agreement with an unidentified community organization, he said. It’s not a “workable solution,” Gaylord said, when a tax increment grant with the city is a viable solution.
Tuesday’s vote is unrelated to the developers’ request for a tax increment grant, financing that they say they need to provide community benefits like affordable housing, green stormwater infrastructure and the stadium itself.
Developers would cover the upfront costs of the community benefits and would receive a portion of the increased property taxes back over a certain period of time.
While tax increment grants have been used in other cities, such as Charlotte, it would be a first for the city of Raleigh. Raleigh has agreed to create a policy regarding tax increment grants and has begun preliminary negotiations with Kane.
Community concerns
Several speakers repeated concerns that have been voiced in recent months, including that the project would gentrify the area; not have enough affordable housing; and that there would be too much stormwater runoff. They also said they were concerned about the lack of community engagement during the rezoning process.
Some said they would support the Downtown South project as it was presented, but not enough was included in the rezoning application.
“Read the application,” said Bob Geary, a former planning commissioner. “Consider that all the best things you’ve heard about it tonight are not in it. And ask yourself why.”
Lucy Laffitte, who lives near the project site, shared those concerns.
“I’m concerned we heard a lot of lip service tonight,” she said. “I thoroughly enjoyed the pictures that were being painted, but there is no way to hold these people’s feet to the fire if you approve it tonight. I think you need more time.”
Suzy Hooker lives less than a mile from where the stadium would be in what she called one of the “last affordable neighborhoods” in Raleigh. She said now is not the time — in the middle of a pandemic — for the city to be pursuing a stadium that will bring “crime and traffic” in exchange for “low-wage seasonal jobs.”
Skillet Gilmore lives within walking distance of Downtown South.
“Neighborhoods will be destroyed or gentrified,” he said. “Meanwhile Kane’s offer of affordable housing would be considered laughable if they weren’t so cruel. All this and he wants us to pay for it.”
Others lamented the pace of the rezoning and that Kane’s deadline should not be the city’s problem.
“John Kane needs to stop bullying the city of Raleigh with unreasonable demands and artificial (deadlines) and to come back with a more detailed plan,” said Richard Johnson. “If not, there are plenty of other responsible developers ready to take advantage of this opportunity zone.”
Gaylord was asked to respond to the comments made by opponents at the end of the public hearing.
“What you have heard tonight from our opponents is a series of misinformation, misunderstandings, conspiracy theories and personal attacks which I won’t address,” he said. “…Please move this project forward and allow this diverse group of businesses and community leaders and neighbors to create a project for south Raleigh, by south Raleigh.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 11:04 PM with the headline "Raleigh City Council casts critical vote on Downtown South."
