Investors see downtown Raleigh parking lots as key opportunities for future high-rises
Some parking lots in downtown Raleigh might look like plain old asphalt, but for investors, they’re golden opportunities.
For local real estate investment firm CityPlat and Maryland-based Modalia Capital, that opportunity is a 0.2-acre vacant lot on 504 Hillsborough St., just past the bridge intersecting with Glenwood Avenue.
The two investment partners paid $700,000 for the land, which is currently zoned for building up to 12 stories.
“We intend to go vertical at some point in time, whether that’s a hotel or a condo, or a small multifamily [apartment tower] ... something that will complement the area,” said Pat Moore, principal at CityPlat. “In a couple of years that area is going to be drastically different.”
Just a block away, the Raleigh Crossing 20-story office high-rise at 301 Hillsborough St., is slated to be completed by the end of this year. On another nearby block, a second 10-story tower is in progress next to the existing One Glenwood office tower.
Moore said the decision for the future development on the site at 504 Hillsborough St., will be determined by the real estate demand in the next couple of years. CityPlat is continuing to eye downtown parcels and remains optimistic about commercial real estate rebounding from the pandemic.
“We’ll see what happens when we get there,” he said.
Plans will be announced soon, however, for a venue that will be built on the property that has been under discussion with CityPlat, Modalia Capital and unidentified stakeholder. Moore said details for the venue haven’t been made public yet.
The two investors recently spent $1.5 million for another parking lot in a prime spot at 701 Glenwood Ave., intersecting with Peace Street in the heart of the entertainment district of Glenwood South. The lot currently houses the Peace Street Inspections auto repair shop, but the owners plan to eventually redevelop the site, according to the Triangle Business Journal.
More downtown lot opportunities
The downtown parking lot rush has been underway for some time, and other developers have plans for them in Raleigh.
Highwoods Properties, one of the main real estate firms in Raleigh, filed a rezoning request last fall to build up to 40 stories on a vacant lot in the Warehouse District at 321 West Hargett St. It paid $2.25 million for the land in April, according to county records.
Virginia developer Capital Square is seeking to rezone a 1.32-acre lot with a church and a small decrepit building to build up to 20 stories for a mixed-use development at 320 West South St., in the southern part of downtown Raleigh, The News & Observer reported previously.
Capital Square bought the property in April for $4.2 million, county records show.
The owners of a downtown parking lot at 220 East Morgan St., on the corner of East Morgan and South Person streets, filed a rezoning request with the city to build a 20-story high-rise. The request doesn’t specify what development it will build.
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 7:45 AM.
