Developer wants to build towers up to 20 stories near Raleigh Beltline. How to weigh in
A massive retail property on Western Boulevard — once occupied by a Kmart store in its heyday — has sat mostly empty for almost a decade, an eyesore near Raleigh’s Beltline.
Now, developers want to redevelop the 12-acre site into a $500 million live-work-play “flagship destination.”
They’re seeking a rezoning to allow buildings up to 20 stories tall — but first, the city is asking for public input as required by law.
On March 19, it will hold a neighborhood meeting to discuss the proposed rezoning at N.C. State University’s McKimmon Conference Center, from 6 to 7 pm.
“Our goal is to gather comments,” said the city’s attorney Jason Barron with Raleigh-Based Morningstar Law Group, in the public notice. Alternatively, residents can submit written comments to the city’s Planning Department, which must be received “at least 10 days prior” to the case’s hearing.
Attorneys will then prepare a report for the Planning Commission, he said.
Cityplat recently bought the 118,000-square-foot property at 4500 Western Blvd. for $14 million, according to Wake County records. It’s about two miles west of N.C. State University at the Western Boulevard and Interstate 440 interchange.
The seller, Wilmington-based Jack A. Sneeden Corp., had owned the property since the late 1960s. In 2018, the Kmart store closed following the Sears bankruptcy. Kmart was a subsidiary of Sears.
The firm plans to build a mixed-use complex similar to Kane Realty’s North Hills’ Main District mixed-use expansion, Cityplat principal Vincenzo Verdino told The N&O in January.
Current zoning allows the developer to build up to five stories on the property. The rezoning would allow up to 20 stories. It would also include access to the planned bus rapid transit line, he said.
The project’s exact timeline remains unclear.
In the short term, Verdino said the firm will invest around $7 million to re-purpose the existing structure. That includes upgrades to the façade and landscaping, as well as utilities and parking. The firm will subdivide the building into 10,000- to 40,000-square-foot retail suites to attract a range of tenants — “anything from hospitality and retail to entertainment,” he said. Tenants are expected to move in “by the end of 2025.”
Over the years, the property had generated interest from investors but failed to secure a deal. Cityplat offered an “aggressive closing timeline,” and it closed earlier this year.
Cityplat is behind several developments scattered around the Triangle, including several in downtown Raleigh. It has an assemblage along Hillsborough Street and Bagwell Avenue ready for development, Triangle Business Journal reported.
The firm also has plans to redevelop the site of a failed seven-story mixed-use project at 2510 Hillsborough St. and the former Arby’s property at 3415 Hillsborough St. between N.C. State’s main campus and Meredith College.
On the Triangle’s outskirts, it’s developing a $140 million mixed-use project in Fuquay-Varina, TBJ reported.
