First look inside Raleigh’s newest high-rise with rooftop lounge and pool
A new 20-story tower has replaced a vacant building and parking lot in Raleigh’s Warehouse District.
Maeve, a 297-unit glossy-white building at 319 W. Lenoir St., officially opened last week, across the street from the Red Hat Amphitheater.
Amid a post-pandemic construction boom, it’s part of a recent wave of apartment deliveries, flooding the market with new Class A inventory and driving up vacancies. It’s also transforming this once-neglected corner south of the city’s core near historic Boylan Heights and Dorothea Dix Park.
Virginia-based Capital Square offered a first peek inside. Among its features: 20-foot-high lobby ceilings, mid-century lighting and low-profile sofas, more reminiscent of a high-end resort than a rental property.
“This marks a significant step in the ongoing transformation of the Warehouse District,” said Whitson Huffman, Capital Square’s co-chief executive officer.
Maeve offers a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, ranging from 1,240 to 3,451 square feet.
It also boasts 30,000 square feet of amenities — including a golf simulator, pet spa, 24-hour fitness center, private work pods, “resort-style” pool and rooftop lounge — and a multilevel parking garage for residents.
Prices start at around $1,695 and go over $4,400. Another 10,000 square feet of street-level retail is also available for leasing.
Greystar is the property manager and York Properties is serving as the leasing agent for the retail spaces.
An opportunity zone
The $100 million project is in an “opportunity zone.”
Created as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, it offers tax incentives for investors who reinvest their unrealized capital gains into what are designated “low-income” urban tracts like Maeve’s.
In 2021, Capital Square acquired the 1.1-acre site for $3.5 million and rezoned it for higher density a year later. The project is largely funded from its sixth qualified opportunity zone fund, CSRA Opportunity Zone Fund VI, LLC. — one of nine projects under the fund.
Despite the property’s challenging topography and its proximity to an electric substation across the street, Huffman said they felt confident.
“From our perspective, Raleigh is such a tremendous place to be investing,” Huffman said. “The day you put the shovel in the ground, you think, ‘Oh, maybe we’re right on the edge.’ And then, by the time you’re done, you feel like you’re in the center of it all.
“When you go up on the rooftop and look at what’s coming in, I certainly feel that way about this site,” he added.
Under legislation, taxes on the sale of Maeve will be forgiven after a 10-year holding period. “The fundamentals are super strong,” said Huffman.
Downtown Raleigh’s construction boom
Some 14 developments are under construction in downtown Raleigh, according to the Downtown Raleigh Alliance’s 2024 fourth-quarter report.
When completed, they will deliver 1,772 residential units, 11,200 square feet of renovated office space, and 56,134 square feet of retail space.
The influx of new housing has triggered move-in deals.
Like many new projects, Maeve is offering specials — like two months free rent — to attract tenants, but early leasing is strong, said Natalie Mason, Capital Square’s executive vice president, co-head of development.
“We’re seeing young professionals from their mid-20s to late 30s,” she said. “Some are moving from other downtown buildings. We’re also seeing quite a few people moving from out of state like D.C. and New York. It’s been diverse.”
In downtown Raleigh, the average asking rent per unit for is $1,767, down 3% from a year earlier, the report said.
The city’s stabilized apartment occupancy rate is 88.4%. (This doesn’t include recently completed developments still in their initial lease up.)
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This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
