North Hills’ next 28 acres: Kane Realty lays out its biggest expansion yet
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- Kane Realty plans a 28-acre expansion of the North Hills Innovation District.
- The project will add more than 1,200 homes, including the 20-story Vesper tower.
- Kane bought the land in January for $72 million and will demolish The Pointe at Midtown.
A major expansion is coming to the eastern edge of Raleigh’s North Hills Innovation District, where Kane Realty plans to turn 28 acres along Navaho Drive into a dense mix of towers, trails and more than 1,200 new homes.
Early plans unveiled this week include two new apartment buildings at 901 Navaho Drive: Veranda, a 207-unit project with 55-plus housing; and Merit, a seven-story building with 387 apartments and ground-floor retail.
The Raleigh-based firm has filed site plans for both.
Also in the pipeline: a separate 20-story tower called Vesper, which will add another 357 homes and a 20th-floor rooftop deck and pool; and a 200-plus room hotel with a rooftop bar, new retail spaces and outdoor gathering areas.
The firm is partnering with Los Angeles-based McCourt Partners for “the next era of NHID.”
“The vision has always been about creating a place where people can work, live, gather and connect in meaningful ways,” said Warner Kuppin, Kane Realty’s chief development officer, in a press release.
“This next phase allows us to extend that vision.”
The expansion covers land Kane and McCourt acquired in January between Navaho Drive and I-440 for $72 million.
It includes The Pointe at Midtown, a 365-unit community, and the 115,413-square-foot Grove Towers office building, both of which the firm says it will demolish to make way for the expansion. Zoning rules require the developer to give current tenants 60 days’ written notice before ending their leases.
In the meantime, Kane said it has begun conceptual planning for North Hills’ next office tower — only the second of its kind in the district and the sixth office tower at North Hills overall.
The company argues the project is justified by continued demand for high-end workspace, pointing to the strong performance of recent buildings. One North Hills Tower, which opened in 2024, was fully leased by the end of 2025, and overall vacancy across North Hills remains low.
“We see a clear opportunity to meet continued demand for well-located, premier office space that supports workplace culture, productivity, collaboration and access to lifestyle amenities,” said Hooker Manning, Kane’s director of office leasing.
In late 2020, Kane first unveiled ambitious expansion plans for a 33-acre development within Raleigh’s Midtown.
Since then, the firm has delivered a handful of projects. Among them: Vine Apartments in 2020, Channel House Apartments in 2021, Tower 5 and St. Albans Lofts in 2025.
Most recently the firm broke ground on Tributary, a 332-unit apartment project with ground-floor retail, just south of St. Albans Drive.
New retail openings — including Benchwarmers Bagels, Standard and InTown Golf Club — are expected later this year.
Separately, Kane Realty said it’s collaborating with the city to ensure tie-ins with future greenway extensions, a planned multi-modal bridge across I-440, and expanded bike infrastructure.
