Raleigh council clears way for 12-story projects, but 40-story tower will have to wait
Developers looking to change downtown Raleigh’s skyline had mixed success at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
The council approved rezonings for two projects, both in the Warehouse district, to allow buildings up to 12 stories.
But city leaders put off deciding whether to allow buildings up to 40 stories at the intersection of Peace Street and Capital Boulevard.
Here’s more about what happened in the three cases:
Peace and Capital
Kane Realty wants to build up to 40 stories at Peace Street and Capital Boulevard, near the future Publix grocery store, as part of its Smokey Hollow project. The Peace Street Tower would include hundreds of apartments and hundreds of thousands of square feet for office and retail, The News & Observer has reported.
At Kane’s request, the council sent the rezoning to the city’s growth and natural resources committee to hash out some members’ concerns about the building height, potential affordable housing and traffic impact.
As part of the rezoning, Kane has offered to give $1 million to the city’s affordable housing fund. That money would create more affordable units, for a longer period of time, than if affordable housing were included in The Peace Street Tower, said Bonner Gaylord, a former City Council member who represents Kane. The developer also agreed to a traffic-impact analysis, even though one isn’t required in the downtown area, to show he wants to address the city’s concerns, Gaylord said.
After a public hearing Tuesday night, council member Russ Stephenson said he still has questions and asked that the public hearing continue until the council’s next meeting Aug. 20. The council agreed.
“It does definitely delay us, but at the same time we are happy to provide council what they need in order to make the decision they need to make,” Gaylord said. “While it always costs a lot of time to slow it down, we want the City Council to feel good about this project.”
Martin Street
After city leaders raised questions about height and affordability earlier this year, the council agreed a West Martin Street project could be up to 12 stories.
The rezoning for the acre near Nash Square was requested by Steve Schuster and Thomas Sayre of Clearscapes.
The project would include retail, office, residential and public open space, though few details have been revealed and the council did not discuss its earlier concerns Tuesday.
As part of the rezoning approval, two historic, former warehouses would remain on the property, and the 12 stories would only be permitted on the current surface parking portion of the site.
Cabarrus, West and Harrington
Four Line LLC got approval to go from five to 12 stories at 401. W. Cabarrus St. The N&O has previously reported that the Cabarrus site could be a mix residential, a hotel or a combination. The property is near another Four Line endeavor, luxury condos at The Fairweather now under construction.
The land is split among three owners: Urban Ministries for Wake County, affordable housing organization CASA and Fairweather Properties LLC. The money from the sale of the property would support the missions of Urban Ministries and CASA, according to attorneys for the developers.
