Not up to speed on Downtown South? What you need to know about the Raleigh project.
Downtown South, one of the city’s largest proposed developments, seems both rushed and long-awaited.
A stadium in southeast Raleigh was an idea pitched over a decade ago that today is racing toward a reality.
For the second time this week, the City Council voted to rezone the $2.2 billion project meant to transform the southern entrance to downtown Raleigh.
The 140-acre project — backed by John Kane, of Kane Realty Corp., and Steve Malik, owner of North Carolina Courage and North Carolina FC — would have offices, shopping, housing and hotels, anchored by a sports and entertainment stadium.
Didn’t the council already vote?
Yes. A second vote or “second reading” was required because the city clerk’s office received written comments from the public about the developers’ rezoning request after Tuesday night’s public hearing.
The N.C. General Assembly changed meeting rules this year in light of COVID-19 so that “written comments may be submitted at any time between the notice of the public hearing and 24 hours after the public hearing,” according to a blog post from the UNC School of Government.
The City Council prepared for that possibility by stating a second meeting might be required in its original meeting notice.
The second vote will took place during a virtual meeting at 1 p.m. Thursday. People can watch it on RTN; the city’s website, raleighnc.gov; or on the city’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/cityofraleigh/live.
Did the outcome change?
If the project is contentious, why was the council nearly unanimous?
Let’s go back to the not-so-distant past of October 2019.
Downtown South was a City Council election issue: Should public dollars pay for a stadium?
A majority of then-candidates/now council members supported using tourism revenue on the project, though some clarified it depended on the details. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison — tourism dollars are no longer on the table — but it gives some insight into how the council views the project.
The 2019 election was also a referendum on the previous council majority, which called itself “pro-neighborhood” and “smart growth.” (Opponents argue they were proponents of “slow or no growth.”) Incumbents lost their seats, and now the council majority has shifted, easing restrictions to encourage developers to build more housing.
Did the public get a chance to talk Thursday?
No, as the public hearing ended with each side getting an hour to argue its case. There was no discussion by the city council Thursday.
What about the people who spoke Tuesday?
More than 200 people signed up, most in favor of the rezoning. Not all the speakers in favor had time to speak, and some people called on, from both sides, missed the meeting or couldn’t connect to it online.
Some have questioned the number of speakers from outside Raleigh. According to the city’s list, 62 of the 167 people who signed up to speak for the project live outside the city limits — though a majority live elsewhere in Wake County. Three of the 42 speakers in opposition live outside the city limits.
How much public money is on the line now?
Right now, none.
However, Kane Realty has asked the city to negotiate a tax increment grant, a financing method the developers say they need to provide public amenities such as affordable housing, green stormwater infrastructure and the stadium.
If the TIG is approved, developers would pay the upfront costs for the community benefits and, after the property’s value increases, pay the taxes on it. They’d then get a portion of the property tax back for a set number of years to cover the cost of the amenities.
Raleigh has never issued a tax increment grant, but agreed to create a policy that could be presented to the council in January.
What happens if they don’t get public funding?
Developers have repeatedly said Downtown South is more than a stadium.
But it’s the stadium that will draw “eyeballs” and “dollars,” said Bonner Gaylord, managing director of operations for Kane Realty, during Tuesday’s public hearing.
“Without that entertainment and sports venue, everything else withers away,” he said. “So it’s in our best interest and it’s really necessary for us to have that (grant) to fulfill the vision of the project.”
So what happens if the council and eventually Wake County Board of Commissioners can’t agree on a tax increment grant?
“Without a stadium, the project would be much lower density,” Gaylord said Tuesday. “Likely have more surface parking. Less walkable, less everything. And it would not be the vision we have laid out and we believe the community deserves.”
If the stadium depends on public money, why vote on the rezoning now?
That’s one of the rezoning opponents’ key points.
Developers say the rezoning has to be in hand by the end of the year to close on the property.
“We have made efforts, multiple efforts, to amend that closing date that have been unsuccessful and the property owner has other offers,” Gaylord said.
What’s the downside of approving the rezoning?
Opponents say the rezoning conditions don’t do enough to protect surrounding neighborhoods from gentrification, stormwater runoff and increased traffic. Greater stipulations could be added during the tax increment grant negotiations, but that’s not guaranteed.
Others worry the land could be sold or the market demand for a project like Downtown South could change, leaving Raleigh with rezoned land and no project.
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 5:40 AM.
