Neighbors vow fight to save historic Seaboard Train Station from possible demolition
The new owners of a sliver of land at Seaboard Station want the city’s OK to build up to 20 stories where the Seaboard Train Station now stands.
But neighbors and history buffs say they will put up a fight if the historic depot isn’t preserved.
“It would be tragic for it to be torn down and replaced by one more box with no soul,” said Matthew Brown, who lives in nearby Oakwood.
“No, this fine building should be the centerpiece of the new development. It would distinguish this development from so many others that are just collections of cheap boxes,” Brown said. “The Seaboard Station is beloved by many thousands of Raleighites who would despise any development that entailed its demolition. We certainly will oppose any rezoning that does not include saving this cherished landmark.”
Land sold in December
Logan’s Garden Shop has called the Seaboard Train Station home for the last 30 years, before the brother-and-sister owners sold the property in December 2021. New York-based Turnbridge Equities bought the nearly three acres on the northern part of downtown for $8.5 million.
The sale lets the garden retailer remain on-site a few more years while they find another location, The News & Observer previously reported. But a rezoning request to build up to 20 stories on the property was submitted in January.
The land runs along the railroad line from West Peace Street to nearly the end of Semart Drive. To the east are William Peace University, the Raleigh Housing Authority office and Mordecai neighborhood and to the west is Capital Boulevard and future Devereux Meadows park.
The future of the train station, which opened in 1942, was the sticking point for many residents during a virtual Mordecai Citizen Advisory Council (CAC) meeting Tuesday night. While CACs were disbanded by the Raleigh City Council, some like the Mordecai group have continued to meet without city funding.
The new development would include more than 750,000 square feet, more than 700 apartments and 920 parking spots, according to the presentation made Tuesday night to community members.
A 12-story parking garage is shown where the Seaboard Train Station currently sits in the conceptual drawings.
Honoring history
Gaston Williams, chair of the Raleigh Historic Development Commission, called the train station’s historical significant profound.
”Men and women went to war from Seaboard Station,” he said. “Rather than destroy history, let’s find a way to honor it and save it. It’s not going to be easy. We hope that the developers and architects will find a way to incorporate the Seaboard Station as a feature in the larger development and not just the former location on which you build a parking lot.”
Tina Govan, an architect who has lived in Mordecai for the last 30 years, urged the developers to preserve the train station, adding it will become a tourist attraction.
“I’ve seen developers flock here to make money and take advantage of the hot market,” she said. “Generally, it’s hard to tell one developer from the other. They scrape their sites clean and build everything from scratch, because that’s the easy thing to do. Wipe it out and build it up. And in the process, Raleigh becomes ‘nowheresville.’”
Addressing the neighbors’ concern, Jamie Schwedeler, an attorney representing the developers during the rezoning, said it wasn’t accurate to say the plan is to demolish the station.
“I don’t think it’s accurate to say that the plans absolutely are going to demolish the entire station and we’re not entertaining any other options,” Schwedler said. “We’re here to listen. We’re trying to do that tonight and explore what those options could be. But as we came into the meeting, that is the conceptual plan that we’ve developed at this point.”
Booming area
The larger portion of Seaboard Station was purchased by Hoffman & Associates in 2018 from Peace in 2018. The $300 million development will include more than 130,000 square feet of retail and up to 650 new apartments, The N&O previously reported.
But that property is only zoned for up to seven stories.
“With the changes that are occurring within Seaboard Station and the area around it, we were approached by the Logans and viewed this as an opportunity to define the edge of the next generation of Seaboard station and create a backdrop for what Hoffman and others are building now,” said Jason Davis, managing director of Turnbridge.
Across Peace Street at the intersection of Capital Boulevard the buildings can be much higher, up to 40 stories.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 10:19 AM.
