Raleigh approves potential 40-story downtown high-rise across from Nash Square
A high-rise up to 40 stories tall could be built across from Nash Square in downtown after the Raleigh City Council unanimously approved a rezoning request Tuesday.
The City Council held a public hearing on the request to redevelop the former location of The News & Observer across from the downtown park.
“The developers understand how prominent this location is and how important it is to downtown and the city of Raleigh, adjacent to Nash Square and the history with The News & Observer,” said Mack Paul, the attorney representing the owners, California-based Acquisition Group, during the rezoning.
The team is committed to “high design” and has a strong local team working on the project, he said.
Developers can build up to 40 stories, with up to 2,425 residential units, 1.4 million square feet of office space and 70,000 square feet of retail. Those are maximum amounts, not necessarily what will actually be built.
“The plan still contemplates multifamily, like rental multifamily, for-sale condominiums, office, hotel, with a substantial amount of retail at the ground level,” Paul said. “So that’s been consistent through all the various evolution of plans.”
The original plan for the newspaper’s former home called for a 20-story tower overlooking the park as part of The Nexus project. It also included a 19-story office tower and two other buildings for a hotel and apartments. The plan called for 248 apartments, 106 condos and nearly 300,000 square feet of office space.
A site plan was submitted, but plans were put on hold at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The additional height in the plan approved Tuesday gives the developers more flexibility, Paul said.
“It gives you more variability of heights and innovation,” he said, adding the design variation gives developers maximum ground levels that are more pedestrian-friendly.
Acquisition Group bought the property, bound by Hargett, Salisbury, Martin and McDowell streets, in 2017 for $22 million.
The building on the property has been vacant since 2018 when The N&O moved its newsroom and other offices into One City Plaza on Fayetteville Street.
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 12:37 PM.
