Raleigh approves contentious rezoning for high-rise on downtown’s edge
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Raleigh City Council approved rezoning to allow up to 27 stories on 2.6 acres.
- Rezoning sets height caps, office cap, park buffer, plaza and $1.2M for housing fund.
- Council split 6-2 amid protests, petitions and critics citing neighborhood impact.
The Raleigh City Council approved a contentious rezoning Tuesday night to allow a project up to 27 stories tall along downtown’s northern edge.
More than 30 people signed up to speak during a public hearing to rezone 2.6 acres at the intersection of Peace and West streets. Supporters wore green, while opponents wore red, both sides filling the council chamber.
Council members voted 6-2 in favor of the rezoning with members Jane Harrison and Christina Jones voting against it.
“When I think about what is going to make the city great, we need a really resilient downtown,” Mayor Janet Cowell said. “We need more residences. And I value historic properties. I live in a historic home. I’ve saved Dix Park. I’ve renovated things. I value that, and I get that there will be some shadows.”
Cowell said supporters see the excitement and potential of this project, with new apartments bordering the future Smoky Hollow Park.
“This project reminds me when I went to Atlanta, and we saw the belt line, and we saw these buildings that were facing the greenways and leveraging off the creeks,” she said. “I mean, I think this is where Raleigh needs to go.”
Developer scales back height
Raleigh Development Co. owns the triangular wedge lot at the northeast corner of Peace and West streets.
The property was zoned for up to 12 stories and was made up of mostly one- and two-story businesses. While the original proposal sought up to 30 stories, the developer agreed to limit the height to 27 stories or 360 feet at the front of the property and 24 stories or a maximum of 240 feet in the back of the property, closest to the neighborhood.
Other zoning conditions include limiting office space to 500,000 square feet, prohibiting surface parking between the buildings and the side of the property that borders the future park and requiring an “urban plaza” along Peace Street.
The first floor will be a mix of retail and commercial, with market-rate apartments on the remaining floors.
The developer will also contribute $1.2 million to the city’s affordable housing fund over four payments based on the development.
Neighbors call plan inconsistent
Residents of the nearby, historic Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood have expressed concern about the height, including shade and potential glare from the buildings. They’ve argued the project is inconsistent with the city’s zoning guidance.
Harrison asked the council to delay its vote until members could dig deeper into some of those policies.
“What I asked for in this case is further consideration by my colleagues of the downtown edge and transition policies,” Harrison said. “I find them confusing.”
“I’ve had great discussions with Council member [Mitchell] Silver about how to interpret them,” she said. “I am curious from planning staff, how are they going to be incorporated into the update of our comprehensive plan? I do think that the concerns raised by my residents in District D, about whether this will be precedent setting for neighborhoods across downtown and near downtown, is worth discussion.”
This is the second time this property has been before city leaders. The same developers previously tried to rezone the property for up to 30 stories and without affordable housing funding. But city leaders handed out a rare denial.
Since then, the make-up of elected leaders on the board has changed.
This rezoning is “overwhelming, unjustified” and the developer is already able to build up to 12 stories, said Roy Attride, a Glenwood-Brooklyn resident who has led opposition to the rezoning.
“This type of height does not make sense,” he said. “The developer has already been upzoned once. They don’t deserve or need additional entitlement, especially at other people’s expense.”
He also highlighted a petition with more than 1,800 signatures against the rezoning.
The city’s comprehensive plan promised thoughtful transitions, including for historic neighborhoods, said Connie Upchurch, who said her Glenwood-Brooklyn home is the closest home to the proposed development.
“We have roots here,” she said. “We love this city. We love growth. My neighbors and I are not against growth. We want more apartments. We want affordable apartments, not $4,000 a month for a one-bedroom condo. That’s not affordable.”
“Growth is important,” she said. “But it needs purpose and a plan. It’s got to benefit everybody.”
Jennifer Truman spoke in favor of the rezoning and said supporters attending the public hearing included Glenwood South neighbors, downtown Raleigh residents and members of local chapters of Strong Towns, a nonprofit that promotes urban planning concepts.
“This site between West Street and the planned Smoky Hollow Park is exactly where apartments belong: in downtown, besides a new park, across the street from a grocery store, along a future bus rapid transit line,” Truman said. “When the city invests millions of dollars in infrastructure like parks and transit, we are collectively saying that this is where tall, mixed-use, dense development should go.”
While the city granted additional time for people to speak, not everyone who signed up to do so got a chance.
Former Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin’s husband, Jim Baldwin, was cut off as the time ran out shortly after he said he supports the rezoning.
This story was originally published October 7, 2025 at 8:33 PM.
