Neighborhood group plans to sue Raleigh over rezoning for downtown high-rise
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Neighborhood group threatens lawsuit after Raleigh council approves 27-story rezoning.
- Residents claim council erred procedurally, citing absence of an evidentiary hearing.
- Letter alleges spot-zoning and seeks records; residents probe possible council conflicts.
Residents of the Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood are threatening to sue the city of Raleigh over a planned high-rise development near their neighborhood.
The Raleigh City Council voted 6-2 on Oct. 27 to rezone 2.6 acres at the intersection of Peace and West streets, The News & Observer previously reported. The rezoning allows for a building up to 27 stories tall near the historic Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood, located on the edge of Raleigh’s downtown.
The public hearing for the rezoning drew 30 speakers, many of whom expressed concerns about the shade and glare the building’s height could create. They also argued that the project was inconsistent with the city’s zoning guidance.
On Nov. 24, The Brough Law Firm sent a letter to the city and the developer, Raleigh Development Co. (RDC), on behalf of Glenwood-Brooklyn residents listing their demands and providing a litigation hold notice — a notice to preserve relevant records for when litigation begins.
The neighborhood group explained its main points of concern in a Nov. 30 post on the blog Livable Raleigh. The group argued that a building that size would completely replace the eastern horizon residents see when they stand at the end of Glenwood-Brooklyn.
The group argues the city has rules to ensure transitions from the taller, denser downtown area to surrounding neighborhoods, but that the City Council ignored these principles.
“We understand that these parcels will inevitably be developed,” the group wrote. “We simply want to make sure that it is reasonably designed to mitigate its impacts on our homes and neighborhood and more reasonably balances our interests with the developer’s.”
In the letter sent by the law firm, the residents — Roy Attride, Connie Upchurch and David Knight — argue that the City Council’s granting RDC’s special waiver for rezoning was a quasi-judicial decision, but that the waiver was granted “without a properly conducted quasi-judicial evidentiary hearing and was not based on competent, material and substantial evidence present in the record.”
Alternatively, if the process for special waiver requests is a legislative decision, the residents argue RDC’s presentation to the council did not identify any material change in circumstances that would have affected the council’s decision-making.
RDC made a similar rezoning request in 2023, but the City Council denied it 6-2, The N&O previously reported. The request was for up to 30 stories with no contribution to the city’s affordable housing fund. The approved request contributed $1.2 million to the fund.
The residents argued in the letter that the approved request was materially identical to the one from 2023. They also argued the rezoning approval was illegal spot zoning — that is, RDC has no reasonable basis for not adhering to the height restrictions that other buildings near the parcel must abide by.
The letter also stated the residents were investigating council members’ potential conflicts of interests, alleging some members may have had close business or other ties with RDC — though the letter did not provide any evidence of conflicts of interests.
On Friday, Raleigh Public Information Officer Julia Milstead said the city can’t speak to pending or active lawsuits.
This story was originally published December 5, 2025 at 3:27 PM.
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