Raleigh approves taller buildings at North Hills in split City Council vote
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Raleigh council approved rezoning 6-2 to allow buildings up to 37 stories.
- Opponents cited traffic and neighborhood impacts and protested at council chambers.
- New conditions cap total floor area near 3M sq ft and set units and use limits.
In a split vote, Raleigh leaders approved a controversial rezoning Tuesday that will allow buildings up to 37 stories tall in parts of North Hills.
The City Council voted 6 to 2, with Mayor Pro Tem Jane Harrison and council member Christina Jones voting no. This plan allows Kane Realty Corp., the developer of North Hills, to build taller buildings without increasing the density already allowed by-right on the property.
Opponents filled the Raleigh Municipal Building chamber, some holding handmade “No” signs and wearing red. After the vote, some booed and shouted “Shame.”
Opponents previously said they were concerned about traffic, especially along Six Forks Road, and the impact that taller buildings will have on surrounding neighborhoods. Several pointed to the 2020 Midtown-St. Albans Area Plan that said heights should not exceed 20 stories.
The city is in the middle of updating its comprehensive plan requiring significant funds and community input, Harrison said.
“So what concerns me ... is deviating from recent plans and then asking folks to come out to continue to support the development of new plans,” she said. “We are all up here with different calculations about whether the public benefits offered are sufficient to outweigh plan discrepancies. For me, they do not.”
Council weighs benefits
Council member Megan Patton, who voted for the rezoning, said the public benefits in the proposal, like money for a new fire station and a contribution to the city’s affordable housing fund, outweighed, the height concerns.
The Midtown plan, Patton noted, calls for a pedestrian bridge over the beltline, which would require federal funding.
“How do we get federal funding? We show that we’re doubling down on this area,” she said. “It calls for serious transit. How do we get more transit in this area? By showing there’s lots of people who live here, work here or go to things here.
“The Midtown plan calls for a waterfront district,” she added. “How do we pay for new parks and a new waterfront district? Through tax revenue.”
This was a challenging case, said council member Stormie Forte.
“If we say ‘no’ and they [build] by-right, we don’t get the additional funds for the fire department,” she said. “We don’t get the additional funds for affordable housing.
“But I will say we understand one of the biggest challenges is transportation in the area, and we got a lot of work to do,” Forte said. “So it’s not like we’re not going to continue trying to figure out solutions for traffic and things as it relates to Six Forks Road.”
Last year, despite a decade of planning and spending over $9 million, the city decided not to expand parts of Six Forks Road after significant cost increases.
How tall could new towers get?
Here’s how the specific parcels will change:
- Lassiter District Site, 0 Rowan St. and 4411 Six Forks Road, zoned for 5 stories, can now go up to 12 stories.
- Six Forks and Lassiter Site, 4220 Lassiter Mill Road and 4359 Six Forks Road, zoned for 12 stories, can now go up to 37 stories.
- Six Forks Sites, 4270 The Circle at North Hills Street, zoned for 12 stories, can now go up to 37 stories.
- Main District Expansion Phase 2 Site, 0 Lassiter Mill Road, zoned for 12 stories, can now go up to 20 stories.
The conditions also limit the maximum building footage to just under 3 million square feet, with a maximum of 2,521 dwelling units, 1.67 million square feet of office and medical uses and 263,465 square feet of commercial uses.
Kane Realty submitted two new conditions after the City Council public hearing, which ended Tuesday: Passenger vehicle access will be limited on Rowan Street and the developer will contribute toward affordable housing $40,000 per dwelling unit for 1% of approved units built on the property.
Kane Realty also agreed to increase its contribution to the Raleigh Fire Department from $400,000 to $500,000 in the proposed zoning.
This is the second time that Kane has sought to rezone these 11.4 acres. Kane Realty pulled the rezoning request in 2023 after the then council decided to put off a decision until after the 2022 municipal election, in which some candidates skeptical about the rezoning were elected.
That proposal included land for a new fire department and transit station.
During a required neighborhood meeting this summer, Kane, founder of Kane Realty, said this was the right time to try again.
“The City Council seems like it’s a better City Council for what we’re trying to do,” he said. “They are more pro-urban growth than maybe the prior council was, and the timing just seemed to be right for us.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 3:58 PM.
