Raleigh OKs rezoning with a grocery, but will a store ever actually come?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Rezoned 54 acres; up to 450 units now, 625 if grocery plan approved.
- Neighbors warn approval may not deliver a store and higher density strains infrastructure.
- Developers: 450 units and 75,000 sq ft nonresidential allowed until grocery plan approved.
Residents of southeast Raleigh want a grocery store, but despite the City Council approving a rezoning that requires plans for one, it’s still unclear if it will happen.
The City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to rezone about 54 acres in the heart of southeast Raleigh to allow for more dense housing.
Dozens of neighbors turned out for the public hearing, voicing opposition to the proposal. Neighbors said they want a grocery to serve the community, and the property owners agreed to a condition that would limit development unless plans for one are approved by the city.
However, Zainab Alidina, president of the homeowner’s association of Trace at Olde Towne to the north of the properties, said the rezoning would allow too many new residences.
“We really do want this grocery store, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of everybody living in that area,” she said.
City Councilman Corey Branch said he’s seen the area fail to get a grocery store for years.
People are “tired of having to leave the community to go to a grocery store, to go to a pharmacy, all of those things,” he said.
The council’s vote rezoned three properties off of South New Hope Road. The owners — OT Retail East Co. LLC, LoBro LLC and Olde Towne Row LLC — have not yet secured a grocery store despite trying since 2019, their attorney Amy Crout said.
Crout said the developers are seeking a “higher-end” grocer and that the main purpose of the rezoning was to get the density to attract one.
What does this rezoning mean?
- It doesn’t mean there’s any imminent development; plans for housing or other development still have to be approved by the city.
- At most, developers can build 450 residential units until a site plan for a grocery store is approved, then they can build up to 625 units. Before the rezoning, only 450 units were allowed in the area.
- The only residential buildings allowed will be attached houses, town homes and apartment buildings.
- Developers can build up to 75,000 square feet of nonresidential uses until the grocery store plans are approved, then they can build another 210,000 square feet.
- Developers can’t build more than 4-stories high within 150 feet of existing communities to the north, east and south of the rezoned land.
- Developers can’t build bars, taverns or nightclubs within 250 feet of the existing communities
- Removes a two-bedroom limit for apartments.
Why neighbors are still concerned
Raleigh Planning Manager Matthew Klem said the rezoning only requires that the city approve plans for a store, not that one actually gets built.
Alidina and other neighbors are worried that could happen.
Katie Lee, who lives near the rezoned area, doubts the developers will follow through.
“This is nothing but an underhanded, delay tactic and a wait for the developers to wiggle out of making less profit because retail is not as profitable as apartments,” Lee said.
Alidina acknowledged the property owners reduced their number of allowed residential units from 650 to 625 but said that “does not meaningfully change the overall impact.”
Removing the two-bedroom limit means that significantly more people can live in each residential unit, which adds even more of a strain to local infrastructure, she said.
Crout said grocers look at population density when deciding to open a store, and having more people in each unit increases their chance of doing so.
Alidina said she’ll be paying attention when plans are submitted for development of the site, including plans for a grocery store.
This story was originally published April 9, 2026 at 11:00 AM.
