Watching Raleigh grow up

April 30, 2007 at 9:42 pm | In architecture, business, community, culture, design, economic development, future, infrastructure, north carolina, unc, urban planning | 1 Comment

Raleigh’s downtown is about to change radically. After 16 years of being dominated by the 30-story BB&T and Wachovia bank towers, the city is about to see an entirely different look:

Between Wilmington and Blount streets, Progress Energy is clearing most of a city block to make way for two more towers of 15 to 30 stories. They’ll tug downtown’s mass to the east.

And along Hillsborough Street, a long-static thoroughfare that once was downtown’s dramatic western gateway, developers have plans for a hotel tower of 32 floors and another one 22 to 25 stories tall. Other property nearby is said to be under consideration for tower development.

A couple of blocks north, the red-brown-brick Quorum Center’s 15 stories of offices and condos are the first building block in a series of mid-rise projects that are expected to tie the heart of downtown to Glenwood South, a mile or so northwest.

Since those two bank towers were completed in the 1980s, Raleigh’s population has bloomed — up nearly 40 percent from 220,000 to 360,000. All those new people need places to work and places to live. And economically, a vibrant urban downtown can be a major boon.

The folks at Raleigh Skyline are among those tracking the change.

– mc

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  1. I’m a big fan of urban development everywhere, in particular my hometown. If anyone out there is interested in discussion and debate about development downtown and throughout the Triangle let me point you to two forums:

    http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=425

    and

    http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showforum=208

    Comment by Justin Guillory — May 1, 2007 #

    Reply

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