Curating Raleigh

Developers craft a dynamic balance of tenants with intention.

“We’re trying to be intentional—instead of just leasing the space to the first person who shows up and says they’re interested.” 

So says Highwoods SVP and Raleigh Market Leader Skip Hill of a new wave of competitive—and deliberate—placemaking to ignite energy and create spaces people want to frequent. So, in essence, ushering in a new era of developers shopping for specific concepts to fit the exact vibe they’re seeking, where the “play” component ensures people will want to live, work and hang there. 

Local restaurateurs like Matt Bettinger, owner of Cary’s Hank’s Downtown Dive and SideBar, have seen this shift firsthand. “The larger developer scope seems to be more rigid in terms of expectations,” he says. “There’s a lot less flexibility. You’re seeing a lot more, ‘We want coffee service. Or ‘We want this to include cocktails.’” 

That’s precisely how it played out for Highwoods’ Charter Square building, where they began scouting an all-day cafe for the former B.GOOD space to entice people back to the office. Enter popular Sir Walter Coffee’s vibey cafe-meets-cocktail bar with a second intentional interior entrance that flows into the lobby.

“It’s not just a one-off disconnected restaurant, it’s a part of the life of that building,” says Hill of the thoughtful approach. “And that building now becomes part of the life of Downtown—because Sir Walter brings community to the area there.” He adds the same goes for Birdie’s, which recently opened—and is already igniting—the opposite end of Fayetteville Street from its perch on the ground floor of Highwoods’ 150 Fayetteville.

Continuing that shift to evoke a specific ethos, the ground floor of Kane Realty Corp.’s highly anticipated Dix Park-proximal Rockway development blends amenities like BK Pilates and Benchwarmers Bagels’ expanded menu of pizzas, sandwiches and cocktails to yield an attractive destination.

Likewise deliberate in their approach, the development team behind DTR mixed-use 400H,  including Raleigh’s own HM Partners, sees its ground floor as essential to its success. They passed on a sushi spot for sheer surrounding sushi density, determining Press Coffee, Crepes & Cocktails fit the vibe and operational model for the building, says HM Partners Managing Partner Gregg Sandreuter.

And uptown, Hill is looking to bring a similar curated cast to Crabtree Corridor’s GlenLake via upcoming Wong’s Tacos, Crooked Hammock Brewery and a coffee shop in the works. But “it has to fit,” he emphasizes. 

It’s a tango felt on both sides of the concept curation. Bettinger himself got a taste of this approach when he pitched a concept for the former Ladyfingers location in Highpark Village. “We were kind of thinking on our feet. We saw the space and knew we liked it, so we put together what we thought would be a lot of fun,” he says. 

But when the lease ultimately went to DC-based Michelin-lauded Timber, Bettinger wasn’t discouraged. “To be honest, it looks great—I think it’s going to be a nice addition,” he emphasizes. “I totally see how, if you own the property and you’ve got a couple people vying for it, you would pick the group saying, ‘We’ve got this system that’s worked up here, and we think it’ll work there.’”

But one rejection isn’t stopping Bettinger. He’s still keeping his ear to the ground waiting on his perfect match. “You’ve got to be OK with hearing ‘this doesn’t fit here’—even if you think it’s a great idea,” he maintains.

While competition is fiercer than ever, it also makes room for more creativity, says Bettinger. “I think it provides challenges,” he adds. “But hopefully it makes for healthy competition.”