Bridging the Gap Between North Hills and The Exchange

As development fills in St. Albans Drive, the space between North Hills and The Exchange could become Raleigh’s next walkable entertainment corridor.

For years, the stretch of St. Albans Drive between North Hills and The Exchange has felt like more of a divide than a destination. But as cranes rise, apartments take shape and new restaurants begin filling in the gap, two of Midtown’s biggest developments are starting to grow toward each other.

And Patrick Shanahan—of Noble Experiment Hospitality fame, alongside partners Robby Opperman and Frederique Leonard—is betting big on the space between them. With Capulet, Peregrine and soon-to-bow Cafe Royale under their belt on The Exchange side, the hospitality group is putting down roots in North Hills with the district’s first dedicated cocktail bar, Little Saint.

Joining newly opened Standard Beer + Food and Benchwarmers Bagels, Little Saint—anticipated to open next year on the ground floor of St. Albans Lofts—adds another piece to an emerging entertainment corridor that could eventually connect North Hills to The Exchange by foot, food and beverage.

“Between what Dewitt’s doing at The Exchange and what Kane’s doing at the North Hills Innovation District, it just feels like we’re in the epicenter of something,” says Shanahan.

In an effort to connect his concepts at The Exchange with ever-growing North Hills, Shanahan approached Kane about the Little Saint space with his broker Jeremy Deckelbaum at Elm Partners, immediately falling for its visibility—and the other projects growing around it. 

He envisions a series of experience-driven concepts from NHID to The Exchange joining Little Saint in the future, creating a corridor of sorts with connectivity and walkability between the two destinations—where one could, say, take a class at Dose Yoga, grab lunch at Standard, walk over to The Exchange Park and then grab a drink at Capulet. 

“Because I’m so invested in The Exchange, finding that home at North Hills, for me, draws this line,” emphasizes Shanahan. “I just see so much potential from here to there.”

Kane Realty Corporation Executive VP of Commercial Operations Stacey Buescher shares that vision, pointing to Shanahan’s involvement with the two developments as forming a natural connection as Midtown continues to grow. Not to mention Kane’s boardwalk-esque pedestrian bridge will further that connectivity, linking wooded trails and an on-street urban greenway that will eventually extend to the city’s planned multimodal bridge over I-440.

“We love seeing these destinations complement one another, and we think Little Saint will be another great addition to the area as a whole,” she says.

As North Hills’ first dedicated cocktail bar (read: no food, just drinks), Little Saint spearheads entry into nightlife. The concept will pay homage to Shanahan’s Irish roots, but, he maintains, it will not be a pub.

Telling the story of his family heritage via tall ceilings, cathedral arches and stained glass, Little Saint will feature two distinct bars. The first leans light and bright, transporting patrons to Ireland with stonework, living moss accents and a 30-foot bar; while the back bar—with its low ceilings, velvet curtains, tile, rich emerald greens, and dark and moody atmosphere—draws inspiration from both catacombs beneath a church and an abandoned New York City Subway station, a subtle nod to where Shanahan studied film and fell in love with cocktails.

“It’s a balance of light and dark—which is where design happens: the balance of light and shadow, color and contrast,” notes Shanahan. “I say you can be as good or as bad as you’d like to be at Little Saint.”

Spotlighting bubbles, vodka and gin in the front and darker liquors like whiskey, cognac and scotch in the back—plus Guinness on tap and NA options—Little Saint will lean into a public house nature, even opening in the early afternoon for business meetings.

“We’ve been watching NHID really come into its own, and it felt like the right time to add something a little different to the mix,” says Buescher, nodding to the—until-now—lack of a dedicated cocktail bar at North Hills. “Little Saint felt like a natural fit—it will have its own personality and feel, and it adds another option for people… to come to North Hills and stay.”

And as more pieces fall into place along St. Albans, the space between North Hills and The Exchange could soon become a destination in its own right.