Raleigh locals aren’t ready to see Logan’s Garden Shop go.
Before Logan’s was the beloved family-owned garden shop biz it is today, it served as the historic Bagwell Seaboard Railroad Station—nee 1942—a central location in Downtown Raleigh that allowed both Raleighites and visitors alike to gather and connect. Logan’s has occupied the building since 1991, becoming just as much a part of Raleigh’s vibrant history as the railroad station. Now, however, as many Raleigh residents are certainly aware, the Logan’s building is currently being redeveloped by New York-based real estate investment and development firm Turnbridge Equities (who also purchased The Creamery building on Glenwood South) into a multimillion-dollar mixed-use project featuring retail, apartments and a parking deck.
While plans have already been released for the Seaboard Station revamp, some locals aren’t ready to let go of the Logan’s building just yet—which Turnbridge Equities plans to replace with a parking garage to serve two 20-story towers (and in order to build the towers, Turnbridge must rezone the property). To that end, the Oakwood neighborhood sent a letter to Raleigh City Council in March urging them not to grant the rezoning unless it includes the preservation of the train station, as it’s a historic landmark that “informs us about our past and makes our city an interesting place for both residents and visitors.”
Matthew Brown—a historian, former commissioner at the Raleigh Historic Development Commission and past president of the Society for the Preservation of Historic Oakwood—sides with the Oakwood residents. “[The building] can be used in a variety of ways,” says Brown. “Lots of cities—their train stations are repurposed. [In Raleigh], it’s repurposed now as a retail business and a cafe.”
Michelle Bowers
Enter Old House Life’s Michelle Bowers. In an effort to save this important part of Seaboard Station—and Raleigh history in general—Brown recruited the Cary native, who now resides in Virginia and runs Old House Life’s Instagram/Facebook accounts, on which she posts photos and videos of old buildings, abandoned houses, etc. in the hopes that her 120K/701K followers, respectively, will purchase, preserve and/or restore them. “She reaches a lot of people, and she has a lot of energy,” says Brown.
Both Brown and Bowers picture the Logan’s building being preserved as a sort of common area, cafe, restaurant, bar or retail business(es)—even Seaboard Cafe could be maintained. To help save the building, Bowers plans to post about it on her social media accounts and ask her followers to email City Council members in the hopes “they can put a stop to it… or at least rezone where they have to keep the structure and utilize it in some way,” says Bowers. “It would give it a lot more character.”
Adds Brown, “It’s just a lack of imagination on [the developers’] part that they can just tear it all down and build these generic towers and a generic parking deck.” But, while Brown thinks the city will grant Turnbridge Equities the rezoning (which they’ll make a profit on, as the property is currently only zoned for seven stories), he’s unsure if City Council will grant it on the condition of preserving the train station, and it’s not yet on the council’s agenda—but hopefully it will be in May.
“It seems that that’s a very small return favor to insist that [City Council] preserve the train station,” says Brown, “which is an important part of our history and a beautiful piece of architecture—which we are sadly lacking in Raleigh.” And it would be a shame to see such a significant Raleigh landmark go away…
Two mixed-use towers are coming to Glenwood South, elevating the strip—and the skyline.
Glenwood South is growing up—literally. The Creamery building, a Raleigh institution for nearly a hundred years (and home to the likes of Sullivan’s Steakhouse, among many others), will soon be bordered by twin towers: a 32-story residential tower and 20-story office tower, setting in motion yet another—much, ahem, bigger—chapter for the beloved spot in Downtown.
New York-based developer Turnbridge Equities, who purchased the historical building (formerly home of the Pine State Creamery dairy product plant) and the two adjacent properties in March 2020 for $34.7 million, plans to begin construction on the towers this summer. But have no fear—the Creamery building (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) will be preserved, as will the hot spots it houses (Sullivan’s, Milk Bar, Pine State Public House and The Ark Royal).
“We are thrilled to add exciting new uses to the Creamery that will build on the energy and vibrancy of Glenwood South,” says Jason Davis, managing director of Turnbridge Equities. “The design, by renowned architects Morris Adjmi Architects, pays homage to the historic Creamery building through the materials and structural rhythm of the two new buildings, which bring additional daytime and residential density to Raleigh’s most amenitized neighborhood.”
The residential tower will feature 261 one- and two-bedroom apartments, while the other tower will boast 250,000 square feet of space (including office space) across 20 stories. Both buildings will offer ground-floor retail as well, for a whopping total of 976,000 square feet of space combined. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2024.
The project is a unique one for Raleigh, as it will preserve a historic property while adding new growth at a very large scale.
But it’s not the only substantial development that’s underway in DTR’s thriving Glenwood South district. Glenwood South’s Hillsborough Street bookend Snoopy’s (now defunct) appears to have a looming future—purchased by Glenborough LLC in February 2021 for $1.6 million, with Raleigh-based Centerline Properties LLC (tied to Glenborough) filing a rezoning request for the property for up to 40 stories in August.
There’s also Bloc[83]—the multitower mixed-use development (including One Glenwood) that sits at one of the highest elevations in the city. And back in June, plans were unveiled for a 12-story multitower project at the corner of Glenwood Avenue and Johnston Street behind Mellow Mushroom. Not to mention rumblings of others…
So, bottom line: The sleepy industrial strip that evolved into the happening hub it is today is going to grow (up) again… and we’ve got our ears to the ground on what’s coming next.
Just months after opening AC Hotel in Glenwood South, Summit Hospitality Group has announced designs for a new apartment/hotel project near Moore Square.
If you thought Summit Hospitality Group peaked with its development of the new AC Hotel and The Willard rooftop lounge in Glenwood South, think again. The veteran Raleigh developers have partnered with Williams Realty & Building Company Inc. on a new seven-story apartment and luxury hotel project situated between Person Street and South Blount Street—just two blocks from Moore Square.
The apartment complex—dubbed The Acorn—will have three stories of shared parking below four stories of apartments boasting 106 units, plus amenities like a fitness center, clubhouse and a fourth-floor pool with Downtown views. Set to open in the summer of 2023, construction on The Acorn is slated to begin before the end of 2021.
Meanwhile, Marriott TownePlace Suites will feature 138 hotel rooms spanning seven stories, with a lobby bar and fitness facilities said to have outdoor terrace access. Summit Hospitality Group has announced plans to begin construction on the hotel in the summer of 2022 (and fingers crossed for another rooftop bar…).
The plans for the development come after an LLC in care of Williams Realty & Building Company bought the site (currently an undeveloped—and not so glamorous—parking lot) for $3.5 million in 2018. Raleigh-based Cline Design was contracted as the project architect, with Withers Ravenel responsible for the engineering and planning. While Summit Hospitality Group’s new apartment/hotel complex is just one of the many developments in the works around Moore Square, it’s sure to make the area all the more exciting. summithospitality.com
Kane Realty Corporation’s big plans for South Raleigh are everywhere (so no doubt you’ve seen the impressive renderings), but we’d be remiss not to mention the news. ICYMI, designs are for not one, but three new vertical projects—two of which are the first in Downtown South—within Raleigh’s Southern Gateway that will help expand the City of Oaks to the south.
“The opportunity for Kane to help define Downtown Raleigh’s Southern Gateway through our work along South Saunders Street is invigorating,” says Kane Director of Design Josie Reeves. “We’re excited to work with the community to bring much-needed amenities—from dining- and entertainment-based options to everyday necessities like groceries and pharmacies—to the South Raleigh community in the form of walkable, mixed-use projects.”
The first, Park City South, is a 9.7-acre multiphase development directly adjacent to Dorothea Dix Park that is expected to break ground by the end of the year. Phase 1 will offer ground-level retail, midrise apartments (with uberappealing amenities like a full spa and rooftop lounge), and flex office space, while future phases will include high-rise residential and office space with more ground-level retail and structured parking. Located directly on the Capital Greenway System, Park City South will also feature an enhanced stretch of Greenway trail with a new bridge linking it to Rocky Branch Creek—allowing those walking the existing Greenway and visiting Dix Park to access the ground-floor retail.
The other two projects Kane has in the works are part of the $2.2 billion pro soccer stadium-anchored Downtown South development—first proposed in 2020—one of which will be Raleigh’s premiere mass timber construction building, offering a more sustainable alternative to carbon or steel. A collaboration with Durham-based DUDA|PAINE Architects, the office building will boast six levels of work space, shared and private terraces, and amenities such as a collaborative work lounge and conference rooms.
A second mixed-use building planned for Downtown South (renderings are not yet available) will tout ground-level retail; a fully integrated structured parking deck; studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments—plus two terraces and a rooftop lounge. Construction is anticipated to begin on both of the announced Downtown South projects in Q3 of 2022—finally setting the highly anticipated development into motion.
Boxyard RTP bows as a sign of RTP’s upcoming (overdue) boom.
If you build it, they will come… back. Since its inception (nee 1959) as the epicenter of the Triangle’s Tier-1 research universities, Research Triangle Park (RTP) has invested millions of dollars in building a space (to great success) where “people and ideas converge” for the 40,000-plus employees across more than 200 research, technology and ag-bio companies. What’s missing is a place for those knowledge workers to live, play and eat.
Enter the premiere hip entertainment hub that is Boxyard RTP—a first glimpse of what’s coming—giving the bustling epicenter’s brainy talent a place to retreat pre-, during and post-work. Inspired by Boxyard Tulsa, the “industrial meets inventive” cargotecture that is this 15,000 square feet of repurposed shipping containers-turned-playspace has everyone all abuzz—though perhaps leaving some Raleighites to question its location: Why set in the ghost town that is currently Davis Drive? But Boxyard RTP is precisely the kind of vision the Park had missed on manifesting from its original MO. Quality of life is precisely what the massive HQs (think Apple, landing 4 miles down the road) we want to entice to the area to take into account when choosing a destination.
People don’t want to commute. And they need a place to buy groceries, dine and blow off some steam. Enter other new RTP destination for innovation and collaboration: Hub RTP, the $1.5 billion 44-acre project that broke ground last fall, further bringing to fruition this “live, play and shop where you work” vision via 1 million square feet of “all things new, next and groundbreaking.” Think a North-Hills-esque area, if you will, chock-full all of the ideal components of urban life—office space, “funspace” (retail and dining), “sleepspace” (1,200 apartments) and “stayspace” (boutique hotel and full-service hotel on-site), not to mention fitness center, grocery store and more—but merged across acres of greenspace, so you can thrive, and exhale.
“All the feedback [I received] in the community is that the Hub has to happen,” said Scott Levitan, CEO of the RTP Foundation. “In order to attract talent to come work for them, they need a town center so that, at lunchtime or after work, you can get a beer, there’s some entertainment, whatever. That is really the evolution that led us to really have to focus and create the relevant Hub project so that these companies can be successful.”
