At a time when in-real-life socializing is surging, longtime City Club Raleigh has made the tough decision to shutter for good after 45 years as a beacon of community and connection in the Cap City at the conclusion of its current lease Dec. 31, with a Farewell Holiday Party and a final NYE Early Dinner scheduled for Dec. 20 and Dec. 31, respectively.
Positioned proudly on the penthouse levels of 150 Fayetteville (aka the former Wells Fargo Capitol Center) for more than a decade, CCR has made an indelible impact—not to mention created infinite memories via meals, events, unions, receptions, celebrations, gatherings and beyond.
Now, the Triangle’s largest law firm and longtime 150 Fayetteville tenant Smith Anderson has doubled down on Downtown by reupping its five-floor lease (save a half-floor they are relinquishing) while garnering the two top floors and signage rights of the iconic 30-story tower.
“We want to help Downtown continue to revitalize post-pandemic,” says Smith Anderson Managing Partner Byron Kirkland, “and as one of the largest private employers in the Downtown area, we are excited that we can play a significant role in doing that.”
About far more than office space, the lease extension is a boost for the city core via a block of Main Street—and a tower—that are already big talkers of late with openings of 150 Fayetteville ground-floor Birdie’s Barroom and Kitchen, as well as adjacent Diced, and soon bowing Insomnia Cookies and PrimoHoagies.
“Keeping Smith Anderson is a massive win for Downtown’s continued upward trajectory,” says Downtown Raleigh Alliance President and CEO Bill King, “as we add a flurry of new storefront businesses and build momentum for North Carolina’s Main Street. Not only are we keeping a major employer in the heart of Downtown, but we are keeping a company that consistently has participated and led in efforts to elevate Downtown Raleigh.”
“Smith Anderson’s reinvestment in downtown Raleigh shows the confidence one of our city’s long-standing business leaders has in keeping our urban core thriving,” Raleigh MayorJanet Cowell said. “Downtown’s success depends on everyone working together – the city, businesses, institutions and the community.”
Having called Fayetteville Street home for over a century, Smith Anderson will begin renovations to all seven of its floors this March, with a completion slated for mid-2026. Expect the reno to significantly modernize the space, establishing a striking two-story window topping the tower in the firm’s lobby and serving stunning skyline views, as well as huddle rooms, hoteling/flex offices, wellness areas on each floor, elevated tech, expanded conference room areas and a leveled-up firm cafe.
“We were deliberate in making the move ourselves Downtown in 2022 to 150 Fayetteville Street,” says Ted Klinck, president and CEO of Highwoods Properties, which owns 150 Fayetteville. … “We believe Fayetteville Street is North Carolina’s Main Street, and we very much appreciate the opportunity to serve as Smith Anderson’s workplace partner. In partnership with the city and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, we’re committed to making Downtown the most commuteworthy Best Business District we can.”
Having already received recognition for its business savvy, “North Carolina is one of the best states to do business in the country,” acknowledges Kirkland. “Raleigh is one of the best places to do business in North Carolina, and Raleigh deserves a resilient and lively Downtown. We’re thrilled to be part of that vision.”
And that commitment, says King, “is a critical step in bringing Downtown back.”
Exclusive first look: Stakeholders share their vision for development potential.
“I feel more optimistic about the street than I have in a while,” says Bill King—whose vantage point as Downtown Raleigh Alliance president and CEO is clearly in-the-know. “And I really do think you’re going to see Fayetteville Street start to look a bit different over the course of 2023 compared to 2022 and earlier.”
And major players like Fayetteville Street stakeholder Thomas “Skip” Hill are working tirelessly toward that goal. “We want to invest and make this the coolest street—certainly in North Carolina, but in the Southeast and beyond,” says the Highwoods Properties senior VP. “We’re all in soup to nuts, and we want to play a role in coordination with the City of Raleigh.”
Now, propelling that vision, a slew of concepts and activations are on deck—from signed leases to master plans. Here, 10 major updates coming to Raleigh’s Main Street.
Ink Is Dry
Chido Taco This colorful mercado-style taqueria ever so subtly announced its second location on Fayetteville Street by placing two ceramic Chido Taco mugs in the window of the former Living Kitchen space. The new 3,000-square-foot restaurant, slated to open toward the end of Q1, will feature the same menu as the original Chido Taco in McNeil Pointe—and, yes, you’ll be able to take drinks to-go.
HUBB Kitchens Partnership Giving minority and female food & beverage entrepreneurs a leg up is this new training program from HUBB Kitchens, Raleigh Founded and DRA. Expected to start up this summer in a restaurant space at Duke Energy Center before moving to the former Pizza La Stella location Downtown, the concept will train future business owners on cooking skills and the business of running a restaurant, as well as provide mentorship and financing help. It’s also a win-win for those who work/live Downtown, as it’ll add a new lunch option (!). “Being able to provide that, but also make it have an equity impact, is really important to us,” says King.
Mustang House After DTR’s Plaza Cafe owners announced its closure, two Triangle-transplant business partners out of California snatched up the space to open Nepalese concept Mustang House. Look for the spot to open any day now in a lightly refreshed space.
Mobile TV Screen Clearly, Raleighites dig live sports viewing—see the throngs of people who descended on Moore Square to watch the live FIFA World Cup Final via giant mobile TV screen. Now, the city has acquired that massive mobile screen and is evaluating the logistics of live City Plaza screenings of the NCAA tournament, ACC tournament, hockey games and the like.
Economic Development RFP The City of Raleigh is funding an RFP asking national firms to submit proposals for attractions and activations that would promote economic development Downtown (think: retail strategies, position of the DT office market, and supporting minority- and women-owned businesses)—to, in essence, “make Downtown, and Raleigh, great again,” says Hill.
In the Works
Sir Walter Coffee Owner Kevin Frazier confirmed Sir Walter Coffee is very close to signing a lease for the former B.GOOD space at Charter Square—one of four towers Highwoods owns on Fayetteville Street. In the “hip Panera,” as Frazier calls it, expect a slightly bigger breakfast and lunch menu of fresh salads, sandwiches & soups—plus a separate bar and potential for a light dinner menu. If signed, Frazier hopes to open this year.
Alexander Square Parking Deck In addition to the rollup garage doors and other upgrades Highwoods is making as part of the redevelopment of the deck’s ground-floor space we intro’d last summer, the company is also planning to upfit with outdoor dining and food concepts (think sushi, sandwiches, ice cream).
Wells Fargo Building Concept Hill says the lease is very close to being signed for the former Cafe Carolina space—closed since 2017—on a great full-service restaurant from a local hospitality group known for its collection of concepts.
Light Activations Visionary Hill’s, well, vision is to “have lights on every tree all the way down Fayetteville Street,” he says. “In fact, we’d love to have it so that the lighting is tied to a sound system and the lights go dancing on and off based on the music.”
Empire Properties Concept The now-defunct CVS space at 200 Fayetteville St. looks to be a big talker in the near future as Greg Hatem and co. revamp the space with a new concept. Stay tuned.
Raleigh’s most significant players have united to reenergize Fayetteville Street.
“Let’s invest and make this the coolest street—certainly in North Carolina, but in the Southeast and beyond,” says Fayetteville Street stakeholder Thomas “Skip” Hill. “Let’s really make it pop. So when people think of Raleigh, it’s different from what Fayetteville Street is now.”
Now a relative entertainment and retail desert, the once dynamic corridor is the focus of some key power players who have their sights set squarely on its resurgence. As a major investor owning 1.4 million square feet of office space Downtown (including four towers on Fayetteville Street: Charter Square, One City Plaza (including the four plaza “jewel boxes”), PNC Plaza and, as of July 2021, the Wells Fargo Building), Highwoods Properties, of course, is one of them.
Talking to Highwoods senior VP Hill about Raleigh’s “Main Street” feels a lot like being Charlie Bucket with a golden ticket, where Hill’s vision of Fayetteville Street is Wonka land—and in the best possible way. His ideas for how to activate that significant strip of DTR and make it “really cool” are creative, smart and limitless, from lighting it up (literally—picture trees aglow from the Duke Energy Center of Performing Arts to the Capitol Building) to retail reinvigoration to partnering with big hospitality players.
And he’s not alone. Hill is part of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance Economic Development Strategy Committee tasked with reenergizing Fayetteville Street, alongside DRA’s Bill King and a dozen-plus other public and private players, including entrepreneur David Meeker, Shaw University President Dr. Paulette Dillard and Duke Energy Community Relations Manager Marty Clayton, to name a few.
While Fayetteville Street’s heyday as a bustling, vibrant destination is not a distant memory, now, minus a handful of heavyweight hot spots that anchor the street—think Big Easy, Sono, Foundation, etc.—the action Downtown is elsewhere. (Images of cars lining Glenwood South like it’s the Myrtle Beach strip no doubt spring to mind.) So what gives on Raleigh’s arguably most significant street?
If you ask Meeker, this isn’t just a pandemic problem. It’s really what you call the perfect storm. Throwing back, he nods to “DrunkTown,” where many Fayetteville Street residents discouraged nightlife post-11pm, thus pushing the late-night action toward Glenwood South. From there, he adds, you have the pandemic, where Fayetteville Street was hit uniquely because of all the office workers, and, finally, the social unrest—and lingering fear.
“That has a lasting impact,” says Meeker. “But I think long-term, Fayetteville Street will come back. We have three or four landlords there with most of the space: Highwoods Properties, Empire Properties and Dominion Realty Partners among them.” And he credits the developers for avoiding short-term leases during the pandemic that wouldn’t be good for the long-term.
“We want to play a role in coordination with the city,” says Hill of Highwoods’ vision. He emphasizes energizing the north end of the street—“it’s most important to us that this part of Fayetteville Street gets activated—that it’s the cool place to be”—and bringing more dining options to fill some of the now-vacant spaces Highwoods owns, like B.Good, Living Kitchen and Cafe Carolina.
One potential hospitality titan flirting seriously with a Fayetteville Street presence is LM Restaurants (of Vidrio and a’Verde fame, among many more). “We’re really excited about Downtown. It’s got enormous potential,” says LM President Amber Moshakos. “We’re looking to invest in that area because we believe in it. And we’re looking at the right opportunity to put the right brand that’s going to drive that vibrancy and activation on Fayetteville Street.”
It’s a vision Hill shares and is doubling down on as Highwoods moves its own offices to Fayetteville Street come October into the two floors recently vacated by Pendo. “So we’re going to have a live-in presence Downtown,” says Hill. “While it’s pretty challenging right now, it’s becoming better—and we would not have bought a 560,000-square-foot building [Wells Fargo] if we didn’t think we were going to overcome this. … And we’ve got several customers that are highly bullish on Fayetteville Street.”
One of the great strengths of Fayetteville Street, adds King “is it’s a really good blend of modern and historic”—from the Briggs Hardware Building circa 1870s to PNC Plaza (the tallest building in the region) to newer buildings on the street like the FNB Tower. “And your Main Street is a symbolic part of your city,” he says.
“Not only is Fayetteville Street like the ‘Main Street’ of Raleigh,” adds Moshakos, “but it is really the ‘Main Street’ of North Carolina. And one of the things that makes an area really lively is a diverse group of hospitality businesses—a really beautiful collection of restaurants and bars and some retail. So we’re most definitely looking to see where we fit and what role we can play in that area.”
To be clear, no one is looking to revitalize DrunkTown. Fayetteville Street stakeholders have no interest in being Glenwood South. “Glenwood South has its own unique aura,” says Hill.
What they do want is to reenergize and activate the corridor in its own unique way. So, the slow recovery is actually a positive—because those invested in the area are playing the long game.
Plans In Motion
1
Storefronts: Downtown Raleigh Alliance has a full-time storefront recruiter who’s helping work with landlords to fill vacancies on Fayetteville Street. “We’ve been able to fill [the vacancies] on Hargett Street, so we have a good model,” explains DRA’s Bill King, who says they’re seeing more responsiveness from Fayetteville Street owners who are being creative with some of the types of tenants.
2
Social District Pilot: As you likely know, the state legalized open container districts last year, aka specified areas where “people just walk around with a glass of wine or a beer, going into a store, sitting on a bench, etc.,” says Council Member Jonathan Melton. Adds King, the Economic Development Strategy Committee asked DRA to do community engagement and direct a pilot project for the Fayetteville Street (FS) area, which spans a few blocks in each direction from FS. If approved by the committee, it would then go to City Council this summer, which would be a game-changer for the area and make FS more attractive to bars and restaurants—and consumers.
3
Alexander Square Deck (120 S. Wilmington St.) Upgrade: Highwoods plans to give the popular FS District deck a face-lift, complete with upgraded facade, new awnings, garage doors and more to make it more attractive to FS-goers. “It’s most important to us that this part of Fayetteville Street gets activated and it’s the cool place to be,” says Highwoods’ Skip Hill.
