New Bern Avenue’s star is on the rise as the first corridor for the City of Raleigh’s new Bus Rapid Transit system—and, now, it’s poised to shine even brighter thanks to the redevelopment of 1601 New Bern Avenue.
Already underway with an expected completion slated for this fall, the project—a joint venture among Capitol Commercial, Carroll Development and AB Capital Advisors—will boast 11,650 square feet of retail and restaurant space, plus a resurfaced parking lot and a 14-foot-wide sidewalk for outdoor seating at select spaces.
Poised to become a mini-gateway to Downtown Raleigh among a slew of other upcoming proximal redevelopments, the redesigned strip center also calls for a BRT station. And with it, the New Bern Avenue corridor is experiencing what some might call a dose of gentrification, as projects like these pave the way for new businesses and residents alike.
Case in point: The powerhouse duo behind craft brewery and brasserie Neuse River Brewing, Jennifer and Ryan Kolarov—alongside business partner Carl Boyajian—has inked a lease and will be introducing yet another crowd-pleaser to East Raleigh. Expanding their footprint literally and figuratively, their space bowing June 14 in the 1601 New Bern Avenue development is strictly a bar.
“We’ve had a lot of opportunities to do things in other places. This area specifically appealed to us because of the growth that’s happening.” —Jennifer Kolarov, co-owner, Neuse River Brewing, Blotto
Dubbed Blotto, aka British slang for “tipsy,” the new drinkery is all about keeping things simple, approachable and appealing. “We’ve been talking about opening up a bar as a watering hole, not a restaurant and not another brewery,” maintains Ryan, nodding to Neuse River Brewing’s uberpopular brewed on-site craft brews and fantastic fare. “We just found a perfect spot in East Raleigh.”
But don’t expect any old dive. Designed to be a laid-back retreat—think tropical plants, dark wood accents and a Tiki-themed patio welcoming people and pets alike—Blotto is intended for every inch of its 2,500 square feet to feel like home, whether popping in for a quick drink or settling in for a hang sesh.
Like its decor, the bar’s menu is sure to suit myriad tastes—delivering drinks worth bellying up to the bar for, but without brain-bending cocktail names or breaking the bank. “We want Blotto to be a bar for everyone,” says Ryan of Raleigh’s newest upcoming third place. “We want to have fun [classic] cocktails with fresh-squeezed juices. We don’t want our mixers coming out of a bottle, but we also don’t want the drinks to be $25. Just simple and approachable.”
To wit, fam-friendly by day and 21+ by night—with diverse draws like trivia nights and live music—the bar “where everybody knows your name” answers the call for all Raleighites.
“We’ve had a lot of opportunities to do things in other places,” says Jennifer of the emerging district, where they hope to see other cool concepts—think cafe, vino, restaurant—join them a la Person Street or Gateway Plaza vibes.
“This area specifically appealed to us because of the growth that’s happening.” Looks like Blotto may just be the harbinger answering the call for the booming New Bern Avenue corridor. blottonc.com
Collaboration and big-picture thinking produce a proposed new district.
If you’ve seen Yellowstone, you know property ownership and inheritance dealings can turn ugly quick. But when Wake County, WakeMed and Wake Tech VIPs assembled to discuss the future of the area surrounding WakeMed’s campus off New Bern Avenue in Southeast Raleigh—where each institution owns a portion of land—there was no contention. Instead, the three parties decided to throw out property lines and work together to create a health and education district that would benefit everyone.
A remarkable unprecedented move spawning a major impact on Raleigh for years to come, the project will be transformational not just for Southeast Raleigh, but for the entire New Bern Avenue corridor—aka “the gateway right into Downtown,” says Tom Cavender, WakeMed’s VP of facilities and construction. Think green space, pedestrian- and bike-friendly paths, and a quad-like feel augmenting the area and adding to the bus rapid transit construction already underway.
“The synergy that will come from this collaborative effort will reach far beyond the borders of these three institutions to impact the entire community in a very positive way,” says former Wake County Commissioner Sig Hutchinson—“from affordable housing to active lifestyles to creating healthy communities to health care services to educational opportunities.”
According to Cavender, what spurred the project was “essentially a confluence of energy between Wake Tech, WakeMed and Wake County… a situation where the sun, stars and moon all aligned.” In short, Wake County received bond money to build a replacement public health center at New Bern Avenue and Sunnybrook Road—nearly adjacent to both WakeMed and Wake Tech—at the same time Wake Tech and WakeMed were collaborating on long-term plans.
So Cavender called Jeff Carter and Mark Forestieri, his Wake Tech and Wake County counterparts, respectively, and said, “What if we just sat around a table… and thought through a way we can better utilize what we have available to us? It’s a great public-private partnership.”
They gathered key players from each org, and “we said, ‘Peel all your allegiances away: What’s best for all of us when we look at this massive 135 acres of land we have between us?’” Cavender recalls. Everyone was on board—and the idea for a health and education district was born.
“It truly was this notion of an opportunity for everybody to win, and I think that’s what’s going to happen,” says Wake Tech President Dr. Scott Ralls. “Health care needs from our area are going to continue to grow because we’re growing—and we’re growing older at the same time. … We’re the largest higher-ed provider of health care in Wake County and one of the largest in the region, so that’s a key expansion area for us.”
While WakeMed will inherit adjacent land from Wake County for replacement facilities, Wake Tech will gain significant acreage from WakeMed on the Falstaff Road side to achieve its desired growth. “Right now we’re investing $121 million in the initial expansion for our education part of the campus, so it’s going to mean some big opportunities for Wake County and for the future,” reveals Dr. Ralls.
According to Cavender, the entire district is currently in the rezoning stage and will most likely go to City Council for approval by the end of 2024. If it passes, we could be seeing cranes in the sky by this time next year. The rest is still unwritten because, as Hutchinson points out: “These three institutions erased the property lines and redrew them so each institution would benefit from what they needed versus what they owned. Nothing like this has ever been done before.”
Cavender notes the trio served as the “key component to get this thing off the ground and rolling.” But now he’s hopeful more of WakeMed’s partners and developers willing to invest in the area with speculative incubator buildings will want to join the district.
“We’re being very judicious and purposeful in our thinking,” says Cavender, nodding to child abuse prevention nonprofit SAFEchild’s 20,000-square-foot facility on the campus as an initial partnership to pave the way for further such community collaboration. He also hopes it will serve as a magnet to draw people to the school and to businesses in the area.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Hutchinson. “There is such tremendous leadership in all three of these institutions, and I just continue to be amazed at what they can deliver as a model for not only North Carolina, but also for the rest of the country.”
Wake Tech Phase 1 Plans
New parking garage
Cutting-edge 106,000-square-foot addition to its Perry Health Sciences Campus—approximately half of which will be a simulated hospital
Expansion of the nursing program and imaging program
Imaging program will boast a partnership with Siemens, making it one of the most high-tech training centers in the nation.
Two additional building sites available to support Wake Tech’s long-term future growth
