by William Needham Finley IV™

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James B. - page 2

James B. has 161 articles published.

Development Beat: Bloc 83 Progress, Cameron Village Turns 70

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Work begins on Hillsborough Street’s Bloc 83

Cameron Village celebrating 70th birthday

Seaboard Wine Tasting (10/12)

NC State’s master plan for athletics

NC Museum of History Halloween Party October 31st

Pullen Arts Center expansion underway

Hyperloop coming to Raleigh this week

Apartments coming to Trailwood

Other News

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Progress On Bloc 83

Allen’s Automotive is gone and construction is underway on Bloc 83’s Tower 2. The project includes office and retail, an urban courtyard, and a 655-space parking garage. Located at 615 Hillsborough Street, the project is being developed by Heritage Properties and designed by Gensler Architects. 

Tower 2 is, oddly enough, the third phase of the Bloc 83 project, which also includes One Glenwood and the Origin Hotel. The project will include 159,940 square feet of office space, 1,400 parking spaces, and ground-floor retail.

Permits valued at more than $41 million were issued last month to the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company. Those permits list the total number of stories at 11, while the project’s website lists the number at 10.

While each component of the Bloc 83 project is impressive, our favorite planned feature is “Raleigh’s largest urban courtyard,” which will feature “a band stage, projection screens for community gatherings, and a designated fitness zone for yoga/group workouts.”



Cameron Village Celebrating 70th Birthday

The greatest retail destination center in Raleigh is turning 70. Cameron Village will celebrate with a party on Saturday, October 12th from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Be sure to follow @shopcameronvillage on Instagram for more details.


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Seaboard Wine Tasting 10/12

Our friends at Seaboard Wine at HighPark Village are hosting special guest Pierina Bianchini, export manager for Raìna, a biodynamic winery located in Montefalco, Umbria. They will be sampling four of her wines plus a few other surprises from Italy on Saturday, October 12th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

On October 23rd, they’re hosting a Brunello Class with owner Alberto Passeri from Fattoria La Gerla in Montalcino, Italy. The class starts at 7:00 pm and tickets are $20. Reservations can be made here

Their next fall Wine Class is on October 18th, and features South African wines. Classes are $39-$45 each and last from 7:15 pm to 8:30 pm. You can buy tickets here.


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NC State Athletics Seeking Makeover

NC State is about to get a makeover. The university is embarking on a planning process to improve the facilities housing all 23 of the school’s varsity sports programs. 

The university is currently seeking a design team to oversee the planning process, which will focus on improving student-athlete success and well-being, the recruitment of student-athletes and coaches, and the overall fan experience. Although, when a school serves chicken and waffle cones at its football games, we’re not sure how it’s possible to improve upon the fan experience.

The focus of the plan is on the next 10-15 years, with an “identification of immediate needs” during the first five years. The design team will assess in greater detail Carter-Finley Stadium, Doak Field, Case Academic Center, and their respective, associated facilities. The study will likely result in improvements to, and possibly the replacement of, some of these facilities. Could Carter-Finley support 100,000 fans? We’ll have to see what the study says.

A pre-design meeting was indicative not only of the level of interest in this process – there were more than 40 attendees – but also the high level of talent that’s being attracted, which included representatives from Moseley Architects, the Beck Group, Kimley-Horn, SEPI, HKS, and a number of other prestigious firms. 

The budget for this master planning process is between $150,000 and $250,000.



NC Museum Of History Spooktacular Soiree

The NC Museum of History is hosting a Spooktacular Soiree on Thursday, Oct. 31st from 8:30 pm – 11:30 pm. ITB Insider is a proud sponsor of this event, held at 5 E. Edenton Street in downtown Raleigh.

The event will feature a costume contest in the following categories: most historically accurate, funniest, and scariest. Attendees will enjoy live music from The Five Nines (who opened for Red Hot Chili Peppers and also recently released an EP), food, beer, and a speciality cocktail. More info available here.

Tickets are $35 for members of the museum ($45 for nonmembers). Money raised from this event directly supports the NC Museum of History.

Pullen Arts Center Expansion Begins

Work is now underway on the expansion of the Pullen Arts Center, thanks to a set of permits issued to Focus Design Builders out of Wake Forest. Located at 105 Pullen Road, the arts center houses a wide range of programs including: pottery, painting, jewelry, printmaking, summer camps for children, and more.

The permits, valued at more than $2.6 million, describe a 22,410 square-foot addition to the existing center that was originally constructed in 1958. 

According to the City, the expansion is just one part of a multi-purpose construction project that also includes a renewal of the North Pullen Park campus, an upgrade to the sewer lines, roadway and pedestrian improvements, and the addition of accessible parking and emergency services access for the theatre, arts center and ballfields. 

The overall project is estimated to cost around $6 million, which was allocated from the 2014 Parks Bond Referendum. Construction is expected to wrap up by the fall of 2020.



Hyperloop Coming To Raleigh

Is Raleigh getting a hyperloop? Don’t worry, we didn’t actually know what a hyperloop was until we spent hours researching the topic. According to Wikipedia, Virgin Hyperloop One is an American transportation technology company that works to commercialize the high-speed technology concept called Hyperloop. Virgin’s XP-1 will be on display at the Triangle J Council of Governments’ Regional Summit in Pittsboro, North Carolina this week.

The pod will be on display on Oct. 10th at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. On Oct. 11th, the pod will be at the Research Triangle Park at The Frontier (800 Park Offices Dr, Research Triangle, NC 27709).

We aren’t sure if Raleigh’s inclusion on this hyperloop road show means we’re definitely getting one. If we had to guess, the chance of a hyperloop being built here is lower than Felson’s returning to Cameron Village.



Apartments Planned For Trailwood

A new batch of what looks to be student housing is planned for the intersection of Avent Ferry and Trailwood Drive. Dubbed the Trailwood Apartments, the 122-unit project will be situated at 901 and 921 Trailwood Drive, just south of NC State. 

A breakdown of unit types notes that there will be 23 “2-bedroom roommate” units; something typically found only in college housing. There will also be 11 studio units, 66 one-bedrooms, and 22 regular two-bedrooms. The preliminary design work was done by none other than Finely Associates (Ed. note: no relation) and reveal a pretty standard, three-story stick–built complex.

Other News

ITBlake ran for mayor
ITBlake the politician launched his Raleigh mayor campaign less than a week before the election. He has since been called a “national treasure” and is now being considered a legitimate political candidate.

Here are just a few of his campaign promises:

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The latest from ITBlake.

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Raleigh was ranked in a report
The “Emerging Trends in Real Estate®” outlook report from the Urban Land Institute ranked “Raleigh-Durham” number two in its “Overall Real Estate Prospects” list, and number one in its “Homebuilding Prospects” section.

RIP Nash Square Tree
One of Nash Square’s oldest and most beloved trees will soon be cut down due to disease and rot. A statement from the City: 

The Willow Oak stands on Martin Street across from the Berkeley Café. This magnificent tree is 90 feet tall and has graced the park for more than a century. Sadly, old age and disease have taken their toll, and we have to say goodbye. Thank you to everyone who has taken time over the years to stop and appreciate the tree’s strength and beauty.

Progress on The Wade
The Wade, our favorite condo project and the future home of ITBlake, is nearing completion. Contact Beacon Street Development for more information.

Vest Season has been delayed, again


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Development Beat: The Disappearance Of The Cameron Village McDonald’s

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Brought to you by York Properties


An investigation into the Cameron Village McDonald’s

Wegmans now open in Raleigh

Wine tasting at Seaboard Wine (10/5)

Ashley Christensen’s chicken sandwich restaurant coming to Raleigh

Union Station Phase II Approved

Apartments planned for Glenwood

City Council elections are October 8th – more info. here

Barktoberfest on October 5th

Updates on The Wade

Other News

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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The Disappearance Of The Cameron Village McDonald’s

It’s been months since the golden arches at the Cameron Village McDonald’s went dark. We received numerous questions about the topic, so we decided to investigate.

We assumed the location, like many others across the city, had simply shut down for remodeling. But as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into a month with no sign of a permit application, we wondered: what’s going on? Let’s start with the basics. 

Raleigh’s so-called permit database has no record of any issued or applied-for renovation permits for the McDonald’s at Cameron Village, although these applications do sometimes fall through the digital cracks. 

The most recent activity at the location was a complaint filed June 28, 2019 claiming that “Pipes bursts [sic] inside the building and water is flowing into the main place they make food.” So THAT’S why the McFlurry machine was always broken. 

McGone but not McForgotten

The complaint was determined to be “Unfounded” when the City investigated a few days later. Odd, but not unusual, coming from a corporation that still has a terrifying clown as a mascot in 2019.

Wake County ownership records for the property at 416 Oberlin Road pointed us in two different directions: Regency Centers, which owns Cameron Village (our friends over at York manage the center), and a company out of Cary named “The Richards Advantage.”

Richards Advantage appears to be a former McDonald’s franchisee. An archived version of a website tied to the company lists the same phone number as the Facebook page for McDonald’s of Cary. The Facebook page for the Cameron Village location has not been updated since May of 2018. Their last post indicates they were, “laying down 100% fresh beef and cooking it right when you order.”

It appears Richards Advantage once operated seven McDonald’s locations in Cary, plus one on the campus of Duke University, and most likely the Cameron Village location.

Unfortunately, the only phone number we could find for Richards was disconnected, and while the McDonald’s of Cary Facebook page still lists the old Richards Advantage phone number, the moderator of the page let us know that a new franchisee had acquired the seven Cary locations in October 2018. 

So where does that leave us? Well, the Regency Centers page for Cameron Village lists the McDonald’s parcel (B0246) as vacant and available. At this point, we can only assume the Cameron Village McDonald’s has served its last Happy Meal.

Of course, the “why” of it all is the most interesting question. Sure, McDonald’s has been shuttering some of its locations. According to 24/7 Wall St. the number of McDonald’s franchises went from from 15,828 in 2016 to 13,948 in 2018. But you rarely see one close, especially in a location as desirable as Cameron Village.

While we don’t know what the future holds for this piece of premium real estate, there are rumors that ITB Insider plans to lease the property to launch a new co-working space. If WeWork can create a company out of thin air, then so can we.



Wegmans Opened And ITBlake Was There

Wegmans has opened in Raleigh. We haven’t seen a frenzy like this over a grocery store since the Cameron Village Harris Teeter avocado shortage of 1989.

ITB Insider was the first media empire to get an exclusive look inside the store last week. We can only assume that the ensuing hysteria was due to our reporting.

On Sunday morning, the N&O’s Brooke Cain provided the following coverage of the grand opening for Wegmans.

Pictures like this began to go Raleigh-viral on social media. The response ranged from cyber-bullying to others sharing their excitement for the new grocery store.

Instead of dunking all over these people on social media, we chose to see the beauty in people willing to wait in line for hours for a grocery store to open.

According to an inside source, Wegmans did over 13,000 transactions on Sunday. Other media outlets have reported that 30,000 people visited the store. We’re glad to see the addition of another grocery store in the area, but the Cameron Village Harris Teeter still reigns supreme.


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Tasting at Seaboard Wine 10/5

Our friends at Seaboard Wine at HighPark Village are hosting a free tasting this Saturday (10/5) from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Ariel from Advintage Wines will be pouring a selection of whites and rich reds to help us transition from summer to fall, if the weather would ever actually get cooler.

Seaboard Wine is also hosting a fall Wine Class series. Their next class is on October 18th, and features South African wines. Classes are $39-$45 each and last from 7:15 pm to 8:30 pm. You can buy tickets here.


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Ashley Christensen Opening Project Xtra Crispy In Raleigh

Move over Popeyes and Chick-fil-A, Raleigh’s James Beard award-winning chef Ashley Christensen is getting into the chicken sandwich game. In July, Christensen revealed that her new fast casual fried chicken restaurant would be coming to Cary and Durham.

A website and social media accounts created for “Project Xtra Crispy” indicate “expertly-crafted chicken sandwiches and flavorful sides” will be the focus of the restaurant.

As if the opening of Wegmans didn’t generate enough buzz for the new SOJO (Midtown East) shopping center last week, Christensen announced that the center will be home to her newest concept.

According to the website, they are opening three locations: SOJO (Midtown East) in early spring 2020, University Hill in Durham in spring/summer 2020, and Parkside Town Commons in Cary in late 2020. We’ve already sent ITBlake out to start waiting in line.



Union Station Phase II Approved

The second phase of the Union Station project, which includes a bus station and up to 40 stories of mixed-use development, took a step forward this week. The RUS Bus, as people are calling it, will incorporate private development above the public transportation facility that will include mixed-income housing. We hereby propose changing the name to “ITBus” (short for “It’s The Bus”) because “RUS Bus” sounds like we’re supporting Russia.

Raleigh City Council approved a rezoning case that will allow GoTriangle to move forward with the project located at 200, 206, and 210 West Street. The 1.76-acre site is currently occupied by two-story warehouse buildings and was described in the rezoning application as a brownfield site.

Last December, the project received a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Running and maintaining the project once it’s completed is expected to cost about $250,000 a year. In a cost/benefit analysis commissioned by GoTriangle, it was estimated that by 2053 the project will have netted more than $224 million in profit.

The rezoning case had received recommendations of approval from the Planning Commission, the Raleigh Historic Development Commission, and the local Citizens Advisory Council. However, the Raleigh City Council delayed their approval by two weeks so that additional conditions related to affordable housing could be added.

Among others, they added the following condition, “The property owner will dedicate no less than 20 units or 10% of units, whichever is greater, as affordable for households earning 80% area median income or less for a period of no less than 15 years.”



Another SkyHouse Coming To Glenwood?

The developers behind SkyHouse Raleigh are seeking to expand their Raleigh portfolio with a new project on Glenwood Avenue………not far from Crabtree Valley Mall.

A recently filed subdivision application for the project indicates that the development will include a total of 248 units spread across two four-story buildings. This will include 36 studio apartments, 136 one-bedroom units, 60 two-bedrooms, and 16 three-bedrooms. A third building housing an office/clubhouse is also depicted on the preliminary site plan drawings. 

The property at 5715 Glenwood Avenue is currently home to a four-story 1970s-era office building that serves as a corporate office for AT&T. The subdivision application is described as “pre-acquisition” and county records indicate that the developer, the Novare Group out of Georgia, has not yet acquired the land. Southern Bell, also based out of Atlanta, has owned the land since 1973. The Site Review plan does include a purchase agreement between Southern Bell and Novare, but County records do not reflect an actual sale yet.



City Council Elections Oct. 8th

City Council elections are October 8th. The polls are open from 6:30 am to 7:30 pm on Election Day. Early voting goes through Friday, October 4th. You can also vote absentee by mail. 

You can check your registration and preview your ballot. If you need to register or update, you can do that at early voting but *not* on Election Day. You’ll need to bring proof of residence. Details here.

Other News

Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital is opening another location in Raleigh. They’re also hosting a Barktoberfest on October 5th. The Oktoberfest-themed event is open to the public from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at 1600 South Saunders Street. For information about the event, and to RSVP, click here. You can also RSVP on Facebook.

The Wade, our favorite condo project and the future home of ITBlake, is coming along nicely. Contact Beacon Street Development for more information.

Downtown Raleigh Alliance is hosting another outdoor office week at Union Station. It’s like WeWork, except it’s free and their valuation isn’t plummeting.


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Development Beat: Inside the New Wegmans

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Brought to you by York Properties


Inside the new Wegmans

Condos planned for Cameron Village

Weaver Street Market opened in DTR

Wine tasting at Seaboard Wine (9/28)

Five Points warehouse sold for $3.8 million

Capital comeback?

Yacht Club opening soon

Five Star Restaurant moving

Healing Transitions Day of Giving this Friday 9/27

Other News

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Inside The New Wegmans

It’s so close that you can almost taste it. The long-awaited and much-anticipated Raleigh Wegmans plans to open this Sunday in SOJO (South of Trader Joe’s). We got an exclusive tour. Here’s everything we think you need to know.

There is a wine room, a burger bar restaurant, and a “bar” for every food group imaginable. We saw an olive bar, a sushi bar, a sandwich bar, a burger bar, a salad bar, a hot bar, and a bar bar.

This sign says “Kale’ellujah”

They have Old Tuffy

They make their own tortillas

There’s a sandwich bar

An entire section is devoted to charcuterie

There’s a Seafood bar

They have ITBlake the intern’s favorite food

They can spell “Raleigh”

The “smaller-than-average” Wegmans – just over 100,000 square feet – is located at the back of the new shopping center that will include about 21 retail and restaurant spaces and a 700 space parking deck.

There’s a facade that runs along the ceiling of the store that makes you feel like you’re in Epcot at Disney World. The manager who gave us a tour said people have camped out to be the first customers when a new store opens. We aren’t going that far, but we’ll support just about anything that gets us 600+ likes on an Instagram post.



Condos Planned For Cameron Village

The Cameron Village apartments will soon be turned into The Woodburn, a collection of one-bedroom condominiums. The Cameron Village Apartments were built in the 1950s and are located at the intersection of Smallwood Drive and Daniels Street, just north of the Harris Teeter and Felson’s (RIP). 

The project will be a demo and reconstruction of the original apartments on the original foundations, with some adjustments to meet today’s codes. This allows for better insulation, higher ceilings, new windows, and more, while allowing the project to preserve the scale, site, trees, and setting of the originals.

When all three phases are complete, the project will have 72 one-bedroom condos modeled on the original buildings, but with all new construction. Each unit will have its own laundry room and private deck as well.

The Woodburn is being designed by New City Design, built by McDonald York Building Company, and marketed by Allen Tate Realtors.

“New City is proud to be part of The Woodburn team. This one of a kind project respects the best of Cameron Village’s scale, character, and history, while offering brand new, state of the art construction and detailing,” said Ted Van Dyk, head of New City Design.

Permits valued at $1.7 million for the first phase of The Woodburn were applied for by the McDonald-York Building Company in July, and it is expected that the first half of the project will be completed by the second quarter of 2020. 

While we haven’t seen any interior renderings of the new units yet, if they can make the place look half as good as this vintage advertisement for the original apartments, we’re all in on this place. 


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Weaver Street Market Opened In DTR

The long-awaited Weaver Street Market has opened in downtown Raleigh. We broke the news of the ambrosia bar last week at a super exclusive preview event.

We also broke the news of the sign being installed in August. We assume our Pulitzer is in the mail.



Tasting at Seaboard Wine 9/28

Our friends at Seaboard Wine at HighPark Village are hosting a free tasting this Saturday (9/28) from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Neal Thornton, with Sour Grapes Importers, will be pouring an eclectic selection of wines from Slovenia, France, Spain and Croatia to get you ready for fall cooking and cooler weather ahead!

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case mix or match for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!


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Five Points Warehouse Sells For $3.8 Million

A warehouse in Five Points sold for $3.8 million. Marcus & Millichap, a commercial real estate investment services firm, announced the sale of the 45,808-square-foot industrial property at 1501 Sunrise Avenue.

The warehouse building was constructed in 1954 and sits on 3.07 acres. At the time of the sale, the property had 13 units and was 98-percent leased to local tenants.

“The Sunrise Avenue warehouse was a unique opportunity for investors because it’s an operating warehouse on three acres in the Five Points neighborhood,” says Andrew Margulies, first vice president investments in Marcus & Millichap’s Raleigh office. “Having the opportunity to acquire that much land inside the beltline is rare….” (we cut off the rest of the quote because they used the term “Raleigh-Durham”).

Margulies had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a Raleigh-based limited liability company. The buyer, a Raleigh-based commercial real estate investment and management company, was self-represented.

Capital Comeback?

A long-dormant redevelopment project may finally awaken from its 14-year slumber, thanks to a recently filed rezoning case. Capital Plaza at 2815 Capital Boulevard has sat vacant since 2005. Although auctioned off in 2011 to the development firm CB Hotel, nothing has been done at the site. The most action it’s seen has been the production of a few urban exploration videos on YouTube. (There’s another you can check out here.)

Rezoning case Z-35-19 could change all of that for the 8-acre site. While it would not change the base zoning conditions – it is currently zoned and will remain CX-5 (conditional use with a maximum height of five stories) – the case will remove existing restrictions that prevent residential development. 

Although County records indicate the property is still in the hands of CB Hotel, the rezoning application was filed by Alliance Residential, one of the nation’s largest private multifamily developers. We heard that Alliance may be in the process of purchasing the property from CB, but have not been able to confirm this. Alliance is currently transforming the vacant old Crown Park Hotel in Durham into the 342-unit luxury Broadstone Durham apartment complex. 

While the owner had previously paired with a developer by the name of Tryon Ventures in hopes of turning the property back into a hotel, it appears as if those plans are now as abandoned as the hotel itself. 

The old Capital Plaza Hotel saw a number of incarnations over the years, including time spent as a Holiday Inn, Doubletree, and, briefly, as the Hotel Europa. Despite its chic surroundings and pedestrian-friendly atmosphere – two pawn shops within walking distance – the final concept lasted less than a year.

We can’t imagine City Council would deny a rezoning application for a project that could bring relatively affordable housing to a space so close to downtown and within walking distance of shopping, a grocer, a post office, and a prominent bus line. However, the majority of the City Council has no idea what they are doing and could possibly turn this into a political football. Time will tell.



Yacht Club Opening Soon

Just over a year after site plans were filed for what’s now being called the Johnson Street Yacht Club, its owners have announced that the brand-new two-story bar will soon open to the public. 

Among its many offerings and amenities, JSYC will be hosting “Bachelor Nation” every Monday night, which makes it sort of a shame the place didn’t open a few weeks earlier, as this would have been the perfect place to catch the dramatic finale of Bachelor In Paradise. Blake did nothing wrong!

Renovations on the 2,698 square-foot space, along with the addition of a 608 square-foot second story, were overseen by CHC Builders. What’s really worth noting, however, is just how incredible Johnson Street Yacht Club’s website is. Any sort of description would do it a grave injustice, so all we can do is recommend you click here. Be sure to sign the guest book and check out those sweet cat pics before you leave.



Five Star Restaurant Moving

Five Star Restaurant is moving on up to the North West side and into the newly renovated 303 N. West Street. 

Five Star originally opened in 2000 at 511 W. Hargett Street and quickly made a name for itself with its authentic Chinese dishes. Five Star is expected to open in the 3,685 square-foot space at 303 N. West in the second quarter of 2020. 

Healing Transitions Day Of Giving

On Friday, September 27th, local nonprofit Healing Transitions will be capping National Recovery Month off with a Day of Giving, where they are raising money to help give 80 people their first month of recovery. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, they have secured a $20,000 Day of Giving match, which will double donations up to $20,000 on Friday.

Healing Transitions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which serves homeless, uninsured, and underserved men and women struggling from alcoholism and other drug addictions. They serve more than 300 individuals every day and offer peer-based, recovery-oriented services to those in need. They also offer family services for families who have been affected by addiction.

All month long, Healing Transitions has been celebrating recovery and raising awareness to help break the stigma of addiction. They set out at the beginning of the month to raise $80,000 to give 80 people their first month in recovery.

Learn more about you can donate on the Day of Giving here: https://healing-transitions.org/nrm/

Other News

A golden retriever refuses to fetch tennis balls unless they’re from the Carolina Country Club

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Poole’side Pies is now open seven days a week.


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Development Beat: Poole’side Pies Opened

in Development by

Brought to you by York Properties


Poole’side Pies now open

Wine tasting at Seaboard Wine Thursday 9/19

Oak Heart Vet hosting Barktoberfest

Mura closing at North Hills

Raleigh Crossing groundbreaking

Christmas in September

Tryon redevelopment

Other News

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Poole’side Pies Now Open

Poole’side Pies, the latest offering from James Beard award-winning renowned Raleigh chef Ashley Christensen, is officially open. Based on Christensen’s track record, Raleigh’s love of pizza, and the freshly painted most Instagrammable mural in the city on the side of the building, we’re confident this will be a success.  

To say people were excited for this would be a slight understatement.

The restaurant opened on Friday the 13th at 428 S. McDowell Street, next door to Poole’s Diner. According to Christensen’s post, the opening hours are Tuesday – Thursday, 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Friday and Saturday, 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm. They plan to offer take out soon.

Designed by Louis Cherry Architecture, the new restaurant currently offers seven different Neapolitan-style pizzas cooked in a brick oven.

Poole’side Pies was first announced in 2017; site plans were filed in 2018 and permits to renovate the 3,950 square foot space for a cost just under $400,000 were issued in January 2019. 



Tasting at Seaboard Wine 9/14

Daniel Brennan, of Decibel Wines, will host a free tasting at Seaboard Wine this Thursday from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. In 2009, Daniel began producing the unique expressions of Hawkes Bay Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc. The following year, he expanded his repertoire, making award-winning Martinborough Pinot Noir and a unique Hawkes Bay White Blend.

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case (mix or match) for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!


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Attend Barktoberfest at Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital at South Saunders

Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital invites Raleigh pet parents to celebrate the opening of its third location by attending their Barktoberfest party on Saturday, October 5. The Oktoberfest-themed event is open to the public from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at 1600 South Saunders Street. 

The festivities will include guided tours of the hospital, daycare and boarding, grooming and retail spaces; complimentary drinks from Trophy Brewing, Whiskey Kitchen, and Seaboard Wine; hors d’oeuvres provided by Locals Oyster Bar; live music; and specialty dog treats from Woof Gang Bakery. 

Additionally, all pet owners in attendance will receive one free veterinary exam that can be redeemed on a later date at Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital at South Saunders.

The 10,000 square-foot location, designed by Cline Design Associates, will offer high-quality services and amenities such as a veterinary hospital, a retail shop, and a resort with a dog daycare facility and kennels for boarding cats and dogs.

For more information about the event and to RSVP, visit: https://oakheartvet.com/south-saunders-barktoberfest. You can also RSVP on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/920524844959216.



Mura Closing At North Hills

It was reported last week that Mura in North Hills will be closing on September 22.

Mura, which is owned by the local hospitality group Eschelon Experiences, first opened in North Hills in 2005. Eschelon acquired the restaurant the following year.

Eschelon told the Triangle Business Journal last week that Mura may reopen somewhere else in the City. Eschelon currently operates a number of area restaurants, including The Haymaker, the Cameron Bar & Grill, and the Edwards Mill Bar & Grill.


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Raleigh Crossing Groundbreaking

A 20-story mixed-use development on Hillsborough Street has officially broken ground. Located at 301 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh Crossing is being developed by the Fallon Company. 

According to an exclusive press release, the project will feature “commercial, residential, retail and hospitality uses, and enhance the downtown landscape with its striking design.” 

The project will include 280,000 square feet of “trophy” office space, 18,000 square feet of street-level retail, a 165-room hotel, a 135-unit apartment community, and an “expansive, flexible outdoor amenity terrace.”

Occupying much of that office space will be Pendo, a technology company focusing on cloud and digital products. Earlier this year it was announced that Pendo would relocate its corporate headquarters to the commercial tower, where it will occupy five floors and 125,000 square feet.

Raleigh Crossing, designed by Duda Paine Architects out of Durham, will be built in two phases and feature a “striking glass facade.” In the exclusive press release, Michael Fallon, President of The Fallon Company, stated that the groundbreaking symbolized “an exciting new chapter in the continued evolution of downtown Raleigh.”



Christmas In September

The City of Raleigh is seeking a vendor to provide “full-service holiday decorations for the 2019 holiday season.” “Full-service,” as defined by the Request for Proposals, includes the purchase, installation, maintenance, removal and storage of the decorations.

In addition to the Christmas holiday, the work will include New Year’s activities occurring in January 2020. The RFP also includes a detailed “decoration inventory” that offers up a preview of the kind of decorations that will soon be dotting the downtown streets. 

These include two “four-ball” ornament stacks, two “ten-ball” ornament stacks that will include 36” ornaments with overall dimensions ranging from 80”H x 65”W to 124”H x 108”W, 60 “Silhouette Presidential Snowflake pole mounts,” and more. 

Per the RFP, the City’s Convention Center will commission and fund the project up to $60,000, money that, personally, we’d rather see spent decking out the City for Halloween. 

Proposals are due by September 23, and the decorations are to be in place no later than November 2, 2019.

Tryon Redevelopment

City Council today is set to approve the sale of a 10,019 square-foot property on Tryon Road that could pave the way for some new medium-density housing in Southwest Raleigh. 

Located at 3109 Tryon Road, the land was acquired back in 2006 by the City for $20,000 as part of a settlement for the Tryon Road widening project. A developer recently offered to buy the land for $10,000, a price based on a recent City of Raleigh appraisal. 

The land is currently zoned R-4, which allows for up to four single-family dwellings per acre. While we have no confirmation that the property will actually be developed for residential use, a staff memo notes that “the use of the site will be regulated by the current R-4 zoning classification.”

According to the staff memo, the “applicable City departments have reviewed the property and have no objection to the disposition,” and Council is likely to approve the sale.

Other News

Robbie Rikard shared renderings of what’s being proposed on the SE corner of Capital and Peace.

Progress on The Wade

We can confirm that the new expansion at Trophy Brewing will have windows.


We are considering commissioning a traffic study to determine the levels of road rage on Six Forks near North Hills. This is why you should always take Lassiter Mill.

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Development Beat: Biscuitville On Western Coming Soon, Pizza La Stella Closes In DTR

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Biscuitville opening soon on Western Boulevard

Free Wine Tasting at Seaboard Wine on 9/14

Axe-Throwing on Atlantic

Hops for Hope at North Hills 9/14

Pizza La Stella closed on Fayetteville Street

Smoky Hollow approved for up to 40 stories

New Orleans on New Bern

Other News

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Biscuitville Opening Soon On Western Boulevard

While the rest of the world goes mad over the Popeyes chicken sandwich, Biscuitville has been quietly working on their new Western Boulevard location. 

In April, we reported that the new Biscuitville will be located in a 3,140 square-foot building at 3928 Western Boulevard next to Cook Out and a few doors down from Bojangles’ and Popeyes.

On September 4, the City approved permits for a “presale board and new menu board” – also known as an outdoor drive-thru menu. Installation of the drive-thru menu is often one of the final stages when building out a new restaurant. They should be open fairly soon.



Tasting at Seaboard Wine 9/14

Our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting a free tasting Saturday (9/14) from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Robin Bodwin with Proof Wines always brings an interesting and eclectic selection of wines to sample from the west coast and Europe!

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case (mix or match) for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!


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Axe-Throwing On Atlantic

An indoor axe-throwing facility could be coming to a spot on Atlantic Avenue just south of the intersection with Hodges Street. 

Aston Properties, a Charlotte-based developer, recently filed a site review plan that called for a change-of-use for the 7,500 square-foot warehouse at 2415 Atlantic Avenue from a “print shop” to an indoor recreational facility. The existing warehouse, built in 1985, was sold to Aston Properties in September 2018.

Although the project’s title on these plans is listed as “Urban Axe,” there’s a good chance this new business is related, or will at least be similar to, the indoor axe-throwing franchise Urban Axes, which opened a facility in Durham last fall.

Urban Axes, whose name is pretty self-explanatory, functions as a sort-of bar where patrons hurl axes at targets in both league and recreational settings. It sounds incredibly safe. 



Hops For Hope at North Hills 9/14

Hops for Hope will be held this Saturday, September 14th, at North Hills from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The event pairs corporate teams with local breweries to raise money for Children’s Flight of Hope, a 501(c)(3) organization that provides air transportation for children to access specialized medical care.

26 corporate teams and 24 of the best local breweries will compete against each other. Each team creates their own beer that is then judged by attendees and a panel of experts with refined palates. The event also includes food trucks, a vendor village, and performances from local bands.

General Admission tickets include a souvenir tasting glass, unlimited tastings of all 26 beers, and re-entry. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the event. VIP tickets are $75 and include entrance to Chuy’s private patio with food and margaritas, and covered seating. Purchase tickets here.


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Pizza La Stella Closed On Fayetteville

Just over a year since the closure of its Hillsborough Street location, Pizza La Stella has shuttered its Fayetteville Street eatery in downtown Raleigh. 

The only remaining Pizza La Stella on Kildaire Farm Road will, according to the good folks over at the Triangle Food Blog, soon be joined by a new location later this year in North Raleigh, with other neighborhood locations coming soon.



Smoky Hollow Approved For Up To 40 Stories

City Council approved rezoning plans that will allow for a tower of up to 40 stories to be built at the Smoky Hollow development at the intersection of W. Peace and N. Harrington.

The rezoning case, which is part of the third phase of Smoky Hollow, was filed earlier this year by Kane Realty. The application noted that the proposed mixed-use tower would “increase the amount of downtown housing options, as well as the amount of office and retail space for potential tenants.” Construction on the new tower is expected to begin within 2-3 years. 

Phase I of the Peace & West/Smoky Hollow project will include 400 apartments, ground floor retail, and a Publix grocery store. It is currently under construction and set to be completed in the summer of 2020. Phase II will include 280 residential units, 225,000 square-feet of office space, and more than 50,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space.

New Orleans On New Bern

Although it opened to the public more than a month ago on August 7, Secrets Cajun Kitchen on New Bern will hold its official grand opening later this month, at an event on September 16. 

The restaurant, located in the former home of Remington Grill at 4511 New Bern, features an array of New Orleans-inspired food, including gizzards, gator, gumbo, and po’ boys.

The ribbon-cutting will take place at 4 p.m. on the 16th, and special discounts will be offered throughout the evening.

Other News

eatRaleigh shared some info on Poole’side Pies, the latest from James Beard award-winning chef Ashley Christensen

Progress on Wine & Design at Union Station

The Southeast Raleigh YMCA had a ribbon cutting.


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Development Beat: Mission Valley Cinema Closed…For Now

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Brought to you by York Properties


Mission Valley Cinema closed

Free Wine Tasting at Seaboard Wine on 9/7

Developer buys land near Dix

Vegan Doughnut Shop opens in Oakwood

Home of the Week from Dale Moody, Cornerstone Properties

Changes at Morgan Street Food Hall

More mixed-use on Hillsborough

Other News

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Mission Valley Cinema Closed…For Now

The owners of the Mission Valley shopping center are negotiating with a new group to resume operations of the movie theater, including renovation to the lobby area. For now, Mission Valley Cinema is closed.

Over the last six months or so, people have asked us about the status of Mission Valley Cinema. We had come across some permits earlier this year that indicated the theater would be renovated, but nothing seemed to happen with those. Then we heard that the theater would close, renovate, and reopen.

On Tuesday night, we learned through Twitter that the Mission Valley Cinema website stated the theater had closed.

MISSION VALLEY HAS CLOSED ITS DOORS

We Have enjoyed serving the community all these years.

Thank you for all of your support, we will cherish all the memories.

We hope to see you at the Rialto and Six Forks.”

We shared the news on Twitter, which prompted many emotions from fans of the theater.

Here’s a history of Mission Valley from CinemaTreasures.org.

“The mission Valley Cinemas opened on March 2, 1973 as a twin theatre under Fairlane-Litchfield Corporation. Screen 1 which is the larger auditorium seated 500 while screen 2 (which is about half the size of screen 1) seated about 300, bringing the total to 800 seats.

On December 9, 1983, the Mission Valley Cinemas grand reopening expanded the theatre from two screens to five screens under the new title Mission Valley Cinema 5. Under Litchfield Theatres it kept its original auditorium intact while screens 3, 4, & 5 seated 288 each. United Artists took over this theatre in 1988.

The only other remodelling was done in 1994 when new management took over under United Artists Theatres. This was just a lobby renovation in which a kitchen was built and the concession stand was moved from a circular island in the middle of the lobby to a new stand to the right of the lobby. Additional changes were made to the box office and the downstairs managers office.

By the early-2000’s, United Artists had dropped ownership and Bill Peebles took over the theatre and its operations under his company Ambassador Entertainment (which also operates two other Raleigh theatres including the Rialto Theatre at Five Points and the Colony Theatres 1 & 2). The Mission Valley Cinemas remain Raleigh’s top destination for great Hollywood movies and events of special interest.”

We’re glad to hear that negotiations are ongoing to reopen this ITB landmark. We’ll keep you posted when we hear more.



Tasting at Seaboard Wine 9/7

Our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting a free tasting Saturday (9/7) from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Eddie Pellino, with Haw River Wine Man, will be pouring a selection of wines from Spain, France, and Italy to enjoy during your favorite football game and in the cooler fall weather ahead.

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case (mix or match) for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!


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Developer Buys Land Near Dix

Raleigh real-estate firm Atlas Stark Holdings could soon be bringing a mixed-use project to the edges of Dix Park, following its recent acquisition of land along Hammell Drive. 

County records indicate that a subsidiary of Atlas Stark purchased several tracts along Hammell Drive and South Saunders, including 1008 Hammel Drive, 1036, 1040, 1044, and 1048 South Saunders. The TBJ reported the total sale package was in the neighborhood of $7.8 million. They spared no expense.

The firm told the TBJ that they’re looking to acquire additional land with plans of developing everything from office to residential and retail uses. 

As the property’s current IX-3 zoning caps development at a maximum of three stories, it is likely that Atlas Stark will have to file a rezoning case prior to moving ahead with the project, although it does not appear such a case has yet been filed.



Vegan Doughnut Shop Opens In Oakwood

Photo: @lousy_hunters_doughnuts Instagram

A vegan doughnut shop opened this weekend in Oakwood. EatRaleigh reported that at just after nine on Saturday, August 31 there was already a line for the grand opening of Lousy Hunters Vegan Doughnuts.

The shop, which specializes in “fried vegan yeast doughnuts” has been selling its wares at pop-up events and through other retailers. The location in Oakwood is meant to serve both as a storefront and a production space which will allow them to continue selling doughnuts wholesale. 

A GoFundMe for this production space was launched in July, and as of September 1 had raised $3,100 of its $3,000 goal. 


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Home of the Week from Cornerstone

This week’s Home of the Week comes from our friends at Cornerstone Properties. This quaint cottage is located in the heart of Mordecai overlooking a quiet side street. It’s ready for move in or a wonderful starting point for an addition.

Leave the car at home with the close proximity to Oakwood Pizza Box, Krispy Kreme, Seaboard or downtown Raleigh. The historic charm of Raleigh with all the happening just around the corner! More information available here.

Contact Broughton alumnus Dale Moody for more information, 919-607-4606, dalemoodync@gmail.com.



Changes At Morgan Street Food Hall

Morgan Street Food Hall is getting some new additions.

Primal Cuts – slow roasted, hand carved to order Prime Rib sandwiches. Their menu also includes various other hot sandwiches as well as house made horseradish sauce, hand cut chips, artisan Italian bread, and a wide array of cheeses and ingredients.

Pazza Pasta – Samad Hachby, founder and creative director of Raleigh-based Umbria Hospitality Group, has announced plans for an Italian street concept with fast-casual pasta and Poadina concept. In addition to made-to-order pasta dishes, Pazza will offer fresh-cut Italian meats and cheeses, cheese platters, fresh salads, and a cannoli bar.

Aunty Betty’s – Raleigh’s newest gin bar. With a program headed by Gregory Ewan of Watts & Ward, you can expect expertly crafted cocktails featuring some of the worlds finest gin. The bar is inspired by owner Niall Hanley’s Irish aunt and her favorite spirit. 

Raleigh Donut’s – A local favorite at their NC State Fair Grounds location, Raleigh Mini Donuts will be opening a second location at Morgan Street Food Hall. Diners can expect delicious mini donuts topped with a wide variety of sweet flavors.

Mixed-Use on Hillsborough

Two homes located at 6019 and 6101 Hillsborough Street could soon be rezoned to allow for a neighborhood mixed-use development up to five stories in height.

While the properties are already zoned for relatively high density residential – R-10, the change to NX-5 would allow for commercial as well as residential development on the site, which may even include a stand-alone restaurant. 

The site is located on the far west portion of Hillsborough, far from NC State and most decidedly OTB. It’s a little ways past the Sonic & the Hardees, in an area that’s certainly more in need of development than the core area surrounding NCSU. 

Other News


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Development Beat: Weaver Street Market Opening Soon

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Brought to you by York Properties


Weaver Street Market opening soon

Free Wine Tasting at Seaboard Wine on 8/31

Scott Crawford’s Jolie opened

Shake Shack opened in Cary

Tin Roof opening soon on Glenwood South

NC State Entrepreneurship Garage coming to Centennial

A look at Gateway Plaza

Boxyard At RTP Breaks Ground

Other News

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Weaver Street Market Opening Soon

Weaver Street Market announced that it will open at The Dillon on September 4th. Residents will finally get the grocery store they’ve been longing for ever since they moved downtown five years ago.

The announcement was prompted by an inquiry from Ashton Smith, creator of an excellent weekly newsletter and co-host of Podcast Raleigh.

That same day, we broke the news of the Weaver Street Market sign being installed. We’re still waiting to hear about our Pulitzer.

This will be Weaver Street’s fourth area location, and the first outside of Orange County. Weaver Street Market’s website for the Raleigh location notes that the opening date is contingent on receiving all the necessary permits. So while the actual date might not be September 4th, they should be open in the next few weeks.



Italy North to South! Tasting at Seaboard Wine 8/31

School is back and so is the stress that comes with it. Fortunately, our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting a free tasting Saturday (8/31) from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Join Elia Gentili from Sunrise Wines on a virtual tour of Italy from Piedmont to Sicily, featuring small estate grown wines from his extensive portfolio.

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case (mix or match) for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!


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Scott Crawford’s Jolie Opened

Photo: @jolierestaurant

Jolie, a new French bistro from prominent Raleigh chef Scott Crawford, has opened at 620 N. Person Street next to Crawford and Son. 

Jolie, named after Crawford’s daughter, offers classic French dishes including rabbit cassoulet, souffles, steak frites, scrambled duck eggs, and more. Raleigh’s Madison Tessener joined Crawford Hospitality as the Chef de Cuisine earlier this year. The News & Observer and ABC 11 provided some insight into the Jolie experience. 

The journey to open Jolie wasn’t easy. For example, Crawford, a five-time James Beard Award semifinalist, had to jump through hoops to get rooftop dining approved. (City Council elections are October 8th.)

Chef Scott Crawford shared the following message on Instagram:

“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Raleigh/Triangle Community for your kindness and support! The @jolierestaurant journey has not been an easy one. We knew all along it was worth the effort but it wasn’t until we opened our doors that we realized how special this little restaurant would be. We’re so excited to share it with the world. Thanks to all who stopped by or sent flowers and thoughtful gifts. Bon Appétit!”



Shake Shack Opened In Cary

Shake Shack has opened in Cary. Uber Eats deliveries from Cary to Raleigh are expected to skyrocket as a result. The popular burger restaurant is located in Cary’s Waverly Place shopping center. The News & Observer wrote a review of the restaurant.


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Tin Roof Opening Soon on Glenwood South

Glenwood South’s Nashville-inspired Tin Roof Restaurant and Bar has announced plans to open in “early September.”

The property at 300 Glenwood Avenue was previously home to a one-story, 4,000 square-foot brick building constructed in 1940.

The Tin Roof in Nashville offers a lunch and dinner menu in addition to serving as a bar/nightlife hotspot with live country music, and it sounds like the Raleigh location will offer more of the same. 



NC State Entrepreneurship Garage Coming To Centennial

The NC State Entrepreneurship Garage located in HQ Raleigh’s Centennial Campus location will open this week. The new space boasts over 23,000 square feet of co-working and prototyping areas with collaborative opportunities for both NC State students and HQ Raleigh’s startup community.

A Look At Gateway Plaza

Photo: @OakCityCRE

Gateway Plaza seems to be progressing nicely. In June of 2016, plans were announced to transform the shopping center on Capital Boulevard into a destination spot for new restaurants and retailers. The 6.8 acre property is owned by Loden Properties and managed and leased by York Properties.

Gateway’s current lineup of tenants include:

HQ Raleigh

Union Special – a new bakery run by Andrew Ullow, formerly the head pastry chef and baker for Ashley Christensen’s restaurants

Brew Coffee – a Raleigh-based coffee shop

Craft Habit – a store and workshop for DIY crafters

Mordecai Beverage Co. – a brewery and bottle shop

Little Makers Academy – a childcare provider

Azure Violins – a violin maker and instructor shop.

OakCityCRE recently provided an update.

Boxyard At RTP Breaks Ground

Ground has broken at Boxyard RTP. Located in RTP, the new development consists of 38 shipping containers, with Fullsteam Brewery as the anchor tenant. Finally, Cisco employees will have somewhere in RTP to grab a beer while sitting in a shipping container. No word on whether red badgers will be invited to happy hour.

According to their website, there is room for up to nine restaurants, indoor/outdoor seating options, and a covered pavilion. Their goal is to provide a year-round dining and shopping experience. They expect to open by spring of 2020.

Other News

TriangleExplorer broke the news that Wegmans in SOJO is opening September 29th.

Lauren Brownlow shared the prices of beer that will be sold at Carter-Finley this year.

Development Beat: Drive Shack Opens This Week

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Brought to you by York Properties


Drive Shack opens this week

Free Wine Tasting at Seaboard Wine on 8/24

Raleigh is trash

Locals Oyster Bar does dinner

Row House opens in SOJO

D.H. Hill entrance reopens after 30 years

Rebuilding City Plaza

More apartments on Hillsborough Street

Other News

Teen Cancer America 2019 Hoop-A-Thon will be August 24th and 25th – register here

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Drive Shack Opens This Week

It’s finally here. Drive Shack plans to open on August 23rd in Raleigh. We’ll finally be able to enjoy the following:

96 Full Service All-Weather Hitting Bays Across 3 Levels
300+ TVs for Game-Watching and Entertainment
Interactive Games & Golf Courses to Play
Grill & Bar Restaurant
Rooftop Terrace Lounge
Retro Arcade Games – including NBA Jam

This is the second location for Drive Shack. They held a sneak preview last Friday, which featured a flyby perfectly timed with “Danger Zone” by Sir Kenny Loggins.

Located at 6901 Play Golf Way near the PNC Arena, their hours are:

Monday – Thursday 10AM – 12AM
Friday 10AM – 2AM
Saturday 9AM – 2AM
Sunday 9AM – 12AM



Free Tasting at Seaboard Wine 8/24

Our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting a free tasting Saturday (8/24) from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Neal Thornton with Sour Grapes Distributors will be pouring some refreshing white, rosé and reds from Europe to enjoy during the last blast of summer, including:

Balnea Verdejo 2018; Rueda, Spain
Domaine Moutard-Diligent Aligoté 2018; Burgundy, France
Pullus Pinot Grigio 2018; Štajerska, Slovenia
Routas Rosé 2018; Coteaux Varois en Provence, France
Legado Muñoz Garnacha 2017; La Tierra de Castilla, Spain
Skaramuča Plavac Mali 2016; Pelješac Peninsula, Croatia

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case (mix or match) for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!


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Raleigh Is Trash

In the time it takes for half a gallon of Almond Milk to expire, (less than 3 months) the City of Raleigh installed six high-capacity Molok trash containers in downtown Raleigh and then decided to remove them for no good reason. Raleigh expects it will cost $50,000 to $80,000 to remove and reinstall the Moloks.

The Moloks are partially underground and can hold 20 trash cans worth of trash. They were intended to replace the rows of trash and recycling cans that littered the sidewalks of businesses near the Hargett and Wilmington Street intersection.

The News & Observer and ABC11 reported last week that complaints from local bar and restaurant owners prompted the City to remove the Moloks by August 25.

Solid Waste Services Director Stan Joseph told The N&O, “Some of the concerns, the reasonable concerns, were the optics of where the system is located. I think it is a garbage and recycling underground system so there is always the concern for public health, potential vermin that may be attracted to it. Even smell, though we did look at ways to measure impacts from the system.”

The N&O also reported that “In an email to the Raleigh City Council, city staff wrote they “did not properly notify the adjacent property owner before installing the new system – we regret the error and have apologized.”” Well that’s great.

It turns out that not that many people actually complained about the Moloks. In fact, a petition in favor of the Moloks was started by John Pugh, owner of the nearby House of Swank Clothing. The petition has generated over 1,900 signatures in less than a week.

Other local business owners showed up to this week’s City Council meeting to return their trash cans, showing solidarity with the Moloks. Evelyn Briggs Davis, owner of Briggs Hardware in Downtown Raleigh, and Christine Brenner of Read With Me, A Children’s Book & Art Shop, were thrown out of the city council meeting.

We can’t imagine what business wouldn’t be thrilled to have a trash can with 20x the normal capacity situated 10 feet from their storefront. We’ll see how this plays out, but we have a feeling it’ll be garbage.



Locals Oyster Bar Does Dinner

Photo: Owen Scott Jordan

Locals Oyster Bar at Transfer Company Food Hall has launched their full service dinner menu. In addition to their existing offerings, you can now enjoy seafood dishes on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 5pm-10pm. 

The menu focuses on North Carolina-sourced fish and shellfish thanks to a partnership with Locals Seafood. Everything they serve is given a 23andMe DNA test to ensure that it comes from North Carolina.

Along with an expansive oyster and raw bar, they also offer blue crab tomato pie, littleneck clams with tuna chorizo, and grilled whole vermilion snapper. Dishes will change as seafood availability fluctuates with the seasons.

A rotating selection of cocktails, wine, and craft beer is curated by Locals’ team of veteran bartenders. Reservations are recommended and can be booked through Resy


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Row House Opens At SOJO

A new rowing-machine-focused exercise studio aimed at downtown canal advocates has opened at SOJO.

Located at 1101 Mercantile Drive, Row House offers six different types of classes. After watching the videos, this is basically like a spin class but on a rowing machine.



D.H. Hill Entrance Reopens

The D.H. Hill Library at NC State held its official grand opening over the summer for a Hillsborough Street entrance that had shut down nearly 30 years ago.

This new entrance includes new doors, a secure entrance, and enhanced landscaping. The old Hillsborough Street entrance was closed in 1990 in part to minimize disruption of library patrons by people taking a shortcut to the Brickyard exit. Now that the library has more space to work and study, it is believed these lazy short-cutters will act as less of a disruption than in the past.

The Brickyard entrance has now closed due to construction, and the Hillsborough Street entrance is the only public entrance/exit.

Rebuilding City Plaza

Raleigh is seeking a contractor to renovate City Plaza. Located on the 400 block of Fayetteville Street, City Plaza has for years served as a premier outdoor space for the City’s countless street festivals and celebrations. 

Although we’d argue it’s held up pretty well over the years, the City is currently looking for a contractor to come in and make a number of improvements, including pavement repairs, irrigation improvements, fountain repairs, electrical upgrades, and more. 

The most significant change will be the removal of the fountain and several of the planters, which City officials say have been damaged over the years by skateboarders. Removing the fountain and planters will allow for more event space, and will likely reduce future maintenance costs. The impact on the local skateboarding community, however, will be more difficult to measure.

More Apartments On Hillsborough

A new apartment complex is planned for Hillsborough Street. Shockingly, it won’t be near NC State. A site review plan was filed earlier this month for a 12-building, 107,721 square-foot multifamily development named 5700 Hillsborough. 

Developed by CA Ventures, a firm out of Chicago, 5700 Hillsborough will include a total of 180 residential units, and a whopping 74 of them will be four-bedroom or more. Fortunately, 394 parking spaces will be provided, which should be enough to accommodate all those four-bedrooms. 

Hoop-A-Thon This Weekend

Teen Cancer America (TCA) is tapping into the passion of the Duke-Carolina basketball rivalry with a pair of competing fundraisers this weekend. Fans will have the rare opportunity to shoot hoops alongside their favorite players from Duke and Carolina. 

Hosted by former All-Americans Nolan Smith of Duke and Brice Johnson of UNC, two back-to-back Hoop-a-Thons will be held on Saturday, Aug. 24 in Chapel Hill and Sunday, Aug. 25 in Durham. 

Funds raised will help support TCA programs in development at the Duke Cancer Institute and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. The initiative also allows online donations to be made to either the Duke or Carolina fundraising “teams” in a friendly but spirited competition to raise the most money for TCA. Details can be found at www.tcahoopathon.com

Other News

In this section, we just embed social media posts from other people. It’s called outsourcing, and it’s brilliant.

NC State will serve beer during football games this year. Our ITBFF Will Brinson shared more details on the selections. It seems Trophy Brewing’s Cloud Surfer will be available.

Progress on Mordecai Beverage Co.

Development Beat: Walter Tower Coming To North Hills

in Development by

Brought to you by York Properties


Walter Tower coming to North Hills

More retail for SOJO

Free Wine Tasting at Seaboard Wine on 8/17

Women’s International Champions Cup 8/15 and 8/18 at WakeMed Soccer Park – buy tickets now!

Shred415 coming to The Dillon

7-story office at Glenn Lake

Growler USA replaced by Riddle Raleigh

CorePower Yoga coming to Stonehenge

More Crabtree apartments

Dog of the Week

Other News – a look at Jolie, the Moore Square splash pad broke

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Walter Tower Coming To North Hills

A 35-story, mixed-use building with 33 stories of luxury apartments and 6,500 square-feet of retail space is planned for North Hills. Kane Realty Corporation recently provided an update on the project, known as “Walter Tower.”

Located at 4000 Front at North Hills Street, Walter Tower will be the “tallest building on I-440” and its glass design will provide “premier views of Raleigh.”

The 570,000 square foot building will house 376 luxury apartments (21 penthouse residences). Amenities will include a “grand porte-cochère entry, 6th floor pool courtyard and wellness center, rooftop courtyard and clubroom.”

The project is being designed by SRSSA (Smallwoods, Reynolds, Steward, Stewart). Construction is set to begin in 2020. 

When it was first announced last year, Walter Tower was set to be a 33-story residential tower that would feature 11 levels of boutique hotel rooms and 22 levels of luxury apartments. We assume the plans were changed to avoid violating the Raleigh City Council’s barbaric stance on ADUs.



More Retail for SOJO

More retail is planned for SOJO. Ram Realty Advisors recently announced its purchase of a roughly 70,000 square-foot shopping center anchored by Lifetime Fitness. 

Located at 601 E. Six Forks Road, the center was 100% leased at the time of the sale. Its tenants included fine dining establishments such as Applebee’s, Papa John’s, and more.

In a likely effort to compete with the new Wegmans-anchored center nearby, Ram plans to renovate and expand the shopping center. Plans for the first part of that expansion include a new 3,500 square-foot restaurant, 1,600 square feet of retail, and 2,400 square feet of office space. 

While the plans go into great detail on the proposed building materials, only one new tenant was revealed: Fifth Thirds Bank. 

We’re not sure when work is set to begin, and the last time we drove by it appeared site improvements were underway. It’s likely this expansion will happen sooner than later.


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Free Tasting at Seaboard Wine 8/17

Our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting a free tasting Saturday (8/17) from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Brad (the Beav) Beavers with Winebow will be pouring some of his favorite warm weather wines for the waning days of summer.

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case (mix or match) for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!


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Women’s ICC August 15th and 18th

We are days away from the Women’s International Champions Cup. The best players in the world will be competing in our backyard this Thursday and Sunday. Get your tickets here. On Tuesday afternoon at 3:00, players from Olympique Lyonnais, Atletico de Madrid, North Carolina Courage, and Manchester City will be at Morgan Street Food Hall for a meet and greet.

The WICC is bringing four of the best women’s professional clubs from around the world, over 40 Women’s World Cup players, and the 1st Female Ballon D’or Winner to compete at WakeMed Soccer Park.

Schedule:

Thursday, August 15, 5:00 pm EDT: Olympique Lyonnais vs. Atlético de Madrid

Thursday, August 15, 7:30 pm EDT: North Carolina Courage vs. Manchester City

Sunday, August 18, 5:00 pm EDT: Third-place play-off

Sunday, August 18, 7:00 pm EDT: Final

Buy your tickets now.



Shred415 Coming To The Dillon

Raleigh’s first Shred415 exercise studio is coming to The Dillon, as construction permits were issued last week for the 7,000 square-foot space at 218 S. Harrington Street. 

Shred415 describes itself as an “instructor-led, calorie-burning, high intensity interval training class designed to target all muscle groups, and it guarantees to shred your body.” The training involves alternating between “cardio work on top quality Woodway treadmills and weight-training,” and is aimed at folks of all fitness levels. 

Shred415 currently operates in a number of locations throughout the country. The Shred415 at The Dillon will be its first location in North Carolina. The renovation is being handled by ADI Construction out of Virginia.

No word on whether Bonner Gaylord will be teaching any of the classes.

7-Story Office Building At Glenlake Plaza

Highwoods Properties unveiled plans for its latest addition to Glenlake Plaza, a 7-story office building dubbed Building III. In April of this year, we noted that sitework was underway for Glenlake Seven – which would actually be the complex’s fifth building.

If this numbering scheme seems a bit odd; you’re not alone. As best we can tell, the existing buildings are numbered one, four, five, and six. We noted that seven total buildings are planned for the park and predicted that it was likely “the future buildings will be numbered two and three.” As usual, we were proven right, thanks to recently filed site review plans. 

Highwoods, which acquired Glenlake in 2004, has been expanding the office park, and will be developing Building III on an undeveloped lot across the street.

The new 211,862 square-foot building will also include a four-level, 718-space parking deck. The site plans for both are being developed by Piedmont Land Design out of Raleigh. 



Growler USA Replaced By Riddle Raleigh

The recently-shuttered Growler USA has already found a new tenant in the form of Riddle Raleigh, a trivia-focused bar and restaurant. A soft opening was held earlier this month, with plans for a grand opening on August 30.

Riddle Raleigh has full ABC permits – meaning they’ll offer both beer and liquor – and 40 taps with “mostly local brews.”

In a post on the popular website Facebook.com, owner/operator Anthony Owens shared his plans for the space at 314 S. Blount Street.

“We are going to be the first of our kind in the area offering the assortment of interactive and trivia based games free to our guests. …. We are a different kind of concept, Riddle Raleigh will be home to the Carolina Comedy Awards, Theme parties monthly, and many other intriguing activities. From Board Games to Darts to Corn Hole and Tiki Toss, we will corner the market on actually having fun while enjoying a drink and eating Exotic meats like, Alligator, Bison, New Zealand Elk and many more things the average resident of Raleigh would normally not have a chance to try.

Board games and exotic meats, welcome to downtown Raleigh. 

CorePower Yoga Coming To Stonehenge

CorePower Yoga, a popular yoga franchise with more than 200 locations across the country, will soon open its second Raleigh location. 

Permits were recently issued for the quarter-million dollar renovation of a 3,664 square-foot space in Stonehenge Market at 7504 Creedmoor Road.

More Apartments At Crabtree

In an attempt to address the severe lack of multifamily housing available in the Crabtree Valley area, the EYC Companies out of South Carolina have filed plans for the Factory at Crabtree apartments.

Despite its unique name, Factory, designed by Watts Leaf Architects out of Charlotte, doesn’t appear to differ much from every other new apartment complex that’s cropped up in and around the City over the last ten years: masonry exterior, decks, plenty of windows. Plans call for a 6-story, 168-unit apartment complex that will include 253 parking spaces.

The Factory is one small part of a much larger development known as Crabtree North, which has been percolating for longer than we’ve been writing this column. The Crabtree North description from EYC also mentions another 204-unit complex known as the Overture, and 125,000 square feet of “retail, restaurant, and hotel.”

Crabtree North was at one time set to include the ambitious Carolina Row, an 11-acre portion of the massive 20-acre project. Carolina Row was supposed to be “a mixed-use development where southern sophistication meets contemporary main street” with 708 residential units and a hotel.

The project was to connect via a pedestrian bridge to Crabtree Valley Mall across Glenwood. The grand opening was slated for 2016, which has come and gone. Tragically, southern sophistication has yet to meet up with contemporary main street. The site is now being marketed to potential developers.

Dog of the Week

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Twinning @sir_rexthecorgi

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Other News

In this section, we just embed social media posts from other people. It’s called outsourcing, and it’s brilliant.

Our friend Ashton Smith got a look at Jolie, the new restaurant from Scott Crawford.

The Moore Square splash pad, part of the $13 million renovation of Moore Square, is closed for repairs.

This is what it’s supposed to look like.

Development Beat: One Two One Fayetteville, Opening Date For Drive Shack

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Brought to you by York Properties


One Two One Fayetteville planned for downtown

Drive Shack opening date set

Free Wine Tasting at Seaboard Wine on 8/10

Women’s International Champions Cup 8/15 and 8/18 at WakeMed Soccer Park – buy tickets now!

South Raleigh SoHi plans

Cafe coming to NC Museum of History

Hotel planned for S. Wilmington

Dog of the Week

Other News – Longleaf opening in the fall, Old Tuffy released

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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One Two One Fayetteville Planned For DTR

One of the biggest new developments in Downtown Raleigh was recently revealed not through site plans or a rezoning request, but rather a website that goes into great detail about a new 30-story luxury office building known as One Two One Fayetteville.

Developed by Preferred Office Properties, managed by Kane Realty, and designed by Duda Paine architects, this “30+ story landmark-in-the-making heralds a new age of office design to the Raleigh skyline.”

One Two One plans to include street-level retail, a fitness center, a 15th-floor “sky lobby” with an outdoor terrace, private podium parking, and 25,000 square-foot “floor plates” (areas in which an office can be developed). 

Millennials millennialing.

According to its website, One Two One will be “iconic and stately, yet modern in design,” and those aforementioned floor plates will offer “optimal design options and collaboration.”

Located at 121 Fayetteville Street, the land is zoned DX-40, which should allow for up to 40 stories. Kane looks to have already assigned a leasing agent, so they’re at least at the stage of pre-leasing some of the space.



Drive Shack Opening Date Set

Raleigh’s most hotly-anticipated new development has finally announced a grand opening date, according to reports from our Twitter account. 

ITB Insider announced last week on Twitter that Drive Shack will be opening its Raleigh location on August 23 – a likely response to this columnist’s request that they open in time for his birthday, which will be celebrated two days later. 

Plans for the facility were first revealed in May 2017.  In the two-and-a-half years since, it’s been by far the project we’ve received the most questions about, and we couldn’t be more excited to see that it’s finally set to open its doors to an eager public. No word on whether Raleigh’s Webb Simpson will be there to hit the first tee shot.


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Free Tasting at Seaboard Wine 8/10

Our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting a free tasting Saturday (8/10) from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Eddie Pellino with the Haw River Wine Man will be behind the bar pouring a selection of store favorites from Italy north to south!

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case (mix or match) for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!


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Women’s ICC August 15th and 18th

Remember how the U.S. Women’s team won the World Cup this summer? Well, a lot of those players will be right in our own backyard as they compete for the Women’s International Champions Cup on Aug. 15th and Aug 18th.

The WICC is bringing four of the best women’s professional clubs from around the world, over 40 Women’s World Cup players, and the 1st Female Ballon D’or Winner to compete at WakeMed Soccer Park.

Don’t miss out on seeing Crystal Dunn, Lucie Bronze, Steph Houghton, and Amanda Sampedro and their teammates play on U.S. soil.

Schedule:

Thursday, August 15, 5:00 pm EDT: Olympique Lyonnais vs. Atlético de Madrid

Thursday, August 15, 7:30 pm EDT: North Carolina Courage vs. Manchester City

Sunday, August 18, 5:00 pm EDT: Third-place play-off

Sunday, August 18, 7:00 pm EDT: Final

Buy your tickets now.
We encourage everyone to support these athletes so they’ll fall in love with Raleigh, move here, and send their offspring to play soccer at Broughton.



Plans For SoHi In South Raleigh

From the creators of Trophy Brewing, Runologie, and more, an interesting mixed-use development is being planned for South Raleigh. Site plans indicated that the new development will include four two-story buildings used for restaurant, retail, office, and light manufacturing.

Although very preliminary, the exterior building sketches done by local design firm Mauer Architecture are quite stylish. Light manufacturing will likely be the development’s biggest tenant, as it’s currently allocated 8,395 of the total 25,000 square feet. Office and retail will take up about 6,000 square feet each, while 4,510 square feet will be dedicated to restaurant use. A total of 66 parking spaces will be provided.

Located at 2701 S Wilmington St., the building was acquired by an LLC known as SoHi in April for around $635,000, per County records. The LLC appears to be linked to our friend David Meeker, co-owner of Trophy Brewing Company, Carpenter Development, and Runologie. 

The project will require the removal of the Blue Oasis Bar & Lounge. Described by one fan as a place where “The DJ is off the chain and the atmosphere is strictly grown and sexy,” the Blue Oasis is housed in a 5,356 square-foot, one-story cinder block building built in 1974.

While some may mourn the loss of the Blue Oasis, it’s hard to argue that SoHi won’t be a more productive and beneficial use of the land, and given Meeker’s track record, we’re excited to see how it turns out. 

Cafe Coming To NC Museum Of History

Our friends over at the Triangle Food Blog are reporting that the NC Museum of History could soon be getting a new cafe.

According to the post, the cafe would be open to all, and not just museum visitors. No additional details on the cafe were available, and we were unable to locate any permits or potential bid requests related to the job. 

Still, we’ll be sure to keep our eyes out, and our fingers crossed that it, like The Daily Planet Cafe at the Museum of Natural Sciences, borrows its name from the pages of DC Comics. The Gotham Greasy Spoon? The Bat Bar? The Fortress of Soda Fountain?



Hotel Planned For S. Wilmington

A 12-story hotel is planned for 603 S. Wilmington Street, around the corner from Miller Law Group, where Stacy Miller fights crime and delivers justice. More than a year after plans were filed for a hotel operating under Marriott’s Element brand, developer Narsi Properties plans to open a dual-brand Hilton Home2 Suites + Tru hotel instead. 

Like Element, Home2 Suites are designed for “longer-stay travelers.” Site review plans show 190 hotel rooms built atop a parking garage containing 184 spaces. Designed by Duda Paine Architects out of Durham, we doubt the hotel will differ much from the Home2 Suites at RDU. Although it is worth noting the project is actually titled “Home2 + Tru Raleigh.” 

Dog of the Week

Other News

In this section, we just embed social media posts from other people. It’s called outsourcing, and it’s brilliant.

The Longleaf Hotel is opening in late 2019

New Belgium Brewing released Old Tuffy into the wild

The most influential influencers helped spread the word about the new beer.

Clyde Cooper’s enters 20th century, begins taking credit and debit cards

Development Beat: Moore Square Reopening, Demolition On Hillsborough

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Brought to you by York Properties


Moore Square grand reopening

Demolition on Hillsborough Street

Free Wine Tasting at Seaboard Wine on 8/3

Rush Bowls coming to Sir Walter

Mural on Morgan Street

XL Soccer World Expansion

New apartments on Sussex

Amazon hub renovation

Dog of the Week – Raleigh Little Theatre is hosting a dog costume contest and letting ITBlake serve as a judge for the second consecutive year. The contest will be held this Thursday before the showing of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse as part of their Movies in the Garden series.

Purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park.

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Moore Square Grand Reopening

A grand reopening will be held for the new and improved Moore Square Park in downtown Raleigh this weekend. The official ribbon cutting will be held on August 2nd, followed by a grand opening celebration on August 3rd.

Plans to renovate the park began in 2009, although construction did not begin until nearly a decade later. We aren’t sure what took so long. A City of Raleigh representative told The N&O that the project was affected by rain, stating “2018 was the wettest year on record in the history of Raleigh.” So there’s that.

Now that it’s finally opening, residents can enjoy a downtown farmers market, a water feature, play areas, special events, concerts, and a restaurant space. Square Burger, the latest project from Greg Hatem’s Empire Eats, will be operating out of the restaurant space on the property.

Hopefully, the renovation included some Instagram-able attractions on the level of the Dix Park sunflowers. We’re looking forward to finding out.



Demolition On Hillsborough Street

Photo captured by Brian James Patrick Oschwald

Demolition continues on Hillsborough Street. A trio of demolition permits were issued for the teardown of three buildings at 11 South Boylan and 615 and 701 Hillsborough Street.

Those buildings were most recently home to the offices of Stop Hunger Now, Audio Exchange, and Dram & Draught, which has relocated to One Glenwood. The structures are being removed to make way for the next phase of the Block 83 development (formerly known as Two Hillsborough).

A 10-story, 275,000 square-foot office building and two separate one-story retail buildings will be built on the property.

The project is being developed by the same team behind One Glenwood.


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Free Tasting at Seaboard Wine 8/3

Our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting a free tasting Saturday (8/3) from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Jeremy Reiter with Empire Distributing will be pouring a lineup of refreshing wines.

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case (mix or match) for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!


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Rush Bowls Coming To Sir Walter

Rush Bowls will be making its way to the ground floor of the Sir Walter apartment building at 400 Fayetteville Street.

The eatery recently held a grand opening celebration for its Hillsborough Street location. According to @EatRaleigh, Rush Bowls plans to open on the ground floor of the Sir Walter once renovations are completed. Hopefully, they’ll have better hours than the Chick-fil-A that once occupied that space.

Renovations on the building are being handled by Weaver-Cooke Construction, which looks to have received its first set of permits for the job back in November of 2018.



Mural On Morgan Street

In celebration of the upcoming 2019 Women’s International Champions Cup hosted by the NC Courage, a new mural has popped up on Morgan Street Food Hall. Artist Taylor White recently completed the mural depicting four soccer superstars – Steph Houghton (Manchester City), Wendie Renard (Olympique Lyonnais), Amanda Sampedro (Atletico Madrid), and Abby Erceg (North Carolina Courage).

The Courage are the reigning champions of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), as well as winners of the 2018 Women’s International Champions Cup. You can purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC, held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park.

XL Soccer World Expansion

XL Soccer World on Hillsborough Street is about to get a whole lot larger. 

Recently filed site plans call for a 5,800 square-foot addition to the main facility, as well as a new 28,000 square-foot practice field, to be added to the XL Soccer World Complex at 5600 Hillsborough Street.

XL Soccer World is a 32,000 square foot facility offering “youth leagues and programs for ages 2 through adult.” The facility includes two full-size professional indoor fields and one “mini-field.”

Whether this expansion has anything to do with the potential new soccer stadium in downtown Raleigh remains to be seen, but it’s of little doubt that interest in fútbol has never been higher in the City of Oaks.



New Apartments On Sussex

A new apartment complex is planned for N. Rogers Lane in West Raleigh. Site plans were recently filed for The Sussex Apartments, a seven-building, 216-unit multifamily development.

The drawings paint the picture of your standard midscale apartment complex, complete with a clubhouse, a fitness area, and a business center. The 216 units will be broken up into 30 one-bedroom units, 118 two-bedrooms, and 68 three-bedrooms. All will stand four stories tall.

Amazon Hub Renovation

Raleigh’s Amazon Prime Now Hub will soon be subject to a half-million dollar renovation. The hub, which bills itself as “the procrastinator’s delight” allows Amazon Prime subscribers to place orders and have products delivered within hours.

The 221,886 square foot “office/warehouse” property is located on 3200 Bush Street. Amazon only occupies about 30,000 square feet, while Wake Tech takes up 81,090.

Dog of the Week

Raleigh Little Theatre is hosting a dog costume contest and letting ITBlake serve as a judge for the second consecutive year. The contest will be held this Thursday before the showing of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse as part of their Movies in the Garden series.

Other News

In this section, we just embed social media posts from other people. It’s called outsourcing and it’s brilliant.

Progress on The Wade

Progress on The Standard on Hillsborough Street

Development Beat: Demolition On Glenwood, Progress On Jolie, Wine & Design

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Brought to you by York Properties


Demolition begins at site of Glenwood hotel

Upgrades coming to Peace Street

Free Wine Tasting at Seaboard Wine on 7/27

Blowfish to replace Pho Pho Pho

Highwoods bought the Goodwill building

Plans released for Crabtree’s Sears Tower

The Cha House coming to Hillsborough Street

Christmas in July – on Friday Papa Murphy’s is holding a benefit at Trophy on Maywood

Dog of the Week

Other News: Progress on Jolie, Wine & Design, Rush Bowl opens

Purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park.

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Demolition begins at site of Glenwood hotel

Demolition is underway on Glenwood South at the site of what will be a AC Hotel by Marriott. It’s been nearly two years since plans were announced for the project, located near the intersection of Glenwood and Hillsborough.

The seven-story building known as “The Willard” will have hotel rooms because it’s a hotel. Original plans included two stories of condominiums, but then commenter Jeff said that the condos weren’t part of the project anymore. Now we don’t know WHAT to believe and we can’t find anything online that disputes the 5 stories of hotel rooms and 2 stories of condos theory. It looks like we’ll have to wait until this thing is built to learn the truth.

The hotel is being designed by Overcash Demmitt out of Charlotte and JDavis Architects out of Raleigh. Renderings released as part of a site review plan indicate the hotel’s exterior will be similar to the other trendy, upscale Marriott AC Hotels.



Upgrades coming to Peace Street

In the midst of a wave of redevelopment that is reshaping the landscape of Peace Street, the City is seeking a contractor to improve the street itself. 

In a request for bids, the City describes the project as “streetscape improvements on Peace Street from St. Mary’s to North West Street.” These improvements will include utility coordination, landscaping, erosion control measures, pavement removal and replacement, sidewalk improvements, traffic control, and more.

Designed by ColeJenest & Stone, planning for this project began in 2005, when preliminary concepts were presented to the Appearance and Planning Commissions.

In a presentation to City Council in 2017, City staffers laid out several challenges the project would face, alongside several additional goals. These include bike racks to be added at Gaston and Glenwood, the utilization of “Big Belly” trash cans, allowing more time for pedestrian crossings at the Glenwood Avenue intersection, and a sidewalk connection at the Gaston Street intersection.

The City does not mention anything about adding more signage to warn trucks about the Peace Street Bridge.

The total project budget is around $2.1 million. Bids are due to the City by July 30. Based on previous schedule projections, work should be wrapping up by the end of 2020.


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Leave it to Beavers Tasting at Seaboard Wine 7/27

Our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting a free tasting Saturday (7/27) from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Brad Beavers from Winebow just returned from his family beach trip (hopefully at AB), and is ready to pour some refreshing wines.

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case (mix or match) for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!



Blowfish to replace Pho Pho Pho

The popular Glenwood South restaurant Pho Pho Pho will be replaced by a bar called Blowfish. In the four years since Pho Pho Pho opened, it became known not just for its Pho, but for its crawfish boils and a wide array of traditional Vietnamese dishes.

The Triangle Food Blog recently reported on Blowfish: “The good news that Michael DePersia of National Restaurant Properties shared exclusively with us is that Ashlie Cade who owns The Bison Bar on Whitaker Mill Rd. and St. Jacques French Restaurant on Falls of Neuse Rd. purchased the restaurant and plans on some light renovations and remodeling, extending the bar, etc. She will open a neighborhood bar called Blowfish this fall, tentatively planning on serving breakfast tacos a few mornings and an expanded taco menu thru the lunch, dinner and late night hours throughout the week with an emphasis on the bar having reasonably priced beer, wine and mixed drinks.”


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Highwoods bought the Goodwill building

Highwoods Realty paid $6.4 million for the Goodwill property at 321 West Hargett St. in downtown Raleigh. 

Very few details were released when the Board of Directors of Goodwill Community Foundation (GCF) and Goodwill Industries of Eastern North Carolina, Inc. announced the sale of the property earlier this year.

Last week, however, we exclusively obtained county records indicating that the building was purchased by Highwoods Realty for a staggering $6.4 million. The building’s total assessed value was around $2.4 million.

In May of this year, Rev. Dennis McLain, president, GCF® said that “The sale of the property will create a number of new opportunities for GCF and those they serve around the world.” Now that we know the selling price, the number of opportunities created will be even greater than most imagined.

Highwoods has yet to announce plans for the property, but we bet that it will be transformed into a high rise office space similar to their other downtown buildings, such as One City Plaza and PNC Plaza.

Plans released for Crabtree’s Sears Tower

Earlier this month, we reported that the owners of the Crabtree Valley Mall were working on a plan to transform the old Sears site into a 30-story mixed-use tower.

We obtained exclusive plans which indicate the new development will be split into two tracts. The first tract will allow up to 1,000,000 square feet of commercial use, up to 225 hotel rooms, and no residential units. The majority of tract one will be limited to a 12-story height.

The entirety of Tract Two will be limited to 12 stories, and the allowed building types include townhomes, apartment buildings, “general” buildings, mixed-use building, and civic uses. A structured parking deck is also planned.

The site is currently zoned Regional Mixed Use and allows for buildings up to 12 stories. The recommended maximum height for buildings in RMU designations is 20 stories.

The developers also claim that the rezoning will benefit the public by “allowing for the redevelopment and revitalization of Crabtree Valley Mall, which is one of Raleigh’s most important retail shopping centers.”

This is where we’re going to have to disagree. Crabtree doesn’t even make the top three most important retail shopping centers in Raleigh. That list is currently: 1.) Cameron Village 2.) North Hills 3.) Amazon.com.



The Cha House coming to Hillsborough Street

Instagram: @chahouseusa

The Cha House, an “Asian-inspired tea house” will be moving into the former home of Pieology at The Stanhope on Hillsborough Street.

Cha House, which currently operates a location on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, offers loose-leaf teas, brown sugar boba, and “signature Taiwanese street dishes.”

Permits valued at more than $175,000 for the renovation of the 2,237 square-foot space on the ground floor of 3001 Hillsborough were issued last week to Callahan Construction.



Papa Murphy’s Christmas in July at Trophy Maywood

On Friday (7/26) from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM Papa Murphy’s is holding a benefit for Zach’s Toy Chest at Trophy on Maywood. Donate a new toy and get a free pizza and a drink.

Dog of the Week

Other News

In this section, we just embed social media posts from other people. It’s called outsourcing and it’s brilliant.

The highly anticipated Jolie is coming along nicely, according to some exclusive photos we found on Instagram.com.

Rush Bowls opened on Hillsborough Street

Progress on Wine & Design at Union Station

Development Beat: Dram & Draught Is Moving On Up

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Brought to you by York Properties


Dram & Draught is moving

Fairweather Phase II begins

Free Wine Tasting at Seaboard Wine on 7/20

Chido Taco opens in SOJO

Fire station updates

Smoky Hollow continues to expand

Crabtree congestion

Dog of the Week

Other News

Purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park.

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Dram & Draught Is Moving On Up

Dram and Draught is moving on up, to the other side of Glenwood Avenue. They’re hoping to open in their new home at the ground floor of One Glenwood by or before July 27.

We have some EXCLUSIVE details from the tour of the new space that we took a few weeks ago.

The bar will have a bar. It will be made of wood. The bar was made by Oak City Customs, a local company that specializes in custom wood and metal furniture and fixtures.

They’ve added a space off the main bar area that can be used for special events and tastings. They will also have the ability to use the incredible roof space at One Glenwood for events.

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Welcome to the neighborhood @sepi_inc

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They’ll be open at 3:00 pm instead of 4:00 pm and will stay open until 2:00 am. Keep an eye on DramandDraught.com or their social media (@dramanddraught on Instagram, @Dram_Draught on Twitter, and @dramanddraught on Facebook) for soft opening dates.



Fairweather Phase II Begins

Permits have been issued for Phase II of The Fairweather, a condominium project in Downtown Raleigh. The project broke ground in February of this year.

Announced in 2017 the project will include 45 residential units ranging from 838 to 2,863 square feet. The first four floors offer one-, two-, and three-bedroom condos, and the fifth floor will feature penthouse suites. The development will stretch along West Lenoir Street between South West and South Harrington.

The Fairweather is being developed by 4 Line LLC and Greymont Development. Raleigh Architecture Co. is handling the design and Resolute Building Company is handling construction.

The building is located across the street from the future home of the Sam Jones BBQ restaurant, which we hope doesn’t result in any sort of Kramer-esque Kenny Rogers Roasters-type situations.


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Free Tasting at Seaboard Wine 7/20

Our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting a free tasting Saturday (7/20) from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Neal Thornton with Sour Grapes importers will be pouring a unique selection of wines from eastern Europe, Italy, Spain and Austria.

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case (mix or match) for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!



Chido Taco opens in SOJO

Chido Taco is now open in McNeill Pointe, in the SOJO district of Raleigh. They describe themselves as a “Mercado Style Taqueria” and will be open Mon-Thur from 11:00 AM to 9:30 PM, Fri-Sat from 11:00 AM to 10:30 PM, and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 8:30 PM.

They’re located at 2330 Bale Street.


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Fire Station Update

Raleigh’s fire expert, Mike Legeros, provided an update on the status of one of the most important fire stations inside the beltline, Station 6. Located on Fairview Road, construction is still underway and should be completed by January 2020.

Legeros also shared updates on the new “Station 1/HQ” project set to be built on South Street in downtown. According to Legeros, “the planned site is currently used as a vendor lot for the convention center. The City is in the process of purchasing nearby land as a replacement site for the vendor lot. Design of the new facility will commence in the fall of 2019, upon the closing of the South Street site.”

Legeros published a detailed look at the plans for “New Station 1,” which is being designed by Davis Kane Architects. The new facility will combine “Headquarters” – administrative offices – and the “Central Fire Station” into one unified building.

The existing Central Station is located at 220 S. Dawson Street.

Smoky Hollow Continues To Expand

Work is now underway on the second phase of the Smoky Hollow development in downtown Raleigh. After receiving an exclusive press release on the project, it turns out we’ve been spelling “Smoky Hollow” wrong this entire time. Win some, lose some.

According to that exclusive press release, the second phase will feature 225,000 RSF of Class A office space at 421 N. Harrington St., structured parking, 283 apartments (The Line, opening in 2020), and an “engaging pedestrian promenade” encompassed by 40,000 SF of street-level restaurants and retail.

Phase One, which includes 417 apartments (Peace Raleigh), 5,000 SF of ground floor retail, and a 46,000 SF Publix grocery store, is currently under construction. A third phase is also in the works.

Little Diversified is the architect for 421 N. Harrington St. office, JDavis is the architect for The Line downtown apartments, and Cline Design is the architect for Peace Raleigh apartments. Clancy & Theys Construction Company is the general contractor for phases one and two of Smoky Hollow. Lionstone Investments is an equity partner for phases one and two.



Crabtree Congestion

The NC DOT is attempting to reduce traffic around the Crabtree Valley Mall area. The DOT has made available a host of concept maps and videos, which offer a glimpse into a project that, in all likelihood, will not be completed until the 2030s, if ever.

The project began nearly eight years ago, when the City undertook a planning study titled “Vision for the Valley.” A series of so-called “listening sessions” were held throughout 2018. Their website lists 7 concepts for the 440 and Glenwood area. We didn’t waste our time watching them all, so here are a few examples.

The current project schedule has the design-build contract being awarded in 2025. It should take another several years for the project to reach completion.



Dog of the Week

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Party animal @thefurrymurrays

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Other News

In this section, we just embed social media posts from other people. It’s called outsourcing and it’s brilliant.

ITBlake’s condo, The Wade, is getting a cornice.

Mama Crow’s held a soft opening at Transfer Food Co.

Some people don’t know how to park at North Hills

The sunflowers are back at Dix Park

Development Beat: Neuse River Brewing Adding Kitchen

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Neuse River Brewing adding a kitchen

Raleigh Country Club course to be renovated

Free Wine Tasting at Seaboard Wine on 7/13

New Transit in Downtown Raleigh

Destination SunFest at Dix Park is July 13th

Drive Shack is hiring

Crabtree owners attempt a makeover

Triangle Town Center foreclosure

Dog of the Week

Other News

Purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park.

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July. We took last week off, but are pleased to bring you the new official Fourth of July anthem from ITBlake the intern (sound ON).

Watch on Instagram TV

Dining at Neuse River Brewing

Remember when the Neuse river had all that pfiesteria? Well, fortunately this development has NOTHING to do with that. The Neuse River Brewing Company will soon open a kitchen to complement their existing taproom, offering patrons the chance to dine on fresh, locally sourced food.

Permits valued at just under $20,000 were issued for the build-out of a new kitchen in the existing 597 square-foot storage area.

The new kitchen will reportedly transform Neuse River into a sort-of European-style bistro, offering “fine-dining concepts in a casual atmosphere,” according to their Facebook page. Once the restaurant opens, they’ll offer mixed drinks alongside their lineup of in-house brews.

The Neuse River Brewing Company is located at 518 Pershing Road and originally opened in 2015.



Raleigh Country Club Course Closing Next Year

Not Webb Simpson

Raleigh Country Club will be shut down for much of next year for a significant expansion and renovation project.

McConnell Golf owner John McConnell recently told the TBJ that Raleigh Country Club will be closed from next February until late September. McConnell indicated the renovation would be “transformational” and would cost millions.

McConnell has hired golf course architect Kyle Franz to lead the transformation, which includes adding 15 acres to increase the total yardage to over 7,000 yards.

The golf course was one of the final courses to be designed by famed architect Donald Ross (no relation to Bob Ross). The design is described by the Donald Ross Society as “making each hole present a different problem, making every stroke count, and taking full advantage of terrain while wasting no ground.”

The club, located off New Bern Ave., also includes dining, aquatics, and event spaces “for all members of the family to enjoy.”


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Free Tasting at Seaboard Wine 7/13

Our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting a free tasting Saturday (7/13) from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Ariel Tetterton from Advintage Wines will be pouring a refreshing selection of new arrivals from California and Europe to keep you cool in the NC heat!

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case (mix or match) for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!



New Transit in Downtown Raleigh

They see me rollin’…

A new transit option recently appeared in Downtown Raleigh. We haven’t had time to investigate, but the sign on the vehicle seems to indicate that this is Raleigh’s newest free golf cart rideshare service.

We expect the mouth breathing faction of the City Council to ban this by the end of week, if not sooner.


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Destination SunFest at Dix Park

Dix Park will host Destination SunFest on July 13th from 2:00 pm to 9:00 pm. This is a celebration of the completion of the Master Plan and welcome party to take pictures of sunflowers. The event will include amusement rides, Putt Putt, live music, hayrides, local food and beer, and much more.

The schedule for Entertainment and Music is:

2:45 – 4:00 pm – Africa Unplugged
4:30 – 5:30 pm – The Sunday Special
6:00 – 7:00 pm – Hammer No More The Fingers
7:30 – 9:00 pm – 120 Minutes

Dix Park asks that you RSVP, although it’s not required. This event is free to the public thanks to Dorothea Dix Park Conservancy donors.

Drive Shack Hiring in Raleigh

The highly anticipated Drive Shack entertainment venue will hold a series of hiring events through the month of July in order to fill more than 400 positions in Raleigh.

Postings on the company’s website and recruiter GlassDoor.com state that Drive Shack will be “hiring for both full- and part-time roles” to support its “65,000 square foot, 96-bay entertainment venue.”

It’s been over two years since we first reported on Drive Shack coming to Raleigh. No announcement has been made on an opening date, but we’ve heard early September.



Crabtree Valley Mall Redevelopment

This is still in a floodplain…

Crabtree Mall could be getting a whole lot taller. The mall’s owners are planning to file a rezoning request to build a 30-story mixed-use tower on the site of Sears (RIP).

The new project will reportedly include all the usual mixed-use suspects: office, hotel, restaurant, and miscellaneous entertainment. The tower would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $290 million, and the requisite rezoning would only apply to the portion of the mall’s property where the tower would be built.

No word on what they plan to do about the fact that the entire building is in a floodplain.



Foreclosure Looms Over Triangle Town Center

Who could have seen this coming? A public notice recently appeared in the News & Observer, indicating that the Triangle Town Center mall was heading towards foreclosure.

CBL & Associates, who manage and partly own the mall, will have a foreclosure sale on July 11th. A reddit thread predicted the demise of the mall over 8 months ago. We’re not exactly sure what this means for the property, but none of you actually shop there so we won’t bother to investigate.

Dog of the Week

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Baewatch @whittheboykin

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Other News

In this section, we just embed social media posts from other people. It’s called outsourcing and it’s brilliant.

The U.S. Women’s Soccer team won the World Cup and four of the players play for the NC Courage.

New Belgium debuted the can design for their Old Tuffy beer

Brew Coffee Bar opened at the Poyner YMCA

Progress on the Rex Healthcare Cancer Center

People filed to run for City Council

We ran a poll to determine the name of the proposed Downtown stadium. According to our poll, the stadium will be named after Broughton legend Izzy Hernandez.

Development Beat: Stadium Proposed For Downtown Raleigh

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Brought to you by York Properties


Plans unveiled for proposed Raleigh Stadium

18 Seaboard closing soon

Free tasting at Seaboard Wine this Saturday 6/29

Foundation work begins at 3020 Hillsborough

Greg Hatem acquires Boylan-Pearce Building

Layered Croissaintaire to open soon on N. West St.

City of Raleigh installs underground trash cans

Other News

Purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park.

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Entertainment And Sports Arena Proposed for Raleigh

Steve Malik, friend of the media empire and the owner of the North Carolina Football Club and North Carolina Courage, will announce plans for a 20,000-seat soccer stadium and entertainment complex in downtown Raleigh today. Malik is developing the project alongside John Kane, of Kane Realty Corporation.

Details for the project popped up last night on a website called visitdowntownsouth.com.

“The proposed Downtown Raleigh Entertainment District sits on approximately 55 acres at downtown Raleigh’s southern edge at the intersection of South Saunders Street and Interstate 40. The development includes a multi-purpose, 20,000-seat open-air Downtown Sports & Entertainment Stadium surrounded by more than $1.9 billion in private development of street-level retail, office space, and housing.

The stadium will become the home of the North Carolina Football Club, including its men’s pro soccer team, North Carolina FC, and its women’s pro soccer team, North Carolina Courage, and accommodate a variety of marquee events, including concerts, festivals, graduations, trade shows, and championship-level sporting events.”

More details from the website:

1.6 million square feet of office space

125,000 square feet of retail and service space (stores, bars, and restaurants)

1,200 hotel rooms

1,750 residential units

Ample green space and public areas

Connectivity to Triangle Greenways, Dix Park, and State Farmers Market

The website says that they plan to hold 75 major events annually, along with 100s of smaller events (conferences, trade shows, job fairs, watch parties, etc.). The Design and Development phase will continue this year and the project hopes to break ground in early 2020, with the stadium and first phase complete by 2023.

A few on Twitter wondered if “Downtown South” was the official name of the project. WNFIV suggested naming it BONNERDOME, to which Bonner Gaylord, Broughton graduate and Managing Director of Operations for Kane, replied something about foreign languages.

We can’t say for sure, but we are certain that this venue is based on the design of Broughton High School’s stadium.

Malik had previously said that being located near Broughton’s historic soccer program is the “primary factor” in every decision he makes.

Malik reiterated those statements during our exclusive interview at the media event on Tuesday morning.



18 Seaboard Closing Soon

One of the longest-standing restaurants at Seaboard Station, 18 Seaboard, will be closing up for good on July 2.

The owner, Jason Smith, who opened 18 Seaboard in 2006, told the N&O that while he had no plans to reopen the restaurant in another location, he wasn’t ruling it out either. Smith’s “18 Restaurant Group” also owns Durham’s Harvest 18 and Cantina 18 locations in Cameron Village and Morrisville. 18 Seaboard will be missed.


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Free Tasting at Seaboard Wine 6/29

Our friends at Seaboard Wine will hold a free tasting this Saturday (6/29) from 1pm – 4pm. Andoni Uroz will be pouring a delicious, value driven selection of wines from Portugal and Spain, all discounted 25% off by the case mix & match!

All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case mix or match for you to take home and enjoy. Make Seaboard a part of your Saturday routine!



Work Begins At Former Home Of East Village

Demolished East Village Grill

Just three months after the iconic East Village Bar was torn down, permits have been issued for work on the foundation of the apartment complex set to take its place.

The creatively named “3020 Hillsborough” will be a 3-story apartment project, designed by J Davis Architects. It will house 142 residential units as well as ground floor retail, which will include a new home for East Village.

The 246,350 square-foot building will also boast a number of amenities, including a pool and adjoining clubhouse, a “cyber lounge,” and 147 parking spaces with a separate bicycle storage area.

The project is being developed across a total of nine existing parcels, which, in addition to East Village, housed College Beverage, Curious Goods, DIGITZ, and Triangle Motorsports.


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Empire State Of Mind

Greg Hatem, one of the earliest investors in the revitalization of downtown Raleigh, has now acquired one of the City’s most iconic structures: the Boylan-Pearce building at 216 Fayetteville Street.

Hatem, whose Empire Properties owns dozens of properties throughout the City, acquired the building from Dean Debnam, the man behind the infamous DrunkTown political ad, which was widely considered one of the lowest points in North Carolina politics.

Although Hatem has yet to announce his plans for the property, a rezoning case filed earlier this year would allow for a development of up to 40 stories to be built on the property, as long as its historic facade is maintained.

County records indicate that the “package sale price” for the property was $2.05 million, but the Triangle Business Journal is reporting that Hatem actually paid around $3.4 million. Given that the county records often neglect to tell the full story of a sale, we’re inclined to go with the TBJ’s figure.



New Bakery On N. West Street

Just over a year after it was first announced, the Layered Croissanterie bakery has set an opening date for its location at the Rainbow Upholstery Building at 911 N. West Street: June 30.

Developed by husband-and-wife team Mark and Kawsar Chavez, the bakery describes itself as one that will be “meticulously crafting pastries with a modern twist.”

Hopefully that twist is chocolate.



One Bar’s Trash Is The City’s Treasure

Raleigh is finally taking out the trash. The City recently began installing high-capacity trash containers UNDERGROUND in downtown Raleigh. Finally, we’ll no longer have to walk by a row of 20 foul-smelling trash cans full of empty bottles of Bud Light and Fireball.

According to a press release, “The pilot project includes six new high-capacity containers from Molok North America to collect trash, mixed recycling, and cardboard.” These high-capacity containers will hold 95 gallons; the equivalent of about 20 of the existing trash carts.

Part of Wilmington Street near the intersection with Hargett in downtown Raleigh was closed off last week to allow for the initial installation of the country’s first underground garbage cans.

Nicole Stewart, our favorite City Councilor, took to Twitter to apologize for the traffic delays, even though none of this was her fault and people complaining about traffic should try waking up three hours early and walking to work.

The City believes that by doing away with the unseemly and unpopular trash carts, they will improve both the sights and smells of downtown Raleigh. We completely agree.

Other News

Welcome to a new section where we just embed posts from other people. It’s called outsourcing and it’s brilliant. We got the idea from WRAL, who recently used William Needham Finley’s coverage of the Lilly’s pizza car crash in their news article. The full story is recapped in the Instagram post below (be sure to swipe through to see a special video of Stacy Miller):

Progress on the expansion at Trophy on Morgan Streetread more

Progress at Gateway Plaza – read more

Updates on The Wade – read more

Standard Food To Become Standard Beer

Development Beat: Oak Heart Vet Grand Opening

in Development by

Brought to you by York Properties


Oak Heart Vet grand opening at Dixie Trail this Saturday

STIR opens in North Hills

Seaboard Wine Summer Series

Smokey Hollow Publix set to begin construction

WeWork coming to downtown

Zambrero opening at One Glenwood

Plans filed for Olde Towne (Road)

Purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park.

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




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Summer Block “Pawty” at Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital at Dixie Trail 

Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital invites local pet parents and their well-socialized and dog-friendly pups to celebrate the official start of summer – and the recent opening of their newest location in the Dixie Trail neighborhood of Raleigh – at a summer block “pawty” on Saturday, June 22 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The community event located at 3044 Medlin Drive will include guided tours of the hospital, a dog-friendly photo booth and keepsake photos from Classic Carolina Photobooths, complimentary food and beverages from Uninhibited Tapas Bar, as well as special treats that attendees can purchase for their dogs from Just 4 Dogs Mobile Dog Treats. Canine guests will also enjoy a bacon-flavored bubble machine, dog pools and a ball pit.

Additionally, all pet owners in attendance will receive one free veterinary exam that can be redeemed on a later date at Oak Heart Veterinary Hospital at Dixie Trail.

For more information about the event and to RSVP, visit: https://oakheartvet.com/dixie-trail-summer-block-pawty.

You can also RSVP on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/473114126826738



STIR Opens In North Hills

STIR has opened on the ground floor of the Bank of America Tower in North Hills. While they offer oysters and seafood, let us not forget about the press release we received back in 2018 that included a full paragraph about artisanal ice:

“Using purified, artisanal ice that has been hand-cut to complement each one of their imaginative craft cocktails, STIR is bringing an intense focus on artisan ice and craft cocktails to Raleigh’s cocktail and dining scene. STIR uses the freshest ingredients available, refreshing food and beverage menus regularly to highlight seasonal delicacies and keep the creative juices flowing.”

It’s about time someone in Raleigh stepped up to the plate and delivered the artisanal ice we’ve all been demanding. Our long nightmare of cloudy, generic, plebeian ice is over. Praise be to Bonner.


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Seaboard Wine Summer Series

Seaboard Wine’s summer series is kicking off this week. Get ready for a virtual wine tour of Europe’s “off the beaten path” wine regions and unique grape varietals. These are seated, guided tastings with eight wines, light snacks, interesting discussions of the wines, and lots of fun.

Thursday, June 20th from 7:15-8:30pm: “Czech This Out” with Jenn King

Sample some truly unique grape varietals from Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic, and hear Jenn recap her travel exploits with Arielle, Jim, and Jared all while managing to stay out of jail and not breaking the internet.

Thursday July 25th from 7:15-8:30: “Obscure Loire” with Susan Slosman

Susan’s love of the Loire Valley and extensive wine knowledge will help you discover some of the more obscure Loire wine regions like Coteaux du Giennois, Savennières, Quincy, Coteaux du Layon and Reuilly. These are expressive and refreshing wines for the hot weather ahead.

Thursday, August 22nd from 7:15-8:30pm: “Sunny Sicily” with Doug Diesing

Aside from eating his body weight in octopus and raw shellfish while in Sicily, Doug also sampled some of the finest Italian wines in his career. “Varietals like Nerello Mascalese, Catarratto, Grillo, Frappato and Zibibbo have forever changed my wine preferences, and I believe they may change yours as well.” said Diesing.

You can sign up for individual classes or a package of all three. Classes are $39 each or a package of all three for $99. They start promptly at 7:15 and end at 8:30. Get your tickets here.



Smokey Hollow Publix To Begin Construction

Work will soon begin on the Publix on the ground floor of the Smokey Hollow/Peace & West development in downtown Raleigh.

While permits were issued in February 2018 to Clancy & Theys for the construction of the 11-story shell building at 417 West Peace, it is believed that work could be underway within a month on the fit-out for the grocery store itself.

The permits were actually applied for back in December 2018; no contractor was listed, but the estimated value was nearly $4 million. The layout of the Peace & West Publix may be a sort-of prototype that “marries its deli-forward urban model with a more traditional grocery store.” These prototypes were covered by the Miami Business Journal late last year. (Don’t worry – it’s not paywalled!)

Either way, we can’t wait to see what it looks like when it finally opens, which could be happening as soon as the Spring of 2020.


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WeWork Coming To Downtown

Permits were recently issued for Raleigh’s first WeWork, a company that provides “shared workspaces for technology startup subculture communities, and services for entrepreneurs, freelancers, startups, small businesses and large enterprises.”

Located at One Glenwood, the permits don’t say how much square footage WeWork will take up. The website lists private offices with the ability to seat between 21-50 people for a monthly rate of $10,700. For $350/month, you gain access to desk space in the common area.

The new space is described on the WeWork website as: “Housed in a brand new building that straddles hip Glenwood South and the vibrant Warehouse District, WeWork One Glenwood puts your business at the crossroads of creativity and culture. Here, custom murals and art-filled interiors complement the area’s lively maker scene, inspiring teams to think differently and color outside the lines.”

If that doesn’t make you want to leverage synergies to maximize KPIs and holistically optimize the cloud, we don’t know what will.



Zambrero Opening At One Glenwood

The restaurant chain equivalent of TOMS shoes will soon be making its way to One Glenwood, as Zambrero plans to open its first North Carolina location in downtown Raleigh.

Describing itself as “Mexican with a mission,” the chain currently operates out of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Per the company website, “With every burrito or bowl purchased, a meal is donated to someone in need.”

While Raleigh certainly has no shortage of Mexican restaurants, Zambrero seems to set itself apart not only with its do-gooder business model, but a stricter focus on healthy menu items that include vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options.



Olde Towne (Road) Development

A subdivision plan has been filed for stage one of the Olde Towne (Road) Development. This follows the approval last fall of a rezoning case that involved the redevelopment of a nearly 600-acre parcel of land in Southeast Raleigh.

This neighborhood is not to be confused with the Oldtowne Road located outside the beltline, recently photographed by Hayes Permar of SportsChannel8 and Podcast Raleigh.

The Olde Towne site, near the intersection of Rock Quarry Road and New Hope Road, was originally set to be developed by Greystone Development as a golf-course community known as Olde Towne. Greystone had begun clearing the land but eventually abandoned the project.

The new Olde Towne will develop the land into a mix of single-family housing, restaurants, retail, and a grocery store. Last year’s rezoning case freed the new developer, the Halle Building Group, from a requirement that any new development include a golf course.

The subdivision plans call for the development of eight separate housing areas spread out across 240 acres. Zoning conditions placed on the property limit the number of housing units to 1,700, and the only type of multifamily housing allowed is a 300-unit 55+ apartment building.

We imagine construction will begin on phase one by the end of this year, but it’s hard to say when it might be ready for residents to take their horses to the olde towne road, where they’re gonna ride ’til they can’t no more.

Development Beat: Yacht Club Coming To Downtown

in Development by

Brought to you by York Properties


Work Begins On Downtown Yacht Club

Seaboard Wine Summer Series

City Seeks Design Services for Craig’s Building

Goodwill Building Sold

An update on Ironworks

Cape Fear Seafood Opening This Week

Wye Hill Kitchen and Brewing Opens This Week

Purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park

Donate to the Me Fine Cares campaign and help raise $25,000


Work Begins On Downtown Yacht Club

Work has begun on a new Yacht Club in downtown Raleigh, which brings good news and bad news. The bad news, this has nothing to do with a downtown canal.

The good news, a new two-story restaurant and bar is coming to the former home of Office Tavern at 710 W. Johnson.

A pair of permits issued last week to CHC Builders described the work as a renovation of the 2,698 square-foot first floor and an addition of a 608 square-foot second floor. The existing building is single-story.

It’s worth noting that the original site plans had called for 1,451 square-feet of space on the first floor, 2,296 square feet on the second floor, and 781 square-feet of outdoor dining space, of which 402 square-feet would be covered.

We’re not sure if there will be additional permits adding the remainder of the planned square footage, or if the owners have just scaled back the overall size. We’re hoping they’ll at least keep the plan to offer outdoor dining. And hopefully, the Raleigh City Council won’t ban Yacht Rock from being played outdoors.


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Seaboard Wine Summer Series

Seaboard Wine, which brilliantly decided to move from Seaboard Station to a new location in High Park Village last year, is ready to take you on some virtual wine tours of Europe’s hidden gems. Their summer series focuses on “off the beaten path” wine regions and unique grape varietals. These are seated, guided tastings with eight wines, light snacks, interesting discussions of the wines, and lots of fun.

Thursday, June 20th from 7:15-8:30pm: “Czech This Out” with Jenn King

Sample some truly unique grape varietals from Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic, and hear Jenn recap her travel exploits with Arielle, Jim, and Jared all while managing to stay out of jail and not breaking the internet.

Thursday July 25th from 7:15-8:30: “Obscure Loire” with Susan Slosman

Susan’s love of the Loire Valley and extensive wine knowledge will help you discover some of the more obscure Loire wine regions like Coteaux du Giennois, Savennières, Quincy, Coteaux du Layon and Reuilly. These are expressive and refreshing wines for the hot weather ahead.

Thursday, August 22nd from 7:15-8:30pm: “Sunny Sicily” with Doug Diesing

Aside from eating his body weight in octopus and raw shellfish while in Sicily, Doug also sampled some of the finest Italian wines in his career. “Varietals like Nerello Mascalese, Catarratto, Grillo, Frappato and Zibibbo have forever changed my wine preferences, and I believe they may change yours as well.” said Diesing.

You can sign up for individual classes or a package of all three. Classes are $39 each or a package of all three for $99. They start promptly at 7:15 and end at 8:30. Get your tickets here.



Renovating Craig’s Building

Downtown Raleigh’s Craig’s Building is probably best known today as nothing more than a pass-through from South Wilmington Street to the newly-refurbished Moore Square Transit Station.

But the building has a long and rich history, from its humble roots as a grocery store to the countless businesses it has been home to. Update: we relied on a report from the Library of Congress when originally covering this story, which stated that the building was originally constructed in 1884. Thankfully, Ian F.G. Dunn pointed out that the Craig’s Building was not built in 1884, it was built in 1916-17. The building that dates to 1884 was torn down in early 1916 because it was condemned. The 1884 building is on the far left (the one with the Chero-Cola mural) in this picture.

Photo from the State Archives of North Carolina

The City acquired the Craig’s building with the plan to develop what was being called at the time the “Moore Square West Transit Block.” The facility was again renovated as part of the overall Moore Square Transit Station renovation in 2016.

The City is once again on the hunt for an architect to help fix up the second floor of the building. A specific use for the space has not been identified, but may include “office, either occupied by City staff or leased, a conference area, or temporary space to house contractors.” Proposals are due to the City by July 9.


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Goodwill Hunting

The Board of Directors of Goodwill Community Foundation (GCF) and Goodwill Industries of Eastern North Carolina, Inc. announced last month the sale of the property located at 321 West Hargett St. in downtown Raleigh.

“The sale of the property will create a number of new opportunities for GCF and those they serve around the world,” said Rev. Dennis McLain, president, GCF®.

The property housed a donation center and store and was home to the award-winning free international online learning program, GCFLearnFree. That program has been relocated to Durham. The store shut its doors for good on June 1.

While the press release didn’t include any details on the sale – and it doesn’t appear that the sale has been registered with the County yet either – we do know that its total assessed value was around $2.4 million.


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Me Fine Foundation

A message from our friends at the Me Fine Foundation:

Parents often make incredible sacrifices when a child is undergoing treatment for a life-threatening medical condition. At Me Fine Foundation, we do what we can to give caregivers what they need to take care of themselves, their family, and of course, their sick child.  Please support our #MeFineCares campaign, running through Father’s Day, to do just that.  



Ironworks Updates

Raleigh Ironworks, a mixed-use project from Grubb Ventures, will be seeking approval from the Board of Adjustment this week. The variance itself isn’t that interesting, but the case did shine a little more light on the future of this project.

The variance request included some updated numbers for the project: 150,000 square feet of office space, a 220 unit apartment building including 30,000 square feet of retail space, 20,000 square feet of restaurant space, and a 660 space parking deck. Compared to plans filed in October 2017, they’ve increased the amount of residential and retail, and slightly decreased the office space.

It doesn’t look like staffers took much of an issue with the request, and we can’t imagine it will be denied, allowing the project to move one step closer to construction. We wouldn’t be surprised to see permits issued by the end of the summer.



Cape Fear Seafood Opening

The Cape Fear Seafood Restaurant will be opening its first Raleigh location next week, taking over the space previously held by Lucky 32 at 832 Spring Forest Road.

This location is the first of three coming to the Raleigh area over the next three years. As the name implies, the main focus of the menu is seafood, although they do offer a variety of other options, including ground-chuck burgers and buffalo chicken sandwiches.

Wye Hill Kitchen and Brewing Opening

Wye Hill Kitchen will hold their grand opening on June 12 in the former home of the Boylan Bridge Brewpub at 201 S. Boylan Avenue.

In addition to being able to claim the “greatest view in the City” title, Wye Hill will be offering customers “rigorously good chef-driven bar food.”

Some examples of these dishes have been posted on the restaurant’s Instagram page, and include a unique spin on Shrimp + Grits and a “Cool Name” burger that’s made up of “a blend of Chuck and short rib, topped with our house made pub cheese, fried pickled okra, and bacon.”

Despite how many times Boylan Bridge Brewpub has shut down and reopened over the past few years, this is the first time it’s done so under a totally new brand and management team, and we’re excited to see what the future holds for this picturesque location.

Development Beat: Plans Filed For Seaboard Station

in Development by

Brought to you by York Properties


Plans filed for Seaboard Station

Seaboard Wine Summer Series

Progress on The Wade

Scott Crawford’s Jolie should open this summer

Iris Coffee coming to Tucker Street

Flash House returning?

Mezeh Grill moving to Hillsborough Street

Rush Bowls opening soon

The Longview condo announced

Purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




Plans Filed For Seaboard Station

When Seaboard Station was sold last year to D.C. developer PN Hoffman, the new owners announced a massive, $250 million expansion of the property.

Plans at the time called for 800,000 square feet of mixed-use space, made up of 650 apartments, 150 hotel rooms, and 90,000 square feet of new retail space and a total of 135,000 square feet at full build-out. The long-awaited Seaboard Station Harris Teeter never materialized, and the Cameron Village Harris Teeter reigned supreme.

PN Hoffman is taking the first steps towards making this massive mixed-use a reality. Site review plans were filed last week that most likely cover only the first phase of a multi-phase project. The plans call for a 7-story, 300,000+ SF building that will include 96 residential units and 150 hotel rooms. The plans also mention retail use, but no additional details are provided.

We’ll keep an eye out for any future site plans.


Advertisement

Seaboard Wine Summer Series

Seaboard Wine, which brilliantly decided to move from Seaboard Station to a new location in High Park Village last year, is ready to take you on some virtual wine tours of Europe’s hidden gems. Their summer series focuses on “off the beaten path” wine regions and unique grape varietals. These are seated, guided tastings with eight wines, light snacks, interesting discussions of the wines, and lots of fun.

Thursday, June 20th from 7:15-8:30pm: “Czech This Out” with Jenn King

Sample some truly unique grape varietals from Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic, and hear Jenn recap her travel exploits with Arielle, Jim, and Jared all while managing to stay out of jail and not breaking the internet.

Thursday July 25th from 7:15-8:30: “Obscure Loire” with Susan Slosman

Susan’s love of the Loire Valley and extensive wine knowledge will help you discover some of the more obscure Loire wine regions like Coteaux du Giennois, Savennières, Quincy, Coteaux du Layon and Reuilly. These are expressive and refreshing wines for the hot weather ahead.

Thursday, August 22nd from 7:15-8:30pm: “Sunny Sicily” with Doug Diesing

Aside from eating his body weight in octopus and raw shellfish while in Sicily, Doug also sampled some of the finest Italian wines in his career. “Varietals like Nerello Mascalese, Catarratto, Grillo, Frappato and Zibibbo have forever changed my wine preferences, and I believe they may change yours as well.” said Diesing.

You can sign up for individual classes or a package of all three. Classes are $39 each or a package of all three for $99. They start promptly at 7:15 and end at 8:30. Get your tickets here.



Progress On The Wade

Things are moving along at The Wade, the most anticipated condominium project in the history of Raleigh. The five-story building will consist of 29 residences that come in two-and three-bedroom floor plans.

ITB Insider can exclusively confirm that each residence in The Wade will contain a kitchen.

We’ll keep you posted on any new developments at The Wade, including a video of ITBlake the intern testing out their dog washing station. Stay tuned.

Jolie To Open This Summer With Rooftop Seating

The News & Observer reported that Scott Crawford’s Jolie should open this summer. Jolie recently shared an update on their progress on Instagram.

Both The N&O and IndyWeek covered the hurdles that Scott Crawford had to overcome to simply get approval for rooftop dining at Jolie. Crawford was told by Raleigh’s planning department that the rooftop would need special approval from the Board of Adjustment.

Back in April, the IndyWeek reported that City Council member Stef Mendell expressed concerns over the noise levels of the restaurant. While Mendell lives in District E, she owns and rents out a condo about a block away from Jolie and decided to attend the BOA meeting to weigh in on the rooftop. She was the only person at the meeting to raise a concern about the noise. So that’s a cool way to spend your time.

According to the N&O, Crawford has hired Raleigh native Madison Tessener as chef de cuisine. We’re looking forward to checking this place out in the next few months.


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Iris Coffee Coming To Tucker St.

EatRaleigh shared a photo of what looks to be a new coffee shop coming to 725 Tucker Street in Glenwood South.

The Instagram for Iris Coffee Lab says it will be opening this summer. While EatRaleigh’s photo and the Instagram posts from Iris make it look like work is well underway on the new space, we weren’t able to find any relevant permits.

The space at 725 Tucker was previously home to Voda Boutique, which recently relocated to North Hills.


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Flash Back On Peace Street?

After more than five years in business, the Flash House bar on West Peace Street announced in January 2019 that it would be closing up shop and that the owners would be moving on. But have they?

A pair of permits from last week may point to the return of Flash House to its former home at 513 West Peace.

The permits’ descriptions read “alteration/The Flash House” and “addition/The Flash House exterior canopy addition,” and while it’s possible the name is being used as a placeholder for a different project entirely, we aren’t giving up hope yet.

We reached out to the one-time proprietor of Flash House, Jamie Saad, to get the inside scoop, but we haven’t yet heard back.

For those unfamiliar with the place, it self-described as a “proper bar, for proper villains, focused on the important things: Great Beer & Wine, Classic Liquor, Comfort, Atmosphere, and Exceptional Service.”



Mezeh Grill Coming To Hillsborough Street

Back in April, it was reported that the Mediterranean chain Mezeh Grill would be opening two locations in Raleigh; one in North Raleigh and another on Hillsborough Street.

It’s looking like the Hillsborough Street location could be opening sooner rather than later, as permits for the $168,552 renovation of the former home of Freshii – next to Chipotle – were issued last week to JCI Builders.

According to its website, “Mezeh Mediterranean Grill is a NoVA-founded gastronomic brand of fast-casual restaurants serving fresh, bold and natural flavors from the sun-drenched Mediterranean region. At the heart of Mezeh’s philosophy is a healthy respect for ingredients coupled with a desire to make fresh and natural food accessible to people from all walks of life.”

It goes on like that, but we’ll spare you.



Rush Bowls Grand Opening

Rush Bowls will hold its grand opening celebration on June 10th at their new home on Hillsborough Street.

Rush Bowls is ready to open after Milewski Construction completed work on the 738 square-foot space on the ground floor of 2811 Hillsborough.

Featuring smoothies and acai bowls, Rush Bowls is probably going to be a big hit with the nearby NC State crowd.

The Longview Condo Announced

The Longview condominium project was announced this week. Located adjacent to WakeMed on 2.5 acres that were once part of the historic Longview estate, The Longview will have 176 homes with prices starting at $185,000.

Real estate developer Michael Sandman is partnering with Andrew Sandman, Steve Simpson, and Randy N. Robertson to develop The Longview. The partners have developed other projects, including The Paramount (Glenwood South), The Cypress (North Raleigh), Providence Glen (Chapel Hill) and Chandler Place (North Hills).   

The Longview will offer suites ranging from 550 square feet (one bedroom, one bathroom) to 1,150 square feet (two bedrooms, two bathrooms). Amenities include controlled building access, gated parking garage, indoor and outdoor community gathering spaces, a swimming pool, co-working and social spaces, a fully equipped fitness facility, indoor bike racks, and more.  

The first phase of development, which includes 72 units, will start this summer and be ready to welcome residents in early 2021.   

Development Beat: Dove & Olive Opens In Five Points

in Development by

Brought to you by York Properties


Dove & Olive Opens in Five Points

Seaboard Wine Summer Series

May 29th reader meetup event

A look at 301 Hillsborough

Cat Cafe coming to Raleigh

601 St. Mary’s project moves forward

Cava Grill Coming Soon to SOJO

Purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




Dove & Olive Opens In Five Points

Dove & Olive is now open at 233 Bickett Boulevard in Five Points.

According to their website, “Dove & Olive Mercantile is a rotating, curated collection of lifestyle inspired goods ranging from locally sourced items to products discovered through inspiring travel experiences. The core mission of the store is to facilitate relationships within our community by creating an environment that brings people closer together through offering inspiring products. Along with discovering new finds, patrons can enjoy down time in our coffee and tea lounge.”

The lounge area features an in-store PopUp Shop from the Raleigh Coffee Company.


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Seaboard Wine Summer Series

Seaboard Wine is ready to take you on some virtual wine tours of Europe’s hidden gems this summer. Their summer series focuses on “off the beaten path” wine regions and unique grape varietals. These are seated, guided tastings with eight wines, light snacks, interesting discussions of the wines, and lots of fun.

Thursday, June 20th from 7:15-8:30pm: “Czech This Out” with Jenn King

Here’s a great opportunity to sample some truly unique grape varietals from Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic, and hear Jenn recap her travel exploits with Arielle, Jim, and Jared all while managing to stay out of jail and not breaking the internet.

Thursday July 25th from 7:15-8:30: “Obscure Loire” with Susan Slosman

Susan’s love of the Loire Valley and extensive wine knowledge will help you discover some of the more obscure Loire wine regions like Coteaux du Giennois, Savennières, Quincy, Coteaux du Layon and Reuilly. These are expressive and refreshing wines for the hot weather ahead.

Thursday, August 22nd from 7:15-8:30pm: “Sunny Sicily” with Doug Diesing

Aside from eating his body weight in octopus and raw shellfish while in Sicily, Doug also sampled some of the finest Italian wines in his career. “Varietals like Nerello Mascalese, Catarratto, Grillo, Frappato and Zibibbo have forever changed my wine preferences, and I believe they may change yours as well.” said Diesing.

You can sign up for individual classes or a package of all three. Classes are $39 each or a package of all three for $99. They start promptly at 7:15 and end at 8:30. Get your tickets here.



Reader Meetup May 29th

We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be joining some of the finest fellow media empires in town for a meetup on May 29th at Growler USA.

We’ll join Leo with DTRaleigh, Jennifer with Inbound Raleigh, and Jed Byrne with Oak City CRE, to talk about downtown Raleigh, transit, development, and more.

Check out the Facebook Event with more details. Growler USA is located at 314 South Blount Street.


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A Look At 301 Hillsborough

New renderings for the 301 Hillsborough project were recently released. The 20-story mixed-use development will be located next to Campbell Law School on Hillsborough Street.

These renderings were included in an otherwise dull “Administrative Alternative for Design” application filed by the developer.

Similar to the previous renderings, this project will include 20-story towers that will consist of offices, retail, residential units, and hotel use.

The plans also call for 136 residential units and 169 hotel rooms. Beyond noting that there will be 8,900 square-feet of “amenity space,” the site review documents don’t tell us much else. The project is expected to break ground this fall.


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Cat Cafe Coming To Raleigh

Photo by @seandizzy

Downtown Raleigh has seen an explosion of new businesses over the last several years, but until now we’ve been deprived of a hybrid cafe/cat lounge, where non-cat-owners can experience the joy of a feline friend slowly pushing their coffee mugs off the table.

That deprivation will soon come to an end, thanks to Purr Cup Cafe’s plans to open their newest location on Prospect Avenue just outside of downtown.

Purr Cup Cafe will reportedly be teaming up with Meow House Cat Rescue, and the store will connect “adoptable cats with their future forever homes.”

Our friends at York Properties helped Purr Cup find the perfect space for their new home.

The cafe is expected to open its doors in the late summer or early fall of 2019. Here’s hoping they’ll have a few black-footed cats looking for their new forever homes.

601 St. Mary’s Project Moves Forward

An expansion of the 8,755 square-foot office building at 601 St. Mary’s is seeking a number of minor exceptions from City design ordinances.

A site review plan was first filed for this planned expansion back in 2018; the project will remove 2,900 square feet of the existing building, and then add on 7,000 square feet of new space, bringing the building’s new total to 12,800 square feet.

The property will eventually be transformed from a conventional, one-story brick office building into a two-story, glass and brick modern-day office building from the architectural firm New City Design.

Update: we originally said the building was built in 1900. A few readers let us know that it was actually built in 1949 and finished in August of 1950. The building was constructed for the congregation of Beth Meyer Synagogue and used as a house of worship until 1983 when they moved to a new building in North Raleigh.

Photo from State Archives of North Carolina provided by Ian F.G. Dunn

For some reason, the tax record lists 1900 as the date the building was constructed. If Wake County can’t keep accurate records of their buildings then why are we even paying taxes?



Cava Grill Coming Soon to SOJO

Work has begun on the latest restaurant at SOJO, the new Wegmans-anchored shopping center off Wake Forest Road.

Cava Grill describes itself as a “growing Mediterranean culinary brand with a flavorful and healthy fast-casual restaurant experience” featuring customizable salads, grain bowls, pitas, and house-made juices.

Permits for the $350,000 “interior completion” of the 2,734 square-foot space were issued last week to Battino Contracting Solutions out of Virginia.

This will be Raleigh’s second location of Cava Grill. The other celebrated its grand opening at Cameron Village back in March.



Development Beat: Wye Hill Kitchen & Brewing To Replace Boylan Bridge Brewpub

in Development by

Brought to you by York Properties


Wye Hill Kitchen & Brewing to replace Boylan Bridge Brewpub

Seaboard Wine Tasting Event May 25

Residential mixed-use project planned for SOJO

Reader Meetup May 29th

Drive Shack closer to opening

Work begins on Rosewater Kitchen & Bar at North Hills

Downtown Days Inn begins transformation into Longleaf Hotel

Hillsborough Street gets more apartments

Purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




Wye Hill Kitchen & Brewing To Replace Boylan Bridge Brewpub

Wye Hill Kitchen & Brewing will open soon in the former home of Boylan Bridge Brewpub. We consider this some of the best news ever.

We did some journalism and found that Wye Hill will offer craft beer and food. A deeper investigation led us to the discovery that “wye” is a railroad term. According to Wikipedia, a wye is a triangular joining arrangement of three rail lines with a railroad switch at each corner connecting to each incoming line.

Here’s a look from Bobby McFarland (no relation to Billy, hopefully) at what he and Chef de cuisine Kyle Fletcher have been working on at Wye Hill.

It sounds like they’ll be open in early June. You can follow Wye Hill Kitchen & Brewing on Instagram @WyeHill to stay up to date.


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Seaboard Wine Tasting May 25

Our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting a free wine tasting this Saturday, May 25th. Join Scott Langston from Freedom Beverage from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm.

Scott will be pouring an interesting selection of wines form Macedonia, Slovenia, Jumilla, Languedoc, and Touraine. All wine sampled at the tasting bar is discounted 10% off by the bottle and 15% off by the 1/2 case mix or match for you to take home and enjoy.



Residential Mixed-Use Project Planned for SOJO

A rezoning request could put a new apartment project within walking distance of the new Wegmans in SOJO.

While the rezoning case calls for a change of use from industrial to residential and a height increase to 12 stories, a deeper dive into the plans reveals that the developer, Riverbend Development, is only looking to build a five-story structure.

Riverbend purchased the 10-acre site at 819 East Six Forks Road last year from Sears for about $5 million. They believe the project will “encourage more live/work/play opportunities in this area by bringing more high density residential units into an evolving section of the Midtown area of the City.”

Reader Meetup May 29th

We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be joining some of the finest fellow media empires in town for a meetup on May 29th at Growler USA.

We’ll join Leo with DTRaleigh, Jennifer with Inbound Raleigh, and Jed Byrne with Oak City CRE, to talk about downtown Raleigh, transit, development, and more.

Check out the Facebook Event with more details. Growler USA is located at 314 South Blount Street.


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Drive Shack Closer To Opening

Drive Shack should be opening its first Raleigh location soon. While corporate has never responded to any of our e-mails or phone calls, ABC Inspection Permits were recently issued for the complex.

Our guess is the grand opening date is about a month or so away, as ABC permits are one of the final steps taken before opening to the public.

The 63,885 SF, $8 million facility is being built by Ashland Construction and will be located on Corporate Center Drive in West Raleigh next to Interstate 40.


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Work Begins On Rosewater Kitchen & Bar At North Hills

Work is now underway on Rosewater, a Mediterranean restaurant from the Giorgios Group, in the old Bruegger’s space at North Hills. A set of permits were recently issued to local contracting firm Homework Enterprises.

The permits, which have a combined listed value of just under $250,000, describe the work to be performed as an “alteration” to the existing 2,071 square feet of space, and a 997 square foot addition for “dining area/storage.”

Although we don’t have a solid opening date yet for Rosewater, we imagine it will be sometime before the end of the year.



Downtown Days Inn Begins Transformation

Nearly five months after the downtown Days Inn on North Dawson was ushered into an eternal night, work has begun on the transformation of the 55-year-old structure into a boutique hotel known as the Longleaf Inn.

A trio of permits with a combined value of more than $300,000 were recently issued to the Northgate Group for work that will include a total renovation of the existing lobby, building-wide HVAC improvements, and corridor and bathroom alterations on the first floor.

The Northgate Group is still waiting on approval of an $800,000+ permit, applied for on March 29, that looks like it would cover the remainder of the required renovations. The new hotel will also feature a bar called the Longleaf Lounge.

Local developer Loden Properties had purchased the property at 300 N. Dawson in January of this year for $5 million, as well as the adjoining property for $1.5 million.



Hillsborough Street Gets More Apartments

A Charlotte-based real estate firm plans to finalize a long-running project: The Park/Ashe/Hillsborough Apartment Trilogy.

The project began in 2016, when FMW Realty filed plans for the 109 Park Apartments, a four-story, 87-unit student housing complex situated just behind the old IHOP. Construction on the project began in 2017 and wrapped up earlier this year.

A few weeks ago, permits were issued for the construction of two additional, adjacent complexes: 103 Park and 104 Ashe. According to plans filed in 2017, 104 Ashe Avenue will be a five-story, 17,665 square foot apartment building that will sit on a .24 acre lot. It will have 5 one-bedroom, 7 two-bedroom, and 4 three-bedroom units.

103 Park will be a 3-story, 14,915 square foot apartment building that will include six one-bedroom units, six two-bedrooms and three three-bedrooms.

Liberty Oak construction was listed as the general contractor for 103 Park and 104 Ashe, which have a combined value of more than $3 million.

Development Beat: Calavera Returns, Work Begins On Jolie

in Development by

Brought to you by York Properties


Calavera opens in new location

Seaboard Wine tasting events

Work begins on Jolie

Two new tenants for Union Station

Sir Walter Raleigh Award Nominations

Just Salad coming to Lake Boone

New Social Security Office building coming to Raleigh

Work begins on Raleigh’s latest Lidl

Purchase tickets to the Women’s ICC held August 15th and 18th at WakeMed Soccer Park

To be featured in the Development Beat, contact business@itbinsider.com.




Calavera Opens In Former Home Of Moonlight Pizza

Calavera is now open in the former home of Moonlight Pizza. The empanada and tequila bar was previously located at 444 S. Blount Street until early 2018.

The restaurant closed in 2018 after being approached with an offer they couldn’t refuse. Co-owner Kenneth Yowell shared his thoughts at the time, “Our kitchen and its small size has kept us from really growing the menu and allowing us to change and add where we would like. We’ve entertained the idea of looking for a location more suited to what we want to do for awhile but have never found anything that matched our needs and wants. We were out of the blue approached with an offer to sell, and while we weren’t actively exploring that, with our new restaurants on the horizon we felt this was the best time to step away.”

Calavera had plans to move into the former home of Tasty 8’s on Fayetteville Street. Those plans changed and Calavera found a new home in the space at 615 West Morgan Street.

After holding a pop-up on Cinco de Mayo, the restaurant is now open for dinner and will be open for lunch in the next few weeks. We’re confident they’ll do well in their new home.


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Seaboard Wine Events

Our friends at Seaboard Wine are hosting Giuseppe LoCascio of GLC Wines this Thursday, May 16th from 7:15 – 8:30 pm.

As the nephew of the famous Leonardo LoCascio, Giuseppe grew up in Sicily entrenched in wine culture and knows every aspect of the business. Giuseppe works as the export manager for fifteen wineries. Come join Seaboard Wine for a seated, guided tasting with one of the best dressed men in the business. Tickets are $25.

A free wine tasting will be held this Saturday, May 18th. Join Claire Allan of Huia Vineyards, New Zealand from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm.

Claire Allan and her husband, Mike, own Huia Vineyards in Marlborough, New Zealand. They produce superb organic wines under both the Huia and Hunky Dory Labels. Claire will be at Seaboard Wine pouring a range from sparkling to white to red during the free Saturday tasting.


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Work Begins On Jolie

Work is now underway on Jolie, a classical French restaurant from five-time James Beard Award semi-finalist Scott Crawford that will be located on 620 North Person Street.

Crawford announced plans for the new restaurant in the summer of 2018, and we were able to take a look at some renderings of the space a few months later.

One of the most visible changes to the existing building will be the addition of a new rooftop terrace seating area, which is called out specifically in the permits that were recently issued.

The $177,388 renovation is being handled by Southeastern Properties & Development out of Sanford, and will also include significant upgrades to the building’s exterior, including new doors, windows, lights, and paint schemes.

Offering classic French dishes including rabbit cassoulet, souffles, steak frites, scrambled duck eggs, and more, Jolie is named after Crawford’s daughter and set to open next door to his existing restaurant, Crawford & Son. An opening date has not been announced, but we imagine it will be some time later this year.



Two New Tenants For Union Station

Union Station will be getting two new tenants, ORA Architecture and SpecOne Specified Systems.

ORA Architecture is a commercial architecture firm in Raleigh that serves clients across the Southeast region. ORA Architecture, P.A., intends to utilize the space for office purposes and will occupy 1,211 square feet of space located on the Grand Hall (Suite 108-A).

SpecOne Specified Systems is a local company that supports the design and construction industry by offering both interior and exterior products from nationally recognized manufacturers. SpecOne Specified Systems intends to utilize the space for office purposes and will occupy 777 square feet of space located on the Grand Hall (Suite 108-B).

The lease spaces will be located in the far east end on the main floor of Raleigh Union Station. Two additional prime retail spaces remain available on the main floor. Raleigh’s Wine & Design is in the process of relocating its corporate headquarters to Union Station.

John Koonce (johnkoonce@yorkproperties.com – 919-645-2765) is handing the retail leasing and Brian Wallace (brianwallace@yorkproperties.com – 919-645-2773) is handling the office leasing. York is also handling the management and will coordinate the event space leasing.



Nominations Open For Sir Walter Raleigh Awards

Nominations are now open for The Sir Walter Raleigh Awards. You are more than welcome to nominate ITB Insider for any of these awards, which recognize outstanding new contributions to the character, environment, and appearance of the City of Raleigh.

Award categories include: Residential, Commercial, Rehabilitation /Historic Preservation, Education, Public Facilities, Public Spaces, Landscape Design and Community Impact.

This is your chance to recognize any individuals or projects that have contributed excellent design to our city. Nominations are now being accepted through June 14th at 5:00 p.m. Anyone can submit a nomination through a quick and easy web form that can be found on the Sir Walter Raleigh Awards website.


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Just Salad Coming To Lake Boone

If you’re the type that would prefer a salad over one of Guasaca’s delicious Arepas, well, we’ve got good news for you. Just Salad will soon be making its way to the Marketplace at Lake Boone.

The Mrketplace at Lake Boone is already home to a number of much better dining options, including Buffalo Brothers, Vic’s Italian Restaurant and Pizza, Which Which, and the aforementioned Guasaca.

Permits issued to R.E. Crawford Construction indicate Just Salad will be moving into a 1,785 square-foot space right next to Guasaca that was previously occupied by HealthSource of Lake Boone Trail, a chiropractor’s office.

The $131,025 renovation is described simply as an interior alteration, and while we imagine less work is required for a salad joint than a restaurant for normal humans, it’s probably going to take a bit of work to turn a former doctor’s office into an eatery.

New Social Security Office Building Coming to Raleigh

The one-time home of the Cokesbury United Methodist Church on Poole Road may soon be transformed into a glistening, two-story office building.

Rooker, a Georgia-based development firm, filed site review plans detailing their intent to construct the OHO Raleigh, a two-story, 46,464 square-foot office building with underground parking.

Although the plans describe the project as a “Federal Government Office Building,” they don’t specify which branch of the government it will house. A quick Google search for “OHO Federal Government Office” turns up the Social Security Administration’s “Office of Hearings Operations,” which handles disability hearings.

We don’t want to say for certain this will be its intended purpose – Rooker develops office buildings for all sorts of federal agencies – and besides, Raleigh already has a “SSA Disability Adjudication and Review Office” in Raleigh, on Falls of Neuse.

As for the building itself, the plans don’t contain much information on the office space but they do go into great detail on the site’s new landscaping: 34 “shade” trees and 49 evergreen shrubs – Blue Cascade distylium shrubs, to be exact.

Work Begins on Raleigh’s Latest Lidl

It’s been more than two years since we first reported on Lidl’s acquisition of land in North Raleigh, and now work is finally underway on Raleigh’s second location of the German discount grocery chain.

The new 29,114 square-foot store will be situated at 4115 Buffaloe Road at the intersection with North New hope. The store is being built by the EMJ Corporation out of Tennessee for a cool $3 million.

Lidl (pronounced lee-dil) opened its first Raleigh location in November of 2017 on Wake Forest Road just outside the beltline, and immediately set itself apart from that *other* discount German grocery chain, Aldi.

At the time, I reported that “the store was bright, clean and modern, with an aesthetic that seemed more borrowed from Ikea than Aldi’s apparent muse of a bodega. On Sunday night, the lot was packed and seven out of the eleven available registers were open; a delightful ratio rarely seen in today’s cutthroat retail environment. Heck, even the shopping carts were nice.”

We imagine the same will be true for the new Buffaloe Road location, and if the construction turnaround time is anything like it was for the first store, it could be open by the end of this year.

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