by William Needham Finley IV™

Development Beat: Work Begins On Raleigh’s Wegmans

in Development by

Brought to you by York Properties.

Week of July 30, 2018

Work begins on Raleigh’s first Wegmans

Update on Oberlin and Fairview fire station

Cameron Village Chick-fil-A set for upgrades

Players’ Retreat set for crucial addition

Rosewater coming to North Hills

The Warehouse District: Then & Now

Old Amtrak Station finally receives demolition permits

Contact wnfiv@itbinsider.com with news or to be featured in the Development Beat.

Advertisement

Work Begins on Wegmans at New ITB Shopping Center

North Carolina’s first Wegmans grocery store is now under construction, as permits for the foundation were recently issued to Vannoy Construction.

Located in the new Midtown East shopping center off Wake Forest Road, the 22 acre site will include about 21 retail and restaurant spaces, a 700 space parking deck, and the coveted Wegmans.

The current lineup of entities not named Wegmans includes Maple Street Biscuit Company, Club Pilates, Cava, Salon Del Sol, and Bella Lifestyle.

In a June meeting of the Midtown Citizens Advisory Council, Paul Muñana of Regency Properties, which owns a number of other local shopping centers (Cameron Village), provided an update on the project. Here are the full minutes of that CAC meeting.

In addition to the Wegmans, they are building 7 new buildings (5 managed by Regency, 2 “paid leases”) and two new roads. Muñana said Midtown East would also be home to a 150-room hotel.

A “smaller than average” Wegmans (110,000 sq. ft.) will be located at the back, top deck of the property with a road leading to it and with parking beneath it. Muñana pointed out that there will be a nice open space area with artificial turf. According to Muñana, Midtown East is expected to open in the late third quarter or early fourth quarter of 2019.

WNFIV Note: I will never refer to any part of Raleigh as “Midtown.” North Hills is North Hills. Full stop. According to cartography, the area where Wegmans is being built is closest to Crabtree Heights. If that doesn’t sound catchy enough, might I suggest coming up with a new name based on nearby landmarks or areas the way they do in larger cities (ex: how SoHo refers to South of Houston Street in Manhattan). Here are a few options: BTB (below the beltline), NoThomp (North of Thompson Buick GMC Cadillac (Hi Mark)), or SoJo (South of Trader Joe’s).

Advertisement

Update on Oberlin and Fairview Fire Station

Last week, we did some hard-hitting journalism to find out why it was taking so long to finish building the fire station on the corner of Oberlin and Fairview. Country Club Hills residents were having flashbacks to that fateful morning in December, over 20 years ago, when they awoke to the glow of a mansion on fire. A mystery to this day…

We did some journalism by asking the following on social media:

Fortunately, Raleigh fire expert Mike Legeros had already covered this on his Fire Blog (not to be confused with WNFIV’s upcoming Dumpster Fyre Podcast). The delay in construction was caused by the discovery of some contaminated soil that had to be removed. Construction is now underway and should be finished in the spring of 2019. Here’s the project page with more information that our friends at the City of Raleigh sent us.

Until then, here are some options for nearby residents.


Advertisement

Cameron Village Chick-fil-A To Add Canopy

In my years of writing this column, I’ve been witness to the pitfalls and the possibilities, the perils and the promise that new construction can bring to the City, but few projects have ever achieved pure perfection in the way the Cameron Village Chick-fil-A did.

Built in 2011, the two-story 7,574 square-foot Chick-fil-A is surely the prize gem in Cameron Village’s already shining crown, serving up delicious efficient food in a gleaming complex packed with clean tables and more than enough room to host a serious birthday bash.

So that’s why I was caught off guard by a renovation permit issued for the space last week: what do you do to the building that has everything? The answer, apparently, is an improved canopy.

The $50,00 permit issued to R & L Builders and Sons last week is for a new overhead shade canopy, although it doesn’t specify where the canopy will be located. While it may not be finished in time to protect patrons from North Carolina’s cruel August sun, we’re sure it will be a welcome addition for years to come.

Advertisement

A Rosy New Plan for Former North Hills Bruegger’s

Kane Realty Corporation announced last week that Rosewater, a Mediterranean restaurant from the Giorgios Group, will open in the old Bruegger’s space in 2019. This put to rest the rumors we started last year that Bonner Gaylord would use the space to fulfill his dreams of opening his own surf shop.

Giorgios Group has restaurants in Durham, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, and Asheville including Vin Rouge, Parizade, and Bin 54. The North Hills location will be their first restaurant in Raleigh.

A New Retreat at Players’ Retreat

Two years after undergoing a major renovation to their kitchen, Players’ Retreat is set to upgrade another crucial element of their building: the restrooms.

Permits were issued last week to Benjamin Hale Builders for the addition of a wall to create a new accessible toilet room. The $5,000 project will add a new 50 square foot restroom to the popular restaurant.

This Warehouse is No Longer Bare

In last week’s Raleigh, over-easy newsletter (currently the number 1 ranked newsletter in Raleigh) our friend Ashton Smith included an interesting photo comparison showing the Warehouse District as it was in 2006 and as it is today. Kudos to Matt Robinson of Raleigh Skylines for this flashback.

Power of the Press

A week ago, we reported on some reporting that demolition was underway on Raleigh’s old Amtrak station at 516 West Cabarrus Street. Here’s an updated look from photojournalist Rachel Meyer (who also runs The Whisk Project, @the_whisk_project on Insta).

On the same day our journalism debuted, a demolition permit was applied for — and approved a mere three days later by the City of Raleigh. We’re not saying our Pulitzer-level work spurred Clancy & Theys into action on this $40,000 permit, but we’re also not saying it didn’t.

It’s always sad to see a long-standing downtown structure demolished, but it’s not as though the old station was on par with Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal, or Raleigh’s new Union Station.

ShopITB.com

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

2 Comments

  1. There is a cylindrical safe in the concrete deck at the old train station. We discovered it when converting the building into a restaurant in the 1980’s. Time didn’t allow for removal.

  2. Van, I still have a boatload of Atlantic Station matchboxes somewhere in storage.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Latest from Development

Go to Top