WSTB

http://www.journalnow.com/news/state_region/b--mile-interstate-planned-to-connect-norfolk-raleigh/article_ad25326d-17ff-5c3b-8b91-f900b4448774.html In today's WSJ. But, I 87 is in New York State so how can that be?

Easy access from I-40 to another major port could be great news for Winston-Salem. I remember spending summer vacation from school visiting family in New York City and we would take I-87 into the Hudson Valley.

So, I checked, and apparently AASHTO has approved this, but no mention (that I can find) of connecting with I 87 in NY, which if there are still rules would be mandatory. Actually, this route was supposed to have been I 44 (or possibly I 50), and excuse me, but the stated reasons for declaring it I 87 are beyond rediculous; not the way the designations are determined. The upside of designating it I 87 is that it could and should be extended to NY along U.S. 13 to relieve the criminal situation on I 95 especially in Virginia, and connect with I 87 there even though it would violate Interstate highway designation rules, but hey that's been done a lot; think I 74.

Update - so, I just found according to AASHTO, there's no intent to join the two I 87s; what happened to their rules? How unimpressive; how truly unprofessional, and once again, dare I say, how stupid, if those are really the reasons for picking 87 out of thin air.

While East of Colfax shoots for a single 561 foot skyscraper, the Capital City continues with multiple skyscraper towers adding to the density of their burgeoning downtown. This is only a couple of blocks from the 17 story Dawson tower under construction in the Warehouse District.

A real estate investment group formed by The Lundy Group’s Jim Baker to spearhead plans for a double-tower development project in downtown Raleigh has just acquired another key piece to its puzzle – more land on Hillsborough Street. Wake County real estate records show that the Lundy affiliate, 301 Hillsborough Land Owners LLC, paid $4 million on Dec. 20 for the office building and 0.67-acre lot occupied by the Hatch Little & Bunn law firm at 327 Hillsborough St. The law office and parking lot is contiguous to the property at 301 Hillsborough St., which The Lundy Group bought from the city in March– bringing its total investment in land for the downtown project to $10.36 million, so far.

Sources say that Lundy had also been seeking to buy the 0.17-acre site and building occupied by the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium at the corner of Morgan and Harrington streets to round out ownership of the whole city block, but so far no deal has been finalized. A representative of The Lundy Group was not available for comment.
In an interview last year with Triangle Business Journal, Baker disclosed that plans for the site would likely include two tower buildings of up to 20 stories in height — one for commercial and the other for residential – with expansive retail space at the bottom of both buildings. A site review plan filed with the city’s planning department in mid-November details even further to show that the mixed-use buildings will have about 220,000 square feet of office space, 242 residential units, 40,382 square feet of retail space, 176 hotel rooms and structured parking with more than 990 parking spaces. The Stewart engineering firm of Raleigh is a consultant on the project.

Massive fire at an under construction apartment complex in downtown Raleigh last night (I think it's called the Metropolitan?). Looks like it was wood frame construction surrounding a multi-level parking deck. Right next to the Link Apartments and across from the Quorum building, with both also suffering damage. Some intense videos of it throughout social media, even a few showing the collapse of a crane that was on site of the under construction apartments. The smoke plume was even visible on Doppler radar!

Video footage here:

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/17/h ... struction/

The Triangle Business Journal is reporting that the buyers of Yadkin Bank (FNB Bank) will the lead tenant in a new 22 story skyscraper named FNB Tower on Fayetteville Street in DT Raleigh. FNB will initially take 40,000 of the approx. 150,000 square feet of Class A office space in the bldg. for their regional headquarters with an option for more based on the bank's future growth. Housed in its offices will be regional leadership as well as commercial banking, private banking, insurance and a variety of other departments. There will be a retail banking office on the first floor along with other retail tenants. Additionally, the tower will house nearly 240 apartment units.

Delivery of the building is expected in Summer 2019.

The next level of development for Raleigh’s North Hills will be a 33-acre Innovation District with a value of $1 billion, developer Kane Realty announced Monday.

Responding to changes in the commercial real estate market stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and requirements for more social distancing, Kane plans a mix of natural space and walking rails in addition to an 18-story office tower, apartments and a two-story “food hall” covering 20,000 square feet.

Kane Realty is increasing its investment in the North Hills area by one third with some $2 billion invested over the past 15 years, according to Kane CEO John Kane and confirmed by the company to WRAL TechWire.


The expansion will broaden the footprint of North Hils to more than 120 acres.


https://www.wraltechwire.com/2021/01/25 ... rth-hills/

Looks impressive. The design of the food hall is particularly attractive.
Can't wait to see what they do in W-S in 2021 to match or top it . . . this being the City of Arts and Innovation, of course.

Whatever is done probably safe to say it won’t include an 18-story tower.

Roar is gonna be cool, but the City needs a food hall with more vendors, and outdoor dining space, a la DC Union Market.

I was really hoping Sentinel Commons Food Hall would happen. Sadly, it didn't. That had the look of something you would see in much larger cities. I did want a food hall in the Twin City Motor Building, long before Mayfair bought it, and was very happy to see them go in that direction. It's a great building for that use. I of course wanted a grand staircase cut into the floor connecting both the lower level and main level as one big food hall. I view food halls as restaurant incubators. Someone can try new food ideas without leasing a large restaurant space and making a big investment. It's really something a food city like Winston-Salem should have more than one of.

Kane Realty is a great developer. This is a new construction version of Winston-Salem's Innovation Quarter. It has the park space, trails, water feature, price tag, building sizes, and everything but the university presence. The Innovation Quarter didn't build a food hall, but did build what appears to be a pedestrian-centered piazza, with a brewery and restaurants, from the former Coal Pit, which is very interesting. It's a rare successful example and helps to make the iQ unique.

While Raleigh's will likely fill instantly with tech companies, I'm expecting Winston-Salem's next phase to be more university and hospital development, with very little interest in office or research space. I suspect this is why they wanted an innovation district in Charlotte (so they could work with big companies that won't look at Winston-Salem or the Triad)? I still think WFBH should relocate Brenner Childrens Hospital to One West Fourth, which also has an attached parking deck. This would bring doctor offices to neighboring buildings, like Winston Tower or O'Hanlon, and would not only be an amenity for downtown families, but would also bring doctors and families downtown to visit restaurants and retailers and more employees to move downtown and more visitors to use downtown hotels. I also believe it would help fill Bailey Power Plant with startups focused on children at the hospital. It could generate the startups to fill the new co-working space at Sentinel Commons and the new Current Co-Working at LTP's building. Brenner would also be easier to access from both local and regional bus for both workers and families. If there was one part of the Hawthorne Hill Campus I could move downtown, that would be it. It would be interesting to see the startups generated from people wanting to work with them and to see its impact on downtown office and research space, including at the Innovation Quarter. They could likely construct the proposed 311 East Third Building as a building for startups and companies interested in working with Brenner and maybe have specialized teams to assist those startups? I do think it would be big for downtown.

FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies U.S.A. Inc., a world leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), will create 725 jobs and expressed its intent to invest $2 billion in Wake County,


https://www.nccommerce.com/news/press-r ... maceutical