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New Orleans was a major city prior to the advent of the automobile. There were over 100k residents in 1840!!!
Raleigh has had two major skyscraper roadblocks for a long time; Research Triangle Park, and the City Council. RTP is a massive employment hub, and due to its presence it has historically attracted a lot of commercial development to it instead of downtown Raleigh. However, with the increased focus on urbanization, companies are starting to take more of an interest in downtown. On the governmental side, the City Council has historically not been very helpful at all with restrictive zoning, absurdly long approval processes (by the time anything gets approved, the economy tanks), and too much NIMBY influence. However, the last elections saw several anti-growth council members replaced with new, pro-growth ones who generally seem to be easier to work with, so I am hoping that we will finally start to see some height.
Raleigh is disappointing in the areas you mentioned. 2020 and beyond may turn the corner for Raleigh given its continued investment in downtown. Raleigh reminds me of some of the same barriers other smaller cities have faced with NIMBYism.
Raleigh is disappointing in the areas you mentioned. 2020 and beyond may turn the corner for Raleigh given its continued investment in downtown. Raleigh reminds me of some of the same barriers other smaller cities have faced with NIMBYism.
Whenever Raleigh seems like it's about to turn the corner, the economy crashes. There were several 30-40 story buildings proposed in 07 and 08, and none were constructed (other than PNC which was completed in 08). In the past year or so, there have been numerous requests to rezone downtown parcels from 20 stories max to 40 stories max, and now that covid-19 has wrecked everything I doubt we will see anything new above 300ft for a while.
New Orleans was a major city prior to the advent of the automobile. There were over 100k residents in 1840!!!
Raleigh has had two major skyscraper roadblocks for a long time; Research Triangle Park, and the City Council. RTP is a massive employment hub, and due to its presence it has historically attracted a lot of commercial development to it instead of downtown Raleigh. However, with the increased focus on urbanization, companies are starting to take more of an interest in downtown. On the governmental side, the City Council has historically not been very helpful at all with restrictive zoning, absurdly long approval processes (by the time anything gets approved, the economy tanks), and too much NIMBY influence. However, the last elections saw several anti-growth council members replaced with new, pro-growth ones who generally seem to be easier to work with, so I am hoping that we will finally start to see some height.
Ah, true about New Orleans! Makes sense--had that density for a long time. Wow.
Raleigh has strong potential--let's hope they really push the development of towers and get them trhough, despite the COVID issue, hopefully banks are not too affected, long term.
Raleigh has strong potential--let's hope they really push the development of towers and get them trhough, despite the COVID issue, hopefully banks are not too affected, long term.
There is one 20-story building going up right now. A few blocks away from that is a mega-project that is supposed to include four towers, all 16-20 stories. Unfortunately the developer hasn't wanted to rezone the block to build taller, likely due to the City Council's shenanigans with other rezoning requests. There are some other proposals that aren't as likely to be built, as well as some smaller buildings (8-10 stories tall) plus some taller ones outside of downtown currently going up, but it will probably be a while before anything transformational is built.
There is one 20-story building going up right now. A few blocks away from that is a mega-project that is supposed to include four towers, all 16-20 stories. Unfortunately the developer hasn't wanted to rezone the block to build taller, likely due to the City Council's shenanigans with other rezoning requests. There are some other proposals that aren't as likely to be built, as well as some smaller buildings (8-10 stories tall) plus some taller ones outside of downtown currently going up, but it will probably be a while before anything transformational is built.
When Raleigh re-wrote its UDO, it made it very easy for developers to build quickly because it basically guaranteed approval of projects that conformed to it. While the city still allowed for developers to apply for rezoning of parcels to go higher, it was rarely pursued with the previous city council, which was labeled as the "council of no". This meant that many of the parcels that capped out at 250 ft. were planned for exactly 250 feet. This includes the new tower going up that Pendo will occupy, and its sister towers in subsequent phases. It also includes the multi-tower project that's slated for the city block that was formerly occupied by the News&Observer newspaper operation.
Since the "council of no" was swept out of office last Fall, the new council had amended the UDO to allow for unlimited heights for buildings but keeps the UDO floor count the same: allowing for taller buildings. For example, the previous UDO zoned many parcels downtown as 20 floors and no more than 250 ft. Today, that's amended with 20 floors but without a height restriction. The new council is also much more amendable to rezoning 20 floor parcels to 40 floor parcels. Previously, the 40 floor zoning was paired with 500 ft max (which is shorter than Raleigh's current tallest tower), and now it's also unlimited height. This is going to allow for more floors of lucrative commercial space on a single parcel. Previously there was no reasonable way to build a new 20 or 40 story fully commercial building within the previous height restrictions.
Depending on what happens with Covid, the 2020s could see a tower explosion in Raleigh with several single and multi-tower projects already in planning, and several others already testing the waters. Even with Covid, the Triangle being a tech, biotech, and pharma metro, it still might not slow it down.
It's easy to imagine Raleigh having 8 or more 400-600 ft. towers (literally just counting the ones being pitched/planned/floated right now), along with 8 more above 250ft.
When Raleigh re-wrote its UDO, it made it very easy for developers to build quickly because it basically guaranteed approval of projects that conformed to it. While the city still allowed for developers to apply for rezoning of parcels to go higher, it was rarely pursued with the previous city council, which was labeled as the "council of no". This meant that many of the parcels that capped out at 250 ft. were planned for exactly 250 feet. This includes the new tower going up that Pendo will occupy, and its sister towers in subsequent phases. It also includes the multi-tower project that's slated for the city block that was formerly occupied by the News&Observer newspaper operation.
Since the "council of no" was swept out of office last Fall, the new council had amended the UDO to allow for unlimited heights for buildings but keeps the UDO floor count the same: allowing for taller buildings. For example, the previous UDO zoned many parcels downtown as 20 floors and no more than 250 ft. Today, that's amended with 20 floors but without a height restriction. The new council is also much more amendable to rezoning 20 floor parcels to 40 floor parcels. Previously, the 40 floor zoning was paired with 500 ft max (which is shorter than Raleigh's current tallest tower), and now it's also unlimited height. This is going to allow for more floors of lucrative commercial space on a single parcel. Previously there was no reasonable way to build a new 20 or 40 story fully commercial building within the previous height restrictions.
Depending on what happens with Covid, the 2020s could see a tower explosion in Raleigh with several single and multi-tower projects already in planning, and several others already testing the waters. Even with Covid, the Triangle being a tech, biotech, and pharma metro, it still might not slow it down.
It's easy to imagine Raleigh having 8 or more 400-600 ft. towers (literally just counting the ones being pitched/planned/floated right now), along with 8 more above 250ft.
When Raleigh re-wrote its UDO, it made it very easy for developers to build quickly because it basically guaranteed approval of projects that conformed to it. While the city still allowed for developers to apply for rezoning of parcels to go higher, it was rarely pursued with the previous city council, which was labeled as the "council of no". This meant that many of the parcels that capped out at 250 ft. were planned for exactly 250 feet. This includes the new tower going up that Pendo will occupy, and its sister towers in subsequent phases. It also includes the multi-tower project that's slated for the city block that was formerly occupied by the News&Observer newspaper operation.
Since the "council of no" was swept out of office last Fall, the new council had amended the UDO to allow for unlimited heights for buildings but keeps the UDO floor count the same: allowing for taller buildings. For example, the previous UDO zoned many parcels downtown as 20 floors and no more than 250 ft. Today, that's amended with 20 floors but without a height restriction. The new council is also much more amendable to rezoning 20 floor parcels to 40 floor parcels. Previously, the 40 floor zoning was paired with 500 ft max (which is shorter than Raleigh's current tallest tower), and now it's also unlimited height. This is going to allow for more floors of lucrative commercial space on a single parcel. Previously there was no reasonable way to build a new 20 or 40 story fully commercial building within the previous height restrictions.
Depending on what happens with Covid, the 2020s could see a tower explosion in Raleigh with several single and multi-tower projects already in planning, and several others already testing the waters. Even with Covid, the Triangle being a tech, biotech, and pharma metro, it still might not slow it down.
It's easy to imagine Raleigh having 8 or more 400-600 ft. towers (literally just counting the ones being pitched/planned/floated right now), along with 8 more above 250ft.
I cannot see raleigh being a skyscraper town like Charlotte. Even with tech and research there, the metro is built for more suburban style office parks. Covid will solidify that pattern.
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