Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just to spell it out, you get about 3.5 million annual visitors to downtown attractions, plus another 1 million who come to downtown outdoor events. That’s on top of the 50,000 daily who work downtown and the 20,000+ who live within 1 mile of the Capitol building, an area rapidly densifying. There are close to 250 restaurants, bars, breweries, and nightclubs downtown.
An Atlantic League team averages a little over 200,000 spectators over 70 games. That’s about what the bluegrass festival gets in 5 days. Downtown Raleigh doesn’t need development help. The Dillon building in downtown Raleigh was a $150 million development, and the only thing it was built near were abandoned warehouses. In all, close to $2 billion has been spent on development in recent years, and close to $4 billion are in various stages of development. Raleigh doesn’t need a downtown baseball stadium, and at this rate it would simply take up land that could be needed for the actual major league team Raleigh does have. It would be a very expensive photo op where the benefit would be marginal at best.
File it under nice to have if privately developed. CoR and Wake County should 100% focus on the PNC Arena replacement, Dix Park, the Convention Center expansion and hotel/mixed-use projects, and city park developments. I hope North Carolina state government will accelerate the expansion of the NC History Museum. That's been in the back burner forever.
No but it creates an additional element to lure people downtown. This type of myopic vision is exactly why PNC Arena is in the middle of a cornfield right now. No city needs "anything" but anyone who can't see the benefit of a downtown or central location is in denial. No offense but Raleigh isn't New Orleans, Austin or Nashville, so adding a vibrant element in downtown or somewhere near downtown helps.
Does Raleigh really need it? No, but to deny it wouldn't have certain intangible benefits as realized in old/new cities, small/mid/big cities across America is total nonsense.
Its the reason Charlotte has two stadiums and an arena uptown. These kind of venues create a synergy nothing else can because they draw a large number of people downtown at one time. Its not necessary for Raleigh but it would certainly help and would attract even more development. Raleigh residents shouldn't have to drive to Durham or Zebulon to see a baseball game. Its probably one of the largest cities in the country without a baseball team/stadium within its city limits. If its still not possible for baseball the city needs to at least start thinking about a future downtown arena to replace PNC. Sell the PNC to NC State like the city of Winston-Salem sold the Lawrence Joel Coliseum to Wake Forest University. Use that money towards a downtown arena plus have naming rights for a downtown arena in addition to using hotel/motel tax to help pay for it. Build it near the convention center and the two would help attract larger conventions to the city. Building the PNC Center in the middle of nowhere was the biggest mistake but I get why they did it at the time. The city wanted to secure an NHL franchise (Hartford Whalers) and there was no time to wait for plans to build a downtown arena. Plus it made NC State happy. It would not have to be something that happens in the next few years. Make it a 10 to 15 year plan. By then the PNC would be outdated anyway as long as they don't keep renovating it. I keep hearing about North Hills or "Downtown South". Development in these districts are great but I'm sure the city doesn't want these districts to outshine downtown. Downtown can be more than just government buildings and museums.
Its the reason Charlotte has two stadiums and an arena uptown. These kind of venues create a synergy nothing else can because they draw a large number of people downtown at one time. Its not necessary for Raleigh but it would certainly help and would attract even more development. Raleigh residents shouldn't have to drive to Durham or Zebulon to see a baseball game. Its probably one of the largest cities in the country without a baseball team/stadium within its city limits. If its still not possible for baseball the city needs to at least start thinking about a future downtown arena to replace PNC. Sell the PNC to NC State like the city of Winston-Salem sold the Lawrence Joel Coliseum to Wake Forest University. Use that money towards a downtown arena plus have naming rights for a downtown arena in addition to using hotel/motel tax to help pay for it. Build it near the convention center and the two would help attract larger conventions to the city. Building the PNC Center in the middle of nowhere was the biggest mistake but I get why they did it at the time. The city wanted to secure an NHL franchise (Hartford Whalers) and there was no time to wait for plans to build a downtown arena. Plus it made NC State happy. It would not have to be something that happens in the next few years. Make it a 10 to 15 year plan. By then the PNC would be outdated anyway as long as they don't keep renovating it. I keep hearing about North Hills or "Downtown South". Development in these districts are great but I'm sure the city doesn't want these districts to outshine downtown. Downtown can be more than just government buildings and museums.
The Hurricanes and the Pack bring in over 800,000 people. That should be the main focus of any new downtown development. Not an independent baseball team that brings in 3,000 a night. Raleigh doesn’t need to tie up that much land for that little growth.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,776 posts, read 15,776,851 times
Reputation: 10881
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarheelhombre
For the potential effect of center city stadiums, see MCI Center/Capitol One Arena.
I can personally attest to its success. From 1989 until 1998, I worked a few blocks away from the now Capital One Arena. The area over there was practically deserted with closed storefronts and panhandlers on the corners. (Penn Avenue was fine but off it was meh.) We'd walk to the small Chinatown for lunch and walk by Ford's Theatre, but other than that, nothing was really around there. I remember when they opened the ChopHouse and Jaleo. We were so excited that there were more lunch choices!
We watched the MCI Center get built. It completely transformed the area. I chuckle when people say they are going out in Penn Quarter because the area did not have a name before, and it was not a destination by any means. I stopped working there soon after MCI Center opened, and I remember going there later on for some events and I was like This area looks nothing like it used to! Bonus is you can take Metro to events. I took Metro to see a Springsteen Concert once, and it was so nice not to have to drive. I haven't been there in years, but it is an "entertainment district" for locals and tourists.
I can personally attest to its success. From 1989 until 1998, I worked a few blocks away from the now Capital One Arena. The area over there was practically deserted with closed storefronts and panhandlers on the corners. (Penn Avenue was fine but off it was meh.) We'd walk to the small Chinatown for lunch and walk by Ford's Theatre, but other than that, nothing was really around there. I remember when they opened the ChopHouse and Jaleo. We were so excited that there were more lunch choices!
We watched the MCI Center get built. It completely transformed the area. I chuckle when people say they are going out in Penn Quarter because the area did not have a name before, and it was not a destination by any means. I stopped working there soon after MCI Center opened, and I remember going there later on for some events and I was like This area looks nothing like it used to! Bonus is you can take Metro to events. I took Metro to see a Springsteen Concert once, and it was so nice not to have to drive. I haven't been there in years, but it is an "entertainment district" for locals and tourists.
I can personally attest to its success. From 1989 until 1998, I worked a few blocks away from the now Capital One Arena. The area over there was practically deserted with closed storefronts and panhandlers on the corners. (Penn Avenue was fine but off it was meh.) We'd walk to the small Chinatown for lunch and walk by Ford's Theatre, but other than that, nothing was really around there. I remember when they opened the ChopHouse and Jaleo. We were so excited that there were more lunch choices!
We watched the MCI Center get built. It completely transformed the area. I chuckle when people say they are going out in Penn Quarter because the area did not have a name before, and it was not a destination by any means. I stopped working there soon after MCI Center opened, and I remember going there later on for some events and I was like This area looks nothing like it used to! Bonus is you can take Metro to events. I took Metro to see a Springsteen Concert once, and it was so nice not to have to drive. I haven't been there in years, but it is an "entertainment district" for locals and tourists.
I believe that the consensus is that while a downtown arena (like MCI Center-Capital One) would be good to have, a minor league downtown ballpark would not be a driver of growth or development. As previously mentioned, Winston-Salem has had a tough time with the financing portion of the stadium, as well as attracting development around it.
Greensboro’s ballpark is in the middle of downtown, but that hasn’t created much development around it either, other than the Project Slugger building (which is nice looking).
Not even sure that a downtown soccer stadium would be a driver of development, except that Kane-Malik have the big bucks to build whatever they want.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,776 posts, read 15,776,851 times
Reputation: 10881
Quote:
Originally Posted by NC Observer
I believe that the consensus is that while a downtown arena (like MCI Center-Capital One) would be good to have, a minor league downtown ballpark would not be a driver of growth or development. As previously mentioned, Winston-Salem has had a tough time with the financing portion of the stadium, as well as attracting development around it.
Greensboro’s ballpark is in the middle of downtown, but that hasn’t created much development around it either, other than the Project Slugger building (which is nice looking).
Not even sure that a downtown soccer stadium would be a driver of development, except that Kane-Malik have the big bucks to build whatever they want.
Oh, I don't really have an opinion on whether Raleigh should or shouldn't add a ballfield. I was just agreeing that the MCI Center completely revitalized an area of DC that had very little before it. The PP's statement had me reminisce about my years there.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This area looks nothing like it used to! Bonus is you can take Metro to events. I took Metro to see a Springsteen Concert once, and it was so nice not to have to drive. I haven't been there in years, but it is an "entertainment district" for locals and tourists.
