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why do people pay $1000 per square foot to live in soho? Urban hoods have trains, cars, people, bars, etc etc. Folks that move to Glenwood South are not expecting peace and quiet.
Exactly. I'm glad that local government is now recognizing that living out in the suburbs is not ideal for everyone. For some of us, the sound of a siren, the roar of traffic, and the close proximity to bars, restaurants, and coffee shops is appealing. Why it's appealing isn't necessarily important, so long as the desire not to live in Pleasantville is respected.
This is EXACTLY what downtown raleigh needs, especially in this area. What a perfect transition from dense residential to traditional single family homes. This is perfect.
I love what's happening downtown . . . and I don't know what all this hype is about not having a grocery store . . . as someone else has mentioned, Harris Teeter and Seaboard Station are right there. Yes, I'm aware that Seaboard is a little more expensive, but there are tradeoffs for everything. If you live downtown, you have to pay more for certain things. Just like if you live in the suburbs, you pay more for gas. That's life. Don't fight it.
I just looked at the presentation. Boy that developer knows how to "sell"! You'd think that the existing homes he wants to replace were eating children the way he "plans to improve" that piece of land. While I don't have anything in particular against his project, I do see it eliminating more affordable housing and very charming street of turn of the century homes. I take Hinsdale often to avoid the Peace/Glenwood intersection on my way to my condo on Boylan. I love that little street.
The developer claims that they are replacing all "rental units". Perhaps this is because he bought up all the houses and is now renting them until he can get the go ahead for his real intentions?
I don't even want to begin to think what these units will cost. They look huge and I imagine that they will each be near the million dollar mark. One positive I see is the cleaning up of that corner inspection station on Glenwood and Peace. That's an eyesore and certainly not the sort of entrance the neighborhood deserves.
This is actually my neighborhood, and I'm glad to finally find some information on this project.
IMO, the neighborhood isn't very happy about this development. I think this is because the proposed development will tear down structures that add to the historic character of the neighborhood (as defined by the National Historic Register) and replace it with ones that don't. Also, the concept drawings, as shown in the presentation, don't fit architecturally with the neighborhood at all. They'll also be replacing what is currently affordable rental housing with what will probably end up being $500K+ townhomes (yes, those existing places are rental units; they're very old--as in "historic", not as in "crappy", they're actually quite well-kept--small, duplexes, and the developer has bought a couple of them).
Anyway, I'm not sure how I feel about the new development. I'm all for bringing more retail to Peace Street, and growing the Glenwood South scene down Peace Street (which would bring it even closer to my house, because five blocks is a long way to stumble home at 2am), but not at all happy about replacing the quaint little duplexes with yuppy-cubbies. Basically, I like the development and what it will do for the neighborhood, except for the extension on the north-west side. That cuts too far into the fabric of the historic neighborhood for my comfort. I wouldn't want to have to look at those from my front porch instead of what's already there, if it were within my sightline, and wouldn't be happy about the loss of sunlight from the 40' high structure if it were shadowing my yard. Just my opinion.
I don't know how much of a fight this is going to turn into with the neighborhood vs. the developer. The neighborhood is generally supportive of things like V's Teas, which turned a house into businesses, but kept the historic structure intact. People are grumbling about this project, though. I think there will be a battle in front of the zoning commission.
Also, I find nothing wrong with the inspection station on Peace and Glenwood. It's kept up, the parking lot is always clean, and it provides extra parking for people going out at night. It's not an eyesore at all, it's just a business.
P.S. I have a friend who says there's no point in moving downtown if she "can't even walk to the grocery store!1!!" She and people like her have obviously never actually tried it. I have. Oh yes, walking there was fantastic. Sunshine, fresh air, waving hi to my neighbors as I walked past their yards, and I was being environmentally conscious the whole time! "How lucky I am to be able to walk to the grocery store!" I thought. "How unlucky I would be living in some suburban subdivision, having to do this in a car!" I thought to myself with a shudder. Walking home, though, was a completely different story. I found myself about about 100 yards from Harris Teeter, arms full of groceries despite having bought only about 30% of what I needed to get, hurting from the bags cutting into my hands, huffing and puffing from carrying the extra weight, and griping about the walk home. Yeah, walking to the grocery store is totally overrated. Just drive the couple miles to Harris Teeter, people! Trust me!
Also, I find nothing wrong with the inspection station on Peace and Glenwood. It's kept up, the parking lot is always clean, and it provides extra parking for people going out at night. It's not an eyesore at all, it's just a business.
P.S. I have a friend who says there's no point in moving downtown if she "can't even walk to the grocery store!1!!" She and people like her have obviously never actually tried it. I have. Oh yes, walking there was fantastic. Sunshine, fresh air, waving hi to my neighbors as I walked past their yards, and I was being environmentally conscious the whole time! "How lucky I am to be able to walk to the grocery store!" I thought. "How unlucky I would be living in some suburban subdivision, having to do this in a car!" I thought to myself with a shudder. Walking home, though, was a completely different story. I found myself about about 100 yards from Harris Teeter, arms full of groceries despite having bought only about 30% of what I needed to get, hurting from the bags cutting into my hands, huffing and puffing from carrying the extra weight, and griping about the walk home. Yeah, walking to the grocery store is totally overrated. Just drive the couple miles to Harris Teeter, people! Trust me!
I still think the station is an eysore and a grossly underulization of land on a key corner of the neighborhood.
As for grocery shopping, I have deep fabric bags from Whole foods that hold a bunch and have nice fabric shoulder straps. Also, one can invest in a small collapsable pull cart. I see people using these all the time in SouthBeach and they seem to hold quite a bit of groceries.
I still think the station is an eysore and a grossly underulization of land on a key corner of the neighborhood.
As for grocery shopping, I have deep fabric bags from Whole foods that hold a bunch and have nice fabric shoulder straps. Also, one can invest in a small collapsable pull cart. I see people using these all the time in SouthBeach and they seem to hold quite a bit of groceries.
LOL! My grandmother, who lived in South Beach on Ocean Dr before it was cool to live there way back in the day (my father was a kid then), had one of those pull cart things, even when she moved into the suburbs of Kendall. I am still not really sure what the heck she used it for after that.
I agree that the Peace Inspection station is a bit of an eyesore. Not to mention, their lift is super old and can't even handle cars that are low to the ground (couldn't do my car there). And, there is another station just east of there that can do the inspections Peace can't. I'm not trying to harp on the business, but it certainly doesn't add any positive character to that corner.
I am glad to hear from starla that the neighborhood seems to be against this. In one way, I like the project and think it would fit somewhere in the area, just not there. However, I have a feeling that some of the newer homeowners in that area who are focused more on property values would probably not mind having the rentals removed from their neighborhood and luxury anything erected in their place, which is quite unfortunate. At the same time, some of those duplexes on Boylan are not kept up the way they should be, now that many homes in the neighborhood have been restored. So I could see how that could be a bone of contention for homeowners that have to look at them every day.
Here are some photos (although they are all at least ten years old) of the properties that would be lost:
why do people pay $1000 per square foot to live in soho? Urban hoods have trains, cars, people, bars, etc etc. Folks that move to Glenwood South are not expecting peace and quiet.
Well said.
I don't understand the fascination with ISB.. but that's just me...
I can't believe what people will pay for a fixer up/dump. If people would just say NO, the prices would fall.// Some of these people may just lose their butts if the economy turns sour.. or maybe they'll make millions and get the last LAUGH.
I can understand why someone would pay a premium for what some consider too much noise, etc. Everyone has different comfort levels and desires for what feels like home to them. I personally don't enjoy living out so far away from everything where I need to get in a car every time I want to go somewhere other than my house. But I don't need someone to try to convince me otherwise, so I won't try to convince anyone of my preference. Thank goodness we all don't think of the same environment as home, that would be a real problem!
Last edited by autumngal; 02-02-2008 at 12:38 PM..
Reason: please always dm a moderator instead, ty :)
It appears the the developer only owns two of the parcels so far. Unless he already has something worked out with Gaskill, Cityscape and the Johnsons.
Owners of all those properties were on the petition to rezone the block, so they have probably struck a deal with the developer to sell their properties, pending approval from the zoning commission for the project.
Seems like areas like that need a local grocery store. If it were up to me though I would probably jog to Krispy Kreme every day for b-fast/lunch/dinner
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