First off, $7.4B in developments are either recently completed, planned or proposed in Downtown Raleigh, and the portion that is planned and proposed for the future is nearly $4B.  That is a crazy number and this graphic shows all of the completed growth in green, under construction in yellow, and proposed in blue.  You’ll notice in the blue, there are quite a few high rises going up that will continue to grow our skyline as well.

Taking a closer look, here are all the developments currently under construction. Starting with the projects under construction, a few notables are the 17-story East Civic Tower that will consolidate Raleigh’s governmental staff which is on pace to be completed in 2026.  The Gipson Play Plaza in Dix Park will be a great space for families and the renderings look amazing, and the latest is that will be completed in 2025. 

Right next to the Play Plaza will be two large, mixed-use developments in the Weld and Rockway Raleigh, which will have retail on the bottom floors and residential apartments on the top and are on track for 2025 opening dates.  The goal is for these developments to seamlessly connect to Dix Park and Downtown Raleigh through the greenway system, and potentially a new connector to downtown.

You may have also seen the 20-story Maeve building going up over the past couple years, which is also a mixed-use development that should be ready for move-ins in the Spring of 2025.

Seaboard Station is continuing its’ overhaul with The Point, a luxury apartment complex in the heart of Seaboard Station that is surrounded by great restaurants and entertainment, and should be completing anytime if not already.

And lastly, for families with young kids, the Marbles Museum is creating the Marbles Playway!  Utilizing the walkway between the museum and the IMAX theatre, the space will add climbers, greenspace and shaders, playful art, and more.  This should be completed in the fall of this year.

Now, let’s move into some of the more exciting planned and proposed projects. 

There are quite a few mixed-use developments proposed with residential apartments and condos making up the majority of the building, with restaurants and shops proposed on the ground level.  These are marked on the map and in general, most are planned for around 20 stories as that is currently the max that many lots are already zoned to, but there are a few that exceed that in the proposed 30 story building at 330 West Hargett where Legends nightclub resides, the VeLa Longview on the eastern side of downtown, and the Nash Square Apartments just south of Nash Square.

There are several hotels that are in the plan, highlighted by the Moxy Hotel coming to Glenwood South and then of course, the Omni Hotel, which is planned for 27 stories near the Convention Center that will serve as an important addition to couple with the Convention Center’s expansion.  Hotel rooms are a category Raleigh currently lacks in when compared to peer cities, and this is one of the ways Raleigh is looking to improve, as Raleigh actually had a record 19M visitors this year.

Speaking of, the Convention Center expansion will be located where the current Red Hat Amphitheatre is today, and consist of an additional 80,000 square feet of event space and 30 meeting rooms.

You’ll notice the Red Hat Amphitheatre has been relocated across South Street as shown, and many of you may have seen the chatter in the news lately about our fight to keep the Amphitheatre as planned.  The new design will not have a seating capacity large enough to make financial sense unless, a portion of South Street is closed off. 

The Red Hat Amphitheatre has brought SO much to downtown Raleigh, and the City recognizes that, as Raleigh City Council recently moved to do just that and close South St.  It is still up for final approval in September, but they are moving in the right direction to keep an entertainment venue that many feel is vital to downtown Raleigh’s future, as it has a record 51 performances this year with an estimated economic impact of $17.6M.

Let’s get into the report’s numbers a little more on Living and Office space, which some of these stats are pretty surprising, then we will take a look at all the new restaurants and shops coming!

Starting with the living category, Downtown Raleigh has increased it’s residential housing units by 130% since 2015 and is projected to increase by another 80% in the next five years, which would bring roughly 11,000 more people into downtown Raleigh, which is just about doubling the downtown population in five years as there is currently around 13.7k. 

You’ll see in the graphic that over the past two years, there has been a significant number of residential units completed after a several year lull, and since 2015, Raleigh is just second to Nashville in the percentage growth of apartment inventory.  The graphic also shows the breakdown of where this growth is occurring, and you’ll see that much of it is in the Glenwood South district, followed by the Warehouse district, which are both of the areas that are really thriving right now.

You’ll also see that Raleigh is pretty competitive from an average rent standpoint, even though it may not always feel that way, as the asking rent downtown has decreased over the past two years to $1,749 from an all time high in 2022 of just over $1850.  And the current rental rate compares very favorable to other major US cities, as you’ll notice that we are much cheaper than Charlotte, Nashville, Tampa, and certainly Austin.

And as incentives for future businesses, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance shows that stats indicating that Raleigh’s Downtown residents are youthful, well-educated, and have one of the highest incomes in the area.

In regards to office space, it’s hard not to walk through downtown and see many “For Lease” signs on buildings, and like many other cities across the country, the pandemic hit office buildings hard.  But overall, Raleigh actually compares very well with other major cities here, having one of the lowest vacancy rates in the major cities surveyed, and one of the lowest asking rents as well.  So while we have tons of space available, it is expected that the low asking rents and increase in downtown residents will start to fill those vacancies.

Alright, now let’s get into Shopping and Dining, but before we do, if you have any real estate needs in downtown Raleigh or anywhere in the Raleigh area, please don’t hesitate to reach out as our team would love to help you.

For dining and shopping, the numbers show that 184 businesses have opened up downtown since 2020, and 39 have thus far in 2024, which is a net increase of 14 for the year.  And we currently have 268 bars and restaurants along with 153 places to shop, which is much more than many would realize.

This next graphic shows all the businesses that have opened since July 2023 in green, and those that are coming soon in yellow.  Some notable editions to downtown have been Biscuit Belly, La Farm Bakery, and La Terrazza located on the mid-level rooftop of the Dillon building.  But there are quite a few bars and breweries in the mix, as well as service storefronts like tattoo parlors and salons, and retail storefronts for shopping.  So Raleigh’s offerings are really expanding to be a more walkable community by providing a variety of services for its’ residents.

Some notable businesses coming soon are downtown’s first ABC Store in the Fayetteville District, Sir Walter Coffee and Kitchen, and a number of restaurants that continue to bolster Raleigh’s diverse food offerings, something that many have complained Raleigh has lacked in the past.  There are fitness studios, nail bars, and multiple bars opening up as well.

The concentration of where these businesses are opening up as well is obviously in the popular Glenwood and Warehouse Districts, but there is quite a bit of activity in the Fayetteville District as well, which Raleigh is aiming to revive back to its’ pre-pandemic state.  But as you can see, the future is looking pretty bright for more retail to be added as all of these new apartment buildings bring a significant amount of retail space on their ground floors.

And to round out the discussion, Downtown Raleigh is a leader in urban greenspace as we continue to expand upon one of best attributes into the future.  There are new parks in the work like the previously mentioned Gipson Play Plaza, additional expansions to the recently renovated John Chavis Memorial Park to include an aquatic center, the future Smoky Hollow Park in the Glenwood South District, and the connection between Chavis Park, Downtown Raleigh, and Dix Park will be huge from a walkability standpoint.

And speaking of connectivity, Raleigh has started the Rapid Bus Transit system after failing to get federal funding for a light rail, which will help connect Downtown Raleigh in all directions, including to Downtown Cary.  We did receive a billion dollar federal grant to build the S-Line passenger rail from Sanford up to Richmond, Virginia, which is a high speed rail that will go right through town, and the RDU international airport is expanding as well through the building of a new runway that will increase its’ offerings to both the West Coast and Europe.

So Raleigh continues to grow significantly, and shows no signs of slowing down in the future.  In a future video, I’ll also be going over the specific plans to revitalize the Fayetteville St District, an area of Raleigh that once thrived and is the key to galvanizing Downtown Raleigh as a whole, but has been hit hard by the pandemic. 

Let me know what you think of Raleigh’s future downtown by watching and commenting on our YouTube video above.

Check out our other blogs on new developments coming to Raleigh, and new venues coming to Raleigh.

If you need help finding your next home in Raleigh, Durham, or anywhere else in the triangle, our team at the W Real Estate Group would love to help!

Please reach out via our contact information below:

Phone:  919-504-5265

Email:  alison@thewgroupraleigh.com

Website:  www.thewgroupraleigh.com