RDU sees preliminary plans for redeveloping former Wake County park land
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- Pacific Elm proposes redeveloping 136 acres at Lake Crabtree into mixed recreation.
- Plan preserves mountain biking trails and adds pump tracks, rock climbing, zipline.
- Concept locates shops, food vendors, boardwalk, camping and a possible small hotel.
It will be months before plans to redevelop part of Lake Crabtree County Park near Raleigh-Durham International Airport are complete. But we now have a good idea what will be included in the project and what won’t.
Pacific Elm Properties, the company chosen by RDU to redevelop 136 acres of the park, has come up with a “potential concept” for the property based on feedback it received during three public workshops this fall. Aaron Locke, the company’s vice president of development, gave a brief overview to the airport’s governing board on Thursday.
“This is by no means our final plan,” Locke said. “This is where we’re at today. We are going to continue to study this further and refine this plan.”
The project will almost certainly include mountain biking trails, which were the county park’s main attraction for decades. Locke said from the beginning people told the company that, if the park couldn’t remain as it was, they wanted to preserve as much of the trails as possible.
But mountain bikers will share the space with other recreational activities, potentially including rock climbing, zip lining, ice skating, whitewater kayaking and skateboarding. The plan also calls for two pump tracks — one covered — where mountain bikers ride circuits of banked turns, rollers and other features.
Scattered between those activities would be shops and places to drink and eat and a boardwalk overlooking Lake Crabtree. The plan also calls for a camping area and perhaps a small hotel or cabins.
Among the features Pacific Elm has ruled out is a large hotel. The company thought that might be a way to reduce traffic to and from the site, by giving out-of-town visitors a place to stay.
“We threw that idea out, and the community said, ‘We think it’s about balance,’” Locke said. “’We’d like some accommodations on the site, but we also don’t think that a large accommodation complex is the right solution.’”
The company has also ruled out a strip mall with a large parking lot and sports fields, both of which would conflict with its goal of preserving as many trees as possible, Locke said.
Why RDU seeks to develop the park land
RDU had leased land to Wake County for the Lake Crabtree park since the 1980s. The county paid a nominal fee of $1 and built parking lots, docks, playgrounds and the bike trails.
But last year, RDU said the Federal Aviation Administration now requires that the airport receive fair-market rent for the land.
The airport essentially divided the park in two. It leased 70 acres along the lake to the county to continue operating the park. The county agreed to pay $214,488 the first year, and 3% more each additional year.
For the 136 acres closest to Interstate 40, RDU began seeking a developer willing to create what airport officials call a “recreation and wellness destination,” something that would generate income for the airport but also be compatible with the adjoining county park.
Pacific Elm Properties, the Dallas-based company that has also teamed up with the Carolina Hurricanes to develop 81 acres around the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, was the only developer that came forward.
RDU will now negotiate a non-binding agreement with Pacific Elm that lays the groundwork for the project, said David Freedman, the airport’s chief revenue officer. That agreement should take at least four to six months to hammer out, Freedman said, and will be the basis for a formal lease and development contract that would follow.
This story was originally published December 12, 2025 at 11:48 AM with the headline "RDU sees preliminary plans for redeveloping former Wake County park land."
