Follow the cranes: A closer look at projects under construction across the Triangle
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Follow the cranes
You see them while driving around the Triangle. What’s being built? We look at some of the region’s biggest construction projects — from high-rise apartments to mixed-use complexes — now underway.
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Across the Triangle, cranes dot the landscape. Despite surging inflation and a volatile housing market, construction of new high-rises has jumped in the past year with 24,000 new apartment units swelling inventory in the Raleigh/Durham market by 13.5%, according to third-quarter data from RealPage Market Analytics.
From a string of new projects in North Hills by well-known local firms like Kane Realty Corp., to high-end luxury condos in both downtown Raleigh and downtown Durham, to an expanded retirement village in Cary, developers are dropping billions of dollars on projects to keep up with the region’s growth and post-pandemic influx of residents.
Here’s a look at some of the region’s biggest construction projects — from high-rise apartments to mixed-use complexes — now underway:
Raleigh Iron Works, Raleigh
Once a steel mill producing naval artillery shells, Raleigh Iron Works is getting revamped as a “live-work-play” complex.
Located in the Capital Boulevard corridor northeast of downtown Raleigh, the 19-acre site sits at the crossroads of Raleigh’s Five Points, Person Street and Mordecai neighborhoods. It’s also next door to the newly renovated Dock 1053, a coworking and shared workspace for the gig economy.
Raleigh development firm Grubb Ventures and Atlanta-based real estate company Jamestown L.P. dropped roughly $150 million into the project’s first phase, which includes both adaptive reuse of historic buildings and new construction.
“(It) will serve as a community centerpiece and new citywide destination,” Grubb Ventures president Gordon Grubb said.
Among the highlights: repurposing the historic Peden Steel fabricating mill and warehouse buildings into office and retail space and constructing a seven-story multifamily apartment building called The Forge. Units range in size from 430 to 865 square feet with a large portion designed as microunits, studios or one-bedrooms. Other amenities include a “barcade,” coworking spaces, a saltwater pool, a fitness and health center, and an outdoor upper-level courtyard.
In total, it will add roughly 220 residential units, 176,000 square feet of office space, 65,000 square feet of retail.
Construction began in 2021. Retail openings are slated for spring 2023, while first residential move-ins are expected in the summer. Office move-ins proceed on a rolling basis.
The project has already collected new locations from several Triangle favorites, including Cary’s Andia’s Homemade Ice Cream; and Ponysaurus Brewing & Pizza and Eastcut Sandwich Bar, two Durham standouts making their Raleigh debuts. YoBa yoga studios and a new wellness concept called F(X) are also joining the lineup, as well as Jaguar Bolera, a bar that will feature duckpin bowling among other activities.
Phase two is still in the works, Grubb Ventures said. It could include up to an additional 350,000 square feet of office or lab space, more multifamily residences and additional retail space. Developers are also considering building a pedestrian bridge that would connect Raleigh Iron Works to Dock 1053 on the other side of Atlantic Avenue.
400H, Raleigh
After years of planning and design, construction is well underway on the highly anticipated 400H mixed-use tower in downtown Raleigh.
Situated at the intersection of Hillsborough and West Streets, the 20-story high-rise is valued at around $175 million and sits on about 1.2 acres of space catty-corner to The Fallon Company’s Raleigh Crossing development.
It’s the first real estate undertaking in the Triangle for Dallas-based national developer Trammell Crow Co. and its subsidiary High Street Residential (HSR) and Los Angeles-based joint development venture AECOM-Canyon Partners.
It will offer 242 luxury residential units, 150,000 square feet of office space and 16,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Other amenities include a ninth floor “SkyHub” featuring indoor and outdoor space, elevated pool, fitness and yoga facilities, conference rooms and bike storage.
“We are pouring concrete at about the 15th floor out of 20, with glass and exterior-skin elements being installed,” said Josh Dix, principal for Trammell Crow. “Finishes have started in the main tower, and the third-level expansion of the Powerhouse parking deck is underway.
“Completion is still on track for next summer 2023.”
Triangle developer HM Partners began the preliminary work on the project with site approvals and permits back in 2016. The pandemic stalled plans.
“It’s a complicated design, and it’s a complicated financial structure to get financed,” Gregg Sandreuter, managing partner at HM Partners, told The News & Observer in 2021. “I think a lot of folks outside the industry don’t realize sometimes how long it takes to get to the point where you just have the permits and then you’ve got to make sure you can raise the money. So you kind of look at the timeline of this and it really borders almost seven years between when I first started and when we plan to open.”
Financing is being provided by Vancouver-based QuadReal Property Group.
Separately, HM Partners has teamed up with Charlotte-based developer Childress Klein to redevelop the former site of Goodnights Comedy Club into a new mid-rise residential building on the corner of West Morgan Street and Tryon Hill Drive.
Seaboard Station, Raleigh
At the north edge of downtown Raleigh, sitting between the historic Seaboard Railroad Station and William Peace University, a 5.67-acre lot is being converted into a mixed-use property of apartments, shops and restaurants.
Seaboard Station, perhaps best known now for housing restaurants and retail such as Logan’s Garden Shop, served Raleigh passengers from 1941 to 1986. Flash forward to today: Washington, D.C.-based Hoffman recently broke ground on the project’s second phase which includes two new apartment buildings bringing 279 residences and a 149-key Hyatt House hotel. About 55,000 square feet of retail space is also in the works.
“Seaboard Station will be a bustling hub for community and connectivity with the addition of more retail, hospitality and entertainment concepts,” said John Florian, executive vice president of development for Hoffman & Associates.
Financing is being provided by United Bank, along with syndicate partners Burke & Herbert Bank, Sandy Spring Bank and Dogwood State Bank.
All up, that’s more than 1 million square feet of development at full build-out. The price tag: $500 million.
The groundbreaking follows the construction of the first phase, which is expected to open in early 2023. It features a seven-story building with 30,000 square feet of level retail space, outdoor seating, café terraces, and below-ground parking. It also includes Seaboard Station’s first apartment residence — The Signal. The 298-unit residential apartment building is made up of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
The Signal is now leasing with move-ins slated for early 2023.
Side note: Hoffman’s Seaboard Station is not affiliated with another development nearby being led by New York-based Turnbridge Equities. The Turnbridge project is on the site of the historic train station.
Developers initially planned to demolish the 80-year-old station, which never received a historic landmark designation. But after public criticism, Turnbridge refined plans to show the main part of the station moved about 200 feet, to the north end of the property.
North Hills Main District
Twenty years in the making, the reinvention of the North Hills Shopping Center is almost complete.
Where once stood the mall’s last relic, the JCPenney building, Kane Realty is constructing a 12-story mixed-use redevelopment featuring new retail, residential and office space options as part of its vision to revitalize North Hills’ Main District.
“This was the final piece of the old mall that we’d been waiting for,” Stacey Buescher, Kane Realty’s managing director of operations, told the N&O.
The new $350 million complex will feature 100,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, 300,000 square feet of office space and 300 residential units. A Restoration Hardware “RH Gallery” will serve as the area’s new retail anchor, with a rooftop restaurant and bar. Also in the lineup: One North Hills, a 10-story, 266,000-square-foot office tower overlooking the I-440 Beltline; and NHX, a five-story, 80,800-square-foot office building.
“We’ve already seen some great interest,” Buescher said. “Historically, office space has been concentrated on the other side of Six Forks, now called the Park District. Once complete, [this development] will be the first time there will be meaningful office space on this side of Six Forks.”
John Kane, CEO of Kane Realty, bought the property over two decades ago. But what started as a renovation of a neighborhood shopping center evolved into a multibillion-dollar redevelopment covering 100 acres of prime Raleigh real estate.
Except for the JC Penny, which was a mainstay from the 1960s and under lease, Kane razed the two-level regional mall to start from scratch in 2003. In its place came a mixed-use development anchored by Target, a 150-room hotel, rentals, condominiums and scores of retail shops to serve the area’s high-end neighborhood. The aging department store closed in 2020 and was demolished, making room for Kane’s ultimate vision.
The official opening is slated for spring 2024.
Kane also has several other projects in the pipeline slated for North Hills. Among them: an Innovation District nearby valued at $1 billion that includes the 200-unit Class A Channel House Apartments, and the two-story, 20,000-square-foot Big Branch Food Hall.
The Novus, Durham
A glassy 27-story skyscraper called The Novus is set to transform Durham’s skyline.
Construction began in March 2022 on the high-rise development at 400 W. Main Street in Durham’s Five Points district, one of the city’s most bustling commercial corridors. It will replace the South Bank building that stood on the site for nearly 50 years before being demolished earlier this year.
Led by Durham-based Austin Lawrence Partners (ALP), plans call for 54 luxury condominiums, 188 rental units and ground-floor retail.
“We’re starting to pour floors for the parking level, and put in the superstructure and foundations,” said Jane Hills, ALP’s co-founder in early December. “We will start going up in a week and a half.”
Construction partner Samet Corp., meanwhile, has posted the project’s jobsite on EarthCam, and providing public updates with a virtual town hall. it
Already, 30 of the 54 available condos have sold, Hill said.
Online listings show most units still available priced above $2 million. The priciest is listed at over $4 million. Amenities will include putting greens and golf simulators, spaces to work remotely, a pickleball court, an outdoor movie theater and a dog park, plus pools, hot tubs and steam rooms.
“We’ve got concierge, parking underground, privacy. There are not a lot of buildings in Durham that have this,” Hill said.
Hills and her husband, a Duke University grad, began investing in Durham in 2011. Their firm developed the Unscripted Hotel Durham, revamping one of the city’s most iconic buildings — the former Jack Tar Motel. They’re also behind One City Center, its first residential high rise in downtown Durham with luxury condominiums, apartments, retail and offices. It’s also where the couple permanently resides.
New York City-based real estate investors Global Holdings Management Group has partnered to finance The Novus. The project will be constructed in two phases. Phase One encompasses the mixed-use high-rise, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2024. Phase Two plans are still under consideration, Hill said.
“We’re looking at market demand,” she said. “We do residential, we do retail, we do towers. We’re entrepreneurial, and we will put there what feels best for the project.
SearStone Retirement Community, Cary
A popular retirement community in Cary is undergoing a massive expansion.
Located at the southeast corner of High House Road and Davis Drive, SearStone is adding a four-story 152-unit independent living complex called The Highview. That will nearly double its unit count to roughly 321, featuring 283 apartments and 38 estate homes.
The project is also upgrading existing facilities, including a 5,000-square-foot auditorium and arts center, and adding landscaping and walking trails. An expanded Brittany Place Health Care Center, the community’s health care facility, will grow to 92 beds.
Greenbrier Development is overseeing the $177 million project. It’s expected to open in 2024.
“We’ve started a wait list for the building, as we are currently completely pre-sold,” said Allie Ligay, SearStone’s director of sales and marketing.
The town itself has grown by 29% in the last decade, census data shows. Meanwhile, Cary’s population of 55 and over has jumped from roughly 18% of the town’s population in 2010 to 22.3% in 2021.
SearStone, owned by the nonprofit Samaritan Housing Foundation, opened in November 2013.
Entrance fees for the new units are similar to current homes’ range — between $414,000 and $1 million. There’s also an upfront health care cost of $70,000 per person.
“This payment allows residents’ monthly fees to stay relatively the same regardless of whether they are living in independent Living, assisted living, skilled nursing or memory care,” Ligay said.
The community has around 250 residents and 130 employees.
Link Apartments Calyx, Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill’s historic Glen Lennox community is getting a modern remake.
At the intersection of Lanark and Maxwell roads, a two-acre parcel is being redeveloped into a seven-story complex called Link Apartments Calyx. Led by Charlotte developer Grubb Properties, it calls for 304 units with a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Amenities include a pool, courtyard, cycle center, pet spa, fitness center and coworking space.
It’s expected to be complete by late 2023.
“The Glen Lennox redevelopment increases the land-use density and provides much-needed housing. It will grow our tax base tremendously,” said Dwight Bassett, Chapel Hill’s director of economic development and parking. “It also better supports our transit system and (provides) better pedestrian and bike access inside the development and other neighborhoods.”
It’s part of the second phase of redevelopment for Glen Lennox, a 70-acre historic master-planned neighborhood that was purchased by Grubb Properties in 1985.
The circa 1950 neighborhood, built to house World War II veterans attending UNC-Chapel Hill, sits on prime real estate at the university’s gateway, with access to heavily traveled U.S. 15-501 and N.C. 54. In addition to the apartments, the site is being primed for a new retail district built around a community green space. Overall, plans call for up to 650 residential units, 90,000 square feet of retail space, a 150-room hotel and 275,000 square feet of office space.
“We anticipate that the next deliveries in Phase II will be complete in 2025,” said Whitney St. Charles, senior associate of development at Grubb Properties. “We continue to have town hall meetings with residents and neighbors to discuss current and future development plans.”
Phase 1 included the Link Apartments Linden and The Gwendolyn, a four-story, 109,000-square-foot building complete with Class A office space, an 18-hour cafe and a fitness center. Both opened in 2021. Some road upgrades, including a new road called Glen Lennox Drive, also came online.
Separately, Grubb Properties, in partnership with UNC-Chapel Hill and the town of Chapel Hill, is developing a new “innovation hub” in downtown Chapel Hill. It encompasses two buildings: 136 Rosemary Street and the adjoining 137 East Franklin Street and will occupy seven floors and roughly 118,000 square feet of space. It is expected to open mid-2023.
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Follow the cranes: A closer look at projects under construction across the Triangle."
