Raleigh’s newly dubbed West End set to come into its own in 2025
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The last few years may have had some economic challenges nationally, but the Triangle remains one of the fastest-growing regions in the country (and North Carolina one of the fastest-growing states). Here are five locations around that Triangle that will look significantly different, thanks to that growth, by the end of 2026.
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Once an obscure industrial pocket across the tracks from the city’s central business district, Raleigh’s West End on West Cabarrus Street is now one of its fastest-growing central neighborhoods.
Ever since Raleigh Magazine coined the district’s name in a 2021 feature article, it has emerged as its own little hub: a mix of upscale apartments, breweries, cafes and retail shops on the site of the former Clancy & Theys headquarters. It even has its own website.
“That area is definitely growing and changing,” said Will Gaskins, the Downtown Raleigh Association’s vice president of economic development and planning. “We’re working with residents and business owners to determine what they’d like to see as this area comes into its own.”
In the nearly seven years since Kane Realty, one of the Triangle’s most prolific developers, purchased the site west of Raleigh Union Station, it has spent millions redeveloping this corridor adjacent to the Warehouse District and historic Boylan Heights.
In October 2023, it delivered Platform, the 442-unit building (with 26,000 square feet of ground-floor retail) at 600 W. Cabarrus St. In 2024, it broke ground next door on the project’s second phase, Oldham & Worth, including 252 units, a sundeck, coworking spaces, indoor and outdoor fitness centers, plus 4,000 square feet of retail.
And in 2025, Kane Realty is expected to open the Rockway Raleigh, a 9.7-acre, mixed-used development connected to the Rocky Branch Creek and greenway.
A few hundred yards away, work is also underway on The Weld, a 1,200-unit mixed-used development at the southern edge of 306-acre Dorothea Dix Park. The $700 million project is being developed by Raleigh-based SLI Capital, founded in 2017 by Bryan Kane, son of Kane Realty CEO John Kane, and New York’s Mack Real Estate Group.
The birth of a neighborhood
The new construction reinforces this corridor as a “dynamic and growing” downtown district, said Kristen Stedman, Kane’s residential property manager.
In 2024, DRA expanded the downtown municipal service district to better reflect what’s considered to be “downtown.” It officially included the neighborhood, enhancing services such as economic development, marketing and events, safety and community engagement. However, the area is still not officially recognized as a standalone district. On DRA’s map, it’s designated as part of the Warehouse District.
Stedman said Kane Realty is hoping to change that, though the neighborhood’s exact boundaries haven’t been determined yet. It’s also exploring options to improve connectivity.
As far back as the 1960s, the city has studied the extension of West Street adjacent to Raleigh Union Station. Proposals have included extending West Street across the CSX Raleigh Yard and NC Railroad corridors, building a bridge over the railroad tracks or an underground tunnel.
It’s still unclear if or when that project could get off the ground. But the firm has adjusted grading at the Oldham & Worth site in anticipation. “This adjustment will enable the connection to happen in the future whenever the city is ready to move forward,” Stedman said.
This story was originally published January 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Raleigh’s newly dubbed West End set to come into its own in 2025."
