Category: Glenwood South (Page 3 of 14)

Shervin Tahssili: the New Face of Helios

By Donna Belt

Sometimes my husband and I look out from the porch of our fourth floor condo at 510 Glenwood and muse over how the neighborhood appears to be a stage set, with additional buildings entering the scene with regularity.  Each addition inevitably transforms the neighborhood as new residents arrive with fresh ideas, but this is doubly true of business owners who back their visions with investment in restaurants, shopping and services that largely shape how we define ourselves on the street.

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Shervin Tahssili

Ideally, there is a respect and incorporation of the history of what has gone before, while bringing an innovative twist.  Shervin Tahssili, the new owner of Helios that reopened early on the icy morning of Monday, January 25, describes this as a RESET.  Having lived in Raleigh since 1993, he had long admired Steve Schuster’s 2002 trendy redesign of the Helios building that was ahead of its time as one of the first privately owned coffee shops in downtown Raleigh.

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It’s here! A parking app for Glenwood South

If you’re one of those people who get frustrated trying to find a spot to park in Glenwood South, you’ll want to read this.  Does this sound like you?

  • I prefer on-street parking, but drive around in circles and rarely find an open spot.
  • I know of a few parking decks, but I don’t like to park there and avoid them.
  • I wish there were more surface parking lots.

If so, you probably didn’t know that in addition to the three multi-story parking decks, there are 10 parking lots in Glenwood South, yet most of these parking lots are rarely used.  Why? You can easily drive right by them, because they’re behind buildings or hidden behind shrubbery.

Many lots are only available after-hours

Another reason these lots are under-utilized is that they are associated with private businesses, so people assume they’re not available.  Like most others, you avoid the risk being towed.

You may be surprised to know that Glenwood South has seven publicly available after-hours lots with a combined 138 spaces.  This is thanks to companies like Park Select, who have developed a business model focusing on small private lot owners, encouraging them to make their lots available to the public during after-hours, after their business is closed.

Online app makes finding parking easier Continue reading

Meet ‘District D’ Candidate, Ashton Mae Smith

Ashton Mae Smith

Ashton Mae Smith

District D encompasses the downtown Districts of Glenwood South, the Warehouse District, and a portion of the Fayetteville Street District.  There are two candidates running for the council seat this year.   This Blog will include interviews with each candidate, starting with Ashton Mae Smith, followed by candidate Kay Crowder next month.

The DLA asked Ashton a series of questions.  Here are her answers.

What was your inspiration for running for City Council, and what gaps do you fill in that aren’t being met now?

I decided to run for City Council because I have a vision for Raleigh’s future as a world-class city, and we’re at a cross-roads as to how to get there.  I grew up in Raleigh, and have had a chance to watch us grow up. The demographics in our city have changed considerably with our growth — the average age of Raleigh residents is 32 — and it’s important for the Millennial generation to have an active role in how we’re building our city. I’m already active with some of our largest areas of opportunity, including transit planning and affordable housing planning, and I serve as the board chair for the City of Raleigh Museum. Add in a background in real estate and the skills I’ve learned working for a bootstrapped start-up that was acquired by Citrix, and I think I bring a unique perspective to Council.

It’s natural that as a city grows, more decisions need to be made that affect more people. As a city, we’ve got to find a way to use metrics and data to guide decisions that match our collective goals.

Raleigh is and should be an inclusive city — diverse and welcoming — like District D. We have great neighborhoods and vibrant businesses thriving side by side, and it’s a balance we must maintain as the city grows. We must continue to manage this growth with the necessary transit and infrastructure improvements so that both businesses and residents can thrive. We must attract and retain the people and businesses who recognize what an incredible place this is to live and work, while ensuring development scales appropriately and integrates into our existing communities. Continue reading

Downtown merchants resist proposed changes to Outdoor “Dining” Ordinance

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In the past several weeks, restaurant and bar owners in Glenwood South have joined other business proprietors across downtown to put public pressure on City Council to defer approving what they view as a hastily prepared change to the City’s Outdoor Dining Ordinance. The proposed change to the ordinance seeks to restrict bar patrons from drinking on public sidewalks outside downtown bars.

Council agrees to defer decision for 30 days

City Council has agreed that the ordinance change as initially drafted unfairly targets a small number of bars and has thus deferred their decision, sending the issue to the Law & Public Safety Committee for further review.  A new Hospitality Committee that includes both residents and merchants is now working with City staff to develop alternate proposals.

Meeting weekly, the Hospitality Committee has already agreed on the need for any ordinance change to apply equally to any restaurant or bar (private club) that serves alcohol outside to patrons during late night weekend hours or during special events.

New proposals address sidewalk overcrowding Continue reading

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