What award-winning neighborhood is adjacent to Downtown, offers houses in the $160,000s to mid $200,000s and echoes with memories of a colorful history?
Want another clue?
It’s located within Raleigh’s Warehouse District, in the shadows of the Boylan Wye.
Still can’t picture it?
I couldn’t either until I met DLA member, Dan Meyer, a resident and advocate for his Rosengarten Park neighborhood. I met Dan at one of our DLA mixers, and found myself more and more curious as he talked passionately about his neighborhood, recent winner of… the Sir Walter Raleigh Award, presented to “individuals or organizations for outstanding contribution toward enhancing the beauty of the City Of Raleigh”.
So where can you find Rosengarten Park? It’s just east of Boylan Heights, on the southern end of the Warehouse District, and just below the Bolyan Wye. Map it.
History
In the mid 1800‘s this area was the home of a thriving African American community known as the 4th Ward. In the 1970’s the vast majority of the 4th ward was demolished as part a nationwide Urban Renewal movement that unfortunately undervalued the historic areas in many cities, especially in those areas predominately occupied by African Americans.
The neighborhood then went through a gradual period of decline. Dan recalls speaking to a man that knew the neighborhood, who told him that the local community used to refer to this area as “The One Way.” It’s where downtowners came to find drugs and take part in illegal activity. Due to the amount of violence on the streets, it was not a welcoming area of town.
But several years ago, after most of the original neighborhood had disappeared, the Rosengarten Park of the 4th Ward Neighborhood Restoration Project was started. A Restoration Plan was developed with support from the Raleigh City Council, the Raleigh Historic Districts Commission, and private developers, focused on the restoration of 20 lots and 11 original homes, combining rehabilitation and compatible new construction. As Dan simply puts it, “The idea behind Rosengarten is to preserve the existing home structures whenever possible, reuse existing materials, and preserve the historical character of the Fourth Ward”.
Rosengarten Residents and Development Team Today, because of the broad-sweeping renovations, Dan says that the area is a safe place to live again. “We frequently have residents from neighboring Boylan Heights wander by for the first time and notice their eyes open wide with wonder. They’re surprised that so much has happened so quickly and are happy to have such a vibrant neighborhood between them and downtown Raleigh,” he adds.
607 W. Cabarrus St. Renovation Today, Rosengarten Park consists of nine fully renovated homes, one home undergoing restoration and one completed new construction. There are still about seven empty lots on which to build and one more renovation slated to begin soon. And although this neighborhood is conveniently located within walking distance of the main Downtown districts, as well as Dorthea Dix Park, its home prices are very competitive with comparable neighborhoods. Homes have sold for prices from the $160,000s to mid-$200,000s.
If you’ve been following the discussion about the future of public transit in Downtown Raleigh, you know that Rosengarten Park is also situated along the Western Gateway to the city, and near the location of the Raleigh’s Union Station . . so expect to hear more about the continued growth opportunities in this up and coming area of Downtown Raleigh.
To learn more about this growing Downtown community, get a resident perspective by checking out the Rosengarten Park Community Blog. There is also a Facebook Group.
Dan Meyer provided much of the content for this blog post. Dan is a DLA member and recently joined the DLA Core Group as the “Neighborhood Champion” for Rosengarten Park.
Yet another informative DLA blog about a historic and little known area of downtown Raleigh. I've enjoyed watching the progress of this area and look forward to more!
There is a new sister project to restore a row of shotgun houses along with 23 new homes in the same area. Read more about the Dorthea Dix Project here. http://www.dorotheadrive.com/
Glad to see the improvements to this area. It's looking great. Granted, I think the houses are priced outrageously high (for the square footage) but nonetheless it's an improvement.
I’m the developer of Rosengarten Park. Thanks for this great article and for the comments. I can understand Roberto’s comment about the price per square foot, but would like to point out that these house have combination of unusually thorough renovations (basically the entire house is rebuilt from foundation to rooftop) and a very high finish level for houses in these price ranges ( including granite counters in kitchen and bath, high quality cabinetry, extra-large historic trim inside and out, solid ¾ hardwoods in every interior area, tile bath surrounds, new real wood windows, new real wood siding, high efficiency stainless appliances, high efficiency heat and cool systems, fully fenced yards, vaulted ceilings, all wood interior doors, high quality hardware, custom details like roof brackets, stain glass windows, and salvaged & rebuilt front doors) All this fits into a philosophy that places an emphasis on very high quality, smaller spaces that celebrate a simple, urban lifestyle. The per square foot price is higher for a home such as this, but it’s still lower than lesser renovated homes in other areas, far less than any downtown condominium, and the overall sale prices are less than any other comparable product in downtown Raleigh.