Development Beat: Work Begins on New Apartments as Old Ones Demolished

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Wake County

This apartment complex on Hawes Street, pictured in 1995, is one of two being torn down by the city

The destruction of Raleigh continues.

A 1996 photo of the Sawyer Road Apartment Complex the city is tearing down

Wake County

A 1996 photo of the Sawyer Road Apartment Complex the city is tearing down

While October closed out with the issuance of permits for the demolition of a restaurant and a retail store, November wrapped up with the demolition of two apartment complexes, a dozen single-family residentials and a mini-storage facility.

Both apartments were purchased by the city in 2013, with the intent of tearing them down. Timmy Causey Grading & Demolition will handle the $15,000 demolition of a complex on 1448 Sawyer Road in South Raleigh and Cecil Holcomb Demolition will do a $25,000 teardown of a complex at 709 Hawes Court in North Raleigh.

This apartment complex on Hawes Street, pictured in 1995, is one of two being torn down by the city

Wake County

This apartment complex on Hawes Street, pictured in 1995, is one of two being torn down by the city

Fortunately for the employees of Cecil Holcomb, Mami Noras is less than a half mile from the job site.

The Airport Auto Park & Mini Storage facility on Mt. Herman Road, next to RDU International, will be torn down at a cost of $21,000 by Racanelli Construction to make way for a large indoor shooting range.

So long, mini-storage!

Wake County

So long, mini-storage!

But the end of November saw more than just destruction – permits were issued for countless single-families and townhomes in those two weeks, and on November 19 permits were issued for the Meridian at Sutton Square multifamily development. The project will be built on a 5-acre property on Spring Forest Road just west Falls of Neuse Road and will include 188 residential units and 307 parking spaces.

Site plans for the Meridian Apartment Complex

Site plans for the Meridian Apartment Complex

One other new development received permits in those final weeks – the All Saints Anglican Church will commence work on a new, 3,346 square-foot assembly and parish hall on Deboy Road off Western Boulevard. The $555,658 project (it’s a good thing it didn’t cost an additional $111,007) will be handled by Vance Construction Company.

Sardi's Den originated in Clemson, South Carolina

Sardi\’s Den originated in Clemson, South Carolina

While a total of 30 commercial renovation permits were issued over that two-week span, the vast majority – 23 – were, not surprisingly, issued the week before Thanksgiving rather than the week of. The projects ranged the gamut from new restaurants like Sardi’s Den at Brennan Station on Creedmoor, which will be the first North Carolina franchise of a South Carolina rib joint, to the interior completion of the 40,000 square-foot indoor shooting range tmentioned above. Convenient way of blowing off some steam after air travel that one is.

The site of the new Triangle Shooting Academy

James Borden / Raleigh Public Record

The site of the new Triangle Shooting Academy

Other projects worth noting include the fit-out of Beach Bingo at the Emporium Plaza on Capital Boulevard, where its neighbors will include Chuck E. Cheese and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, and the addition of a Village Dental to the Celebration at Six Forks shopping center, which is of course home to the world-renowned Coconut Charlie’s Bump N Bounce.

This Chuck E. Cheese will soon be complimented by Beach Bingo

Wake County

This Chuck E. Cheese will soon be complimented by Beach Bingo

In preparation, perhaps, for the influx of gym memberships purchased every January, Forged Fitness, which bills itself as Raleigh’s “Premier fitness & martial arts facility” is set to undergo $60,000 worth of alterations, which will be done by JMB Development.

City of Oaks Cremations

Wake County

City of Oaks Cremations

Death was also in the air in November, as the City of Oaks Cremations facility was issued permits for $365,000 worth of work at their Green Road location. All this reporter knows about crematories comes from a weird episode of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” guest-starring, of all people, Jim Gaffigan. He was running some kind of scam and not actually cremating the bodies sent to him. The detectives figured it out because birds were nesting in a tree downwind of the smoke stacks. However, this kind of chicanery is the exception, rather than the rule, in the funeral business.

Coming Soon
In an effort to give opposing sides more time to work together, City Council on Tuesday extended the public hearing process for two residential rezoning projects.

Case Z-35-13, discussed here, would allow for a residential mixed-use building on Hillsborough Street between Furches and Montgomery. Although the Planning Commission had recommended the project for approval last month, paving the way for a public hearing at that December 2 council meeting, councilors voted to delay the hearing until January 6.

This area off Hillsborough Street could eventually be home to a new housing complex

James Borden / Raleigh Public Record

This area off Hillsborough Street could eventually be home to a new housing complex

Case Z-29-14, also recommended for approval by the planning commission last month, was the subject of a public hearing December 2, where a number of residents turned out to voice concerns about the case. The request would rezone about 80 acres of land on Forestville Road near Louisburg Road in North Raleigh and allow for increased single-family development. Council approved a motion to hold the hearing open until January 6.

The Council scheduled a third public hearing for January 6, Z-30-14, a multifamily development off Glenwood Avenue near Brier Creek. When the case was heard by the planning commission November 25, commissioners voted to recommend approval.