Happening Now-ish
The Lynnwood Bluffs townhome community in Northeast Raleigh will soon welcome an additional five units to the development. New owners will have to make the impossible choice between a 1,361 square-foot Cooper floor plan, and the spacious 1,378 square-foot Ashton layout. A Cooper in Lynnwood Bluffs, located near the intersection of Glenwood and Lynn, is currently listing for $189,000.
Although it’ll be summer before the long-awaited community pool at Lynnwood Bluffs finally opens, their neighbors to the east will soon bear witness to the creation of a 12,032 sq ft outdoor pool at the new Life Time Fitness on Falls of Neuse near the 540 interchange. According to permits filed with the city, the plan calls for a “Pool, Spa & Slide” at a total cost of $900,000. The accompanying 110,651 sq ft gym will be built for about $24,000,000. For comparison, the square footage allotted for the gym and pool would fit about 88 Ashton-style homes.
After scrapping nonexistent plans to build out a luxurious, two-story boutique location at the Crabtree Valley Mall, Family Dollar has settled for an undeveloped plot of land off Mitchell Mill road in Northeast Raleigh. The new 8,814 sq ft single-story structure will cost around $410,000 to build.
A number of area churches have not given up construction work for Lent and several righteous renovations are scheduled to begin soon. They include $616,249 in repairs and alterations at Edenton Street United Methodist and nearly $900,00 of work at St. John’s Baptist on Oberlin.
In an effort to stave off downstream flooding of Biblical proportions, repairs will soon begin at the Northshore Lake Dam in Northeast Raleigh. Work at the site, located off New Hope Church road, will take about a year to complete at a cost of $3.6 million. Money enough to have built three oversized Pool, Spa & Slide complexes, had the city not selfishly prioritized water quality over quality time in the water.
Romantics in search of a unique first-date experience may look into attending the upcoming demolition of a three-unit apartment building on Forestview Road in Northwest Raleigh near Wake Med. It was one of six demo projects given a permit the week of March 17, although the remainder are single-family dwellings, whose destructions would surely dwarf in comparison to the felling of a 2,330 square-foot apartment building.
Coming Soon
Planning Commission this week heard case no. Z-33-2013, which would see the construction of an AutoZone at 4131 Western Boulevard, an area that at present is largely residential. Both at the community meeting held in December and at Tuesday’s Planning Commission, adjacent property owner Jerome Goldberg spoke out against the development.
On Tuesday, referring to the building’s newly proposed maximum height of 39 feet, Goldberg called the development a “monstrosity.”
The commission voted to give further study to the land-use map for the property in question.
Commissioners also reviewed the controversial Z-35-2013 case concerning Meredith Heights, a proposed dormitory-style development on Hillsborough near Meredith College. The five-story structure would hold between 90-110 units housing 300-350 students and may include ground-floor retail. Neighbors have raised concerns over potential noise issues and which types of retail uses will be allowed.
Although one adjacent property owner spoke out in favor of the proposal, an attorney hired by several area neighbors, Thomas Worth, spent significantly more time speaking against it.
As part of a slideshow presentation, Worth compared the proposed development with an existing structure and called it “just this side of shocking.” It’s possible Worth later complained that Goldberg had stolen his thunder when he referred to the AutoZone as a “monstrosity.”
The Planning Commission voted to delay action on this case as well and tabled it for two weeks.
Hours later, in its bi-monthly meeting at Jaycee Park, the Wade Citizens Advisory Council polled residents on the Meredith Heights project, which they voted against 92-1.
The final case heard by the Commission this week dealt with a proposed low-density residential development in Northeast Raleigh on Holden Road. No opposition was voiced and the only question raised dealt with a sewer stub, the connection between a municipal sewer line and a residential one.
The Commission unanimously approved rezoning to allow for the development.
Someday, Maybe
An ugly scar on the already pockmarked face of Capital Boulevard, the old Capital Plaza Hotel has sat vacant and seemingly abandoned since 2005. Although auctioned off in 2011 to the development firm CB Hotel, no permits for work of any sort have been filed since.
Capital Plaza saw a number of incarnations over the years, including time spent as a Holiday Inn, a Doubletree, and, briefly, as the Hotel Europa. Despite its chic surroundings and pedestrian-friendly atmosphere – two pawnshops within walking distance – the final concept lasted less than a year.
With the city spearheading a resurgence of Capital Boulevard, it’s unlikely the old hotel will remain an eyesore for the better part of another decade. The land and building values for the property are assessed at a total of $4.7 million, with an annual tax bill of about $43,000.
This is roughly four times the annual cost of renting a one-bedroom apartment in the area. Anyone currently residing at the Capital Plaza, however, is likely doing so free of charge. Save, of course, a charge of criminal trespass.
