News

Five Things to Look Out For at this Week’s City Council Meeting

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This is the first edition of a new bimonthly feature where will we take a look at a selection of some of the most interesting (or least boring: take your pick) items set for discussion at the upcoming City Council Meeting. It differs slightly from our old “Council Agenda Preview” in that it’s less comprehensive and won’t examine every single item on the Council’s oft-lengthy agenda. 

Affordable Housing: Only 90s Kids Will Remember This Edition: In the final years of the 20th century, Episcopal Housing Partners developed two affordable apartment complexes within Raleigh: Fox Haven, which has 32 two-bedroom and 16 three-bedroom apartments and rents ranging from $690 per month to $865 per month & Walnut Woods, which has 33 two-bedroom apartments renting for $700 per month and three three-bedroom units renting for $775 per month. The City of Raleigh provided “gap financing” for both these projects in the form of second mortgages; $256,000 for Walnut Woods and $500,000 for Fox Haven. Without getting two far into the weeds, the owners want to preserve the properties as affordable, and will be selling them to a nonprofit; the City will reduce the interest rate on both mortgages to zero and everyone will presumably live happily & affordably ever after. City Council will conduct a Public Hearing on this issue later today.

Development Beat

Development Beat: Permit Party

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Nearly a year after it was destroyed in a fire, the Sushi Nine restaurant on Western Boulevard will begin rebuilding. Plus, the Jerusalem Bakery & Grocery at the Avent Ferry Shopping Center is expanding, and Deke’s Grill at the Brier Creek Country Club will be adding a new dining area.

Oak City Portraits

The Evolution of Raleigh: 10 Time Lapse Photos Show How The City Has Changed

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North Carolina. Late 18th Century. A number of cities were in contention for selection as the State Capital; the area which eventually became Raleigh was referred to as Wake Cross Roads or Wake Court House. It was argued that the capital should not “situate in a lonely grove of oaks, inland from any port, a place without populace, amid thorn and briar with nothing to recommend it but a courthouse, an inn and two or three scattered residences.” How times have changed.