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Stephen Stroud, a prominent real-estate executive in the Triangle who was integral in building the Lenovo Center and bringing the Carolina Hurricanes to Raleigh, died Saturday.
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Stroud, 83, attended N.C. State and was a longtime supporter of Wolfpack athletics, serving as president of the Wolfpack Club. He also was former chairman of the Centennial Authority, the appointed body that oversaw the building of the Lenovo Center – first known as the Raleigh Sports and Entertainment Arena – that opened in 1999 and continues to serve as the arena’s landlord.
As authority chairman, Stroud worked with Peter Karmanos to bring his NHL team to Raleigh and give the area its first major-league franchise. Karmanos relocated the Hartford Whalers from Connecticut in 1997, rebranded the team the Carolina Hurricanes and helped fund the cost of building the arena.
Stroud, who began his real estate career in 1965, was the founder of Carolantic, a local commercial real-estate firm, and later merged NAI Carolantic Realty with NAI Tri Properties, a Raleigh firm, in 2020. He had a 50-year career in real-estate development projects, including Highwoods, Cary’s Crossroads and Brier Creek.
While always a fervent Wolfpack fan, Stroud, a Rutherford County native, said he quickly became a Hurricanes convert, often attending games and reveling in their run to their first Stanley Cup in 2006.
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“The Hurricanes are a part of our area fabric,” Stroud said in an N&O interview in 2019. “They’ve become a part of the sports passion here.”
The Hurricanes recently won their second Stanley Cup championship, bringing a crowd of almost 200,000 to down Raleigh for a post-Cup celebration. The Canes hosted the area’s first Cup Final games in 2002, when they were beaten by the Detroit Red Wings.
The Lenovo Center, which serves as the home floor of N.C. State men’s basketball, has become a Raleigh landmark. The arena, which is undergoing a $300 million enhancement, hosted the 2011 NHL All-Star Game and 2004 NHL Draft, and NCAA basketball regional play and has been an entertainment hub.
A street that allows access to the arena’s parking lots is named E. Stephen Stroud Way.
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