AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
Developers could turn a warehouse site on Capital Boulevard just north of downtown Raleigh into thousands of new apartments and town homes if a proposed rezoning goes through.
Read more What NC State football’s veteran roster means for 2026: ‘They know what it takes’
They’re asking the city to OK a rezoning for more than 5,700 housing units in buildings up to 20 stories on about 20 acres.
Currently, that area is zoned primarily for industrial use and allows for about 500 housing units and three-story buildings.
The spot is next to Raleigh Ironworks, another former industrial site that’s now home to retail, restaurants and apartments.
Beacon Partners, a developer based in Charlotte, asked the city to rezone two properties, at 2233 and 2321 Capital Blvd., to allow development to move forward.
On Tuesday, Raleigh’s Planning Commission unanimously agreed to recommend rezoning the properties to the City Council. A date has not been set for the council’s consideration.
The proposed zoning designation would allow for townhomes and apartments alongside more than 5 million square feet of office space and around 400,000 square feet of retail space.
Currently, the area is home to an approximately 300,000-square-foot building, which N.C. Department of Environmental Quality records indicate was used as a Harris Teeter warehouse. The plan is for developers to reuse the existing building to some extent.
Beacon Partners has agreed with the Department of Environmental Quality to clean the “brownfield” site at the warehouse after it filed an application with the state last year.
Read more Here are the top high school football teams in North Carolina. Meet the Super 25
“Brownfield” typically refers to a former industrial site that is now unused. In many cases, they require cleanup of environmental contamination cause by their industrial use.
In this case, the state suspects that petroleum, chlorinated solvents and metals are in the groundwater and soil.
The state offers brownfield agreements to encourage redevelopment of sites like the warehouse. These agreements give the developer a list of steps to take in the cleanup in exchange for “in effect a covenant not-to-sue” the developer for certain environmental actions or consequences in development, according to the Department of Environmental Quality website.
The agreements can also result in property tax breaks for developers for five years that progressively decline, contingent on developers actually building on the brownfield site.
Developing the site would require improving nearby Hodges Street, Peden Steel Drive, and Capital Boulevard including adding sidewalks and bike lanes.
The developers haven’t put forward site plans yet, meaning the exact number of housing units or new buildings they’re proposing isn’t clear.
The hope, Hunter Winstead, an attorney for the developers, told planning commissioners is “to really revitalize this area to be a portion of the city that folks can be proud of as they’re entering downtown.”
Read more Upscale restaurant quietly closes in North Hills after 8 years
Nobody spoke against the rezoning.