Downtown Raleigh's population could double in next decade, with nearly $2 billion in new development projects
On Wednesday, more than 600 city leaders, developers, business owners and realtors gathered at the Raleigh Convention Center to hear the annual report on the State of Downtown.
Posted — UpdatedOn Wednesday, more than 600 city leaders, developers, business owners and realtors gathered at the Raleigh Convention Center to hear the annual report on the State of Downtown.
The report showed some key growth indicators:
- Nearly $2 billion in new investments added to the development pipeline in just the last year
- 1.7 million square feet of office space in development, which could bring more than 14,000 new workers downtown
- Residential development is booming, with more than 8,300 units in the works, adding up to 12,500 residents in the next decade -- doubling downtown's population
"We’ve seen some good growth this year, but we definitely are still not where we want to be on return to work. We would love to see more in-office employees down here," said Bill King, President and CEO of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.
Those gathered at the event say they want to see developers, residents, city leaders and business owners work together to envision downtown Raleigh's future.
"We don’t want to look back in 10 years and see a downtown that’s completely indistinguishable from any other urban center," said King.
A big message in the State of Downtown report: Focusing on the people who will live and work in all these buildings going up around us.
Downtown Raleigh Alliance leases space for pop-up shops to women and minority-owned small businesses, so they have a place in the cavernous corridors of towers and cranes building up the city center.
LaTanya Lodge, owner of TresLife, utilizes that space to help build her dreams.
The pump and spray bottles of TresLife are beyond just a business to Lodge.
"I wanted, actually, to be an example to my daughter to embrace my natural hair, so I began creating the products," she says.
She expanded the online shop to a storefront last fall, in the pop-up shops on Martin Street.
"It’s given me great exposure for the product," she says. "And the message of TresLife to travel throughout the world now, because so many people know about us by us being downtown."
That outlook encourages Lodge to find a permanent storefront to give TresLife a window's view to the city's growth.
"I see it looking totally different in the next 3, 4, 5 years, and I see a lot of diversity for everyone to be able to feel included and a part of Raleigh, North Carolina," she says.
Downtown Raleigh Alliance says it its focusing on reinvigorating the Fayetteville Street and Moore Square areas. The recovery has been slowest in those parts of downtown.
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