They have windows out, probably doing asbestos abatement and interior demo. They finish that first before exterior/structural demo

3/15/2014 8:01:00 PM

Dunkin Donuts is gone with a for lease sign in the window.

4/13/2014 8:44:28 PM

Not surprised. THEY NEVER HAD DONUTS.

Say what you will about the tiny, grungy DD across from Bobby Murray, but they're always fully stocked and quick with service.

4/14/2014 1:10:54 AM

The DD on Hillsborough went downhill over the years. They used to have nice employees and plentiful (albeit smaller every day) donuts. At the end, it was just a couple of ornery dicks standing in front of 4 donuts.

4/14/2014 10:07:29 AM

Seven story tower next to the bowling alley.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/04/22/3802941/raleigh-commission-approves-7.html

4/22/2014 7:27:32 PM

I'll throw in some money for the demo crew to "accidentally" remove those precast panels and ugly porches

4/22/2014 7:34:42 PM

I hope they drop the apartments and make it a seven story hookah mega bar.

4/22/2014 7:42:16 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/04/22/3802941/raleigh-commission-approves-7.html

4/22/2014 7:58:23 PM

If they can do 7 stories within the 75' limit, I don't think that's a problem.

Fitting in a way. With Brothers a distant memory and Two Guys a storied name attached to a completely different and shitty restaurant, I wouldn't be sad to see the buildings go.

4/22/2014 8:36:40 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/04/22/3802941/raleigh-commission-approves-7.html

4/22/2014 8:36:58 PM

Wouldn't mind seeing those buildings/businesses go, but I hope they put some type of good retail/restaurant option on the bottom floor. Two Guys has kind of sucked ever since that redesign that split it in half and put the Keg in the new spot (had gone downhill ever since it was Brothers). I'd still like it if the Alley put some money into their place to improve the look of everything - tons of wasted space up by the bar.

Lots of new apartments (plus the hotel), but they need some better bar/restaurant options - especially with spaces like the old bookstore/movie theatre, old Melvins spot and old Hot Box spot that have sat vacant for a while now.

4/22/2014 9:28:05 PM

Quote :

"especially with spaces like the old bookstore/movie theatre, old Melvins spot and old Hot Box spot that have sat vacant for a while now."

Old Melvins spot? That was the original Brothers'. Respect where it's due.

4/23/2014 12:03:20 AM

People complaining about a 7 story building being too tall? Sheesh, what's next?

4/23/2014 9:20:47 AM

^^ Eh, whatever - Melvins was the last business there. I get why Two Guys wanted to have a bar type offering by opening the Keg (EV & PR are really the only places with a late night crowd on Hillsborough), but everything about the way they went about shifting Two Guys to a more I Love NY Pizza feel killed that business. Went to The Keg a few times a year or so ago, went to the new Two Guys once - haven't cared to go back.

4/23/2014 2:53:38 PM

I haven't been on Hillsborough St in forever. Is anything going on with the old Amore's space?

4/23/2014 3:32:48 PM

Can somebody give me a comprehensive list of "cool new shit I should check out" that has emerged around downtown the last year and a half? I can't keep track of it all. I've been to Trophy and went to some new bar at Five Points but that's all I've seen.

4/27/2014 8:47:33 PM

yep... http://www.brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=617439&page=1

4/27/2014 10:12:29 PM

5/1/2014 10:22:28 AM

5/1/2014 11:20:49 AM

Right in the feels.

5/1/2014 12:02:42 PM

5/1/2014 1:02:57 PM

Bryan Regan's getting some distance on that pic today



See you in Hell, dinner plate...

[Edited on May 1, 2014 at 7:53 PM. Reason : BLAMMO!]

5/1/2014 7:49:23 PM

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=707338975991409&id=325981897460454&set=a.606977146027593.1073741825.325981897460454&source=48

Proposed Keg/Two Guys renovations.

5/11/2014 3:46:16 PM

Quote :

"Not to be outdone by their friends over in Chapel Hill, it looks like NC State students will also be able to indulge in a little late night goodness when Insomnia Cookies opens on Hillsborough Street in the old Planet Smoothie location. They will deliver warm cookies to your doorstep until 3am. They also sell different types of brownies and of course, cold milk. Check them out here."

5/12/2014 10:01:58 AM

If they want to give us late night goodness from Chapel Hill, I'd rather they reopen Time Out than a damn cookie joint.

5/12/2014 12:59:17 PM

they did open a time-out

5/12/2014 1:00:47 PM

Next up on Hillsborough Street is a proposal for 30 apartments where the former Sakura Express building is. 45' tall so probably 4 stories? Looks like space for 2 shops of some sort on the ground floor. Developer is FMW, who also built 2604 just down the street and the big complex near downtown at the Hillsborough/Morgan roundabout.

5/12/2014 5:27:54 PM

that would excite me but one of those buildings (morgan) is hideous and the other is mediocre. I am happy to see Raleigh get so much needed development but I wish our architectural board had the more long term vision. It isn't enough to verify that buildings meet basic zoning requirements but I'd like to see stricter standards held for the character and scaling of the buildings. My fear is that otherwise we'll become a hodge podge of contractor driven projects rather than design driven.

5/13/2014 8:23:39 AM

^agreed.

Also, when did Sakura Express close?!

5/13/2014 8:33:37 AM

rip farmhouse building

5/13/2014 8:37:25 AM

Just ate at the new Kabab and Curry restaurant (it replaced the short-lived Klara's Czech cuisine which I thought was awesome and was very disappointed to see it go)

anyways, had the buffet. It was delicious. 8.95, comes with Naan.

Glad there's a decent indian place on Hboro the students can enjoy. That indian mahal place is too far to walk and was disgusting anyways.

5/13/2014 1:35:57 PM

Quote :

"Not to be outdone by their friends over in Chapel Hill, it looks like NC State students will also be able to indulge in a little late night goodness when Insomnia Cookies opens on Hillsborough Street in the old Planet Smoothie location."

i guess it sounds like a better idea than bowlz?

5/13/2014 7:14:23 PM

Drove down Hillsborough today and it looks like Pita Pit is gone.

5/19/2014 2:24:28 PM

The next leg of Hillsborough Street's makeover will soon be under way...

http://www.raleighnc.gov/projects/content/PWksDesignConst/Articles/HillsboroughStreetPhase2.html

Roundabouts will be added at the Brooks, Dixie/Friendly and Rosemary/Shepherd intersections. The Dan Allen intersection will be reduced to right-in right-out, but I assume they will still have a light there for the crosswalk. The project is scheduled for 2015-2017. Wider, brick sidewalks are planned with buried power lines, so that should make the area look a lot nicer. And this is much needed with all of the new development planned for that stretch of Hillsborough.

5/19/2014 10:35:49 PM

Ever since the rest of Hboro got cleaned up, it's made it even more obvious how much this part of the street sucks balls in comparison.

5/20/2014 7:11:10 AM

Good to see that moving toward a start date. Plus side is that that area doesn't have as many businesses right now so not as many businesses would be negatively impacted with a loss in foot traffic (similar to how the other end of Hillsborough had businesses hurting during the construction down that way in 2009-2010. Hopefully some better retail/restaurant-bar options open up down that way with that section of the street as a whole getting pretty much overhauled/redeveloped.

5/20/2014 10:01:27 AM

There are way too many driveways along this stretch of Hillsborough. The entire side of the street between Wolf Mart and Cup A Joe is basically one big driveway.

There are a few legitimate driveways, like the Pizza Hut or Zaxby's or East Village, which are OK, but most of them are just a single row of parking with no circulation where you have to back out over the sidewalk into traffic when you're leaving. Here's hoping the city condemns and closes every single one of these stupid parking lots which are horrible safety hazards for both pedestrians and drivers on the street. Replace them with parallel parking. The parking strips then can get turned into wider sidewalks or sidewalk cafes or maybe the trashy buildings that have these parking strips can get completely redeveloped into something nicer.

5/21/2014 2:45:10 PM

^ Pita Pit was one of those and is now gone and I doubt that the Black Lotus tattoo place (old PackBackers store) or that random bar that opened up in the old Valentine Commons leasing office will be there too long. Considering that they did that type of stuff on the other end of Hillsborough I'd guess that's the plan on this end as well.

5/21/2014 2:51:51 PM

5/21/2014 2:54:40 PM

I like all of that

5/21/2014 3:11:59 PM

Looks like they do plan on closing the parking strips at Pack Backers/Marco's and Pantana Bobs and converting them into wide sidewalks, but the Wolf Mart and College Beverage parking strips will stay pretty much as they are.

And let me go on the record as saying that I hate the roundabout at Pullen. Not because it is difficult to drive through, but because it is bloated, taking up way more land than it needs, and also a pain in the ass to walk through. Since they finally decided to downgrade it to a single lane roundabout, they need to at least go in and reclaim the second lane into more sidewalk space. Hopefully the roundabouts in this new section will be better.

And honestly I would rather lose the bike lane and gain parallel parking. Those bike lanes look stoopid. Starting 50 feet after one roundabout and ending 50 feet before the next. Might as well not be there at all.

[Edited on May 21, 2014 at 3:15 PM. Reason : BEAT ME TO THE PUNCH with that image.]

[Edited on May 21, 2014 at 3:19 PM. Reason : more]

5/21/2014 3:15:12 PM

Quote :

"Those bike lanes look stoopid. Starting 50 feet after one roundabout and ending 50 feet before the next. Might as well not be there at all."

they share the lane in other places, so even short stretches help allow traffic to pass

5/21/2014 3:26:35 PM

Yeah I think the bike lanes are a good thing around a college campus

5/21/2014 3:33:24 PM

Raleigh is pretty behind the curve compared to a lot of places for bike planes and pedestrian friendly design. I guess this is a start though...

5/21/2014 4:10:46 PM

This is long past the start, the new design guidelines are very pedestrian friedndly

As long as tea party amendment 21 idiots don't mess it up

5/21/2014 7:29:29 PM

True story: I performed a policy analysis on the entire Hillsborough street transportation/streetscape plan, which is what got me interested in planning in the first place. I love what I do now

I'm glad to see the plan continuing its implementation.

5/21/2014 8:18:17 PM

Re: orulz

They are at least putting a sidewalk/closed curb in front of WolfMart, and it looks like they are altering those parking spaces a little bit.
The extended driveway does stay at College Beverage, though; they should do parallel parking spaces there, they have plenty of room for it.

I'm okay with the Hillsborough/Pullen roundabout, but it would look a lot better if they had a big tree in the middle, or something.
I actually think it's easier to cross on foot than a heavily trafficked signalized intersection.
These new roundabouts should be smaller, because the intersections aren't as busy...
probably similar to the Pullen/Stinson one.

[Edited on May 21, 2014 at 10:05 PM. Reason : so you can read without scrolling to infinity]

5/21/2014 10:01:58 PM

Quote :

"And let me go on the record as saying that I hate the roundabout at Pullen. Not because it is difficult to drive through, but because it is bloated, taking up way more land than it needs, and also a pain in the ass to walk through. Since they finally decided to downgrade it to a single lane roundabout, they need to at least go in and reclaim the second lane into more sidewalk space. Hopefully the roundabouts in this new section will be better."

I don't really see how you can blame that on the developers. The reason it's the way it is now is because local drivers were too stupid to properly navigate it. Which is a shame, because it's original configuration was much more efficient than what we have now.

5/22/2014 8:35:43 AM

It looks like Sotos is the the only one who loses a lot (and the Brooks Lot, but I'm sure the University supports this)

5/22/2014 9:01:11 AM

saw a "for lease" sign in Royal Bean

anybody know what happened?

6/20/2014 9:57:27 AM