Stuff Downtown Raleigh Likes: Warehouses
Big, Brick, Beloved
1When looking at the history and current state of downtown Raleigh, there is no doubt that it likes warehouses. It just can’t get enough of them. Downtown Raleigh even has a district called “The Warehouse District.” Then again, don’t most cities have “warehouse districts”? They do IF they haven’t torn all the warehouses down to make room for stucco laced condos or big box retail. Red clay makes up most of the soil in the midlands of North Carolina. Bricks are made of red clay. And what are warehouses made of? Yes, that’s right, brick. Warehouses embody history and we love history. Therefore, deductive logic states that Downtown Raleigh must celebrate its warehouses.
Just think, what if there wasn’t a warehouse district. Raleigh wouldn’t have a church in the same building as a bar with a sand filled volleyball court which is across the street from the car wash with the outdoor basketball court. How convenient. And what about all the design firms, art galleries, bars, trophy shops and restaurants that Raleigh has in old warehouses. See Artspace, Designbox, Legends, Mosquito, Humble Pie, The Pit and White Rabbit. What would downtown do without these places? Old buildings whose history is preserved in the rawest of ways, vault and all, like at White Collar Crime. An old car showroom that is now El Rodeo and Artspace. That’s what Downtown Raleigh likes.
Warehouses also create great alleyways, another thing that Downtown Raleigh likes. Alleyways are good for a couple of things other than garbage collecting, fights and late night rendezvous, including video and photography shoots. What would these artists do without the warehouses that create these shadow-catching alleyways? I guess shoot under a funky local bridge. There are a couple of those around too.
Downtown Raleigh needs warehouses. Where would all the artists go that make up the warehouse district. Oh wait, there aren’t any artist lofts in The Warehouse District. But don’t most big cities and their “warehouse districts” play host to artist lofts and “hip” warehouse, glow stick parties with electro music? Where are those? Surely one warehouse could host one or so a month for the artsy crowd. Maybe I was wrong, maybe Downtown Raleigh doesn’t like warehouses. Then again, they did save many them from demolition by canceling, or should I say postponing, the mass transit rail that was proposed through the area and was to eradicate the empty Dillon Supply Company spaces. Quite possibly Sidetrack Brewpub, Goodlife and Five Star could go too. But does that mean Raleigh still likes its stock of warehouses?
Maybe Downtown Raleigh needs to take more care of its warehouses. The Depot has been empty for over 3 years now, other than a mechanical bull, some massive spot lights in the parking lot and 75 televisions hanging from beautiful wood trusses. Maybe TTA needs to reroute the commuter rail to miss the beloved Dillon Supply warehouses. With the condo boom slowing down, those raw loft ideas aren’t such a bad idea after all.
Graffiti adorns their unused facades and beer bottles continually litter their parking lots, but that’s character right? Fly posters show up from time to time, but they are quickly removed. Presumably, I believe, to preserve the beauty of these west end gems. It is clear that Downtown Raleigh still does like its warehouses, but just a small amount of TLC wouldn’t hurt.
What are we waiting for?
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RaleighRob
02/20 02:24 PM
Cute article! Funny thing I always found ironic was Raleigh has a “Warehouse District” although neighboring Durham seems to actually have more of them. Go figure.
And speaking of the Bull City, they seem to do better at reuse of those warehouses, too. I agree with you Raleigh needs to do a better job in that arena. There are quite a few of them downtown I think would make great loft apartments.
All these developers are busy building shiny new (and expensive) condos…it’d be nice if someone would try to just renovate a warehouse or two into affordable loft apartments. We can dream! -
Nicole Stewart
02/20 02:46 PM
I love the idea of hosting parties in these old warehouses. Maybe not the “glow stick parties with electro music.” But what about some ‘talk of the town’ fundraisers for local nonprofits or elected officials. These sort of fundraisers could bring in the crowd that has the power (and cash) to put a little TLC into our warehouse district.
If someone will donate the space, I’ll pledge here to host a fundraiser!
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150
02/20 02:49 PM
This article is all over the place. I think warehouses are interesting and different, but does Raleigh NEED them? I don’t see how it does. Does Raleigh LIKE them? I’m not so sure it does. There have been quite a few establishments that have gone down there and gone away (Nana’s, The Depot, that place by Five-Star, Jillian’s).
I like your ideas about the future of the district, however. Turning some of those places into apartments/lofts seems like a good idea.
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Jason!
02/20 03:31 PM
I think the operative question here is “who owns the warehouses, and how much are they charging?” All the inclination in the world isn’t going to get the district going if the owners are bound and determined to charge more than anyone wants to pay.
As long as it’s profitable to sit on a property slowly degrading, or turn it into a parking lot (ref. King’s Barcade), these buildings will remain empty.
I don’t see a hell of a lot of “For Rent/Sale” signs, either.
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salley
02/20 04:04 PM
the warehouse district may be my favorite area of downtown- i love to walk through there and look at the remnants of train tracks and manufacturing sites, and the smaller scale streets and courtyards, and many of my favorite establishments in town are in old warehouse buildings. However turning many of the vacant warehouses into apartments would be difficult because so many of them are one story (I’m thinking Dillon warehouses). That doesn’t mean that they couldnt be retrofitted, but you probably couldnt get enough units in them to make them affordable. most of the 2+ story warehouses are already occupied by the great uses mentioned by jedidiah.
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erin
02/20 04:11 PM
raleigh seems to just ignore the warehouses downtown. nothing is moving around down there. i think they need to make them feel more welcoming and less daunting to visitors. i think housing does that effectively. durham def. has been more successful in doing that. also in birmingham, al (places im familiar with) they renovated an old bottling facility into lofts, offices, cool design stores, AND the city’s farmer’s market was relocated there. that is a good example of giving an old warehouse space REAL attention.
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JZ
02/20 07:19 PM
The warehouses along the west side of West Street, starting at Morgan Street and moving southward all the way to The Office are owned by the TTA. The initial phase of Commuter Rail Project would have demolished these structures due to an impossibly difficult alignment necessary before Morgan Street Bridge. Had the Bridges at Morgan and Hillsborough been coordinated with the TTA long range plan, the warehouses could have potentially been saved. That would have assumed that in the late 1990s, when the bridge designs were being developed, the TTA has a sense of what their track alignment was to be.
If the TTA Project has gone forward the warehouses were to be razed and commuter parking lots built in the short term. The plan for Phase 2 was to redevelop the property at a much greater density, offering housing, retail and office space appropriate to Rail Hub.
Does Raleigh “like” warehouses….I think so….maybe not “love” them, however….as only a small aspect of this town’s heritage, I’m not sure where I stand on their long term importance. But given the garbage that we’ve seen replacing some distinguished elements in our established built environment, I’m skeptical we can do any better.
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dawson
02/25 05:45 PM
I think that the warehouse district is one of the more fascinating areas of our downtown.
I really enjoyed this piece. Thanks for taking the time to write it.
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Jay Fuller
06/20 07:41 PM
I am looking for employment in the downtown raleigh area. i have a BS degrre In Business Management from Virginia Commonwealth University. Plass this message to businesses in the Downtown Raleigh area. Thanks,Jay
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arthurb3
03/27 12:40 PM
Great article. I have loved this area for about 20 years! So sad they are being replaced with stucco condos that all look the same!
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Chico
11/15 11:06 PM
The Barrister’s Ball needs a new home. Any suggestions?
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