The Hillsborough - Parked

301 Hillsborough Parking Lot Hotel Condominium The barren lot at the corner of Dawson and Hillsborough is supposed to be the site of a 25-story hotel/condominium project called The Hillsborough. Construction was to begin by tomorrow but the lot has remained quiet and vacant. A month ago the Triangle Business Journal reported that the developers don’t see a market and are requesting a four to six month extension to begin construction. There was an agreement that the developer would start construction by now but the tight credit market led to an abrupt halt on progress. Now the N&O says a parking lot may be paved over the gaping downtown hole while developers reconsider their plan.

(6) Comments •Permalink

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RaleighRob05/09 10:40 AM

The forums over on Urbanplanet have a good history on this. Basically the Reynolds Company has had delay after delay after delay on this project. I say enough...the city should kick them to the curb and find a developer who knows how to get a hotel built, for crying out loud. We got a new convention center on the way and all the experts say that even with the existing hotels plus the new Mariott, downtown will still need more hotel rooms to meet the demand that these conventions will most likely bring.
The city should put out bids to all the major hotel companies and find someone who can do this. Reynolds’ delays have accumulated too much to bother with anymore.

Rusty05/09 01:50 PM

Their stopping over fears related to the credit crunch seems inconsistent with what the other developers responsible for the handful of upcoming condo projects seem to feel about Raleigh’s future with regards to real estate…

Perhaps Raleigh is not so recession-proof?

baron05/09 02:45 PM

I love the picture of the building. Were they originally planning it to be a flight tower at the airport?

Mark05/10 01:11 PM

Rob, that is the sort of Raleigh attitude that gets terrible architecture built in our city. I appreciate the notion of fulfilling demand to strengthen the local economy of Downtown, but growing for growth’s sake will yield more buildings that people will want torn down in ten years. Raleigh has the reputation of building things that look like they were made 20 years ago, mostly because companies like Progress Energy and RBC Bank have no vision or sensibility when hiring designers. The Reynolds are the guys that the city shouldn’t want to kick off a project--they are one of the few developers who has a sensible vision for this city.

I know it’s frustrating to get excited about a project such as this one and then be let down, but the fact of the matter is that these guys are in a position to bring possibly the most well designed big building in Raleigh. That’s something I am willing to be patient for, because it will definitely be worth the wait.

Robert E Leebowitz05/13 02:12 PM

Rusty, I think this is consistent with other hotel developers, including a project just a block away.

“The capital markets have just been crushed,” said Winston Hospitality President Bob Winston, who iced plans for a 25-story tower with 200 hotel rooms and 200 condos at Hillsborough and Harrington streets. “It’s a deep freeze.”

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1398658/

Rusty05/13 02:35 PM

Robert, I was referring more so to the other condo developers. See WRAL article from a week and a half ago…

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2823147/

But you have a good point, and that article looks to be an interesting read though. Added to the “to read” stack.

David Friday, May 09, 2008