Remote workers slowing downtown Raleigh's rebound from pandemic
Revitalizing downtown Raleigh is key to the city's pandemic rebound plans, but with many offices still vacant, the central business district isn't bouncing back as quickly as many hoped.
Posted — Updated"Downtown businesses have barely hung on. We have missed people coming into downtown," said Maggie Kane, owner of the pay-what-you-can nonprofit restaurant A Place at the Table, on West Hargett Street.
Kane said it feels like two years since the daily bustle of downtown has been gone.
But Bill King, president and chief executive of Downtown Raleigh Alliance, said more people are returning to the area as retailers start reopening and activities, such as a weekly concert series on City Plaza and the farmers market on Moore Square, expand. He said he expects the rebound to accelerate in the next few months.
"By the end of September, 77 percent of people will be back in the office at least three days a week," King said, citing a DRA study that showed 42 percent of workers were completely remote as recently as May.
Until then, he said, there are other ways to attract people downtown.
"There’s always something going on downtown, and that’s a big part of the strategy," he said.
King said he doesn't know of any businesses downtown that will not return to some type of in-person office work.
"We see a lot of good coming our way," Kane said.
• Credits
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
