Condos Expected To Lead Residential Surge To Downtown Raleigh

Brian Finkelmeyer, 31, just moved into the Dawson at Morgan. The district operations manager works from home and socializes close to home.

"I just think being able to walk places instead of drive is a nice convenience," he said.

Another 1,200 units are already in the works. When the old convention center is bulldozed and the land sold, 400 new units are expected on and around the site.

Officials said the most common residents in Raleigh are single, young professionals. Downtown supporters said they are the kind of people who will turn a 9-to-5 downtown into a 24-hour destination.

"The residential seeds the rest of downtown and allows it to grow and develop and if we are really careful and smart about the way it grows, we are going to have a dynamic downtown," said Realtor Ann-Cabell Baum Andersen.

The condos range in price from less than $100,000 to almost $1 million. The city of Raleigh hired a consultant to review the downtown housing market. City leaders hope to get a more concrete idea of what to expect in coming years.

It is not just high-priced condos going up in downtown Raleigh. A new subdivision of single family homes is being built north of Peace College, which will add more than 100 homes. One hundred sixty-four affordable housing units are under construction and Chavis Heights will add 165 apartments to downtown.