North Hills seeks to add 40-story towers to its own skyline

Kane Realty plans to submit a rezoning application that would allow the developer to build two towers up to 40 stories tall, one up to 30 stories and another up to 12 stories in North Hills.

The tallest building in Raleigh is the 32-story PNC Plaza downtown.

The proposed 40-story buildings would replace two parking lots along Six Forks Road. The 30-story building would be at the back side of the development, along Interstate 440, while the smallest of the four would be at the north side of the Lassiter at North Hills shopping center.

Bonner Gaylord, chief operating officer for Kane Realty, called the proposal the smartest way to manage urban growth.

"We can either grow out through sprawl or up through urban density," Gaylord said. "We can't do urban density in everybody's neighborhood – nobody wants their neighborhood torn down – so we have to pick the spots where we already have that density to create more. We're not making any more land."

The four buildings would be mixed use, with retail on the ground floor and a mix of offices and residential space above that. Parking to replace the lost lots might be moved into underground garages as part of the plan.

Construction likely wouldn’t get underway for several years, but Kane officials have already started talking to people who live and own businesses in the area.

"All of the immediately adjacent neighbors have voiced support it for so far," Gaylord said. "They generally have bought here, understanding what North Hills is and that's what they moved here for. So, more of that – more retail, restaurants and amenities – is a good thing for them.

Melissa Franklin, whose family lives in an apartment across the street from North Hills, said she looks forward to the opportunities Kane's proposal would bring.

"It's really exciting to see that we're going to have more opportunities to get out," Franklin said. "Moving in here two years ago at beginning of COVID, we haven't gotten to see anything, so this is, you know, I'm excited it's going across the street."

"We're excited for all the new community stuff to come up but just ready for the construction to be over," she said.