PNC facelift, new state buildings spark talk of west Raleigh transformation
The departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services and software company Bandwidth are moving to the Blue Ridge Corridor in west Raleigh. Advocates have long sought to transform the part of the city.
Posted — UpdatedIn October, a potential blueprint for developing the property around the hockey and basketball arena will be presented. The prospect of that plan is fueling hopes to shape the so-called Blue Ridge Corridor into the area’s newest growth hotspot.
“Transform what has been a disorganized collection of underutilized government buildings into a new urban center and hospitality center,” said Kristen Hess, the CEO of HH Architecture and vice chair of the Blue Ridge Corridor Alliance, a nonprofit group that formed in 2014 to help steer the development of the area.
More than $1 billion in private and public real estate investment has occurred in the area along with nearly $3 billion in city, county and state transportation system investments, Hess said.
It’s a desirable area, one with ample recreational activities, a vibrant cycling community and open space, located in the middle of growing parts of the region. Plans for development have existed for more than a decade.
But much of the land is owned by the state government or state entities, complicating development. The area’s transformation would require significant cooperation from the state, which has restrictions on what it can do with its land.
Already, much of the current activity in the area is government-driven.
The Department of Environmental Quality earlier this year requested bids for renovations to three buildings on its campus at the corner of Reedy Creek and Edwards Mills road. Its water quality building, air quality building and chemistry laboratory will be renovated to “create more effective and efficient use of space,” according to a notice to bidders.
The state Museum of Art is set to complete a renovation project by October.
The land around the arena, some of it used for surface parking now, could serve a higher use.
“We’re sitting on a lot of property,” said Carolina Hurricanes’ GM Don Waddell. “When the building was built, if you go back, there was talk about the development of the property, and it never got followed through. We’re sitting on 80 acres, I believe, just on the PNC side. Make it a destination place. Make it a place people want to go to. We don’t have anything like that right now, and I think it would be a huge benefit.”
“This is becoming yet another part of Raleigh where raw dirt is very valuable,” said Philip Isley, chairman of the Centennial Authority Board, which owns PNC Arena. Isley, an attorney, previously spent eight years on the Raleigh City Council. “It’s also very important to how we grow with all of the other interests coming into the city.”
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