Raleigh Mayor Pro-Tem hopeful developers can revitalize troubled stretch of New Bern Avenue
Boarded up windows, peeled off business signs and vacant stores. The strip mall off of New Bern Avenue and Raleigh Boulevard looks like a ghost town. The strip mall, however, could be getting a facelift.
The City of Raleigh purchased properties on the 1600 block of New Bern Avenue May 16. Raleigh Mayor Pro-Tem Corey Branch said the strip mall has seen many changes as well as news that new developers hope to take over it.
He's hoping this time, however, something sticks.
"Being a Raleigh native, I've seen a lot of things there," Branch said. "You have owners and you have tenants that are a positive reflection of the current community, you know, development that you know people can walk to and feel proud of."
That has been a challenge for the last few years here, as the area has seen more flashing police lights from an uptick in crime.
WRAL Data Trackers found found 174 crimes reported on this block from Jan. 1, 2020 to May of this year. Most recently, a teenager known to walk here daily for a coke and candy bar was shot and killed in front the convenience store.
"Those stores that cause a lot of I guess the uptick in crime have now been closed. So they are no longer in operation. So there's no activity," Branch said. "So the first thing is, you know, let's give them a period to just calm everything down and reset. Now, the goal is to work with the owners and work with the community. "
Ideas are floating of a sit-down, restaurant, barber shop and more. Branch says as gentrification and more growth is happening in other parts of Raleigh, neighbors hope south East Raleigh can get the same attention.
"We asked for it in other parts of town, nice, safe, vibrant, walkable communities,"{ Branch explained. "We deserve that here and this definitely what you know, I continue to work with the property owners for."
An investor in the project with Carroll Development told WRAL it’s too soon to comment on the specifics of what they plan to bring here. Branch says they plan to work with the community to come up with ideas.
