State of Downtown Raleigh Reveals Major Growth for Area

Downtown Raleigh Alliance hosted their annual ‘State of Downtown,’ Tuesday morning, April 26 to take an in-depth look at all that happened in 2016. Raleigh is one of the fastest growing downtown’s in America which is in the midst of a $1.1 billion construction boom and anticipates adding over 4,500 residents in the upcoming years. The full report on which the State of Downtown overviewed can be viewed here.

A few takeaways from the event and the report:

Development

• There has been $2.75 billion in development over the past decade
• $1.1 Billion in the Investment Pipeline, each of downtown Raleigh’s five districts will see significant private and public investment, all mutually benefiting.
  • $321 million recently delivered
  • $570+ million planned
  • $350 million in current construction
  • $182 million in public investment
  • 4,000,000+ square feet being added to the downtown
  • Recently announced projects include: The Dillon, One Glenwood, Charter Square II, The Edison, 301 Hillsborough St., HQ Raleigh expansion
  • A major competitive advantage of downtown Raleigh is our thriving startup ecosystem. In the last five years, start-ups in Raleigh raised over $310 million in Venture Capital and Angel Investments and generated economic activity of over $1.1 billion from IPOs and $9.2 billion in acquisitions.

Quality of Life

• Over one million people visit and attend downtown Raleigh festivals each year
• Last year was the best year yet for tourism in downtown Raleigh
• 320 acres of parks are being added, plus another 34 acres are being renovated in the downtown area, this includes Dix Park, the park with plans to become the central destination park for residents and visitors.
• Raleigh’s Bike Share program was recently approved and will bring 30 stations and 300 bikes to the downtown area.
• Downtown has 2,850+ residential units recently delivered, under construction or planned.
• Downtown Raleigh’s restaurants scene has four James Beard Award nominations since 2014.

The event also showcased this year’s Imprint Award Winner’s in a video overview, the award winners were:

107 Fayetteville St.
Developer:  Michael D. Olander Jr.