by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Photo of the corner of Lenoir and McDowell Streets and the construction of the Red Hat Amphitheater, September 2026

The intersection of Lenoir and McDowell Streets are typically quiet. I mean, you don’t see many pedestrians here and just car traffic rolling through on a typical day. However, on the night that Red Hat Amphitheater has a show, the atmosphere is quite different. The photo above shows the view across the intersection as the new Red Hat is still under construction. On show nights, I propose a pedestrian scramble at this intersection, allowing pedestrians to go to whichever corner they want and all the cars have to stop during that light interval.

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by Leo Suarez

Checking in on Commerce Place Developments

Warehouses along the 300 block of West Martin Street, July 2026

One of those blocks in downtown Raleigh that seems to always get planned and rezoned but never actually changes is the assemblage of properties along Martin, Commerce, and Davie Streets, otherwise known as the best warehouses we have in our Warehouse District (and the surface parking behind them). Earlier this Summer, another rezoning has gone through and there’s now a building height limit here of 20-stories. Recently submitted site plans show a 20-story tower that could be built here so I wanted to dive into it today.

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by Leo Suarez

Rosewood Apartments Have Started on South Street, Ending Almost Nine-Year Slump

Construction is taking place at the future Rosewood Apartments on South Street, August 2026.

I never thought this day would come and honestly, I’m skeptical until I see a crane in the air. Construction has started on the pit at the corner of South and Saunders. Rosewood apartments will offer 269 homes across two new buildings. The demolition of the former buildings on this site took place in 2017 and this empty lot has sat here ever since. Others have tried and plans were released but perhaps this is the one that will land.

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by Leo Suarez

Checking in on Kindley Street and City Gateway

Photo of the City Gateway construction, July 2026.

A lot of land has been cleared around Kindley Street. If you drive around downtown, you most likely have seen it going up and down Western Boulevard and MLK Boulevard as the big hill near the 401 cloverleaf interchange used to be pretty green but now it’s showing that red clay of barren earth. Right now, an automated parking garage, the first of its kind in the state, is being built. We’ll also see the extension of Kindley Street connect to MLK at a new interchange. We’ve talked about this extension before so I walked down to the site to check it out.

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by Leo Suarez

The R-Line Is Taking a Break. What Comes Next?

The Raleigh Transit Authority, which I am currently an active member of, has endorsed a plan to rethink the R-Line, our downtown Raleigh bus circulator service. Given low ridership, high cost, and the availability of other mobility options in the downtown area, it may just be time to think differently about how people get around and what needs are not being met. This August, the R-Line will go on sabbatical for a while while the city’s transit staff work on something different — or not, as retiring it completely is still on the table. Let’s take a look at the history and current state of the R-Line.

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