4

10/30/2005 10:51:13 AM

another reason the sears tower picture is so off is because the 1454 is measured from the top of the antenna not the last office space

10/30/2005 12:28:29 PM

Another lame attempt for Raleigh to try and act like a big city

10/30/2005 12:55:37 PM

Quote :

"another reason the sears tower picture is so off is because the 1454 is measured from the top of the antenna not the last office space"

that is incorrect. the total height, including the antennas, is 1,729 ft. The actual height of the building is 1451 ft, not 1454.

10/30/2005 1:04:45 PM

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/bu/ss/?id=101030&ht=3

10/30/2005 1:05:17 PM

^^So, though there seems to be the demand for it, building it is a "lame attempt to act like a big city"? Oh, sorry, I forgot that cities which aren't Historically Big aren't allowed to build anything tall. Please forgive my presumptuousness, and once the population grows to over 300,000, we'll halt all building of any type, in order to stay small. Right.

[Edited on October 30, 2005 at 1:05 PM. Reason : d]

10/30/2005 1:05:36 PM

New article in the N&O today about the project

http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2828909p-9278770c.html

Quote :

"RALEIGH -- Only two buildings in Raleigh could qualify as skyscrapers: the BB&T and Wachovia Bank buildings, sticking out of downtown like buckteeth. So it's natural for the Capital City to be nervous as it ponders something taller: a 480-foot tower combining a luxury hotel with condominiums that would stand 5 miles from downtown, at Crabtree Valley Mall. Today the City Council takes up the question of Glen-Tree, the city's first suburban skyscraper. Most members back the $100 million project; it would be built entirely with private money. Proposed Glen-Tree development "I'm not going to stand in the way," council member Mike Regan said. "Number one, it's not requiring any taxpayer money. Number two, it's going to create a lot of jobs to build the thing and a lot of jobs to staff it." There will be questions about the height, the parking, the traffic and the wisdom of putting such a huge building in a floodplain. But there is a greater uneasiness -- on and off the council -- about putting a building so tall so far from downtown. Would it steal the city's heart, they ask, or give it a second? In the nearby Brookhaven neighborhood, Barbara Quinby thinks Glen-Tree would make a poor neighbor, and a poor welcome mat to Raleigh. "There's nothing inviting about skyscrapers," said Quinby, who is in her late 50s and has designed homes for developers. "If you separate it from all this hoopla about public art, it's a high-rise hotel." Glen-Tree would replace a vacant hotel, a 12-story hulk with shattered windows just north of the mall, once owned by Sheraton and then in its final days by Clarion. Stand outside the barbed wire fence for a minute and a security guard will roll up, explaining that homeless people have been squatting inside and that juveniles have sprayed graffiti on the walls and thrown fire extinguishers through the windows. Developers Sanjay Mundra and Dicky Walia of the Soleil Group of Cary say that they would be improving an area that already supports high-density development, and that the Sheraton actually had more hotel rooms. Glen-Tree would be 42 stories tall with 260 guest rooms and 55 condominiums, some taking up an entire floor with more than 4,000 square feet of space. The city's comprehensive plan classifies the Crabtree Valley area as a "city focus area," which calls for intense development, high visibility and a distinctive architectural feature -- a tall building or tower. Other focus areas include North Hills, Six Forks Station and Mini City. Only three parts of Raleigh are earmarked for more intense building: downtown, Triangle Town Center and Brier Creek. For some, the idea of a skyscraper anywhere but downtown is illogical. "We're spending a lot of time and effort to revitalize our downtown," said Nancy Hormann, president of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. "It just doesn't make sense." A new hotel is in the works for downtown, too. The council is scheduled to review plans today for a 400-room Marriott Hotel that is being built with the help of $20 million from food and hotel taxes. "Does that tell somebody something?" Walia asked. "A hotel in downtown requires a $20 million cash subsidy just to make it work." Phillip Horwitz, a longtime downtown merchant with Reliable Loan & Jewelry, said Glen-Tree's location doesn't bother him. "I don't know if downtown is ready enough for something that big," he said. "I'd love to see it, but until they get retail downtown, more restaurants downtown, more housing downtown, I don't think it would work." When it was open, the Sheraton had 315 rooms. So, Walia said, Glen-Tree will not add much to the traffic headache that already exists on the clogged roads nearby. The Crabtree area is prone to heavy flooding. Quinby remembers seeing people stranded in hotel rooms there after Hurricane Fran. "They're going to need a yacht to get people out of there," she said. Mundra and Walia counter that their plans will avoid disaster, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will have to approve those plans. "There is nothing but parking on the first six floors," Walia said. "The whole experience begins on the seventh floor." Still, with a project this size, some lean toward a cautious pace. Council member Thomas Crowder has called for putting the project before a council committee, and Mayor Charles Meeker said he wants to give the plans a thorough look -- either in committee or today. "This is a potentially precedent-setting decision," Meeker said. Planners say it is unlikely, though, that one Glen-Tree will spawn a dozen others. There aren't many of the city focus areas in Raleigh, and a developer needs to think about whether there is a market for another project that size, said Martin Stankus, senior planner. "It's pretty unique in this location," Stankus said. "Mostly, you're going to find that downtown.""

11/1/2005 11:53:21 AM

City Council passed it..according to word around work (City Hall).

11/1/2005 3:06:53 PM

why are they building a new building

11/1/2005 3:07:48 PM

^have you seen what's there now???????

11/1/2005 3:14:33 PM

nope

[Edited on November 1, 2005 at 3:18 PM. Reason : but I have not really read anything in this topic either]

11/1/2005 3:18:28 PM

it's a rundown vacant building that once was a Sheraton. Broken windows, looks shitty as hell.

Plus, it's private funding for the new building, so that makes it even more appealing.

[Edited on November 1, 2005 at 3:30 PM. Reason : .]

11/1/2005 3:30:08 PM

well at least it isnt being footed by taxpayers

i still think it's a dumb idea though

11/1/2005 3:30:14 PM

it will look tacky because it is far from the rest of the "tall" buildings

11/1/2005 3:38:15 PM

I went to the hearing. 7-1 vote. Crowder was not happy at all. Meeker really turned a 180 and seemed quite happy with the proposal.

I think the bottom line for most of the council is that someone was willing to invest $100 mil in the community with no incentives. Chances like this don't come around everyday, and a veto on this one would sure hurt the chance of ever seeing private investment of this magnitude in the future.

11/1/2005 4:29:46 PM

Quote :

"someone was willing to invest $100 mil in the community with no incentives."

That right there is the key, folks.

Guess how much of your tax money is subsidizing the Marriott downtown?

11/2/2005 9:39:31 AM

Ok originally I didn't know that it was all private money. I don't have any problem with it then because if someone wants to invest that much money in Raleigh then let them do it.

11/2/2005 9:41:54 AM

Quote :

""There's nothing inviting about skyscrapers," said Quinby, who is in her late 50s and has designed homes for developers. "If you separate it from all this hoopla about public art, it's a high-rise hotel."null"

because we all know the architectural marvels called developer homes hahahaha

11/2/2005 11:04:56 AM

Quote :

"Quinby, who is in her late 50s and has designed homes cookie cutters for developers."

11/2/2005 11:50:24 AM

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/2829484p-9279223c.html

Quote :

"Glen-Tree gets green light Raleigh Council sets aside reservations to endorse 480-foot tower By JOSH SHAFFER, Staff Writer RALEIGH -- It won't rival Seattle's Space Needle. It won't carry the symbolism of St. Louis' Gateway Arch. But Glen-Tree is coming, a pointy glass monolith that will stand as Raleigh's tallest building. The City Council gave near-unanimous backing to the 480-foot suburban tower Tuesday, moving past discomfort over its height and suburban plot. By a 7-1 vote, the council cleared the way for developers Sanjay Mundra and Dicky Walia to demolish an empty 12-story hotel just north of Crabtree Valley Mall -- within 60 days if the permits come through. In its place, they will start next spring on a 42-story skyscraper that combines a luxury Westin hotel with condominium units large enough to cover an entire floor. "This is definitely going to take Raleigh to the next generation," Walia said after the council's vote, when about 100 supporters applauded. "Raleigh is the capital, home to major universities and RTP, and we don't have a four-star hotel." In all, developers pledge to spend about $100 million on their tower -- all of it private -- and create 150 jobs. Glen-Tree sailed through despite nervousness about its height and hesitancy to build a skyscraper alongside a shopping mall rather than downtown. Mayor Charles Meeker overcame his reservations by getting a guarantee that the same high-quality tower shown in pictures would actually turn up on Glenwood Avenue. Should Mundra and Walia want to change the height, the location or the design, the city must sign off first. It was not enough for council member Thomas Crowder, who cast the no vote. Crowder said Glen-Tree flies in the face of the city's comprehensive plan, which calls for the most intense development in three regional centers: downtown, Triangle Town Center and Brier Creek. Alone at the mall, he said, Glen-Tree will look out of place to the point of being comical. "This will even dwarf what is affectionately known as 'The Green Pickle' in Durham," Crowder said, comparing Glen-Tree to the Bull City's much-maligned University Tower. Meeker said Glen-Tree's height made him uncomfortable, but there is no height limit in the zone where it will be built. That district was created to give the council some flexibility, so it was able to approve Glen-Tree with fewer parking spaces than would be normally required. For council member James West, Glen-Tree was hard to resist after so many endorsements. Marvin Malecha, head of N.C. State University's College of Design, wrote in a letter to the council: "We have become accustomed to such expression only in communities such as Chicago, San Francisco and New York." Mitesh Shah, whose Atlanta group is developing a Marriott hotel downtown, wrote that Glen-Tree would make a strong complement to his downtown project, helping to serve crowds at the new $192 million convention center. "We had a groundswell of support," West said. "I don't see this being in competition with downtown. You just don't wait for downtown to get exactly where it's going to be before you do anything else." Council member Philip Isley said he has received about 30 e-mail messages in the past week, about three-quarters of them opposed to Glen-Tree. But many more have written with support since the summer, when news of the project first arose. Isley said he was swayed because the city's plans call for distinctive architecture, such as a tower, in the Crabtree Valley area. "I don't think this is precedent-setting," Isley said. "There's very few places in the city where you could do this." Walia said financing for the $100 million project is already in place. It was easy to round up, he said, and nothing about the design will change. No Space Needle -- but maybe a postcard someday."

11/2/2005 12:01:32 PM

I wonder what the rest of the letter by marvin lays out.

The quote sounds like the beginning of a rebuttal in favor of the building.

11/2/2005 11:43:38 PM