Is it just me or does the Marriott look like it belongs out at Carter Finley Stadium. The Murphy Center also utilizes this silver cladding with the grid pattern.

Well, actually CFS looks much better than this hotel. I’m really disappointed in this hotel. It looks like a suburban hotel on the fringe of Raleigh’s DT. Why couldn’t they have used more glass?

You could also make the argument that the building across the street from the Ramada on Blue Ridge is better-looking than the NC Capitol.

That hotel is going to be the shame of downtown for many years to go. Anyway, great photos, regardless of the bad conditions. Thanks, Matt.

The view south saunders st. looks better with every new photo. I was riding down south saunders headed thru DT, and the buildings at night just look very “major city.

I somehow missed this, but RBC stands for Royal Bank of Canada? So the tallest building in Raleigh is a Canadian bank?

Well, not exactly… Although the building is called RBC Plaza, the developer/owner is actually Highwoods Properties, a local company. Also, RBC Centura is becoming more and more independent from the parent bank, but for now we can say that a Canadian Bank’s logo stands above any other logo in our skyline… Time for the other banks to wake up

RBC (Raleigh) is subsidary of the biggest bank in Canada.

They’ve started laying fayetteville street in front of the mariot! The web-cam image is linked to my name, that’s the only way I could get a hyperlink in my post.

You can put links in your posts, they just have to be manually approved.

does anybody else think that the RBC Plaza sign looks kinda small?

rbc logo is very small

The RBC logo is so small that it will be difficult to see even when lit up at night.

Well, I just thought about this: the BB&T letters on Two Hanover Square got replaced with larger letters quite recently, because they were almost too small to see…maybe the same could be in store for RBC?

Matt, the downtown sign size limitation was actually increased at RBC’s request. The ones you see now prompted the city council to allow larger signs a few months ago. I would imagine the current logos on the building will be up there for quite some time.

Oh, well, one can only dream…

I think wachovia needs a nice big logo, too.

I am sure that I read recently that RBC will be dropping the “Centura” from its name in the very near future. So it will simply be RBC Bank. I would agree with JR, the base of the spire was designed around those logos (they’ve appeared even in the earliest drawn renditions of the building, I think) so I wouldn’t expect any changes any time in the near future.

Regarding signage, Matt Robinson posted a mockup of what Wachovia Capitol Center might look like with signage on it, maybe about 3 months ago or so. Roanoke VA’s Wachovia headquarters downtown bears a decent resemblance to ours downtown, albeit being much shorter, but it does have Wachovia signs on it. Emporis and a couple of other sites have photos of the building if anyone’s curious to see how it could look.

I like the Wachovia building exactly how it is. It has a gotham, humble appearance and offers a nice contrast to the other 2 tall buildings on F St. I think a huge sign on each side of it would make it look a bit gaudy.

Agree JR.

The BBT sign looks rediculous on a rediculous looking building. Plus, why put the sign up when JP Morgan will be buying Wachovia – my guess, within the next 2-3 months – approval by Q408 or Q108 (would be a waste of time). Go JP Morgan!!!!! JP Morgan Building, nice ring to it!

Note: Can we please change the angle of the downtown money shot (more Wachovia and less of the BBT building, one ugly building)

Matt K., dont’cha think RBC Bank sounds a little redundant?

The smaller the RBC sign the better. Not a fan of all the signs on skyscrapers including the mid to small size towers in Raleigh. I think nicely designed towers speak for themselves without a big sign on top. Hopefully whoever the Edison developers can get to anchor their proposals will not get caught up into who has the biggest sign.

It’s not so much a matter of competition over who has the biggest sign, it would just be nice to be able to see it better, especially when lit.

Believe me, i’m no fan of extremely huge signs either, but about the size of the sign on 2-H.S. is perfect, in my opinion

Marriott city center looks like it was built with Legos

lmao, Flyer!

i went on the roof of RBC today, the view was mind-blowing

And I assume you have the photos to back this up :LOL:

Actually, i do have the pictures to back it up. I can e-mail them to you if you want.

Or better yet Matt, e-mail them to Matt R. so he might post them online. Unless you can put them online somewhere……..

Well, Ernest over here doesn’t seem to believe me =(
but, Ari, that does sound like an interesting idea.

did anyone see the Kiplinger’s named Raleigh #2 in it’s list of best places for 2008. We did better than Austin even, one of my personal favorites. I want to believe that Raleigh deserves this, and the many ‘best of’ accolandes it has gotten of late, but as a relative newcomer I’m just not sure how Raleigh scores so high on all these lists. I come on to this site and read about how far we all think this town has to go to be on the map, yet the rest of the country seems to think we are just the hottest thing goin’. Can anyone enlighten me? is someone paying these people to say this stuff or is it well deserved? I’d like to know.

i saw that dougc, and msnbc ranked us number 1 place to live

Matt, feel free to email some to me Since I have no way of getting up there, this would be a treat!!! Just click on my name, go to my website and click on “Contact Me”. Take your time, but please don’t forget me

Ok, Ernest, i’m going to send them, but it might take a while, because I have to message them each individually from my phone to my computer, and it has to be done when I get home from work at 3:30, but I won’t forget.

Thanks, Matt Take your time, as I know VERY well how tough it is these days to keep up with all the responsibilities we have… I am not as demanding as I sound :LOL:

DougC, I think the ranking is justified. I have been living downtown here for a year now and I have lived in Austin on 26th St so I can compare the experience between these two similar cities. Austin does not have a Durham or Chapel Hill nearby so everything is concentrated around the growth downtown. Such is not the case in Raleigh but we are starting to see rapid development in all corners of our downtown and trust me, with the influx of residents moving in here this place will be able to offer a unique street-level experience complete with all the city amenities.

The cool thing (I think) about Raleigh is that development is not just all downtown. We are seeing a push for urban change around North Hills and Crabtree as well. Raleigh can benefit from NC State being so close to downtown (just like UT is 5-10 blocks north of the texas state capitol). I am very eager to see what will happen if all of these areas successfully grow… this is why I believe we are ranked so high in so many lists. Apparently everyone wants to see what will happen if Raleigh achieves true urbanity in multiple areas as well. The rankings exist to create excitement and to hopefully bring even more people (tourists and potential residents) to the Triangle. Maybe someone is paying them off too.

Guys, in cased you missed it, these were from the roof of RBC (I’ve never done a full series with them yet):

http://raleighskyline.com/images/05.01.08/may_1_08_raleighskyline.com_20.jpg
http://raleighskyline.com/images/05.01.08/may_1_08_raleighskyline.com_17.jpg
http://raleighskyline.com/images/rbcroofpan.jpg

Matt, let us know when you get yours pics up.

thanks for the feedback JR. I’m from Ft. Worth, TX (rags to riches story in terms of DT development) originally so I always seem to gravitate to those experiences when evaluating NC. Seems that TX took off about 20-30 years before NC so maybe this is not entirely fair to Raleigh to hold them to such a standard- although in many ways Raleigh has the potential to put many other cities to shame in a few years if it plays its cards right. What you say about Austin is true, more concentrated development in downtown and more of a WOW factor than you get here. But Raleigh can develop a WOW factor in DT in spite of the fact that many things will always be located far from downtown.

Matt, cool panoramic picture – you can make out the capitol, senate, and Archdale building on the right. I wish I had the hookup to go to the top of RBC plaza too The view from your own eyes must be spectacular.

DougC, I’m a huge fan of Fort Worth. I was there last summer. They did a great job downtown in recent years with Sundance square… that place used to be full of bums but now it’s a good time on most nights. Anyway, I know what you mean by the WOW factor in Austin. Driving on I-35 (taking the high road) and seeing the skyline from an elevated position really makes you feel like you’re part of something big. I need to post a picture of this skyline shot I took from the southeast a couple years back – I got it so that you can see everything from the San Jacinto center all the way up to the UT Tower. Now Austin has 3-4 buildings in the works that are taller than Frost Bank… the neighborhoods west of Congress are starting to build upwards… that place is really taking off. Except for east of I-35 of course… stay away from there unless you need a “fix”.

But as for Raleigh, yes I am glad you feel the same way I do in that this place has the potential to become a unique well-known city. The way it is laid out fosters pedestrian growth in many areas and they all need to be tied together and developed intelligently. Austin went out on a limb in the 90s and put up signature buildings that people would see in a picture and say “oh, that is definitely Austin”. They weren’t even that tall, but they were so different than any other buildings being put up in America… almost demanding attention from the greater conscience. And it worked! Look at the growth in central Texas over the last decade and you will see the city of Austin is doing a fantastic job attracting people and growing its core – as well as maintaining its “weirdness”.

I hope the Raleigh city council and the developers realize what opportunity they have in front of them. This is not a time to be conservative… Austin was not in the 1990s… this city really needs to push the envelope and take some risks if we are to become at least a nationally-recognized destination. People aren’t moving here because of the weather or job market, they are moving here because they see change, excitement, and novelty.

John Kane is having President Bush and gubernatorial candidate McCrory over for dinner tonight. Hopefully they’ll come up with more ideas for midtown development.

Official Matt, would you like me to email you my photos?

Also, Ernest, the pictures are coming your way!

Sorry, last consecutive post…if you want the pictures I took drop me a line at mlhartman @ nc-dot-rr-dot-com!

Thanks, Matt… It is much appreciated

No problem, man, its my pleasure.