Nice catch!

Wow! I was wondering when they were going to do that. Also it does seem smart to only put signs on the west and south sides of the building, as no one ever seems to look coming from the east or north. Seriously, most of the good shots only come from the south and west. That is, unless Matt takes them, he makes Raleigh look good from any angle.

Has anyone eaten at the new Tuscan Grille in the Marriott? I was downtown this Saturday and the place looked dead. I want to try it out, but was wondering if it was any good. Great Pic by the way, im anxiously awaiting a new mock up with the new Edison rendering added.

Their building was so classy, WHY DID THEY HAVE TO RUIN IT

I’m totally fine with the green emblem thing, but the lettering is UGLY AS SIN
they couldve done a much better job if they wouldve just put the cool swoopy logo pretty big at the top
DANGIT

Well, having been up inside, I can see why they didn’t do the north and east faces. That could have affected the views from the Capital Club rooms depending on how the letters were mounted.

Jacob, take a chill pill, its not that bad, the building is still one of the best-looking in Raleigh, a few small letters at the top isn’t gonna “ruin” a building. It looks quite nice to me.

I wish the actual green/blue logo was bigger…but overall it looks nice.

Changing subjects, has anyone heard what might be going into the old Yancey’s spot. It needs something that will draw the crowds in.

I wish they could add a little crown/spire on the top. Not just for pissing off Highwoods Properties, RBC and BB&T, but to add a little more to the image of our city. Personally, I like Wachovia Capital Center, both with and without the sign. I find this building attractive, but I wish it was at least another 10-15 stories taller This kind of design deserved more, IMHO.

Thanks for the pics, Matt. You certainly did justice to our skyline with your third shot. It may not impress, but it is a far cry from where we were 1-2 years ago. It always helps when the weather is nice and you can see the blue sky in the background!!!

I’m glad Wachovia has money for this…

You’d think Raleigh were the banking capital of the south with pretty much ALL of our downtown signs being banks – Wachovia, RBC, Capital Bank, Bank of America, and BB&T. The only other building (besides the hotels) with signage is Progress Energy.

But on the topic of Wachovia – I think this sign may look the best of the bunch, or at least close to that of Capital Bank.

Horatio,

Word is that potentially a large “high-end’ steak chain is considering the space. Something like a Mortons or Ruths Chris although the names were not given.

If these deals fall through, speculation is the space will be split as it is too large and too expensive for a ‘non-chain’ to survive.

I think the Italian place in the new Marriot should be good. A freind of mine got a job there and said they hired two Chefs from Itlay and moved them here to run the kitchen. I also saw a menu and it looks pretty good and not too pricy. I cant wait to actually try it.
Maybe when the new convention center opens they’ll get more traffic, and again, does anyone know when you’ll be able to drive through there? I think that will help bring the place along.

Too bad they are going to have to take the name down in the next 3-4 months when JP Morgan buys them.

Well, I think they did about as well as they could with the sign – well done. I like the logo at the top. Wouldn’t it be something if they decided to go ahead and add a fancy spire just to outdo RBC? lol

I can understand not adding the logo on the north side – the building is not visible from many places from the north (unless your name is Matt Robinson… lol) From the east, though, the building is visible in a lot of spots. They could do it later on, I suppose.

Ernest, I stopped by the restaurant but it was the week right after the 4th – it was closed for vacation. D’oh! I will make it out there soon though.

Matt K., the restaurant was closed for renovations, but it has been open since the 14th of July. Yesterday, I thought about our discussion on the best NY-style pizza in the Triangle because I went to Dominic’s… Can’t wait until I hear your review on Piccola Italia’s pizza

New subject: Anyone know what the status is of the Franklin Street Plaza (near Blount and Person Street – will replace that awful looking Person Street Plaza – nothing has been there for years) – same side as Krispy Kreme just slightly North)?

This project was announced 2-3 years ago by Hobby Properties.

As far as logos on multiple sides, they might also have issues with Raleigh’s sign ordinance as it allows only so many square feet.

Will the signs be illuminated?

Ernest, I went to Dominic’s yesterday too!! It would be cool if I saw you or something…I was with my family…but isn’t the pizza there good?

I still need to check out Piccola Italia, too…

TC, the Franklin Street Plaza is as good as dead Too many troubles trying to please the city, although I am not suggesting that traffic issues should be overlooked. Unless a miracle happens, the fate of this project doesn’t look promising.

Matt, I will let you form your own opinion on the difference in the quality of the pizza. I would say it is the difference between McDonalds and Char Grill burgers, but maybe I am biased. There was something that reminded me NY, but the very cheap side of it. Not horrible, just not up to my standards…

So, they can afford to put signage up but they can’t afford a mortgage department? I don’t understand the timing but I do think it looks good. I’d prefer without the signs but they did a good job with what they could.

Sorry, but if you want NY style pizza, you have to leave Raleigh and go to NY Pizza in Cary.

My favorite pizza in NYC is at John’s Pizzeria on 44th street – johnspizzerianyc.com. The best NY style pizza I have found in this area is at NY Slice of Pizza in Knightdale. This is not a fancy place but the pizza is very good and authentic NY style.

Why did they… that’s 8 giant letters to distract people from the rest of the skyline… no no no wrong wrong wrong.

bella italia on capcom dr in wake forest has pretty good ny style pizza too. im not sure how this thread turned into a pizza forum but nonetheless, its still pretty good pie. the letters look good too.

The Wachovia logos were lit tonight. And, for a brief period around 8-9 pm, the crown/spire on the RBC Plaza was lit as well. Then, everything except the red beacons turned off.

At Solas the other night, Excellent place. No developer excuses anymore, Solas is the minimum requirement for ALL new entertainment development (but taller).

Wachovia sign looked great from Solas the other night. RBC has to do something, those red beacon look pathetic. ALL buildings should be fully lighted until 5:00 a.m. minimum. BBT looks like crap, that whole building should be lit.

Unrelated to this topic, but I wanted to confirm what TC said… Solas is an awesome venue and sets a new standard for entertainment developments. I drove by last week and the line was simply UNBELIEVABLE!!! Not only there were so many people waiting to get in, but also there was a lot of activity all over the Glenwood South area. This leads me to believe that while Solas may take a lot of business from several establishments, it will also attract a lot more people to downtown. Those who cannot get in Solas will eventually go elsewhere.

The west lettering already has had some difficulty and only was lit as ‘Wachovi’ on Saturday. Oops!!

ಠ_ಠ

Matt H., are those supposed to be glasses??

Lol, its a funny emoticon…it looks way better in larger font though, its not as funny in a small font like this.
But if you want my two cents, I think all downtown skyscrapers should have signs on all four sides. That includes, but is not limited to:

2 Hannover
RBC
Wachovia
One Progress
Capital Bank
Two Progress

it would just look better with logos on all sides to me, but again, thats just me.

I would love to see Red Hat moving to downtown and place their logo above anyone else’s… Since I am a Linux user, and proud of it, I want to see penguins marching along Fayetteville Str. Maybe they can put a spinning red hat in a future plaza :LOL: Maybe Matt R. can place a skyscraper somewhere in the skyline with Red Hat’s logo

Linux… I’ve heard that it is really hard to install. Is that true?

Easier than Windows I have been using Linux since 1995 and I can say that it has gone a long way since then. Just to avoid any distraction from the topic, if you have ANY questions on Linux, feel free to email me – go through my website if you want and click on Contact Me…

It is very very hard to install, Ari.

Linux – since 1995?? I didn’t know it was that old. I believe that Linux probably had a part in the making of my operating system, Apple Inc.’s Mac OS X. Speaking of software, has anyone heard about how most Windows Vista users actually downgraded back to XP?? Microsoft screwed the pooch on that one.

IMHO, Vista>XP. I have used both and am currently a Vista user. I love it!

Well, good for you. But apparently it was too complicated for most people.

Back to Raleigh discussion, does anybody else agree with my idea of having signs on all sides of all skyscrapers?

Personally, I don’t really mind on two sides as from just about any vantage point, you can still see them, but then again, 4 signs would not bother me either. Of course, Raleigh’s sign ordinance probably has somethign to do with it, but I think it is silly to apply the same ordinance to all buildings, normal and monumental sized. Remember the complaints about the RBC Center sign? It looks perfectly in scale for that building.

Looking back at these pictures does make remember that the management of the Wachovia building needs to paint the top of their building. You can see it a little and it used to be the same color as the stone on the side, but it has faded to a color that does not even complement the building.

Signs are gonna go down now lol. Citi bought out Wachovia.

So how long till we see “Wells Fargo” signage atop the building now? “Wells Fargo Capitol Center”… hmmm, sounds a little weird. Maybe they’ll do all 4 sides this time around? And add a spire? lol