With every new set of photos you post here, we learn at least a few new things about this city. Outstanding quality and great composition, along with the bonus mystery angles Great work, as always!!!

Am I really the first one to post? :LOL:

I really wish Wachovia would light up their logo as well. But it looks pretty good on the building.

I will be getting back home tomorrow evening, and can’t wait to see all of the improvements firsthand. Thanks Matt for a job well done…as always.

My partner and I were heading east on Morgan Street on Wednesday night (08/06) around 8:30 pm. I saw somebody with a camera on a tripod focusing from Union Square down Fayetteville Street. I wasn’t sure if that was you or not. We were going to give a shout out from the car, but had to keep going.

I’m assuming the second to last photo entitled “In case you missed it” is actually from the Marriott City Center, while the photo titled Marriott City Center earlier in the series is actually somewhere just north and maybe a block or two west of Fayetteville Street?

Mystery angle is somewhere east-north-east of downtown. Maybe along 64 business?

Well, the mystery angle has WakeMed Raleigh Hospital in the middle ground. Being that there has to be a rise, I’m guessing that it’s from on top of the old landfill south of New Bern Ave and west of New Hope.

I think it’s on that REALLY tall hill on the side of New Hope Road near its interchange with the US 64 Bypass. It used to be a trash dump before they moved it across the street.

Oh whoops sry dbearhug didn’t read your post first.

dbearhug, That most likely was me, as I was there taking some of these pictures then.

dbearhug/Ari, you are correct on the Mystery angle. From New Hope Road between New Bern and 264 exit, on the road near the landfill but not atop it.

Now, if you could only erase the obstrusive ‘SPPED LIMIT 35′ sign, the B&W/Red picture would be a stunner…

RBC Aircraft Black/White picture = MY WALLPAPER

NICE album, dude.

matt, would you ever consider selling poster size copies of you photos through this website? i can tell you that if you did, i have about 4 or 5 in mind that i would absolutely buy!!!……

Thats actually a really really good idea, Brandon, I never would have thought of that…Matt, you would make so much money off of that!

Morgan and F Street Photo: The building on each corner. Remove them and put two signatures towers with retail on the ground level.

Well, those are state owned buildings. On the right is the Court of Appeals and the left is the Statre Judicial Building. No way are they going anywhere.

I was with my mom driving through DT Saturday… She thought WCC was a different building after seeing the signage! Also, I posted this before, does anyone have any guesses as to which companies may want to move into to any of the four towers of The Edison?? Seriously please does anyone have any ideas at all? I personally think that JP Morgan/Chase may want some office space there, and maybe even put their sign on the building Also here is a list of companies I know of that have signage on their building:
BB&T/Two Hanover Square
Wachovia/Wachovia Capitol Center
RBC Bank/RBC Plaza
Capital Bank/Capital Bank Plaza
Sheraton/Sheraton Raleigh Capital Center Hotel
Marriott/Marriott Raleigh City Center
North State Bank/Odd Fellows Buildng (adjoins this building, could not remember actual building)
Bank of America/One Hanover Square
Progress Energy/Two Progress Plaza
WTVD Television, LLC/The Hudson (1)
West Developers, LLC/West at North (1)
Wake County Gov./Wake County Courthouse (1)

1. = Could be considered signage

Alright then, goodnight.

Ari, it would be VERY hard to predict which companies could end up at The Edison. If we knew of any corporate relocation, then it’d be much easier. If hard pressed I would bring up two names: RBC Centura and Morgan Stanley. The former will eventually need to expand, be that due to expansions, or relocations from Rocky Mount – I would hate to see the latter losing such a major employer, though. The second employer I mentioned is due to John Mack’s (the CEO of Morgan Stanley) ties to our state and his interest in doing something in Raleigh, particularly downtown.

There are some people who have already dismissed Morgan Stanley because they have confused the type of operations that company was interested to expand. Morgan Stanley is interested in building a regional operations group, and something of The Edison’s scale would be perfect for them. A reliable source mentioned to me that the interest in genuine, but nothing is 100%, mainly because the decision depends on many more people, not just John Mack. If it doesn’t happen, nobody will know about it, that’s how low-profile Morgan Stanley wants to keep on this. If it happens, on the other hand, it will be a major operation and will add a lot more image and pedestrian activity to our downtown. For the moment, it is wishful thinking, but not improbable…

From the top of my head, I can think of any other entity, but I do not dare saying it :LOL: First Citizens Bank. Based on the latest ratings, FCB does very well when compared to other banks. Maybe some day they will see the green light. They have until 2018, in the case of The Edison :LOL: Generally speaking, it could be a major anchor and several other smaller ones, but I think that in order to get those towers started, the condo pre-sales and the hotel operators will be the major factors. In other words, I anticipate some speculative office space, although not much, if the residential and hotel components do well.

I am pleased as punch to discover a photo of two of my delicious hot dogs at the Roast Grill on the RaleighSkyLine website. I am honored to be considered a part of what’s “REALLY HAPPENING” in our lovely city of Raleigh, NC ! Thanks!

ha

Ha? What’s funny?

Well, I see no problem with a photo of hot dogs on here. Matt R obviously thought well enough of them to give them a little “plug” here on his site. They look pretty good to me! I think we’d all agree that good food is just as integral to the appeal of a city as a pretty skyline is!

You never know… We may even get a proposal for Sites 2 and 3, for two hot-dog-shaped towers :LOL:

LOL Ernest

I don’t want anyone to say that we are a city with no imagination and signature towers

Ernest: With that said. What is taking so long for RFP’s on site 2 and 3?

This is why I keep saying Raleigh is slow to develop. We do not have to wait for one project to finish to start another. Get the process moving yesterday on site 2 and 3. Proposals should have been in conjunction with the convention center. The Convention Center team should not be surprised when conventions do not come back to Raleigh after their first experience (I will bet the farm, no entertainment or additional hotel rooms will equate to convention center authorities reducing square footage pricing to attract additional conventions – they will be lucky if they break even after reducing the rate because of the lack of amenities and hotel rooms – all resulting becasue of the lack of vision and the lack of urgency building out the area around the center – not to mention there is absolutely nothing to the west of the convention center for blocks – but ugly vacant lots – the downtown alliance should have started discussions a couple years ago about a signature development for entertainment and signature towers next to the convention center – convention goers will not wait 10 years for the Edison – they will have selected other cities long before the Edison is completed)

Ernest: P.S. Your thoughts (site 2 and 3 need to be signature towers on each side of F Street, I believe this develpoment is critical for the convention center and weekend activity – these buildings need 2-3 levels of entertainment, with the second and third floors having outdoor seating looking over F Street – similar to Bourban Street – I am suggesting two differnet looking buildings – the one west side 35 stories and the east side building must be taller to compliment the other (east side 40 – 45 stories – will bring a sense of balance to each end of F Street))

Unfortunately, the city cannot just make people develop and build things. If private developers can;t get loans in place, nothign will happen. Now, the city can recruit businesses to come which might spark some new construction, but without a demand, it will not happen. The city cannot go building a spec office tower either and when they try to do something similar to a private developer, people jump all over them a la The Mint.

TC, I am as excited about the possibilities, as I am frustrated about the delays in the RFP process for Sites 2 and 3. Is the city really moving slowly? I am not 100% certain, but let’s think about it. The following are merely questions I have no answer to, but at the same time they may provide us a way to understand the delays.

* Would you publish an RFP before the convention center officially opens and you have some success to speak of?
* Given the troubles and headaches lenders have caused for developers, what are the chances we’ll get some decent proposals? Maybe it is better to move slower.
* As work on the new urban guidelines continues, we may need to wait a little longer, in order to avoid any back-and-forth discussions between developers and city planners. Open space requirements will have to change permanently.
* Sites 2 and 3 are currently used for more than just parking. I assume they will be used during the construction of Site 4 and Charter Square. Until these two projects are well under way, should the city move forward with RFPs?
* Do we have an adequate system to deal with developers that don’t deliver as promised? So far, we seem to have difficulties, but we are learning.
* Regarding the perception of moving slow, we need to keep in mind that the City Council is a part-time entity, not a full-time one, like many other cities. Considering that, we are moving fast, in most cases, anyway.

Whether we’ll see tall structures going on Sites 2 and 3 it is early to guess. Without some minimum requirements by the city, it would be hard to assume that high-rises will end up there. I certainly hope we’ll see nothing less than 25 stories – I would love a couple of towers above 35 floors, or course – but I am afraid we’ll end up with buildings up to 15 floors. In terms of design, I would not mind a twin tower project, similar to Kio Torres (Puerta Del Europa) in Madrid, Spain. They are iconic, however plain the overall design may look. We can have something like a “Gateway to Raleigh” project, with two towers that “serve” like doors to Fayetteville Str. Two other towers that may offer inspiration are the National Bank of Dubai Building (Dubai) and the Burj Al Arab (Dubai). I am not suggesting we carbon-copy these two towers, but their design may provide some inspiration. It goes without saying, these sites MUST have a superb street-level experience

when will the Edison rendering be added to a picture of the skyline

I asked the same question in another topic, but Matt R. seems to keep secrets from us… He is preparing his next attack and he is very silent about it :LOL:

Ya gotta think with the lighting of the RBC logo and spire tonight, we will be getting some soon. Right?

I’m sure we’ll see an update soon. The convention center exterior is complete, the Marriott and RBC are done as well. It’s too bad that the Reynolds project is up in the air. I’d love to see a definite rendering of what would go there if they could move forward with that.

And, I kinda miss the “labs” section of the site too. That was fun to see before all of these projects started actually going up.

Yeah, I miss the labs too. I just dropped my cousin off at NCSU and got a good look at the Raleigh skyline from a few different angles. It looks better and better every time I see it.

new pics now!!

Hey Matt! Thanks a million from Hamid and I for taking a great picture of Mo’s Diner AND for the terrific comment. I’d love to see you again soon so that I can thank you in person. Keep up the great work!

Matt oustanding job! I am suprised with all the angles. My computer screen never looked better. Thanks so much. Do you have prints for sale.