RFI For Convention Hotel & Downtown Development Project
The City of Raleigh, North Carolina is one of the fastest growing cities in the country with a dynamic downtown energized by new residential and office construction, a nationally-recognized restaurant scene, burgeoning local retail and night-life, popular museums of science, history, and contemporary art, diverse festivals and cultural events, an active and growing convention center, and a historic performing arts center that is home of the North Carolina Theater, Symphony, Opera, and Ballet.
The City has saved the flagship sites in its portfolio for this critical and catalytic project—a convention center headquarters hotel and separate office/mixed-use tower. The property site is located at the southern end of Fayetteville Street, Raleigh’s main street and downtown’s premier address, and across the street from the City’s convention center and performing arts center
| Opportunity |
This is a unique and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop a convention center headquarters hotel and separate office/mixed-use tower on two prime vacant lots in downtown Raleigh. The City of Raleigh owns the property and seeks proposals of interest to develop (a) the hotel and office/mixed-use tower projects, or (b) the hotel project only. Innovation, quality design and construction, and sustainability are important values to the City for this transformation project.
Downtown Raleigh’s office market is strong with occupancy over 95%, according to Downtown Raleigh Alliance data. The sub market currently has three towers under construction with two more new Class A towers recently delivered in 2019. Notably, technology focused companies are core users of downtown office space. According to Business Facilities, Raleigh is a top-5 tech hub in the U.S., based on job concentration.
Raleigh’s projected population growth is nearly 70%
over the next 25 years. According to the 2019 State of Downtown Raleigh report, downtown Raleigh’s population grew 57% in the past decade, well above the growth rates for both the city and state, with 2,665 new housing units added in the past four years and over 2,000 more units under construction or planned
Downtown Raleigh attractions drew 3.4 million visitors in 2018. Visitation to downtown attractions is up by 47% since 2007. The Raleigh Convention Center hosted about 260 events and conferences with nearly 460,000 attendees in 2018.
The available 2.5-acre site includes two parcels flanking Fayetteville Street, the most prominent street in downtown Raleigh. Right-of-way is mapped to extend Fayetteville Street through the property creating two sites, each about one acre.
The 500,000 square foot Raleigh Convention Center (RCC) and connected 401-room Marriott opened in 2008, and the market has since outgrown the available hotel room block within walking distance.
The City recently committed $5M to optimize sales efforts and operations at the RCC.
The 2018 JLL Destination Strategic Plan recommends a new 500+ room convention hotel that, when combined with the RCC optimization effort, could generate over 100K new annual room nights.
Downtown Raleigh is poised for continued growth. In 2018, the City opened its new $100 million Raleigh Union Station less than ½ mile from the proposed hotel and office/mixed-use project sites. The new train station is 26,000 square feet and was built to accommodate current and future demand for intercity passenger rail, commuter rail, buses, taxis, and bicycles. Additionally, a dedicated revenue source has been approved to fund bus rapid transit in and around downtown.
To grow tourism and promote economic development, the City of Raleigh and Wake County approved $14 million in 2019 from Hospitality Tax revenue to buy needed land near the convention center for future center use, $5 million in 2021 to improve and optimize the convention center, and planned $230 million for a convention center expansion as early as 2028. Hospitality Tax revenue also is committed to cover 95% of ongoing capital maintenance for the venue
Dorothea Dix Park, a 308-acre City-owned park, is located approximately 0.5 miles from the project sites. In 2019, the Raleigh City Council approved Phase I of the long-term park Master Plan and the park hosted its first Dreamville Music Festival attracting over 40,000 people. Dreamville will return in 2020.
