As far as I can tell, Mayor Meeker’s response to a question after the State of the City speech yesterday was the first public confirmation that the Dorothea Dix Hospital property won’t fall in to private hands. Although I haven’t been following the saga of the state’s first mental institution very closely, this seems like really big news.

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Downtown Raleigh’s boldest condo project, The Hue, had a rough start after initially failing to sell any residential units. It entered the real estate market at the worst time in recent history, and a series of missteps by the original Los Angeles development group created a failed project in what should have been a receptive market.

After being sold and converted to rental units about six months ago, more and more residents are moving in and things are looking up. The missing component to the turnaround was ground-level retail, and that will soon change with the opening of Tribeca Cafe next month.

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I love all that glass!

I’ve long loved this building – ever since I was kid. My Dad frequented the original 42nd Street Oyster Bar at the corner of West and Jones streets in the mid 1960s, and I was often in tow.  The modestly styled Art Deco structure is across the street from the famed oyster bar and a Progress Energy power substation. The now long gone Bing Lee Chinese Laundry  was on the fourth corner of the intersection. The neighborhood back then was industrial; it was gritty– it was where guys went to drink PBR after work. This glass-walled building  was once the Carolina Power and Light Co.  truck garage.

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