Kane Realty welcomes the following new tenants and/or expansions of existing tenants:

• BeyondBlue Interiors: relocating from Cary’s ArboretumPiola: new restaurant concept to Raleigh
• Varsity Men’s Wear: relocating from Crabtree Valley Mall
• ArtSource Fine Art & Framing Gallery:  expanding its current North Hills space closing its ArtSource location in Five Points
• dilly dally at Oh Baby!: expanding its current North Hills space and closing their North Raleigh store

Tenants that have already been announced for the expansion, opening in 2010 include:

• Bruegger’s
• Harris Teeter
• Henry’s Fine Italian Gelato
• 131 Main Restaurant
• Midtown Nail Spa
• Salon Blu
• Zoë’s Kitchen

What do you think about these new tenants? Which ones are you most excited about?

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USO of N.C. will collect items for veterans and their families to enjoy at CAPTRUST Tower during the ceremony. Requested donations include food, furniture, small appliances, storage containers, electronics, cleaning supplies and entertainment items.

WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 – Veteran’s Day – Rain or shine
10 – 11 a.m.

Note: Should it rain, the flags will not be flown but the ceremony will continue.

WHERE: Corner of Park and Market Street and Front Street in the North Hills expansion off of Six Forks Road in Raleigh

Coming from I-440 on Six Forks Road, turn right onto Front Street into the new North Hills development. The five, 30-foot flag poles will be on the left outside CAPTRUST Tower.

WHY CARE?

• According to Census 2000 data, more than 13 percent of North Carolina’s population is comprised of veterans.
• Miss North Carolina International Julie Tesh is an avid USO supporter and will participate in the Veteran’s Day ceremony.
• Several employees of Kane Realty Corporation, the developer of North Hills, are former members of the U.S. military and will attend the event.

This month, a significant portion of the $1 billion North Hills expansion begins opening for residents, tenants and guests. The flags will fly outside one of the most recently completed developments, CAPTRUST Tower

The completed North Hills expansion will include:

• 1 million square feet of office space
• 250,000 square feet of retail space
• 1,800 residential units
• 800 hotel rooms
• 3 new parks

For more information on the USO, visit www.uso-nc.org

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A new housing analysis published by the Wake County Human Services Department shows roughly 46,000 Raleigh households (35 percent) are paying too much for their housing, using the generally accepted federal standard that housing should cost no more than 30 percent of family income. The main reason: There’s not enough housing available at lower prices.

It’s interesting to note that when Kane Realty applied for rezoning of the area, the city did not require affordable-housing units in exchange for a rezoning that allowed higher density. I certainly don’t mean to suggest they were the only ones who weren’t required to have affordable housing, as I’m sure there are many other projects out there who are treated the same.

A task force appointed by the City Council has said that policy must change and recommends that Raleigh employ inclusionary zoning to require that large housing developments include some percentage of units affordable to low-income buyers and boost the supply of affordable housing in the city.

What do you think about this recommendation? Should any developments be exempt? If so, what are grounds for exemption?

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Today, Kane Realty announced that additional apartments at North Hills will open in late 2009. Park & Market is a $125 million, 900,000 square-foot, mixed-use, retail and residential project and will be home to the two-story Harris Teeter we’ve written about previously.

Park & Market will have six levels of high-end apartments (409 total homes) above 93,000 square feet of street-level retail. Residents will enjoy direct, in-building access to the 48,000-square-foot Harris Teeter. An interior structured parking deck with approximately 750 parking spaces will be available for both residents and visitors. Studio, one- and two-bedroom units will range from 640 to 1,370 square feet.

Some of these apartments (approximately 40) will open later this fall, along with the CAPTRUST tower, and more will open in 2009 and 2010.

“With the expansion of North Hills, we look forward to adding more open space where people can congregate to listen to live music and to enjoy other special events,” said John Kane. “For Park & Market residents, green space equal to the size of a football field will be just steps away.”

I’m looking forward to seeing what this green space will be like and what type of events will be there. This project is good in that it will provide additional residential opportunities at North Hills. The new apartments likely won’t be cheap, but some would say you get what you pay for, and this is a premium area in Raleigh. Check out the picture below to see current construction on the project:

What do you think about these new apartments at North Hills?

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They’re aiming for Silver certification, which is the third highest in LEED’s scale of greenness, after Platinum and Gold, but higher than Certified. To put things into perspective, there are only about 100 buildings in the world that have achieved Platinum certification, according to the News & Observer. Kane and Duke expect Captrust Tower to earn this certification based on features such as:

• Energy management, including high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. A new Web-based project management system will enable online monitoring, adjustment of temperature controls and demand control ventilation.
• A construction waste management program with a goal to divert more than 75% of waste from the landfill.
• Water efficient plumbing fixtures.
• Use of regionally manufactured and recycled materials
• Use of only certified wood products recognized by the Forest Stewardship Council.
• Specifying low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) emitting construction materials to improve indoor air quality and occupant health.
• Access to mass transit and preferred parking for fuel efficient vehicles.
• Highly reflective roof surfaces for a reduction in heat island effect caused by development.

This is good press for Kane Realty, Duke Realty and North Hills/Midtown Raleigh, and it’s a good thing to do. It’s also nice that they’re spending more money and doing this in a time when many companies are pinching pennies and cutting costs due to the state of the economy.

After breaking ground in March 2008, construction on the Captrust Tower is well underway. The foundation concrete has been poured and crews are working on the building superstructure. The building is scheduled to open in fall 2009 and will be the tallest building on the I-440 beltline.

In addition to 300,000 square feet of Class A office space, the first floor will feature 28,000 square feet of restaurants and retail, including an upscale restaurant.

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Kane first explained what the area has to offer now and then went into details of the expansion across Six Forks Rd. One major piece of this will be The Cardinal, a retirement community scheduled to open in 2010 which will have 202 residences. Besides the location and partnership with Duke to handle medical-related things, one feature of The Cardinal that is unique is the pricing model, which allows residents to share in the appreciation of their units.

Entry fees for a spot at The Cardinal range from $300,000 to about $1 million. If a resident passes away or decides to move out, 90% of this fee will be returned to the resident or his estate, in addition to 50% of the appreciation. So, if a person buys in for $1 million and decides to move out 10 years later (after the unit has appreciated to $1.3 million), the resident will get back $900,000 plus $150,000 (half of the appreciation). This is a unique model, because the resident is essentially able to minimize risk (don’t have to pay property taxes) but is allowed to share in the profit due to appreciation.

Kane said they have the funding for The Cardinal but need commitments for half the rooms (101) to start building due to regulations. They’ve currently sold 54 spots and offering special pricing and customization options to early buyers.

Once they start building, Kane said it will take about 18 months to complete The Cardinal. He estimated that the community could be available for living in October or November of 2010. As part of the entire expansion project, Six Forks Rd. will be widened in order to ease traffic and provide a safer way of crossing the street for pedestrians.

You can check out the website for The Cardinal at North Hills for more information.

In other news, the News and Observer has reported that “Kane Realty has negotiated “right of first refusal” — deal-speak for dibs — on 65 undeveloped acres east of the intersection” between Six Forks and 440. There are no solid plans yet for what will be built here.

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After 40 minutes and sweating buckets of water, I came back with some pictures of the construction. You’ll see that there are five cranes in the area now; the tallest crane is stationed where the Captrust Tower is being built. It also appears that work has started on The Cardinal at North Hills. *update – work hasn’t started on the Cardinal yet, but I’m told presales for units are exceeding expectations.

Click the thumbnails below to see some North Hills construction pictures as of August 4, 2008. Click twice for the largest size. It’s interesting to compare these pictures with the pictures we took back in February.

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Story From WRAL.com

President Bush will arrive in Raleigh today at 4:30pm for a private event to raise money for Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory’s gubernatorial campaign. The fundraiser will take place at  John Kane’s home. Kane is the chairman and CEO of Kane Realty Corporation, which had led the redevelopment of the North Hills area in Raleigh.

According to WRAL.com, more than 100 people are expected to pay at least $4,000 to attend this private event.

Read the whole story here: http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/3076404/

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The Hyatt Summerfield Suites Hotel at North Hills will have 140 rooms spread out over seven stories and 100,000 square feet. Other details and features include:

• full kitchens
• living area with a 32 inch flat screen TV
• separate bedroom
• complimentary full breakfasts
• free high-speed internet access
• 24-hour Guest Market with snacks and quick eats
• interior access to a fitness center and pool
• evening socials – Monday through Thursday.

Has anyone ever stayed in a Hyatt Summerfield Suites before? What did you think? And what exactly are the evening socials (and are they fun)?

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For the 2008-2009 school year, students in Aldert Root will attend school in modular units over at North Hills East. Kane worked with the community and school system to donate approximately 4 acres for the school to use while its 50 year old buildings are renovated.

By our estimate, about 150 people attended the event, and about 50 were kids. At the beginning of the event, the children gave a “Seussical” performance and sang songs inspired by famous Dr. Seuss phrases, such as “Anything’s possible,” “I do not like green eggs and ham,” and “a person’s a person no matter how small.”

Please see below for some video and pictures from the event. Click on the thumbnails for larger versions (click twice for the largest size).

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