Jul

Edison Office Tower Heads to Appearance Commission

On Thursday at 4:30pm the Raleigh Appearance Commission will review plans detailing the latest design for the Edison Office building. The building, according to the site plan (pdf) will sit in the northwest quadrant of the block bounded by Wilmington, Martin, Blount, and Davie Streets, across from the side of Beasley’s, replacing the building containing Reliable Loan,

The current plan calls for a 17-story tower that is 301-feet high, about 9% taller than the Progress Energy Tower (former City Plaza building). Plans call for the project to contain 417,000 feet of office space, parking garage space for 328 spaces, and 3 ground-level retail spaces, and an elevator lobby fronting Martin Street. There will be 6 combination parking/office floors sitting atop the street-level retail, capped by 11 full office floors.

The Appearance Commission’s duties will be light with this project, as they will likely deal mostly with streetscape elements of the plan. One such that needs to be addressed is the standard U-shaped bike racks. A more creative design would give this project and downtown much more character. Perhaps a light bulb shape as a nod to Edison’s most popular invention?

The site plan offers much detail about the ground floor and a typical parking floor, but isn’t clear about parking access. On the floors with parking, this project will neatly abut the existing parking garage originally built for the block’s four corner projects. Perhaps access will simply be from critical access points in the existing structure.

This will be a nice, early century addition to Raleigh, offering some much needed, class A office space to a market that is at capacity. How does the project fall short? Though I really like the Red Hat Tower, this project is a slightly taller duplicate, and will sit one block north of Red Hat. Yes, this project fits the needs of today’s market, however this land is one of the few places where an impact tower could be added to fill out Raleigh’s “money shot”. Given the appearance of this building’s crown, this project will add nothing interesting to that view. So in that sense, it is a lost opportunity.

Mark

Blah blah money shot. You should never ever develop anything with regard to how a postcard will look. The people living and working in the spaces that comprise downtown are what matters.A few tall buildings spread out here and there are fine, but all smashed up together and you get a dismal, windy streetscape, where plants barely survive and doughnuts and coffee are consumed sans a sunny cafe window. 17 stories feels about right to me at this location. You want 50 or 60 stories, park it behind Berkley Cafe say, in the center of the block, as one better spot…
Vatnos

I’m quite thrilled it’s been bumped up to 300 feet. That’s a great height for the spot. Something a bit more creative for the top would be nice but it’ll still be a worthy 4th tallest for the city, and it will look excellent from the Capitol and from the east.

Once the whole Edison block is built up it will create a more contiguous area for nightlife from Wilmington St to Moore Square.
http://www.raleighmsa.com Ernest

The increase in height is a welcome addition to a project that simply felt underwhelming to me – and MANY others. Unfortunately, this is yet-another missed chance to create a little skyline density, which is not going to happen in other areas of downtown, despite our wishes.

What remains to see is the architectural details of this building. While I do not expect the design to depart from the recent renderings of the 13-story version, I hope it will end up like a slimmer version and closer to the 38-story concept. I know, wishful thinking… At 300ft, it will do something for the East side of Wilmington Street. I wish I could be a little positive about The Edison Apartments, but I still hope the latter NEVER happens. A total waste of space that even the 17-story office building cannot make up for.
http://twitter.com/raleighing Chris

Interesting that it is 300 ft. tall but only 17 stories. Red Hat Tower is 240 ft. with 19 stories. Perhaps Red Hat’s parking floors are shorter than this new building’s parking floors.
Dana

Right, Chris. I know. I counted THREE times to check that I wasn’t going crazy. The site plan clearly has 301′, but I’m only counting 17 stories on the wireframe rendering. Of course the height could included equipment facades on the roof, and there could be a tall first floor, but Red Hat has both of those. I don’t think there will be 15′ from floor to floor, so it is a bit of a head-scratcher, and makes me wonder how firm that “301” is.
http://www.raleighmsa.com Ernest

Actually, the site plan shows a 19-story building (including the 13th floor). Each office floor will be over 15′ tall. That explains the 301′ in height. I also love this increase because it will be a nice transition from PNC Plaza to Skyhouse Apts

I just hope that Gregg finds enough tenants to occupy most of the building, and even require more space, so he can add a few more floors (wishful thinking).
Javier

Raleigh architects needs to get over their fixation on blocky towers. How about some domes, spires, and jagged topped towers?
http://www.raleighmsa.com Ernest

Amen to that, Javier!!! Also, developers need to aim for something more exciting. The original Edison plan was a far more exciting, at least as far as the top is concerned.
Jake

Javier, Ernest: I agree about the more appealing designs, but let’s just be happy (more like ecstatic) that the Edision is a LOT taller than originally planned. But yes, more iconic designs wouldn’t hurt, especially with BEAUTIFUL buildings like the new(ish) SECU tower already here lookin’ all pretty.

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Edison Office Tower Heads to Appearance Commission

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