Bob Mulder, former Chair of Raleigh’s Planning Commission and a Raleigh real estate professional has reviewed the Staff Report for the Z-12-2025 rezoning request, the West Street Tower.
We are publishing it here with his permission.
The images included are excerpted from the Staff Report.
September 5, 2025
A review and commentary on the Z-12-2025 rezoning request. My comments in italics.
This is not an offer of any consequence. Not enough money, and what if it takes a few years to reach the occupancy of the 500th unit? This is a bad deal.
No comments about the well-organized development industry? Don’t development groups meet regularly with staff? Are the results of these meetings ever published in staff comments? Maybe there is a lack of transparency here? Why did the residents think that the proposed building height was too tall? I suspect that there were good reasons stated that provided context to their comments. Why not publish these? These staff remarks may not have been intentional to make the neighborhood residents look uninformed and out of touch with the prevailing planning objectives, but they certainly portray the residents as such. “There are 4 comments in support of the request and 4 comments opposed.” When the Planning Commission sees this remark they probably think that nobody cares about this project enough to submit comments. So, the opposition’s remarks are automatically minimized and ignored. I would not have even included this in the results because it carries no weight whatsoever and should not be considered in the decision making process. Over recent years, there has definitely been a strong bias against single-family detached neighborhoods exhibited from multiple quarters in the City of Raleigh.
While they cannot be required by law, affordable housing units should be included in buildings in the downtown area. Paying a paltry sum towards affordable housing, and no money until the 500th unit is occupied is not taking responsibility by the developer to contribute to the common good. There is no question that including affordable units would lengthen an investors return of and on their investment, but maybe a slow dime is better than a fast nickel. There should also be questions on the rezoning application asking the developer what percentage of the new residents will not have a car, and what percentage of their residents will reduce the use of their cars and by how much?
The site is not well separated from the adjacent residential neighborhood given the proposed height of the building. This specific site is located in an area that is designated as Transition Area in the Comprehensive Plan. 30 stories cannot be defined as a transition height to a two story, historic neighborhood.
The development proposed in Z-12-2025 should mirror the height of the building where the Publix is located (12 stories). If the developer of the Publix building made it work, so can this developer.
This development is not expanding truly affordable housing choices on this site where it is most needed. The developer is simply saying “not in my backyard/development (NIMBYD).” Would it not be a good thing for Publix employees to be able to live across the street from their job? Isn’t this what we have been talking about for years, so that police, fire, state employees and other lower paid workers would be able to live close to their jobs?
This proposed development is very close to a historic neighborhood. Why is there no reference in this document to Section 12 of the Comprehensive Plan regarding Historic Preservation? The first comment reads “Lack of transitions around historic resources which can sometimes lead to jarring juxtapositions of scale and proximity that detract from the character of the historic resource’s setting.” Has anybody read this or is even aware of this section of the Comprehensive Plan?
What happens to the downtown core when more and more very tall buildings are approved farther and farther out from the downtown core? Will the downtown core eventually become less vibrant?
There are many comments about walkability and biking in the staff comments. There are places that are safe to walk and bike in Raleigh, but they are in a minority. Here is a serious problem I’ve seen around Raleigh regarding bike lanes.
As you are coming down Brentwood Road towards the intersection of N. Raleigh Blvd and Skycrest Rd (from the top of the image) you can see that the bike lane moves to the left so that vehicular traffic can turn right. This means vehicles have to cross the bike lane. This is a safety issue. One distracted driver crossing the bike lane and any biker in the way is flattened. If we are really going to be bicycle friendly, then we will need to have separated bike lanes like they have in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Robert Mulder, Former Chair
Raleigh Planning Commission
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