City Club Raleigh closing its doors after four decades in business

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- After more than four decades in business, City Club Raleigh is shutting its doors permanently at the end of the year.

Its members learned about the impending closure in a letter that was sent out Tuesday night.

"Our last day of operations will be Tuesday, December 31, 2024, with the conclusion of our lease," the letter reads. "This decision was not made lightly and reflects the current circumstances that have affected our operations in the post-Covid era."

The City Club opened in 1979.

General manager Liz Miller, who declined an interview with ABC11 on Wednesday, sent out a statement that says in part "It's been an honor to be a part of so many memorable experiences ... and we wish everyone the best in their future endeavors."

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This year, Wells Fargo also moved out the Capitol Center, citing much of the reduction to underutilization of the space pre-Covid, according to a spokesperson.

"As part of our multiyear effort to build a stronger, more efficient Wells Fargo, we continually assess our real estate portfolio to ensure we are best meeting the needs of employees and customers, responding to consumer and economic trends, and managing our costs responsibly," the spokesperson said.

Despite some of the larger tenants leaving downtown Raleigh, some experts said the changing business landscape is "still healthy" with office leasing increasing.

"If you look at sort of the overall decline of private dinner clubs and social clubs over the last decade or so, I'm thinking that might be have simply been a business decision because they didn't say where they're going or what they're going to do with the club," Billie Redmond said.

Redmond, who's the founder of the commercial real estate company, TradeMark Properties, said that although the City Club is leaving the Wells Fargo building, a law firm that already operates inside the building is making moves to take over the space on the 28th floor.

"Highwoods Properties, who owns (the building), is making significant improvements and making substantial investments in the building. So obviously they're bullish on downtown," Redmond said. "So on the one hand, you have City Club closing after a long history in downtown and you have Smith Anderson, who's been on Fayetteville Street for a hundred years, not only renewed their lease to stay, but they even expanded."

Redmond said she expects the downtown area to continue to attract investors.

"The more people who live downtown, the more office leasing, the more retail leasing and entertainment will happen," Redmond said. "Think about the expansion of the Convention Center and the new Omni Hotel. All of that just says that we are going to keep growing and that we are going to realize that in the next few years."