Raleigh hopes to develop plots on future transit corridor into affordable housing and mixed use
The City of Raleigh is moving ahead with plans to redevelop land along a future transit corridor on New Bern Avenue.
The land, which was purchased by the city at the end of June, is currently the site of a vacant gas station, market, and other businesses.
The city hopes to build retail on the first floor of the complex, with affordable housing above and behind it. They also want to include certain medical services like a dentist, eye doctor and daycare center -- amenities that the neighborhood currently lacks.
"Really a great opportunity to not only create affordability there, and a place for folks to live, but to build in some of those amenities that are hard to find in the same site," said Erika Brandt, Raleigh's Housing Programs Administrator.
Brandt says the plots' location along the future BRT corridor made it a perfect target for the city.
"This one is really ideal, it's right on New Bern Avenue, the bus rapid transit corridor is going to go right through there, so it's really an ideal site for us," she said.
Nathan Spencer with Wake Up Wake County supports the development, saying the proposed amenities will make the entire neighborhood more livable.
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"We get better transit, more affordable housing, and residents with families that are going to our schools," Spencer said.
He also said it can serve as a model for other available land located on the BRT corridors that are planned towards Garner and Cary.
"A good blueprint for what's going to happen along the southern corridor of the BRT and the western corridor, where we can build up, but in a very intentional way," Spencer said.
The city hopes to submit a Request for Proposal to developers sometime in late 2024. It's not clear yet how many total units could be built on the land.
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