150-room boutique hotel planned for site next to Moore Square

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Raleigh City Council approved plans Tuesday to move ahead with a 150-room boutique hotel adjacent to Moore Square. The plan has been in the works as far back as July 2021, when the Council introduced rezoning plans for areas east and south of Moore Square.

During its work session, the council agreed to adopt plans that would make way for the hotel on the parking lot that sits directly behind City Market and across the street from Moore Square Magnet Middle School. Additionally, the City will explore other options for the Blake Street, Norwood, and Esso parcels that buffer the parking lot.

"It's good. But hopefully they leave that parking lot for the people to park," said Mario Longo, owner of Vic's Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria. "Because we fear we'd have no parking, people would have no way to come and eat. Because they're not going to go one block, two blocks away, and come and see us. So this parking lot in the back is very good for us."

Longo said he decided on its prime City Market location 32 years ago because of the available parking in the rear of the restaurant. He understands there are ambitions that a much-needed hotel downtown that could potentially bring more business to his eatery. However, without ample parking for dining guests, he fears the business would be challenged to succeed.

"If they take (parking) out, it's going to be a really hard way to survive," he said.

"We need the hotel rooms walkable to the convention center. We've got a deficit there," said councilmember Jonathan Lambert-Melton. "So using that surface parking for the hotel and trying to support the small businesses in City Market, I think that makes perfect sense."

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Meanwhile, nearby resident Allen Weiss said he would love to see an additional grocery store in downtown Raleigh that offers more common household and kitchen items, unlike Weaver Street Market. Weiss said the growth is a good thing for the neighborhood.

"I welcome the growth," Weiss said. "I have family members that don't like it. They don't like the traffic, you know, things that come with the city growing."

On the city's east side of Moore Square, the council was presented with another option to address the "blight" in the area. The east side is comprised of a future mixed-use option, adjacent to the former House of Art, the Raleigh Rescue Mission, and plans for an affordable housing project to take up the parking lot across from the Lincoln apartment complex.

The council said its current function as a parking lot is not the "best use" for the site.

LODEN Hospitality was in the process of developing plans for the mixed-use option, which would include a grocery store and a residential tower. And possibly an additional hotel. However, LODEN informed the City that it would be "quite some time, possibly years," before it could secure financing for the residential tower.

The council agreed to end negotiations with LODEN for the project and restart the process to open options for potential future buyers. If the City were to have moved forward with assisting LODEN with the residential tower, it would have forced the council to pivot funding for 250-300 affordable housing units.

"Our main focus is helping the affordable housing part move forward," said councilmember Corey Branch, who represents the district Moore Square is in. "And also partnering with the Raleigh Rescue Mission and making sure they have the resources they need to positively impact our community."

The council decided it would be best to have an open dialogue with the Raleigh Rescue Mission and its potential move from its current location to an adjacent parcel. The affordable housing project, additionally, is said to be making progress despite what happens with the surrounding parcels.

"This is the issue with any attempt to put affordable housing on expensive land where you have to build densely," said planning and development deputy director Ken Bowers.