Plan is to start moving the mall tenants that are still at the Sears end of the mall into the open/vacant spaces at the Belk's/Dillard's ends later this year. End of year tear down Macy's and Sears and mall in between. start construction early 2019 on Ikea and open 2020. Not sure if Ikea will connect to mall or not. the Mall should hope so, or made that part of the agreement.
In case you missed the news, since obviously the IKEA fell through, this is the new project: Carolina Yards After years of planning and preparation, the developers leading the transformation of the Cary Town Center have announced plans to break ground early next year. On Thursday, developers Turnbridge Equities and Denali Properties revealed the name for the upcoming mixed-use urban hub with 4 million square feet of space: Carolina Yards. "It's going to be a total transformation," said Jason Davis, managing director for New York City-based Turnbridge Equities. "In its place we’ll have an urban street grid much like you find in downtown Raleigh and downtown Durham." Plans for the Carolina Yards call for 1.2 million square feet for office use, 360,0000 square feet for commercial retail, 450 hotel rooms, 1,800 multifamily and townhouse units and over 10 acres of open space. The project is situated on 87 acres at 1105 Walnut St. in southeast Cary. “Leveraging our deep history in retail, we are focused on transforming struggling retail properties into highly engaging mixed-use environments to enhance and better serve communities,” said Adam Williams, founder and CEO of Denali Properties. “Carolina Yards is emblematic of that vision, reflecting a quality mix of commercial, residential, hospitality and civic offerings within an urban, walkable setting lined with vibrant streets and open spaces.” The developers plan to demolish nearly all of the existing mall space following the holiday season – the existing Dave and Buster's and Belk buildings will remain. Davis said the mall is currently about 60 percent occupied. After the demolition, the plan is to start on the first phase in February in the hopes of completing construction on that phase in late 2022 or early 2023. That first phase will feature each of the uses planned for the development. Davis said the name, Carolina Yards, addresses the Triangle as a whole and emphasizes the development's outdoor amenity spaces and walkability. "We tried to find something that spoke broadly to the region and the Triangle, and it really does operate as a whole," Davis said. "People that live in Cary are just as likely to go to a restaurant in Cary as they are in Raleigh, Durham or North Hills." And as the project has evolved, the company has made changes to accommodate the post-Covid world, including extensive outdoor space and outside terraces in office buildings. "We have a unique opportunity to be one of the first projects in the Triangle to be a truly post-Covid design," Davis said. "We'll have curbside pickup and drop off. We’ll have around 100 surface parking spaces outside store fronts; a lot of outdoor dining. People really enjoy outdoor dining." Planning and design firms on the project are: Gensler, Sasaki; Little Diversified Architectural Consulting; McAdams; and Hord Coplan Macht. Within each firm, the companies worked to maximize variety in the buildings planned for the project. “Each building was designed by a separate architect. It creates this feeling that it's something that evolved over time rather than a project that got delivered altogether,” Davis said. CBRE was brought on as a predevelopment consultant earlier in the project. The company is now handling marketing and the tenant search, with retail consulting and leasing by CBRE’s Cori Nix, Kerri Dunlevy and Charlie Coyne and office leasing by the CBRE Raleigh investor leasing team. Coyne said they expect a wide range of local and national tenants from smaller shops and boutique fitness to chef-driven restaurants and more. "Our design is very authentic, and the focus is on being really approachable (for) professionals, millennials, college students – really everybody," he said. "We have a sort of marquee brewery tap room space. There's over 10 acres of outdoor green and open space." The project will feature several office buildings with creative office space designed to accommodate everything from a growing startup to a major corporate headquarters. "The location is right off I-40, and you're really in a central location in the Triangle," said Brad Corsmeier, executive vice president of CBRE Raleigh's Advisory & Transactions Services group. "This offers an opportunity for uniquely designed office in a dense mixed-use environment." The companies held a Zoom call with local entrepreneurs on Wednesday to show what the project will have to offer. Developers have yet to reveal any tenants, but said they hope to make announcements in the near future. “We are strong believers that tenants and guests are looking for authentic experiences," said Andrew Joblon, founder and managing partner of Turnbridge Equities. "As we did at our Music Lane project in Austin, Texas, where we attracted SoHo House, Equinox, Gensler, Deloitte, Lululemon, Everlane, and Sweetgreen to an emerging retail street and established it as Austin’s premiere high street, we’ll seek to bring together a best-in-class mix of retailers, hospitality concepts and office tenants at Carolina Yards.” Turnbridge Equities and Denali Properties bought the 87-acre Cary Towne Center site in 2019. The property is also the site of the Town of Cary’s planned $193 million indoor sports complex. That project has been delayed due to plummeting hospitality revenue as a result of the pandemic. In addition to Carolina Yards, Turnbridge is also working on redeveloping the site of The Creamery building in Raleigh's Glenwood South.
As for that Indoor Sports Complex that is going at the same location: The Wake County Board of Commissioners and City of Raleigh have approved funding for a proposed indoor sports complex in Cary – pledging to commit tens of millions of dollars over the next 25 years to the development of the new facility. The county and city voted unanimously during their respective meetings Monday and Tuesday to approve spending up to $2.36 million per year toward the construction of the facility. The Town of Cary will be paid $59 million over a 25 year period but that will actually only cover somewhere around $35 million of the capital cost of the project. The rest will cover debt incurred from the project. “The hospitality tax would provide about $35 million of the project’s estimated $193 million cost,” stated Wake County Commissioner Susan Evans. “This would be money well spent, because we don’t have anything like this facility in the county now, and I’m very excited about the new opportunities it would provide. The location is ideal.” The funds set to go to the project would come from revenue generated by hospitality taxes on overnight stays at hotels in the county and food and drinks purchased at local restaurants. Plans for the indoor sports complex include a 100,000-square-foot facility complete with 25,000 square feet of multi-purpose space, 12 full-size basketball courts – which could be converted into 20 volleyball courts – and arena seating for up to 4,000 people. The town of Cary would build, operate and manage the facility, which is also set to include Esports amenities, a weight room, walking track and full-service restaurant, according to officials. The new facility is slated for the site of the Cary Towne Center shopping mall, and the town of Cary has worked closely with the developers, New York-based real estate firm Turnbridge Equities and its partner Denali Properties, to secure a site for the new complex, according to the town’s proposal. The developers plan to transform the site of the aging mall into a mixed-use development. Plans for that project include numerous hubs with varying uses, and the sports complex is planned to be built in one of the eastern hubs bordering the edge of the property. In December, the site of the mall was rezoned to allow for up to 1.2 million square feet of office use, 360,0000 square feet of commercial use, 450 hotel rooms and 1,800 multi-family and townhouse dwelling units. According to the proposal for the sports facility, construction on the site could begin as soon as 2022 and would be expected to finish by mid-2024. With both the city and county officially on board, officials will now begin working with the town of Cary to finalize the scope of the project. Wake County officials and Raleigh City Council were briefed on the requested funding for the sports facility during separate work sessions last week.
