The Raleigh City Council voted yesterday to give Raleigh's Downtown Redevelopment Guru Greg Hatem an extension on the L-Building Project. Hatem reports there are several financial backers looking at the deal but no one has committed so far and he needs more time. Citing Greg's positive influence on Raleigh, Mayor Meeker spoke in support of the request. City Manager Russell Allen recommended ending the contract and opening the bidding up to the public.
The L Building was originally conceived as beautifully designed 22 story tower featuring 11,000SF of retail and 110,000Sf of Class A Office wrapped around a 900+ space parking deck. This plan may change now to a smaller office and boutique hotel in order to get it financed.
This is the second such extension Hatem has received. This time the City went further and agreed to waive the development fee required to widen the road as well.
It is nice to see a relationship carry the day in this harsh economic environment. Greg has until November 1st now to line up financing. To me this speaks to just how tough it is for private developers to raise money for real estate development right now. If Greg Hatem can't get a downtown deal funded, who can?
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