ULI Case Study: North Hills—Raleigh, North Carolina

A staid 1960s mall and its surroundings have been transformed into a $1 billion, 94-acre urban destination—located on two major parcels separated by an arterial street—for one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. At North Hills, a finely balanced mix of uses surrounds parks, plazas, and walkable streets. In all, visitors will find 988,500 square feet of lifestyle and convenience retail, dining, and entertainment uses; 1,056,000 square feet of office space; 920 residential units; and 366 hotel rooms. The arrangement of uses—both vertically and horizontally—allows boutiques and fine dining to coexist at North Hills with parking garages, office space, and large-format retailers. In 1999, local developer Kane Realty began the project by repositioning a modest retail strip and then demolishing the mall and assembling adjacent parcels for redevelopment. In the years since, the project scope has steadily evolved to encompass a broad, long-term vision of a 24-hour, high-rise urban district.

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The leadership’s initial vision for the combined districts was one of an active, vibrant, mixed-use environment with a focus on retail but with complementary entertainment, residential, office, and hotel uses. With the addition of the Park District across the street, the North Hills canvas vastly expanded. John Kane recalls, “We knew the area over there was going to get more valuable. We then said, ‘Okay, well, let’s create more.’ ”

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