Raleigh city leaders get first look at DRA's complete plan for downtown revitalization

On Tuesday, Raleigh's downtown economic development strategy was presented in full to city leaders for the first time, clearing the way for work to begin on certain, short-term aspects of the multi-year plan in the coming months.

Phase 2 of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance's (DRA) plan includes new ideas for driving downtown growth outside of the Fayetteville Street corridor -- which was the focus of Phase 1, presented in February -- with city leaders stressing the urgency to get the project off the ground.

"Whatever we can be doing to just start getting stuff moving on the ground I think that sends a huge message," said Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan Melton, who also chairs Raleigh's Economic Development and Innovation Committee.

The final phase presented on Tuesday includes recommendations to implement free 2-hour parking in city-owned parking decks downtown, emphasize public art in downtown spaces like City Plaza and Market Plaza, and finalize a connection between downtown and Dix Park.

DRA President Bill King says he's encouraged by the number of visitors coming downtown, but the city's plan needs to key in on ways to keep them there.

"We really want them to dwell longer. And you do that through having better public spaces. I think a lot of people go to downtowns when they travel and they want to just sort of discover we've got to make that easier," King said.

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King said that the DRA, Fletcher Foundation and Dix Park Conservancy are teaming up to help fund a study evaluating the viability of a gondola link between downtown and Dix Park. It's a massive undertaking that former city leaders have pined for, but federal funding could now help make it a reality.

"There's a lot of engineering and stuff you need to figure out. Can you build a bridge, can you build a gondola? And there is a good deal of federal funding that's available. In Huntsville, Alabama they just got $20 million in funding for the same project, for the bridge itself," King said.

Next up, the complete report will head from the city's Economic Development and Innovation Committee to the city council, where they'll vote to move forward with certain steps in the plan. The EDI committee voted to recommend adopting the complete plan as the city's official strategy moving forward.

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