‘Dix Park’s front door’: $700M high-rise towers take shape on Raleigh’s southern edge
Two luxury 20-story towers are poised to further transform Raleigh’s southern gateway.
Site work is underway on The Weld, a 1,200-unit mixed-used development at the southern edge of the 308-acre Dorothea Dix Park.
The $700 million project, which secured financing in June, is being developed by Raleigh-based SLI Capital, founded in 2017 by Bryan Kane, son of Kane Realty CEO John Kane, and New York’s Mack Real Estate Group.
“The Weld will be transformative for the city,” the younger Kane told a crowd of about 50 people gathered at the site for a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday.
The first phase includes 675 one-, two- and three-bedroom units in two 20-story buildings on 3.5 acres at the intersection of Lake Wheeler Road and Hammell Drive.
The buildings, connected by a central green space, will feature a ground-level restaurant and retail space.
The project’s name, Kane added, is a nod to becoming the intersection that “brings together” the park’s green space and Raleigh’s urban downtown.
As part of that vision, the partners presented a $500,000 gift to the Dix Park Conservancy for a trail system in the park. It’s currently being redeveloped with a new entryway, plaza and a play area off of Lake Wheeler Road.
Next door The Weld, John Kane and Merge Capital are building Park City South, a 9.7-acre mixed-use development in connection with the Rocky Branch Trail Greenway at 927 S. Saunders St.
They’re also working on the Downtown South project, the $2.2 billion planned sports and entertainment district south of downtown and Dix Park. It sits on parcels totaling 135 acres around South Saunders Street and Interstate 40.
Together, the father-son duo have said they’re remaking this southern corridor as the “new gateway” to downtown Raleigh.
Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, who was among the attendees, called The Weld a “huge step forward.”
“This is going to connect us to downtown,” she said.
‘A variety of price points’
Developers also shared new details about the projects.
The first building, called “Ray” and designed by JDavis Architects, will include 392 units, a pool deck overlooking Dix Park and eight townhomes.
The second building, called “The Holston” and designed by Gensler Architects, will include 283 luxury high-rise units, pool deck, gym and sauna, eight townhomes, and a coworking space.
The complex will offer three levels of units at a “variety of price points,” Kane said. Exact figures, however, were not disclosed.
Construction is expected to be complete by summer 2025.
With housing inventory at historic lows across the Triangle, he said the influx will be helpful to the market as a whole: “We’ll be providing housing to a wide array of people.”
The second phase, which has not yet received funding, will include 575 residential units and up to 30,000 square feet of retail, office space, and connectivity to the adjacent new developments.
Raleigh’s southern gateway reimagined
Earlier this year the Raleigh City Council approved a plan for the edge of Dix Park, which has faced intense development and gentrification pressure after the city purchased the park in 2015.
In 2021, SLI and Mack Real Estate bought the adjacent land for $34.75 million in the Fuller Heights area, one of the few remaining affordable neighborhoods in Raleigh.
The following year, as preparations got underway, the project displaced some longtime residents living along Lake Wheeler Avenue across from the park, The N&O previously reported.
Housing advocates have worried about the gentrification likely to occur as Dix Park is further developed.
There are at least 13 new developments planned along or near the park edge that could bring over 5,200 new residential units. A majority are expected to be added as part of the Downtown South development.
