New Life for an Old Landmark

Vacant Hudson Belk Building Transformed into Condominiums and Retail

by Sheila Bacon

Vacant for a decade, the once-vibrant Hudson Belk department store building is undergoing a renovation that is expected to enliven downtown Raleigh.

Developers plan to unveil the finished "Hudson" early this summer. The $25 million renovation recaptures much of the character of the original building's exterior, while a complete interior rebuild creates 64 condominium units and 19,700-sq.-ft. of ground-floor retail.

ABC TV affiliate WTVD will occupy 5,500 sq. ft. of space on the main level. The Disney-owned station, with a live, 24-hour-a-day operating studio, will join a Gandolfo's Deli. There also is space for three other restaurants.

The project has helped prompt the city to reopen the Fayetteville Street mall fronting Hudson, long closed to traffic.

"(This project) is going to wake up Raleigh," said Ron Mikesh, an owner of Raleigh's Sterling Properties LLC, the real estate company marketing the project for owner Hudson Developers.

advertisement

The popular Hudson Belk department store, considered a landmark since the 1930s and well-known for its bustling Capital Room cafeteria, closed its doors in 1995 and moved to the Crabtree Valley Mall, leaving approximately 150,000 sq. ft. of unoccupied space in the heart of Raleigh's downtown.

The space had seen unsuccessful redevelopment attempts by several owners, most recently by Cambridge, Mass.-based contractor Modern Continental, best known for its involvement in Boston's Big Dig.

When Hudson Developers took over the project in 2002, firm leaders partnered with Raleigh's Clearscapes Architects to reshape the building, hiring Raleigh general contractor Clancey & Theys to cut out a horseshoe-shaped portion from the upper floors at the rear of the building to create a 7,500-sq.-ft. courtyard.

The addition of the courtyard allowed architects to place more windows in the structure, letting more light into the condo units. The newly shaped building is approximately 125,000 sq. ft.

The one-, two- and three-bedroom condos range from 982 sq. ft. to 3,000 sq. ft., with an average size of 1,500 sq. ft. Twenty had been sold by early 2005.

Rebuilding the aging, box-shaped building presented the project team with a number of surprises. When crews began demolishing the interior, they discovered the original brick façade had never been tied to the superstructure. While workers were punching out a window, part of the fifth floor's walls crumbled. Plans to save the brick walls were scrapped, and the building was stripped to its skeleton and rebuilt.

While much of the structure's exterior has changed, it retains much of the original department store's character. Architects focused on the structure's existing vertical structural steel components, wrapping the columns in brick to soften its appearance.

"We were going for a look that was industrial with as much light and air as possible," said John Reese, Clearscapes' design architect. Other design team members included Fred Belledin, project architect, and Rick Haughton and Mon Peng Yeuh.

The use of galvanized steel, storefront glass and concrete board also serve to animate and enliven the façade. Aluminum grill screens cleverly disguise dryer and toilet vents. Locating the vents at a more typical location on the building's rooftop was prohibited by city codes that limited the building's height, so the vents were worked into the design of the façade.

The project's varied materials are deliberate and are crafted to create depth to the building's originally flat face, Reese said. Clever use of corbelled brick on the columns creates a stepped accent that actually extends over the property line as it climbs up the building.

A ribbed plastic material most often used in greenhouse applications to shield UV rays but still allow light through is used as a 12-ft. canopy over Fayetteville Street. Suspended by a cantilevered steel structure, the canopy protects outdoor diners while showering them with a soft, dappled light. The canopy is cut around the brick-wrapped steel columns along the façade, which are illuminated at their base to further emphasize the building's vertical nature.

Inside, the residential units' modern design features concrete floors, all-white interiors and millwork, stainless steel kitchen countertops and 10- to 14-ft.-tall window walls.

"Raleigh is a conservative city," Reese said. "This is probably the first downtown condominium project that breaks from that tradition."

Project Team:

Owner: Hudson Developers, Raleigh, N.C.
Developer/Marketer: Sterling Properties LLC, Raleigh, N.C.
General Contractor: Clancy & Theys, Raleigh, N.C.
Architect: Clearscapes Architects, Raleigh, N.C.
Structural Engineer: Lysaght Associates
Mechanical/Electrical Engineer: Triangle Engineering Associates

Useful Sources:
http://www.hudsonraleigh.com/home/
http://www.downtownraleigh.com/live/live/members/1_497.html
http://www.sterlingp.biz/services.html
http://www.downtownraleigh.org/