A request to rezone and redevelop Raleigh’s historic Seaboard Train Station was approved by the city council in a 6-1 vote Tuesday.
The city council approved the rezoning—which would allow developers to build up to 20 stories on what is now Logan’s Garden Shop—after more than a year of negotiation between community members and the real estate company.
Seaboard Station has been home to Logan’s Garden Shop, a family business, for the last 30 years. That legacy ended in December 2021, when brother and sister Joshua and Leslie Logan sold the nearly three-acre property to a New-York based developer, Turnbridge Equities, for $8.5 million.
Logan’s will remain at Seaboard Station until 2023 or 2024 as they search for a new location, the family announced. They added that they are not selling the business, just the property, and are exploring “how to best adapt our business model to adjust for the growth that we’ve experienced, improve the customer experience, and create a sustainable business model for the future.”
In plans for redevelopment, Turnbridge Equities originally planned to demolish the 80-year-old station, which is not protected by a local or national historic designation. The developer was quickly met with uproar from nearby residents.
As part of the compromise approved Tuesday, the developer agreed to either move the historic train depot or preserve at least half of the building facade when beginning construction. They could also remove the depot, but they would then have to adhere to the original zoning restrictions which limit the building height to seven stories. That creates significant financial risk for the developers, who plan to build two apartment towers and a parking deck on the site.
Council member David Cox was the lone no vote, saying the rezoning agreement did not preserve the entire station.
As one rezoning deal moved ahead, however, another remained stalled. The city council again put off a vote on the North Hills rezoning Tuesday, shunting it back to the Transportation and Transit Committee.
No new zoning conditions have been added, but nearby residents and some council members want to take another look at how a projected increase in traffic can be alleviated.
North Raleigh residents are pushing for the construction of traffic circles (or roundabouts) on Six Forks Road, which they say will reduce crashes, carbon emissions, and conflicts between cars and pedestrians/cyclists. Residents also argue that traffic circles will make the neighborhoods around North Hills more accessible.
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Follow Staff Writer Jasmine Gallup on Twitter or send an email to jgallup@indyweek.com.
