The landscape of Downtown Cary is in a state of growth and acceleration.
That’s evident by the amount of activity seen day-in and day-out across our downtown, and it’s not just the massive up-fit at the downtown park that is changing in Cary.
This blog will serve as a living and breathing piece of content that as projects and developments move forward, so shall parts of this article.
The Big Picture
Let’s look at the BIG PICTURE. There is a ton of detail to the Downtown Cary Special Planning Area, as we’ve explored on this website from the onset.
As for the big picture, what we’re talking about are projects in what we officially refer to as Downtown Cary that are put in place to propel the community forward while creating high value living and working options, all while maintaining the historic character and a central civic focus. It spans beyond the Historic District, here’s what that outline looks like:
We Can See the Progress
As for things you can see happening in Downtown Cary, let’s dive into what’s happening, and what’s coming up.
We’ll start with a West to East trip through downtown, using the traffic circle at Old Apex and Chatham as our starting point.
What was once a gas station and convenience store, will now be part of a massive upfit that will include food and drink. We’ll have more to come in an update but look for breweries and BBQ to be the focus of that expansion.
Next stop and we’re at Harrison and Chatham, where “all of a sudden” it’s wide open. The former site of the historic Ivey-Ellington House is now (as of May 2023) an cleared work site. The team at Chatham Street Commercial, in addition to other partners, are leading the effort through “The Jordan” a, “public/private partnership between the Town of Cary, the First Baptist Church of Cary, Northview Partners, and Northwoods Associates (a partnership of Chatham Street Commercial and the George H. Jordan, III Development Company), with Northwoods Associates acting as Master Developer.”
Here’s a cool little history lesson, from the team at Chatham Street:
The project is located in part on the original homestead of Henry Jordan, founding Town Council member in 1871 and later mayor of Cary. A redevelopment of the Jordan Professional Building, a mid-century modern commercial building formerly located on the site since 1959, the project features include:
- 10,000 SF of Retail Space on Chatham Street and Waddell Plaza
- 60,000 Rentable SF of Class A Office
- 196 Unit Luxury Multi-Family Building – “Meridian Cary”
- 478 Space Class-A Parking Deck
Revitalizing Older Spaces
Across the street and one of the newest Downtown Cary social spots calls an old hosery mill home now. Meet The Walk Up, a bar that includes cocktails, beer, and wine. The exposed brick and outdoor seating make for a vibe that is inviting with a sense of intimacy at the same time. Tyler from the Pharmacy is leading this new effort, another example of growth in Downtown Cary from within Downtown Cary.
The rumor mill has us also wondering if the space at Gurkin’s Auto, a Cary mainstay for years, will be repurposed soon. Stay tuned for more…
ICYMI: THE HISTORY OF HOMETOWN DEFINES NEW SPACE IN DOWNTOWN
Upgrades, construction, history homes being moved down the street, and much more. Needless-to-say, it’s a buzz of activity in Downtown Cary these days.
A lot of attention, and rightfully so, it paid to the up-fit for the new downtown park, but perhaps you noticed a new building going in across the corner from the park and the library. What used to be an older farm-style house is now the forever home for some forever Cary folks.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Michelle Rhino, Chief Operating Officer at Lee & Associates, about their upcoming building project in Cary.
West and East at the Rogers
We’ll stick on Chatham street and you’ll see a big new set of buildings all the Rogers West and East.
“The Rogers is a mixed-use re-development of the former Rogers Restaurant and Motel site and an adjoining parcel in downtown Cary. Owned and operated by Bill and Barbara Rogers, the Rogers Restaurant was a staple of the Cary community for a generation until Bill and Barbara retired and closed the restaurant in the 1990’s. Located in the very heart of downtown Cary on Chatham Street between Rogers Alley and Walker Street; the project consists of 10,000 RSF of street front retail and 40,000 RSF of class-A office. The project has been designed as what is essentially two buildings (Rogers West | Rogers East) connected by a 3 story atrium style lobby in the center. The mid-century modern stylings of the Rogers Restaurant were an inspiration for the architecture of the Rogers West building. In addition to the standard streetscape improvements on Chatham, the developer and the Town of Cary are renovating/repositioning Rogers Alley to include pavers, street lamps, overhead market lights, and removable bollards, with the intention that it can be closed to vehicular traffic and oriented toward pedestrian activity when desirable.”
Construction is ongoing, with a lot of work already complete. They are aiming to have it all done by this summer (2023).
Creating New Blocks and Options
As for this update, knowing there is more coming across Downtown Cary, we’ll wrap up with what is a noticeable amount of work happening at what is East Chatham and essentially across from Templeton Street and Hunter Street.
The plan is to extend Hunter Street, creating a new block, that will be home to, “Meridian East Chatham is a multi-family residential and commercial mixed-use development located at the corner of Chatham Street and the future Hunter Street extension in downtown Cary.”
Meridian East Chatham will have residential units and retail, plus it opens up that new block of Hunter Street to things like street festivals and food trucks, at least that’s what we’re hoping.
The project will also include a 348-space structured parking deck.
If we’re missing something that you’d like to see included either, drop us a line HERE.