Hillsborough Square Parking to Close

The last remaining C-permit parking spaces on the north side of the railroad tracks on NC State’s main campus will be eliminated in coming weeks to make way for a new upscale apartment complex in the old Hillsborough Square location.

The project is part of a $160 million facelift for Hillsborough Street, NC State’s northern boundary, including another $10 million in the second phase of street improvements by the city of Raleigh.

The five-story apartment building will be constructed by a private developer diagonally from the Memorial Tower on the Hillsborough Street roundabout, across from a new 135-room Aloft Hotel, which is slated to open later this summer.

NC State’s Board of Trustees Endowment Fund acquired Hillsborough Square in 1980 and the Belltower block, site of longtime residents Sadlacks and Schoolkids Records, in 2008. Those businesses were relocated.

The hotel site, between Enterprise Drive and Maiden Lane, is part of a 50-year lease with Bell View Partners, developer of the Aloft. The parking lot site has been sold for about $800,000 to Bell Curve Partners for development. And the city of Raleigh purchased some of the land for about $900,000 to make way for multiple roundabouts in that area as part of the first phase of street improvements.

All told, the endowment fund will realize about $4 million from the sale and lease of those parcels, according to Ralph Recchie, the university’s director of real estate.

For those who work on campus, however, approximately 60 C spaces will be eliminated, 33 on the actual site of the apartments and 15 on the Oberlin Street spoke between the two roundabouts between the hotel and the Hillsborough Square location. There are no current plans to create new C spaces or to reallocate B or UD spaces on the north side of the tracks between Pullen Road and Dan Allen Drive, according to NCSU Transportation.

“The loss of those parking spaces is unfortunate on our most densely developed part of campus,” Recchie said. “It does create a tough capacity issue.”

In addition to the loss of 48 spaces on the north side of the railroad tracks, about 130 C spaces in the Jeter Bays adjacent to Reynolds Coliseum are out of commission for the duration of the ongoing $35 million renovation at the historic arena that began in March. However, thanks to the reconfiguration of parking spaces along Cates Avenue, Jensen Drive and Dunn Drive and the reconfiguration of 147 pay spaces in the Reynolds Coliseum deck, there was no net loss of C spaces in the coliseum area.

NCSU Transportation has some suggestions to alleviate the inconvenience caused by the loss of C spaces for faculty and staff.

Options for C Permit Holders:

1. Retain a C permit.  This permit allows the flexibility to park in all other C parking areas on campus and will be the best choice for those who need to drive to other parts of campus.  However, with the Reynolds Coliseum renovation project underway, C parking in Jeter Bays may be limited at times until this project is completed in 2016.
2. Convert a C permit to a CD Coliseum Deck permit.  Converting to a CD permit ensures available parking space in a specific location.  The cost of C permit and CD permits is the same—$342 annually.
3. Request to be placed on the “B” waitlist.  Please contact David Gregory at dwgrego2@ncsu.edu to be placed on the list or to check your status. The annual cost of a “B” permit is $447.
4. Departmental UD permit.  If you are a C permit holder who uses a personal vehicle to conduct business on main campus, a departmental UD permit offers B permit parking and gate access for an annual cost of $447.
5. For those who only need short-term parking, eight pay-by-space machines are located between the Belltower and Holladay Hall; $2 for first hour and $1 for each consecutive half hour.