About 30 people at the Hayti Heritage Center got an update on plans to perk up the looks of Fayetteville Street Monday night — trees, shrubs, decorative paving, widened sidewalks, fresh paving, art and historical displays.

They also got a price: $33,288,500.

In April, the state of North Carolina declared the 96-year-old house at Fayetteville and Lawson streets to hold “statewide historic significance.”

Next week, N.C. Central University is going to see about tearing it down.

The two-day party known as Raleigh Wide Open 3 has begun, so we figured now is a perfect time to share a few of the taglines we wish the city had used in marketing the event. Feel free to submit your own.

Raleigh Wide Open 3: This Time It's Personal

Raleigh Wide Open 3: Our Convention Center Goes to Eleven

Raleigh Wide Open 3: This September the Meeting Begins

Raleigh Wide Open 3: They say convention centers never strike twice ... They were wrong.

Raleigh Wide Open 3: Not Quite Heaven. Not Quite Hell.

Durham’s streetscape improvement process resumes Monday night with a neighborhood meeting on the Fayetteville Street corridor.

The city’s economic development office and design firm E.G. & G. Inc. of Akron, Ohio will be showing preliminary concepts for remodeling the street frontage between the Durham Freeway and Homeland Avenue, south of N.C. Central University.

It follows on an April meeting for introducing the project and taking public comment. A third meeting on the Fayetteville Street corridor is scheduled Sept. 29.

Both meetings are at the Hayti Heritage Center, 804 Old Fayetteville St., and start at 6 p.m.

A WakePol reader asked about the background of the property at the south end of Fayetteville Street that could soon be the cause of a lawsuit. Raleigh could file a condemnation suit against The Simpson Organization as early as next week as it tries to get the easements it needs to build the City Plaza. We asked City Attorney Thomas McCormick about the history of the City Plaza area. His response is below. Hope this helps.

"Yes, the city once owned the plaza area as well as the parcels where the BB&T building and the Bank of America Building now stand. The land was assembled as part of the property acquisition for the now demolished civic center building. The city sold the two parcels to York-Hannover Development, a New York Developer. The same developer also did the current Sheraton Hotel although it opened as a Radisson. The city entered into a joint agreement with York-Hannover to build the deck now lying beneath the plaza area. That deal contained a provision that allowed York-Hannover to buy out the city’s interest through a lump sum payment and the city’s retention of a surface easement for park purposes. The plaza area was once a part of the Fayetteville Street right of way."

As mentioned earlier, the City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday to allow a condemnation lawsuit to be filed against The Simpson Organization, owner of the Bank of America building and the underground parking garage under Fayetteville Street. (The vote took place with little comment from council members. Philip Isley was the only member to vote no. Mayor Charles Meeker Meeker recused himself from the vote because an attorney in his law firm is representing Simpson.)

The city attorney’s office could file a condemnation lawsuit as soon as July 15. The goal would be to obtain the easements the city needs to put the plaza and roadway over TSO's property. City Manager Russell Allen told the council on Tuesday that the drawn out negotiations with Simpson are costing the city money. Since May 2007, he said, the price of building the plaza has increased 10 percent, or more than $2 million, because of rising construction costs.
“Time is critical here,” Allen said. “Time is also money.”

If a law suit is filed, it is likely to be ugly. In e-mails to Allen late last week Boyd Simpson, TSO's president, said a condemnation action by the city would be viewed as a "declaration of war." Boyd Simpson sent a letter to Allen on Monday warning the city not to pursue condemnation against his company. The company submitted another document titled “Facts Regarding Negotiation of City Plaza Easement” to the City Council on Tuesday. Both are attached.

Documents:

[UPDATE: The Council did not take up an agreement between the city and Simpson on Tuesday, as City Manager Russell Allen said a deal still hasn't been reached.]

Good question. The city has been in negotiations for months with the Simpson Organization, which owns the Bank of America Plaza building and the parking deck under Fayetteville Street where the proposed City Plaza would be located. The city needs an easement from Simpson before it can move forward with its grand plans to create a high-tech gathering place that can be closed to cars and reconfigured to accommodate parades, markets or concerts.

On today's City Council agenda is the outlines of an agreement between the city and Simpson. In exchange for the easement, Simpson would get an easement to construct and operate four retail pavilions on the plaza. Simpson would also get easments for outdoor seating areas.

The agreement does not appear to be finalized, though that may have changed over the last several days. The delays have aready guaranteed that the plaza won't be finished by the time the new convention center opens this fall. The cost of building the plaza is estimated at $21 million, and City Manager Russell has estimated it will take six to nine months to build the plaza. Raleigh plans to run power lines, phone lines and water pipes under the plaza floor so merchants can set up shop temporarily.

Allen and representatives of Simpson have both said negotiating the deal is complex. Neither side has explained what the particular hang ups are, though the delays seem strange given the city's desire to get the project moving forward.