Five developments changing the Triangle

From North Raleigh to Research Triangle Park, developers are constructing new buildings and offices to take advantage of the area's growing workforce and surging economy.

Why it matters: It's all changing how people will live and providing challenges to our region's infrastructure.

Here are some projects changing the Triangle:

Triangle Innovation Point

What's happening: The state's largest megasite, 30 miles southwest of Raleigh, landed the biggest economic development project in North Carolina's history in March.

• The $4 billion electric car plant from Vietnamese manufacturer VinFast, could stretch the Triangle's growth down the U.S. 1 corridor into Chatham and Lee counties.
• Economic development around Triangle Innovation Point stands to bring more residents to Pittsboro and Sanford, turning them into bedroom communities to Raleigh.

Details: VinFast plans to hire 7,500 people at its future plant at Triangle Innovation Point by 2027, and more employers could still be added to the site.

HUB RTP

What's happening: High-rise apartment towers, shops and restaurants will soon emerge in Research Triangle Park for the first time.

• Why it matters: RTP has never been a destination outside of the working hours, when tens of thousands of people commute to jobs at places like IBM, Biogen, Cisco and soon, Apple.

Details: HUB RTP, spearheaded by the Research Triangle Foundation, is a $1.5 billion project that, over the next few years, will add:

• 1 million square feet of office space
• 25,000 square feet of rental space
• 1,200 apartments.

Epic Games HQ/Fenton

What's happening: A sleepy corner of Cary could become a major center of employment and entertainment after Epic Games spent $95 million to buy the old Cary Towne Center mall and a new shopping district nearby prepares to open.

Details: Epic Games promises to turn the former 87-acre mall property into a gleaming new headquarters, fit for thousands of employees.

• Epic plans to build 2 million square feet of office space in phases over the next decade.
• However, the Cary Town Council has expressed concerns about the lack of detail, potentially creating a contentious fight over the rezoning Epic needs to build its new HQ, The News & Observer previously reported.

Opening this spring, the 69-acre Fenton development will add more than 300,000 square feet of shopping and dining space at the intersection of Cary Towne Boulevard and Trinity Road.

• Tenants include retailers like Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn and Sephora
• Restaurants range from M Sushi and Crawford Brothers Steakhouse to Dram & Draught and CRU Food & Wine Bar.

Fenton's grand opening will be June 4 but some shops have already opened.

Kane's continued expansion

What's happening: Over the past 20 years, developer John Kane has molded the former North Hills mall into a hub of office towers, high-end shops and apartments. There's still much more to come.

Details: JCPenney, once the anchor tenant for North Hills Mall, has been demolished. In its place, Kane Realty is building:

• 100,000 square feet of retail space
• 300,000 square feet of office space
• And 300 apartments.

Restoration Hardware will be the project's anchor tenant.

• Across Six Forks Road, Kane is planning the "North Hills Innovation District," in an effort to attract more biotech companies to Raleigh, according to The News & Observer.
• The Innovation District will include an 18-story office tower, 200 apartments and a food hall.

Big picture: North Hills' boom is nowhere close to stopping. And while Kane's Downtown South project has a less clear timeline, it could create a North Hills-like hub in the neighborhoods just south of downtown.

Geer Street in Durham

What's happening: Durham's downtown has long gotten the headlines for its massive changes and now another high-rise tower is on the way and dozens of apartments are being built.

But the nearby entertainment district centered around Geer Street is about to see significant transformation and exemplifies the densification of Durham's core.

• Long home to low-slung buildings and former auto shops that have been turned into bars and restaurants, there are now several multi-story projects being built in the area.

GeerHouse: Located on more than two acres at 620 Foster Street, the apartment project is being built around the popular music venue Motorco and restaurant Geer Street Garden.

• Across two phases of development, the 14-story building could include more than 300 apartments and more than 19,000 square feet of retail and amenity space.

Stone Bros. & Byrd: After moving earlier this year, the former garden center at 512 W. Geer St., is making way for a seven story condo building.

• The development, called The George, will bring around 40 luxury condos to the street, running in price from $545,000 to $1.7 million.

This story was corrected to show that Triangle Innovation Point is located 30 miles southwest of Raleigh, not southeast.