Axios Raleigh

January 16, 2025
Thursday! You've arrived.
🌤️ Weather: Wind chill as low as 15 this morning, with a high in the upper 40s.
- Expect increasing clouds and wind gusts as high as 40 mph, too.
🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Raleigh member Edward Hodges!
Situational awareness: A deal has been reached in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas to release hostages being held in Gaza and establish a ceasefire. The agreement will end more than 15 months of the deadliest war in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Follow along with Axios' coverage.
- One of the hostages is Chapel Hill native Keith Siegel, who may be coming home as a result of the deal.
Today's newsletter is 831 words — a 3-minute read.
1 big thing: 🔮 Predicting the Dreamville lineup
J. Cole's final Dreamville Festival will be April 5-6 at Dorothea Dix Park. Following the announcement of recent festival headliners and acts at Bonnaroo and Field & Stream Music Fest, we started wondering who will be featured in Dreamville's 2025 lineup.
Why it matters: Since its 2019 debut, Dreamville has become a signature social and cultural annual event, putting North Carolina on the global stage and regularly bringing around 100,000 visitors to Dorothea Dix Park.
- The event boosts the local economy each year. The 2023 festival had an economic impact of $122 million for Wake County, according to economic impact consulting firm AngelouEconomics.
An official festival lineup will be announced soon, but in the meantime, we predict the 2025 lineup will include:
Kendrick Lamar
Context: Cole might've released his "7 Minute Drill" diss track to Lamar, but he later made a public apology during his performance in 2024, asking for his forgiveness as a friend.
- It's unclear if they made amends, but Drake co-headlining with Cole in 2023 proved that two legends can coexist. Plus, one of Lamar's recent diss tracks toward Drake ("Euphoria") acknowledges his friendship with Cole.
Our thought bubble: Lamar is a hot commodity, with a booked and busy schedule this year, including an upcoming Super Bowl performance and tour. His upcoming GNX tour, which includes one stop in North Carolina, doesn't start until April 19, so he'd still have time to headline Dreamville.
The bottom line: With this being the final year of the festival, it needs a show-stopping headliner like Lamar to satisfy fans.
See who else we think will make an appearance at Dreamville's finale

2. Charlotte developer plots 400 more apartments at Durham's University Hill
More growth is coming to Durham's University Hill neighborhood as the Charlotte developer Crescent Communities is planning to build 400 apartment units and nearly 20 freestanding townhomes.
Why it matters: University Hill — located next to the South Square shopping district that's home to a Target — did not exist until 2018, when another Charlotte developer, Hawthorne Retail Partners, built the initial University Hill apartment and shopping complex.
- The area has proven to be a popular destination. Crescent Communities hopes to build off that growth and even match the existing aesthetics of the University Hill development by signing onto the area's mural program.
Driving the news: A limited liability company associated with Crescent Communities paid more than $8 million for the land, located around 3737 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd., according to Durham County property records.
Zoom in: The initial plans call for the construction of a five-story apartment building, called Novel UHill, with around 400 units plus freestanding for-rent townhomes.
- Among the amenities to be included at Novel UHill would be a Land of a Thousand Hills coffee shop, a rooftop terrace, a fitness center, a resort-style pool and a dog park, according to Crescent Communities.
- The first units are expected to be completed in 2026.
3. The Tea: Wake Forest's future train station
🚂 The Town of Wake Forest has received a $13.2 million federal grant that will go toward building a train station that will ultimately serve as a stop between Raleigh and Richmond. (News & Observer 🔒)
A Durham man has been charged by federal authorities for supporting ISIS and attempting to join the terrorist group. (WRAL)
🗳️ Former Republican candidate for state Superintendent Michele Morrow has founded a nonprofit group to lobby for education issues in the state. (WUNC)
In his final weeks in office, former North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley called for a ban on wilderness therapy camps, after a 12-year-old boy died at one last year. (WBTV)
4. ☕️ A Raleigh favorite's future
Raleigh's Left Hook Coffee, the bustling coffee shop that opened inside Gussie's last year, will eventually open a new location, owner Kristin Kulik tells Axios.
Why it matters: In less than a year, Kulik has turned Left Hook into one of Raleigh's favorite gathering spots, combining with Gussie's to provide breakfast and lunch along with its craft coffee.
Driving the news: For now, Kulik is roasting coffee out of the old Hargett Street Laundromat at 912 E. Hargett St. but will eventually convert it to a standalone coffee shop.
- It's unclear what that means for Left Hook's current location inside Gussie's, but we're keeping our fingers crossed it means Raleigh will have two Left Hooks eventually.
- The new location, across the street from the old Division of Motor Vehicles headquarters now owned by the City of Raleigh, could also be used for community gatherings, coffee classes and coworking space, Kulik said.
Go deeper: The best restaurants that opened in the Triangle in 2024
5. Map du jour: RDU's global offerings

Raleigh-Durham International Airport is starting to live up to the international part of its name.
Why it matters: Triangle residents have never had as many nonstop international destinations to choose from as they do this year.
Zoom in: Five new international destinations will begin flights from RDU this year, including Bermuda; Calgary and Vancouver, Canada; Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
- Last year, the airport added Mexico City, Panama City and Frankfurt, Germany.
🤦♀️ Lucille introduced Zach to Doechii yesterday. (She can't stop listening to the song "Balloon" and hoping Doechii will be at Dreamville.)
👴🏻 Zachery is feeling extra old because "No Flex Zone" is now 10 years old.
Thanks to Katie Peralta Soloff for editing today's newsletter.
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