The adaptive reuse of vacant industrial buildings has become a popular type of redevelopment in recent years. Local real estate professionals named one of the biggest such projects in the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina, the Raleigh Iron Works, worthy of a 2023 CoStar Impact Award.
The Raleigh Iron Works project, developed by a joint venture between Grubb Ventures Services and Jamestown, involves the renovation of two 1956 industrial properties called the Double Gable and Bowtruss buildings, and the construction of a new building. Iron foundries operated on the site since the 1910s.
The retail and restaurant segment of the Double Gable building opened in late 2022, as did office space, retail and restaurants in the new Bowtruss Building. A 219-unit multifamily complex — Forge — opens this year.
About the project: The Raleigh Iron Works development is a joint venture between Grubb Ventures of Raleigh and Atlanta-based Jamestown. The former Peden Steel mill site is intended to anchor the city's newly styled Iron Works District that would also include public event and performance space.
What the judges said: "The project is at the leading edge of the transformation of a key portion of the Atlantic Avenue corridor into an extension of Raleigh's transforming Midtown area," said Elizabeth Gates, senior research analyst at CBRE.
They made it happen: Gordon Grubb, founder of Grubb Ventures Services. Matt Bronfman, CEO of Jamestown.
