RALEIGH – The next level of development for Raleigh’s North Hills will be a 33-acre Innovation District with a value of $1 billion, developer Kane Realty announced Monday.

Responding to changes in the commercial real estate market stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and requirements for more social distancing, Kane plans a mix of natural space and walking rails in addition to an 18-story office tower, apartments and a two-story “food hall” covering 20,000 square feet.

Kane Realty is increasing its investment in the North Hills area by one third with some $2 billion invested over the past 15 years, according to Kane CEO John Kane and confirmed by the company to WRAL TechWire.

The expansion will broaden the footprint of North Hils to more than 120 acres.

The NHID as it is called will target “local businesses led by entrepreneurs who have a passion for growing their ventures in the Raleigh community,” the company said.

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A rendering of the forthcoming North Hills Innovation District

“Local businesses are the lifeblood of all successful communities, but especially here in Raleigh,” said Kane CEO John Kane. “As NHID comes to life, we want to make their dreams a reality.”

Just four months ago Kane Realty announced plans for a “revitalization” of its Main District where a JCPenney story was closed. That project includes One North Hills, a 10-story, 266,000-square-foot office tower overlooking the I-440 Beltline and another five-story office building. The developer said One North Hills “will be Raleigh’s first post-COVID designed office tower, featuring touchless entry and controlled access points, enhanced air filtration throughout the building, a 6,000-square-foot terrace created for working and gathering outdoors, touchless elevators designed to reduced cab capacity, ground-floor meeting spaces that limit guest access to office floors and optimum cleaning standards.”

This map provided by Kane Realty focuses on the area to be included in the Innovation District.

The new development is located to the east of the main district and is bounded by St. Alabsn and I-440.will occur on both sides of Big Branch Creek.

The Tower will be known as North Hills Tower 5 and be classified as Class A office space.

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Another rendering of the North Hills Innovation District

“We hope that Tower 5 and all of NHID will become home to innovative, forward-thinking companies that value employee satisfaction, originality and a culturally enriched urban area,” Kane said in the announcement. “All of North Hills—and especially this new district—is ideally located, immediately accessible from I-440 and minutes from downtown Raleigh, RDU Airport and Research Triangle Park.”

Kane Realty said the development “will feature an unprecedented amount of open natural area space, with walkable trails that connect to the Capital Area Greenway system, creek beds and wetlands, as well as a series of pedestrian bridges and landings to connect tenants and visitors to retail and maker’s spaces and expansive outdoor working and dining spaces.”

The apartments known as the Vine were completed late last year.

Phase 2 construction – more apartments and Tower 5 – will begin later this year. A Phase 3 is planned to get underway in 2022.

North Hills already includes multiple office towers, shopping, apartments, dining, a hotel, and entertainment.

Complete towers and others planned to date include:

  • Captrust (Complete, 17 stories)
  • Bank of America (Complete, 18 stories)
  • Advance Auto Parts (Complete, 20 stories)
  • Midtown Plaza (Complete, 12 stories)
  • Walter Residential Tower (Under Construction, 35 stories)

Map: North Hills today and future

A map provided by Kane Realty shows the entire North Hills development and planned additions as of Jan. 25, 2021.