Keith Issacs Photography

The Peace Raleigh Apartments is bringing more than housing to downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. The development is the first phase of a project to reestablish the northern gateway to downtown and to rejuvenate one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, Smoky Hollow. It’s also meeting another basic need for the community—alleviating a food desert by integrating the first full-service downtown grocery story.

The first phase of the mixed-use project from developer Kane Realty Corp. and architect Cline Design includes 417 apartments, 50,800 square feet of retail, and a 265,000-square-foot parking garage. National grocer Publix occupies 45,600 square feet of the ground-floor retail portion.

Its eclectic palette and composition of exterior building materials create a contrast of dark-toned bricks, charcoal-colored metals, natural wood siding, and a white outlining of the central core of the building. The mix of balcony sizes, shapes, and materials provides playful exterior features. These design elements along with a locally crafted mural wall capture passers-by’s eyes. The unit plans also distinguish the building from others. The design team developed more than 30 floor plans to provide different types of units to meet residents’ wants and needs.

Peace Raleigh Apartments also focuses on providing convenience for busy lifestyles. Resort-style amenities are complemented by concierge services, such as scheduling errands from grocery shopping to dry cleaning, and a robust resident relations program. The urban amenities include a sky terrace overlooking downtown, a central courtyard with a saltwater pool and ample outdoor lounges and a grilling station, a two-story indoor and outdoor fitness center, a main level work-from-home center with full-service conference rooms, a luxury pet wash with on-demand pet care services, and a gaming lounge with billiards and video games.

The building’s interiors also set the bar for luxury living in downtown, paying homage to the surrounding community’s rich history of talented artisans and businesses and featuring design elements from Raleigh’s former minor league baseball stadium, which was adjacent to the site.