RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – An empty lot sits on the corner of South West Street in downtown Raleigh.
But within just a few years, the Raleigh Union Station bus facility will welcome travelers.
“Everybody who uses this station here has the opportunity to walk over to the Amtrak station and get on Amtrak and vice versa,” said Charles Lattuca, president and CEO of GoTriangle.
While Tuesday marked the groundbreaking, the initial planning for the RUS Bus project began in 2017.
It’s an eight-bay transit development with 20,000 square feet of retail.
GoTriangle was awarded a $20 million U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant.
Hoffman & Associates have big plans to transform the area around the RUS bus facility.
It’s not only about transportation. The bus facility will have 350 units of housing, and 10% of those will be affordable housing.
“The possibilities are just amazing. having housing here, having more people here creating walkable communities, creating that whole connection to trains and buses,” Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said.
Increasing employment opportunities and getting people to and from work is a main focus of the project.
“This is an opportunity to take federal dollars we got for a transit facility and leverage that into over $200 million of private development on top of it,” Lattuca said. “So that’s what I’m really excited about.”
The bus facility is expected to be finished in 2025.
Housing and commercial spaces are opening a couple of years after that.
