RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A proposed rezoning could change the face of a historic neighborhood. 

In the middle of Raleigh’s Mordecai community, there could be a new 300-unit apartment complex with some retail space. 

Neighbors are trying to fight against it. 

“We share a lot line,” said Katerina Pugh.

Pugh is helping her mother renovate her new home in the Mordecai neighborhood; a home the women told CBS 17 they might not have purchased if they knew the backyard would completely change.

“They are planning on demolishing the current property and planning a multi-use community where there could be restaurants on the bottom floor and apartments on the top,” she explained.

The owner of “The Mordecai on Clover” is trying to get the over five-acre property rezoned, to allow both business and apartments to be built at a maximum height of five stories. 

“We’re at like two and a half [stories] here, so that will tower above us,” said Pugh. 

Another neighbor, Marie Barnett, created spatial conceptual designs to show how large the development could be if city officials approve the rezoning request.

“This is just the wrong place for it,” she explained. 

The stretch of Wake Forest Road near their home was recently reduced from four lanes to two lanes, to make the area safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. 

The improvements were part of the $3.27 million Blount Street and Person Street corridor project. 

“We’re trying to decrease the traffic on the roads, and now there’s Ironworks down the road and there’s Seaboard Station on the other end,” said Barnett. “With this development in the middle, it will just pour traffic in the road.” 

Neighbors are also concerned about the residents who live in the “Mordecai on Clover.”  They told CBS 17 the units are affordable, and they worry current tenants will be displaced. 

“It’s really difficult when you have to make people leave and build something that they [may not] be able to move into again,” added Pugh. 

There will be a community meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Halifax Community Center in Raleigh.