The Weld and Rockway Raleigh: Mixed-use space across from Dix Park

Across Lake Wheeler Road from Dorothea Dix Park (featured in the three previous posts), just a mile or so southwest of downtown Raleigh, stand a pair of newly developed mixed-use communities under the names of The Weld and Rockway Raleigh.

The Weld encompasses twin 20-floor towers, The Holston and Ray at The Weld, developed by SLI Capital of Raleigh and Mack Real Estate Group of New York City. The Holston opened in November, while Ray at The Weld opened a month later. 

Very close to The Weld and situated along nearby South Saunders Street is a separate project, The Row (see lead-off photo), which is described as the first residential community to be part of Rockway Raleigh, a development of Kane Realty and Merge Capital. Two future Rockway communities at the site will be called The Heath and Lynde Hills Loft. 

All of these properties include or will include retail shops. Shops already open within the developments include Campo Taco Co., Benchwarmers Bagels and Sunflower’s Cafe, which are in The Row complex; and Willow House Coffee, a free-standing shop across Saunders Street from The Row. 

This summer, Drift Coffee & Kitchen is scheduled to open in The Weld as well. When it does, people who live and work in this modest area will have no fewer than four retail options to find coffee outside their homes or offices.

The Weld and Rockway Raleigh are situated near where Lake Wheeler Road meets Saunders Street, a “V” shaped junction just south of Rocky Branch Creek.   

Online promotions for The Weld describe one of its key characteristics as “access,” beginning with its proximity to the 305-acre Dorothea Dix Park, which is just a hop, skip and jump across Lake Wheeler Road. Rockway Raleigh also touts its closeness to the park as well as being near the Rocky Branch Creek Greenway east of Saunders Street. 

Both projects are near Raleigh’s downtown, which means they're also close to such attractions as Red Hat Amphitheater and Meymandi Concert Hall at Martin Marietta Center (both a half-mile northeast). And just a mile or so south, near where Lake Wheeler Road meets Centennial Parkway, are Trophy Brewing and Taproom, the State Farmers Market and the State Farmers Market Restaurant. 

The new development communities also are not far from the as-yet undeveloped Downtown South, a 140-acre, $2 billion mixed-use Kane Realty proposal for a site where Saunders Street meets I-40. Kane and the City of Raleigh envision that Downtown South will become an important southern gateway by serving as a major entertainment and residential hub featuring a $250 million soccer stadium (for the National Women's Soccer League's North Carolina Courage) as well as residential units, office space and retail.

So you see, this complex indeed has access, and a lot of it can or will be accessible on foot or a short drive or bicycle ride.  

Dix Park is a considerable draw because, for one, it already exists. And for another, it contains walking trails, a play plaza for children, a dog park, and plenty of general space to run, walk or ride bicycles. It also has a huge field that has been used for festivals and concerts, and a smaller open space for a popular annual display of sunflowers that are in bloom from early July to early August. 

And finally, the City of Raleigh and the Dix Park Conservancy are in only the early stages of a 10-year master plan to improve the park, so as they say, there is more to come. When I was there last week, there was a lot of building demolition going on in the park, with lots of taped and fenced off areas. 

To view a full gallery of my shots from the visit to The Weld and Rockway Raleigh, follow the link in this sentence. 

Views of The Row above and in the first four photos below. Campo Taco Co. is at the north end of the complex.  

Above: Separate from The Row, and across Saunders Street from the complex, is Willow House Coffee and Community. 

Above and first four photos below: The south end of The Row, distinguished by its rust exterior section as well as the Sunflower's Cafe.

Above and final photos below: More looks at Ray at The Weld and The Holston.  

Above and first three photos below: Side views of The Holston along Hammer Drive. The Holston is one of the two 20-floor twin towers that comprise The Weld. 

Above: The Holston (left) and Ray at The Weld, side by side.

Pleasant Grove Baptist on Lake Wheeler Road has church, preschool, cemetery

At 10005 Lake Wheeler Road, Fuquay-Varina, sits Pleasant Grove Baptist Church.

Like the two previous Baptist churches profiled at this blog, Pleasant Grove has a multi-building/facility campus. And across Lake Wheeler Road, there is a modest cemetery the church maintains. PGBC also is home to Mothers Morning Out Preschool, which serves youngsters in six age levels, beginning with infants through kindergarten. 

There appeared to be a game in progress on the church’s ball diamond while I was there for my shoot, so I limited my photo of that facility (photo elsewhere in this post) to one from afar. 

The church website has a separate page for its cemetery, at which it respectfully conveys that the graveyard “tells the stories of families and generations.”

Incidentally, it is 5.7 miles from the church campus to downtown Fuquay-Varina.   

To see a full gallery of pictures from my shoot here, follow the link in this sentence. 

 

Two more views of the church (above and below) and of the fellowship hall (second, third and fourth photos below). 

 

The Family Life Center (above), with the church to the left, houses the gymnasium. A closeup of its front doors appears below. 

Above: A side view of the fellowship hall, which leads into the church offices in the building at the far end.

I don't know this for a fact, but the three white crosses above on church property near Lake Wheeler Road (background) might be connected to the Crosses of Mercy project, under the auspices of Cast Thy Bread Inc., launched in 1984 by the Rev. Bernard Coffindaffer of West Virginia. Many copies of these crosses have emerged on church properties along thoroughfares, mostly in the Southeast, as a testament to faith and Christian salvation. Curiously, the etched stone in front of the crosses (first photo below) does not explain the crosses; it explains the dedication of the paved parking lot just behind where I was standing when I took this picture.  

  

Above and first four photos below: Different shots of the PGBC Cemetery.

The ball diamond (above) and the playground in the first five photos below.

Church identification signs along Lake Wheeler Road near the west access point (above) and along Hilltop Needmore Road at the south access point (below).

Treasuring Christ Church stands out along a mostly buildingless stretch of road

Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh, between Tryon and Penny roads, is mostly uncluttered by buildings close to the thoroughfare. Most of the structures a motorist comes across are clusters that are part of the School of Agriculture of North Carolina State University.

There are a few houses at the north end of this stretch, but very few. One main exception, at 3700 Lake Wheeler Road, is the Treasuring Christ Church, a non-denomination congregation that worships its namesake via prayer, joy in God and heavy reliance on the Bible and its teachings.

The church’s complex consists of three structures and a graveyard. What isn’t clear (and nothing at the church’s website helps to edify this) is what the two buildings front and center are used for. The one on the right appears to be a traditional A-frame church structure. 

But the newer, more modern structure on the left could be the sanctuary as well. And given that there is a building (not pictured) behind the older structure that a Google satellite map identifies as an education center, I have to guess that the taller and newer facility could be the current sanctuary, or a fellowship hall … or possibly even both.