Design and Construction Report staff writer
Turnbridge Equities has begun demolition work and will soon break ground on Highline Glenwood, a 37-story luxury residential tower set to become the tallest of its kind in Raleigh.
Sitework is underway, with Barnhill Contracting Company serving as general contractor. The project’s team includes JDavis as architect of record; Morris Adjmi Architects as design architect; Clearscapes and Michael Hsu Office of Architecture as consultants; McAdams as civil engineer and landscape architect; DeSimone Consulting Engineering for structural engineering; and Crenshaw Consulting Engineers for mechanical systems.
Located in the Glenwood South neighborhood of downtown Raleigh and expected to be completed in 2028, Highline Glenwood will feature 306 units ranging from studio apartments to three-bedroom penthouses.
The tower will include a 37th-floor indoor-outdoor sky lounge,a 13,000-square-foot terrace with a pool and padel court, a demonstration kitchen, coworking suite, fitness center, wellness suite, and a Trackman golf simulator.
The project will also add about 7,500 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail and an additional 50,000 sq. ft. of commercial space in the adjacent historic Pine State Creamery building, which will be preserved.
Raleigh has experienced a residential building boom in recent years. Downtown has added more than 4,300 units in the past three years. Yet, according to CoStar, the city has maintained the highest national absorption rate, with stabilized occupancy hovering around 94%.
However, high costs and tightening capital markets have cooled construction activity.
Raleigh’s multifamily pipeline has dropped nearly 70% since the end of 2022, and projections suggest another 50% decline by the end of 2025.
“Highline Glenwood will deliver into an ideal environment amid very limited new supply and continued population growth,” Davis said. “By launching before the broader recovery, we’ve been able to lock in attractive construction costs that will be hard to replicate when activity picks back up.”
Glenwood South, the tower’s location, is Raleigh’s most active lifestyle district, home to dozens of retailers, restaurants, bars, and hotels. Nearby, the city is developing the 14-acre Smoky Hollow Park.
Raleigh continues to grow rapidly, ranking second in U.S. population growth since 2013, just behind Austin, Texas. The metro area adds roughly 60 new residents each day. With proximity to major research institutions such as Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State, the region boasts one of the nation’s most educated workforces and a median household income near $100,000.
“The Raleigh market has been a core focus of ours for many years,” Davis said. “But what became clear to us is that Raleigh lacked premier-quality residential offerings found in comparable markets. With many newcomers arriving from places like New York and D.C., we see strong demand for apartments that match that level of quality.”
The tower represents the first phase of a broader redevelopment of the Creamery property, which Turnbridge acquired in 2020. The company rezoned the site to allow for up to 40 stories and received all necessary historic and city approvals. BuildOps, a fast-growing tech firm, will house its 300-person Raleigh office in the preserved Creamery building. A future development site adjacent to the tower could accommodate either another 300 residential units or 300,000 sq. ft. of commercial space.
