GREATER RALEIGH'S $3 BILLION PLUS RENAISSANCE

Over the next three years, here are some of the major projects transforming Raleigh into the premiere event destination for entertainment, learning and technology in the Southeast:

• New Downtown Raleigh Convention Center
• Marriott Raleigh City Center
• Downtown Public Art Projects
• Renaissance Raleigh Hotel North Hills
• Westin Raleigh Soleil Center
• North Carolina Museum of Art Expansion
• Green Square Project at North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
• New Terminal 2 at Raleigh-Durham International Airport
• New Contemporary Art Museum

New Downtown Raleigh Convention Center

• Catalyst of Downtown Raleigh's $2 billion development
• 500,000 total sq. ft. of state-of-the-art space
• 150,000 sq. ft. exhibition hall, 32,000 sq. ft. grand ballroom with reception area, 20 meeting rooms totaling 32,000+ sq. ft.
• 400-room, four-star quality Marriott Raleigh City Center with enclosed access to the center; 355-room Sheraton Raleigh Hotel adjacent to center
• Opening September 2008

Raleigh Marriott City Center

• 
• Raleigh Convention Center headquarters hotel
• 400 rooms, including 20 suites
• Almost 15,000 square feet of meeting space in 15 rooms
• Opening Fall 2008

Renaissance Raleigh Hotel North Hills

• 229-room four-star quality luxury hotel that will anchor North Hills' new mixed-use district
• Features 6 suites and a club level, almost 8,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 5,500 square foot ballroom and an upscale restaurant
• Access to the adjoining Natural Body Spa (a European-style day spa) and the new $10 million Gold's Gym Athletic featuring 50,000 square feet of space including an all-weather Olympic swimming pool
• North Hills reopened in Fall 2004 as Raleigh 's "Midtown"- a district of three city blocks designed to draw people with its sheer variety of experiences
• Opening Fall 2008

Westin Raleigh Soleil Center

• 290 rooms and four-star quality hotel including 35 suites and 12,000 square-foot world-class wellness spa and fitness center with swimming pool
• $120 million and 600,000 sq. ft. project promises to be one of the most beautiful buildings (42 stories) in North Carolina
• 30,000 square feet of function space including meeting rooms, ballroom and rooftop terrace
• 49 luxury condos and an upscale restaurant
• Would be only the second Westin in North Carolina (other in Charlotte ) and located near one of the Carolina 's largest malls ( Crabtree Valley featuring 220 stores)
• Opening Summer 2009

North Carolina Museum of Art Expansion

• $138 million expansion featuring new galleries and public spaces built in direct relationship to the environment
• Designed by Thomas Phifer and Partners of New York
• Expected to increase gallery space by 40 percent and provide much-needed space for the Museum's growing permanent collection
• Existing Museum building will be transformed into an education and temporary exhibition center, and will also house administrative offices, art service, and storage
• Received an unprecedented gift of Auguste Rodin works from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in November 2005 to be displayed in the new galleries
  Gift of 23 works of art, including 22 bronze sculptures by Rodin, makes the Museum one of the world's top Rodin repositories and the only cultural institution in the South with a major Rodin collection; as part of the expansion, the Museum will establish a Rodin study center and name a Rodin gallery and adjacent garden in honor of the Cantor Foundation
• Among the Rodin works are casts of the celebrated sculptures The Kiss and The Thinker , as well as Cybele, Monumental Torso of the Walking Man, The Three Shades, Monumental Head of Pierre de Wiessant, and Jean de Fiennes, Vetu , plus Camille Claudel's Bust of Rodin and a demonstration piece explaining the lost-wax casting process of Rodin's Sorrow
• Opening 2009 with construction starting in Fall 2006

Green Square Project at North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

• Two block, multi-use "green" development project
• Project will house environmental offices a nationally significant Nature Research Center (NRC) to the heart of North Carolina's Capital City.
• 80,000 square foot expansion spanning an entire city block in Downtown Raleigh.
• The Nature Research Center will focus on activities which will promote environmental stewardship efforts while providing the general public with experiential learning opportunities that focus on current scientific research and environmental issues affecting their daily lives.
• Opening 2010

New Terminal C at Raleigh-Durham International Airport

• $600 million redevelopment and expansion and will become RDU's primary terminal
• Accommodates the ever-increasing number of travelers using RDU and features 32 to 35 gates by tripling the size of the existing terminal
• Efficiently guides passengers through ticketing, security, gates and baggage claim
• Nine major airlines and 18 regional carriers currently offer nearly 500 daily flights to 38 nonstop destinations
• Phase 1 of new terminal opening in 2008 with most of the new front hall along with north concourse with 17 gates
• Phase 2 of new terminal opening in 2010 with remaining portion of front hall, reconstruction of the central concourse and rebuilding of south concourse
• Airlines scheduled to use new terminal: Air Canada , American, American Eagle, United (now in Terminal C) and Continental, Delta, Northwest, US Airways, America West (moving from Terminal A)

New Contemporary Art Museum

• Originally established in 1983 and new facility will address its role as an urban cultural center, a downtown Raleigh meeting place, a catalyst for change and vital element in the region's urban renaissance
• Part of a 20,000 square foot redevelopment by Grubb Properties in downtown Raleigh's warehouse district located at 409 West Martin Street that will include residential, retail and/or office space components integrated into the permanent museum setting
• Preliminary designs include two full levels, soaring interior space and two adjacent parking lots, plus both large and intimate gallery spaces, classrooms and new technology as both an art form and educational tool
• Opening 2008