About Downtown
Downtown Raleigh
Downtown Raleigh lies at the heart of the Triangle, the fastest growing metropolitan region in the Carolinas. For businesses, residents and visitors alike, downtown is the urban center of the region, an incredible place to live, work and play.
With a population of 360,000, Raleigh is the second largest city in the Carolinas. It is also the fastest growing major city in the state, adding more than 10,000 residents annually. The rapidly expanding Raleigh metro area, with 1,235,000 residents, has more than doubled its population since 1970. Downtown Raleigh is comprised of 110 blocks, while the city of Raleigh covers 126 square miles.
Office
The Downtown Raleigh office market is comprised of about six million square feet of commercial office space concentrated around the Fayetteville Street District. Roughly fifty-percent of the space is multi-tenant space. The office occupancy rate is one of the healthiest in the region, hovering around ninety percent.
Housing
There are approximately 5,250 apartments, condominiums, townhomes and single family homes in the heart of downtown plus another 2,640 units already planned or under construction. There are 15,065 residents within a one mile radius and 85,660 residents within a three-mile radius of Downtown Raleigh. Residents living within a one mile of downtown generate an average household income of over $58,000 per year, 70.4% have some secondary education and 73.2% hold a professional job.
Tourism
In 2003, three million people visited Downtown Raleigh for conventions, museums, the performing arts and special events. These numbers are expected to double with the completion of the new convention center in 2008.