A 20-story tower planned for downtown Raleigh just got a makeover on paper, with more retail space, more parking, and a slightly smaller apartment count than originally pitched. Tidal Real Estate Partners filed revised plans for its 1.4-acre site at 521 and 529 S. Wilmington St. and 108 Stronachs Alley, and the project now totals just under 591,000 square feet — up from roughly 583,000 square feet in the earlier version.
The ground-floor retail footprint grew from 18,650 square feet to 20,601 square feet, according to Bisnow. Parking expanded too: the revised plans call for 368 spaces in a 153,812-square-foot deck, replacing an earlier design with 313 spaces in a 166,400-square-foot deck. The apartment count dropped by 13 units in the new filing, though the outlet's report does not specify the resulting total.
Site Review Done, But No Permit Yet
Tidal's site-plan extension is good through January 2028, and the site review process is already complete, per the same Bisnow account. Still, the developer had not submitted a building-permit application as of that report, leaving the timeline for actual construction unresolved. A separate public zoning filing with the City of Raleigh describes a request to raise the allowable height on the Wilmington Street assemblage from three stories to 20, paired with an Urban Limited frontage meant to keep the streetscape pedestrian-friendly and free of parking between the building and the sidewalk — though that filing is a description of the request, not confirmation that it has been approved.
The Wilmington Street site sits near Tidal's recently completed Hotel Indigo, a $36 million renovation of a former Holiday Inn the company converted after entering the Raleigh market in 2021, according to Axios. Tidal CEO Mick Walsdorf told Axios the company prioritizes the Wilmington Street project and intends to make it one of the most amenitized apartment buildings in Raleigh, a description that aligns with the Bisnow report's detail of nearly 20,601 square feet of ground-floor retail. Walsdorf also said getting any project across the finish line is complicated while interest rates remain high.
A Broader Downtown Portfolio
Tidal's holdings extend beyond Wilmington Street. The company acquired 1.3 acres at 310 S. Harrington St. in Raleigh's Warehouse District for $20.9 million on April 27, 2022, land that sits one block from Raleigh Union Station and is zoned for towers up to 40 stories, per Axios's earlier reporting. Per the Axios scoop that first reported the Wilmington Street project, Tidal also owns land near CAM Raleigh in the Warehouse District and acquired the Lincoln Theatre on Wilmington Street, and the company operates in New York and other Southeastern cities.
Walsdorf told Axios he believes downtown Raleigh's growth has not been sufficiently captured downtown, arguing the city needs more projects and revitalized existing buildings to create enough gravity at its core. He also said Tidal is not yet ready to detail its plans for a gravel lot adjacent to Hotel Indigo, even though the company filed plans in January 2026 for another hotel project there and hopes to begin work on that site. Walsdorf described the company's various projects as meant to work together rather than standing alone.
Retail Demand Fuels the Timing
The revised retail footprint lands amid a tight Raleigh retail market. Vacancy has stayed below 3% for four consecutive years through the first quarter of 2026, the same Bisnow report notes, and a March Marcus & Millichap forecast ranked Raleigh and Charlotte as the top two retail markets in the country. Comparable downtown projects are adding retail at a smaller scale — the 20-story Strand is planned with nearly 9,000 square feet of retail, while the 37-story Highline Glenwood is slated for 7,500 square feet, according to the Bisnow account.
The Wilmington Street site also sits near a parking lot by the under-construction Omni Hotel and the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, per Axios's reporting. The 29-story, 600-room Omni Raleigh Hotel, which broke ground with a planned rooftop pool and restaurant, is expected to open in late 2028, according to the News & Observer. Nearby, the City Gateway district is developing 6.75 acres rezoned for office, hotel or residential towers as tall as 40 stories.
Downtown Raleigh has recorded an $8.3 billion pipeline of completed, under-construction and planned investment since 2025, including more than 5,700 new residential units, according to CommercialSearch. That wave includes the Rockway development's 335-apartment Row building and the twin 20-story Weld towers, the $1 billion Raleigh Sports & Entertainment District planned over 15 years, Kane Realty's $1 billion North Hills Innovation District, and the $150 million Iron Works redevelopment, the outlet reports.
Regional Apartment Market Still Absorbing Supply
The broader Raleigh-Durham apartment market has absorbed more than 19,400 units since the start of 2024, with the regional multifamily vacancy rate improving to 7.7% during the third quarter, according to NorthMarq. Roughly 6,000 multifamily units were slated for completion across the region in 2026, and NorthMarq's analysis expects demand to stay elevated thanks to job growth and strong net migration into the area.
For now, Tidal's Wilmington Street tower remains in the planning pipeline rather than under construction. The site review is complete and the extension runs through January 2028, but whether ground actually breaks will depend on a building-permit application that, as of the latest reporting, had not yet been filed.
