As Raleigh's housing boom continues, the downtown area is set to get its first grocery store in decades.
The company that manages Seaboard Station, a shopping center off Peace Street, announced plans to add a full-service Harris Teeter in the next two years.
The addition comes as the area is experiencing a period of historic growth, according to Bill King, Senior Director of Economic Development and Planning of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.
"This is a downtown that really few people lived in at the beginning of this century, and now we're seeing thousands of people live here," King said. "We expect we'll have over 10,000 residents in downtown by the end of the decade."
King said he hopes the grocery store will provide a retail anchor to spur increased commercial development downtown.
"We're in the midst of a pipeline of over 3,000 residential units that are either already delivered, under construction, or planned," he said. "Now these folks have a place to shop that's in the downtown area."
The new store will offer a bikeable and walkable shopping option for Raleigh residents. Construction on the project is slated to begin by early 2018.
