Landmark Raleigh hotel demolished for new luxury student housing

Chantal Allam
·1 min read
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Another landmark on Hillsborough Street is being torn down to make room for new development.

Wrecking crews descended on The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel at 1707 Hillsborough St. last week to begin demolishing the decades-old building that once served as a mainstay for alumni and parents visiting N.C. State’s campus just down the street.

Built in 1966 as a Holiday Inn, the building is perhaps best known as the Brownstone Hotel before it was rebranded as a Hilton hotel in 2011. The 190-room hotel closed for good in 2022 after being sold for $42 million in late 2021.

The DoubleTree hotel at 1707 Hillsborough Street is being demolished to make way for new N.C. State student housing on Friday, September 29, 2023 in Raleigh, N.C. Originally constructed as a Holiday Inn in 1966, the hotel was also named The Brownstone for a period of time.
The DoubleTree hotel at 1707 Hillsborough Street is being demolished to make way for new N.C. State student housing on Friday, September 29, 2023 in Raleigh, N.C. Originally constructed as a Holiday Inn in 1966, the hotel was also named The Brownstone for a period of time.
The DoubleTree hotel at 1707 Hillsborough Street is being demolished to make way for new N.C. State student housing on Friday, September 29, 2023 in Raleigh, N.C. Originally constructed as a Holiday Inn in 1966, the hotel was also named The Brownstone for a period of time.
The DoubleTree hotel at 1707 Hillsborough Street is being demolished to make way for new N.C. State student housing on Friday, September 29, 2023 in Raleigh, N.C. Originally constructed as a Holiday Inn in 1966, the hotel was also named The Brownstone for a period of time.

Chicago-based Core Spaces is planning to build a 12-story luxury student housing complex in its place. It will provide boarding for up to 2,000 N.C. State students, The N&O previously reported.

Plans call for almost 1.1 million square feet of space, including a 692-space parking deck.

The rooms will be split up into 128 one-bedroom units, 169 two-bedroom units, 103 three-bedroom units and 273 four-bedroom units.

Among the amenities: a “resort-style” pool and spa, a coffee shop and a dog run enclosure.

The project’s timeline remains unclear. Core Spaces was unavailable for comment.

The hotel’s eventual departure comes as one of Raleigh’s main thoroughfares gets a facelift from growing development.

Heading into Downtown Raleigh, Char-Grill and the round Holiday Inn are facing similar fates as the Brownstone with redevelopment projects already in the works.

Separately, Core Spaces acquired Stanhope Student Apartments, an 822-bed housing community at 3001 Hillsborough St. in 2021.

The News & Observer Aaron Sánchez-Guerra contributed to this report.