Crabtree tower may yet rise

Five years after a Sheraton Hotel came crashing down to make way for what developers said would be Raleigh's tallest building, visions of amixed-use tower near Crabtree Valley Mall have likewise crumbled.

Posted 2:41 a.m. Mar 31, 2015 — Updated 5:42 p.m. Mar 31, 2015

RALEIGH, N.C. — A decade after Raleigh officials approved a hotel and residential tower near Crabtree Valley Mall, developers are taking a second run at the project.

Site plans for the 43-story Soleil Center have been re-filed with city planners, calling for a 290-room hotel and 54 condominiums to be built on a 5-acre site near the intersection of Glenwood Avenue and Creedmoor Road.

Cary developers Dicky Walia and Sanjay Mundra initially proposed the Soleil Center as the tallest building in Raleigh and tore down a Sheraton Hotel to make way for their vision. But the recession derailed the project after a concrete slab was poured for its foundation, and they wound up owing close to $7 million on it.

The property went through a foreclosure sale in 2011 and was purchased for $4.2 million by a group known as RL Regi Financial LLC.

The developer listed on the request for an extension of the approved site plan is RL Regi NC Gtree LLC. Bloomberg Business lists the company as a subsidiary of home builder Lennar Corp.

Raleigh attorney Mack Paul, who represents the property owner, said Tuesday that the original Soleil Center site plans expired last October, so the plans were re-filed to remain valid. A three-year extension can be granted as long as the plans meet current development regulations, he said, adding that he believes they do.

There are no firm development plans as of now, Paul said.

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