908 Williamson Update: The Fight is Not Over...By a Long Shot!
The developers start a campaign of psychological warfare that is not going to work, because the fight is very much alive and Hayes Barton is just getting started. 💪
Sincere apologies for the delay in getting an update out - my day-job has been super busy and we had to get our daughter all moved in and situated at college. I’m all caught up now - let’s jump into this update.
Fundraising Reminder
I’ll provide an update on Fundraising in a separate post soon, but it’s going well for having launched in the slow period of late July.
As a reminder, we are raising $100k and for the first $20k there is a matching donation, so your donation is effectively doubled. There are two ways to donate:
Complete this simple form and we’ll be in contact to pick up a check (details going out tomorrow for those that are waiting).
Several folks mentioned they would prefer not to fill out a form. If that’s the case, you can write a check made out to Hayes Barton Legal Fund and deliver it to Frank Gordon at 802 Williamson Dr - you can either drop it in the mail slot or mail it to Frank if you prefer. Any checks received after the 7/21/25 fund raising kickoff will received the match.
If you missed the fundraising kick-off the detailed post is here.
908 Williamson Developer Activity Updates
Most of you have seen the activity at 908, but if you don’t happen to go down Williamson or Iredell frequently, here’s a summary of activities since our last update from the BOA meeting.
The developers that own 908 have been busy creating what I call an aesthetic fusion between ‘prison yard’, ‘urban blight’ and slum landlord’.
Window-less Look…
First, around August 12-14, they took out the windows from the upstairs of the house, giving it a ‘welcome drug dealers looking for a place to stay’ vibe:
which it turns out, was just the beginning…
Chainlink Fence Goes Up
Then, August 14 to August 18, they put up a chainlink fence. We were thinking, hmmm, the only thing that would make this look more sketchy is some barbed wire, or even better, some razor wire, or, even BETTER, both.
Blackout Chainlink…
Turns out: we guessed wrong! They chose the ‘black out’ ratty fabric addition to the chain link fence. Note this doesn’t mean they can’t still add razor wire, we’ll see….
2 Story→Ranch Conversion
Then after putting up the lovely blackout screen to enhance the chainlink fence, they moved in some heavy equipment and started a semi demolition of the house, leaving us with this current state of things as of September 5:
Psychological Warfare
From the disparaging language used by their lawyers and their body language at the BOA hearings, it’s clear to me that Chappell, Singerman and Concept8 view our neighborhood as their enemy. They have no intention to honor the legacy, design aesthetic or care about our neighborhood. They think they can do whatever they want, wherever they want and are furious that a group of concerned citizens are stepping up to stop them.
We’ll show you…
What these moves the developers have undertaken in the last 30 days say to me is: You want to fight? Ok, we’re going to take this property and make it a blight upon your neighborhood. You don’t like the idea of condos, what about the idea of a prison yard smack in the middle of your neighborhood. We’ll give Hayes Barton a big black eye. See how you enjoy that. We’ll show you!
They want us to give up. They are creating an alternative that they think is worse than 17 giant modern condos all slammed together with zero parking. (note: it isn’t).
They want us to ‘think past the sale’ - that they have won and are developing the land.
That’s not true and, and if anything, I believe it shows the opposite - it shows that we are winning, they are acting desperate. They know we are fundraising. They want that to fail.
OUR Story…
The Hayes Barton counter narrative to what the developers want you to think is simple:
We are just beginning.
They can put up razor-wire and a shanty town made of cardboard on the 908 lot. Heck, go ahead and convert it to a landfill - they are proving our point that they plan to strip-mine the Hayes Barton neighborhood’s beauty and ‘brand’ that has been carefully built by craftsmen that care deeply over the last 100+ years.
As the stewards and caretakers of our neighborhood, we’re not going to roll over that easily. They acquired the house in December of 2022 and in in 4 short months we’ll be at the 3yr anniversary. We’re not even past the first inning of a game we expect to go extra innings. What’s 3yrs to protect 105? Not even a drop in the ocean.
Why is there a sense of urgency on their side? I don’t know the developer’s economic situation, but anyone having ~$4m tied up in a project is either experiencing a huge drain on liquidity, or, if financed, has significant carrying costs. Building the prison fence - more costs.
We are living 100% rent-free in their heads. Keep spending.
Second Appeal Coming Shortly
I was able to catch up with the Hayes Barton legal team this week and they have not filed an appeal yet, because the BOA hasn’t published in writing their findings and won’t until their next scheduled meeting. A written opinion/finding/vote/decision is a pre-requisite for Hayes Barton filing an appeal. You can’t appeal something that doesn’t exist yet.
The appeal is coming soon and well within the timeframe required to file an appeal. We are still very much in this fight. Don’t let the psychological warfare persuade you otherwise.
What’s Next?
Remember that our first appeal succeeded. The result was a reversal of the first BOA decision and the permit was revoked. We intend to do this again.
At the second BOA decision meetings in July, it was clear to a lay-person like me that the developers did not work within the spirit of the Judge’s order to make one minor change - they changed the entire plan. Facts and the Town of Raleigh’s own rules they keep running roughshod over are on our side.
After we file our appeal, we’ll have to wait to see which judge picks it up and my understanding of the appeals court is they do not have a deadline or timeline on when they act on appeals. As a dapoint, for our first appeal, it was filed in Feb of 23 and the Judge ruled 17 months later.
For appeal 2, it could take more time, it could take less. I will say that you can’t drive around Raleigh without seeing signs that other Raleigh residents are fighting a plethora of 908-like projects everywhere across the city, so I have to imagine the appeals courts are full of activities like ours.
What Happens if They Start Building?
If the builders decide to start building, and the NC appellate court revokes their permit, there is a substantial risk they will have to tear down whatever is built. There is strong and clear case law to support this position.
The builders are aware of this, we’ll see how far they are going to take things at 908.
You know what’s more expensive than carrying costs? Building something that has to be torn down.
We Need YOUR Help…
As mentioned at the top, our main need right now is to shore-up the legal fund so we can keep pushing through the next steps not only for the 908 BOA-level battle, but simultaneously, we are fighting the deceivingly named ‘Missing Middle’ invalid text changes that have made projects like 908 Williamson possible.
There are two ways to donate and have your funds matched:
Complete this simple form and we’ll be in contact to pick up a check - you can make it out to Hayes Barton Legal Fund.
Several folks mentioned they would prefer not to fill out a form. If that’s the case, you can write a check made out to Hayes Barton Legal Fund and deliver it to Frank Gordon at 802 Williamson Dr - you can either drop it in the mail slot or mail it to Frank if you prefer. Any checks received after the 7/21/25 fund raising kickoff will received the match.
If you missed the kick-off the detailed post is here. Every dollar helps. If you’ve given already - thanks! We’d love you to consider another donation here for this next battle in the war.
Thank you!
Hayes Barton Neighbors: thank for your continued support - more frequent updates coming now that we are past the Summer.