The North Carolina Retail Merchants Association has been located at 209 Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh for almost 10 years. For all of those years, they have chased various problems, but none more frustrating than moisture intrusion through the front wall of the building. The 30-year cultured marble cladding had outlived is usefulness and aesthetic. It was time to kill two birds with one stone. Gontram Architecture and Ten Penny Construction had proposed a façade renovation in 2016, but in 2019, the owners were ready to pull the trigger.
The cultured marble was removed. A new cast stone and brick veneer system was installed. New storefront windows replaced the outdated, inefficient fenestrations. An outdoor courtyard in the basement (a gloomy waste of space) was converted into 2-story multi-use space for all tenants to use.
Construction was successfully performed during the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous protests and demonstrations, and was completed in the fall of 2020.