The City of Raleigh’s Urban Projects Group (UPG) is a division of the Planning and Development Department established in 2022 with a mission to accelerate plan and project implementation through internal coordination, external partnerships, and creative problem solving.
To achieve this mission, UPG deploys a variety of economic, policy, real estate, and design tools, in partnership with many other City departments and external stakeholders. These tools are designed to leverage mutually beneficial partnerships to create a prosperous, healthy, and equitable Raleigh.
Team Structure
The UPG team brings together a diverse set of skills, with expertise in real estate, public-private partnerships, urban design, and development review of complex projects. The group is made up of three sub-units: Real Estate, Partnerships and Advocacy, and Civic Projects and Places:
- The Real Estate unit handles acquisition, disposition, and real estate analysis for the entire City of Raleigh organization.
- The Partnerships and Advocacy unit seeks out and responds to proposals to marry private development projects with public infrastructure and benefits, using various public-private partnership tools as appropriate. This team also supports the review process for complex public interest development projects, both public and private, increasing development process efficiencies along the way.
- The Civic Projects and Places unit leads, facilitates, and supports internal coordination and collaboration around plan implementation of civic projects and public realm design improvements. The team advocates for excellence in urban design, sustainable practices, and creation of people-centric places through our city-led project delivery.
The group’s work involves daily collaboration across City departments around key priorities, such as affordable housing, transportation, parks, stormwater, sustainability, and innovation.