History

Kane Realty Corporation was formed by John Kane in 1978 to build a full range of commercial real estate properties, including regional malls, community shopping centers and office buildings. Focused on the principles of smart growth through the development and management of high-quality retail and mixed-use properties, Kane Realty Corporation is dedicated to the creation of irresistible places where people naturally want to gather.

Combining its retail background with the expertise gained through redevelopment of both office and retail, the company sold its portfolio to a real estate investment trust to focus on breathing new life into neglected properties by using the principles of smart growth and neo-urbanism.

The Kane team initiated its redevelopment of North Hills with North Hills Plaza, a deteriorating neighborhood shopping center built in 1967, creating a shopping center that the News & Observer called "Raleigh's version of Madison Avenue." By combining essential and luxury merchandise with an eclectic mix of merchants and services, the company showed that it was willing to overlook some well-established guidelines of shopping center leasing in deference to both its knowledge of the way people actually shop and the principles of smart growth.

At the same time, the company was involved in the redevelopment and remerchandising of Chapel Hill's University Mall, attracting specialty food retailer A Southern Season to anchor the mall when Belk exited in 2002, and adding a host of galleries and specialty retailers to revitalize the aging regional mall.

In 2001, Kane Realty Corporation began the redevelopment of North Hills Mall, a 30-acre brownfield in the middle of Raleigh. The company demolished the old mall in 2003, leaving only JCPenney and a parking deck where a collection of stores and restaurants had once thrived. In its place, Kane created what has been called "the quintessential mixed-use district" where living, working, shopping, dining and playing are combined creatively over a multi-block pedestrian-friendly area. Applying the concepts of smart growth, the company transformed a deteriorating old mall into an immensely attractive neo-urbanism environment where people regularly report that they reconnect with friends and neighbors on each visit.

Since 1978, Kane Realty Corporation has developed or redeveloped 6.5 million square feet of real estate.