Randleigh Farm Project

Project Lead - Julian Prosser, Assistant City Manager

Office of Sustainability
Parks and Recreation
Planning
Public Affairs
Public Utilities
Public Works

Wake County
Wake County Public School System

The Randleigh Farm project is currently on hold.

Planning Phase

In March 2005, the City of Raleigh and Wake County purchased Randleigh Farm, a 420-acre tract located in eastern Wake County, nine miles from downtown Raleigh and adjacent to the sensitive waters of the Neuse River. The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) joined the City of Raleigh and Wake County in a partnership to develop the site.

Four silos in a grove of oak trees will be maintained on Randleigh Farm to remind residents, not only of North Carolina's proud and prominent agricultural history, but of the nearly three decades that this very land was dedicated to nurturing champion cattle. In 1966, N.C. State University purchased these 420 acres in eastern Wake County to serve as a home for the prize-winning Randleigh Dairy herd that had been graciously donated to the university by entrepreneur William R. Kenan, Jr. For the next 27 years, the Randleigh Dairy Farm was the site of then innovative milking and waste-management practices. The herd was moved from the site in 1993. Since then, the large pasture has generated a bountiful hay crop.

Some of the planned features of the Randleigh Farm development project are listed below:

• Open space will accommodate pedestrian and bicycle traffic, passive recreation, active water quality protection, and a habitat for native biodiversity.
• A mixed-use urban center containing a government office park, homes,
  schools and businesses will blend components of multi-income lifestyles at work, at school and at play.
• Two public schools -- elementary and middle -- whose green, state-of-the art buildings and grounds will integrate best management practices in water, energy, and waste management.
• The Freshwater Ecological Center will serve as a public visitor and education center, offering the opportunity to learn about the interdependent ecology of the Neuse River Watershed basin.
• A 105-acre Piedmont Meadow will produce coastal hay, grain crops,
  ornamental grasses and native meadow plants, demonstrating the use of
  reclaimed water and biosolids.
• Residences, offices and businesses will model conservation practices of energy materials, landscapes and stormwater. Re-use water will be available for non-potable needs.

The long-term goal is to develop Randleigh Farm as a model of sustainable development. A sustainable development strives to simultaneously improve environmental quality, economic vitality, and social conditions.