Seaboard LLC filed preliminary site plans with the city to build 112 apartments in two five-story buildings at the mixed-use development on the northern fringe of downtown Raleigh off Peace Street.

It could be the second major rental complex to sprout in downtown Raleigh. Apartment developers have been emboldened by a growing core of downtown employees and rising mortgage rates that make it harder for some would-be buyers to afford homes.

The vacancy rate for inside-the-Beltline apartments dropped to a five-year low of 5.7 percent in January, according to Real Data of Charlotte. Meanwhile, plans to start One Eleven Seaboard, a 53-unit condominium project at Seaboard Station, have been delayed as pre-sales have slowed.

Construction on the Seaboard apartments could begin before year's end and wrap up by early 2010, assuming the planning-approval process goes smoothly, says development partner Conan McClain of McClain Development.

The project would compete with The Tucker, a 179-unit complex being built by Crosland less than a mile southwest at Boylan Avenue and Tucker Street.

Both may face pressure from Gordon Smith, the founder of Raleigh's Exploris museum, who is pondering plans for 200 apartments a block east of City Market.

The Tucker will benefit from an earlier opening, spring 2009, and location on the edge of downtown's popular Glenwood South district.

The Seaboard apartments can boast their location amid a cluster of shops, a fitness center, restaurants and downtown's only grocery. They are planned for a parking lot just north of shops anchored by Ace Hardware.

Before battling in earnest, McClain needs to do a few things:

* He needs to calculate construction costs, which will help determine rental rates.

* He needs to line up financing. Although lenders have been tightening up for most types of commercial development loans, they have been relatively welcoming to apartment deals.

* And he needs a name. Apparently, an homage to Real Deals is out of the question. "Noodle on it," McClain says. "If you think of something other than the 'Jack Shack,' let me know."

Investors have an appetite for Triangle apartments.

At least $800 million in apartment communities were traded in the first half of the year, topping last year's total, according to CB Richard Ellis data.

The total was boosted by the $218 million purchase of 11 Triangle properties by a joint venture of DRA Advisors of New York and Steven D. Bell & Co. of Greensboro. Those properties were part of a bigger deal, including 86 apartment properties in 12 states.

In the past month:

* Mid-America Apartment Communities of Memphis, Tenn., paid $34.5 million, or $110,223 per unit, for the Alexan Brier Creek complex in northwest Raleigh. The price was 22 percent above the recently assessed county tax value. The 313-unit project, built last year on 14.4 acres at 10100 Donerail Way, was 43 percent occupied at the end of March, Triangle Apartment Association data show.

* Cary Towne Park LLC of Levonia, Mich., paid $38.3 million for the 354-unit apartment complex. The price was 31 percent more than the seller -- a group led by the Chicago office of Henderson Global Investors -- paid in 2004. The seven-year-old complex, in West Raleigh near the Raleigh and Cary border, was 93 percent full in late March.