32 replies to this topic

[uptownliving]

Queens University has purchased the option to buy the current Federal Courthouse once they move out in the next 5 years....their current plans are to put their Law School there.

[ElricSeven]

uptownliving, on Feb 4 2005, 04:44 PM, said:

Queens University has purchased the option to buy the current Federal Courthouse once they move out in the next 5 years....their current plans are to put their Law School there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is that the one next to the Carillon building?

[SmellyCat]

ElricSeven, on Feb 4 2005, 04:55 PM, said:

Is that the one next to the Carillon building?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe it's 2 blocks from Carillon.  The one right next to Carillon is the Center City Inn, soon to be history of course, when Trademark construction starts.  Then the next block heading west is the courthouse.

[SmellyCat]

good find.  We may have to ask dubone to update is uptown charlotte rundown map soon and it's only 2 months old!!  

[Raintree21]

UptownGrrl, on Mar 21 2005, 05:42 PM, said:

depending how things shake out down the line, potentially a law school.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What about the proposed Queens University Law School at the Federal Court House?

What exactly are the plans for that by the way?

[UptownGrrl]

Raintree21, on Mar 21 2005, 06:24 PM, said:

What about the proposed Queens University Law School at the Federal Court House?

What exactly are the plans for that by the way?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Queens has optioned the building which they say the may use for a law school if they go ahead with it. Or, Queens may use it for other academic purposes if they don't go forward with the law school. At this point, Elon is the only school that's moved from the planning stage to the implementation stage. The Elon Law School will be housed in the to-be renovated Greensboro public library building in downtown Greensboro.

I think Queens and UNCC are now taking a wait-and-see approach to see how the Elon school gets off the ground, and what impact it would have on establishing another law school in Charlotte. If Charlotte does get a law school, I think Queens would do it before UNCC would.

[dubone]

I couldn't find a more recent thread on this, but basically the current federal courthouse on West Trade next to Trademark will be swapped and become Queen's University for an uptown campus.  They were rumored to be creating a law school there, but it could be any school.  I suspect it will just be a mixture of programs, just like UNCC's uptown campus will be.

The land swap will occur when a new federal courthouse is approved for construction by the General Services Administration.  Here is a thread with some article links that say that could happen as early as 5 years from now, and design work is underway.
http://www.urbanplan...showtopic=26045

Anyway, here are are recent photos of that beautiful 1920's limestone building.

[dubone]

As discussed in the uptown news topic, CBJ is reporting that Queen's can now use the Jonas Bldg at Mint and Trade for any higher education purpose (presumably they'll start with MBA classes), and the new Federal Courthouse will be built in FY2013 assuming congress doesn't force a delay.

According to this, Charlotte's courthouse will cost $127m and is ranked 2nd out of the 5 they plan to fund in 2013.  It has been long slated to go on the gravel lot at Caldwell and Trade between the arena and the CMPD headquarters.  

http://www.gsa.gov/g...Y_2012-2016.pdf

[ricky_davis_fan_21]

dubone, on 29 November 2011 - 04:21 PM, said:

As discussed in the uptown news topic, CBJ is reporting that Queen's can now use the Jonas Bldg at Mint and Trade for any higher education purpose (presumably they'll start with MBA classes), and the new Federal Courthouse will be built in FY2013 assuming congress doesn't force a delay.

According to this, Charlotte's courthouse will cost $127m and is ranked 2nd out of the 5 they plan to fund in 2013.  It has been long slated to go on the gravel lot at Caldwell and Trade between the arena and the CMPD headquarters.  

http://www.gsa.gov/g...Y_2012-2016.pdf

I posted some pictures in the previous thread that i will not post here... Anyways... Its actually kind of crazy that some of the federal courthouses around the country are actually among the most striking buildings in their respective cities. Many of whom are smaller markets than Charlotte. For 127million we should be able to get a pretty awesome structure. I had when people post pictures, but honestly there aren't too many cranes these days...

Vegas

Seattle

Minneapolis

Eugene, OR

San Diego

Its crazy! I am kinda pissed that the gov't pays for stuff this nice!

[dubone]

Apparently it was a Clinton-era directive that new courthouses be iconic.   It is interesting that the apparatus over the plaza in the Vegas one is very similar to what was cut out from the design for the courthouse deck at 4th and McDowell.

[ScottCLT]

Wow! I am excited about this now! Any idea of square footage that would be needed so that we can dream about the scale of the building?

[dubone]

It'll also be so nice to get the ugly security fence off the Jonas building and replaced with a more collegiate style.

[tozmervo]

At $400 a square foot, it'd be about 317,000 sqft. I'd guess it'd be in the vicinity of 20 floors with a 20,000 sqft footprint.

Edited by tozmervo, 29 November 2011 - 08:41 PM.

[ricky_davis_fan_21]

140 million got Cleveland this building...

It is 430 feet, 24 floors, has 200 parking spaces and was completed in 2002...

[dubone]

The skyline aspect of this is actually fairly exciting, since otherwise, it has seemed like nothing would come again to our skyline for a decade.  But already before mid-decade, we'll have a new tower going up at a good spot.  It'll be good for a 20-25 story tower (with presumably tall floors) because it is contiguous development along Trade from The Square and already has Hotel Sierra and Courtside as supporting towers, as well as the government center and Park to a degree.  

Combine that with hopefully some interesting contemporary architecture and it will be a welcome boost in an otherwise dry spell for urban development.   Of course street life will not be the best, there is still a lot of activity that goes on around a courthouse that spurs pedestrian activity, even if the street level is designed primarily for security rather than commerce.   Although architects are doing their best (such as with WTC) to make secure buildings not appear like fortresses.

[norm21499]

Man I am jealous of some of those court houses! I can not wait until Charlotte can get one. Then again we have been waiting for a long time since the federal courthouse was first announced.

[The Escapists]

If you think about the horrible Brutalist and utilitarian architecture of Gov buildings in the 70's compared to these...it's amazing how things have changed in 30 years.

[ricky_davis_fan_21]

The Escapists, on 30 November 2011 - 07:59 AM, said:

If you think about the horrible Brutalist and utilitarian architecture of Gov buildings in the 70's compared to these...it's amazing how things have changed in 30 years.

for instance... Atlanta...

[ah59396]

nibletodell, on 30 November 2011 - 08:52 AM, said:

for instance... Atlanta...

I just threw up.

[tozmervo]

nibletodell, on 29 November 2011 - 08:21 PM, said:

Its crazy! I am kinda pissed that the gov't pays for stuff this nice!

As an institution that builds buildings that it'll own for decades, the GSA finally realized that the crap they were building was a) costing a fortune in utilities,  b) making the occupants miserable and c) poor community presence. Fortunately most of our government agencies* have figured out that "Life Cycle Costs" are the true cost to tax payers, not just the up front capital construction cost. That is, higher quality buildings are better for financials and occupants in the long run.

Having said that, the Federal Courthouses have been notoriously lavish structures. Given the climate in Washington, I wouldn't be surprised to see this one considerably scaled back from what we've seen in other cities.

* For some reason K-12 institutions, including CMS, adamantly refuse to build decent work