31 replies to this topic

[uptownliving]

appatone, on Jul 27 2004, 04:35 PM, said:

Simon still has plans to develop an exterior part of the mall on the corner of Morrison and Sharon.  This development should be "Phillips Place-esc"in style connecting to the mall.  My hope is that they use that development to create a pedestrian outlet from the mall to Morrison and Sharon.  This could spur further pedestrian scale retail on Morrison across the street from the mall and help to "urbanize" the mall as much as possible.  The connection between the other exterior section of the mall where Galyans is located and the new Symphony Park could also be strengthened in a pedestrian friendly manor to further increase pedestrian accsess from further down Morrison.  An urban connection at both the top and bottom of the malls property along Morrison would really connect this mall to an exterior urban neighborhood.  Perhaps the surface lots on the Morrison side could be altered into parking decks similar to the other decks around the mall only with retail lining Morrison street.

I agree with you appatone. SouthPark as we know it today, will be much more urban in the next 5 years. Grubb is moving ahead with their mixed use development on the corner of Colony and Sharon....also, Crescent is moving ahead with a similar development on Carnigie and Fairview. So SouthPark will be seeing a lot of pedestrian friendly development in the new few years.

[49er]

All you have to do is look down the road at Buckhead and see how the district is shaping up and evolving. We'll continue to see more semi-urban and urban developments occur in this part of town.

The new Allen Tate building on Fairview is a shame though. Its got ground level retail, offices in the middle and million $ condos up top, yet its still set back from the road with a big parking lot in front.

[uptownliving]

Yeah they should not have set back that building, they should have put that parking in back, not out front...it is a nice building though.

[monsoon]

[Neo]

monsoon, on Jul 29 2004, 08:26 AM, said:

In true Charlotte fashion, the Observer states the most important features of the new CVS announced for downtown is a parking lot and drive through window.   Go to a real city and you don't see these "features" on downtown stores.

Actually, there is a Walgreens in Chicago that was 3 blocks from where I lived, right across from the Hard Rock.  Not only was it a Walgreens with a drive-thru and a parking lot but diagonal from it was a full service suburb type McDonalds with parking lot and drive-thru.  Mind you that this is in downtown Chicago, one of the most dense cities in America.



*Note that I lived in the building that is directly behind the "Rock & Roll Cafe" sign.

Another:

[uptownliving]

I was in NYC in the SoHo district and saw a suburban style Duane Reddy (I may have mispeeled it), and it had a drive through as well. At least the Charlotte location will be mixed use with office on the 2nd floor.

If you would like to see "real city" drug stores in Charlotte all you have to do is walk to Tryon Street. There are both a CVS and Ekerds drug stores with no parking and no drive through.

Edited by uptownliving, 29 July 2004 - 07:13 AM.

[49er]

Well, the positive thing here is that is an 80 year old building. Its not as if CVS was allowed to come into downtown and do a suburban prototype. I know the site and those 20 spaces arent going to make it look horrible. This will definitely look nicer than the crap tire store thats there now.

[appatone]

Preserving the 80 year old building may have forced them to retain the parking in front.  It isn't enough land to do any building on.  So in this one case I will say it's okay for them to have parking.  ONLY because they are preserving an historic structure.  Had they torn down the old building in order to build a new CVS with no parking I would have been much more upset.  Even though it is just an old tire shop I do think that it has a good lttle bit of character.  Of course it wouldn't be the end of the world if they replaced the old parking lot with pavers and landscaping to create a small plaza in front of the store.

Edited by appatone, 29 July 2004 - 11:16 AM.

[49er]

Maybe even a decorative brick knee wall along the sidewalk to screen the parking...that would even look better. At lease downtown has a full service drug store on the way.

[Raleigh-NC]

Does anyone have any pictures from that location?

[jolive]

Society plays a role. No doubt. However, they don't make the final decisions. I do agree that society seems to just act as cattle. I know few people who invest much thought in the future of this city. That is why I am ecstatic about finding this website and skyscrapercity.com

[monsoon]