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Independence Center & Marriott Renovation


CLTProductions

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Some Marriott news:

 

  • Renovations are currently underway with the rooms
  • Entire renovation "projected" to be done by December
  • Plans have not been finalized for the ground floor, but it will be VERY open and have a restaurant, bar concept and possible retail
  • Marriott land owners and Independence land owners are currently in dispute over a few things and is causing a delay in the corridor renovation (and plan finalization for Marriott)
  • Marriott is VERY interested in continuing to expand its brand uptown and wants to bring a JW here (looking into both Crescent projects). This part was speculation based on some chatter, but it makes sense, said they to blow competition out of the water in luxury between the Ritz and a JW.

I'm originally from Indy and the 1005 room JW they opened in 2011 was a huge boost to their sports and convention allure. That and the fact that you can get almost anywhere in downtown Indy without walking outside.

Would love to see a JW in Charlotte

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://m.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/real_estate/2015/05/office-tower-in-uptown-charlotte-sellsfor-108.html

101 Indepence Center sold for $108 mil to LRC Properties and Cornerstone. I believe the old owners were battling with Marriott over the Independence Plaza, hopefully these new owners are easier to work with. They were under contract since earlier in the year and the Plaza work hinged on this sale. I should have more info on the Plaza soon to report.

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With the Marriott renovation under way and Independence Center starting shortly this deserves its own thread. The center submitted this today

"Renovation of the ground level of the tower. Project includes expansion of retail space into the existing atrium space between the tower and the Marriott Hotel. Approximately of 6500 SF of new construction on the property and approximately 5000 SF of public open space between 101 N Tryon and the Marriott"

I will also hopefully have more details on both the Marriott and Center later this week

Edit: thanks to the admin who moved everything :)

Edit 2: Ely just posted an article on it all http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article20273199.html

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With the Marriott renovation under way and Independence Center starting shortly this deserves its own thread. The center submitted this today

"Renovation of the ground level of the tower. Project includes expansion of retail space into the existing atrium space between the tower and the Marriott Hotel. Approximately of 6500 SF of new construction on the property and approximately 5000 SF of public open space between 101 N Tryon and the Marriott"

I will also hopefully have more details on both the Marriott and Center later this week

Edit: thanks to the admin who moved everything :)

Edit 2: Ely just posted an article on it all http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article20273199.html

I love your updates. And I have I ask a sort of dumb question. Do you think this will be anything glamorous or just a few new restaraunts (which is progress so who could complain with progress?)

I'm just trying to know what to expect. Can't wait for more details

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I love your updates. And I have I ask a sort of dumb question. Do you think this will be anything glamorous or just a few new restaraunts (which is progress so who could complain with progress?)

I'm just trying to know what to expect. Can't wait for more details

Not sure on that, hoping to get more on that later. I actually think this is going to be a great project. 5000 SF is a lot of outdoor public space and 6000 SF isnt too shabby of retail either. I am not even sure that is the final amount.

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Got some more info today

  • Where champions was is going to be a big coffeehouse with a lot of glass on the street level. 
  • Where Starbucks was is going to be part of the big restaurant/bar. Bar area will seat 40ish, and have 30+ taps
  • Patio will be above where the starbucks is now but itll all be glassed/walled off where it is open now, inside the atrium

That leads to some bad news:

  • Last word was the new owners had no interest in tearing out the enclosure aspect of the atrium.
  • The plans on Accela state public space but do not mention demo of the old atrium
  • Hopeful that the atrium will still go because there isn't much point to have 5000 SF of new public space inside some old enclosure
  • The Marriott looks AMAZING and is going to be quite the space when it is done, works really well if the atrium is ripped out
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So they are going to renovate Champions and Starbucks, but not Northeastern University and Newks? All of those are fairly awkward spaces. It would be ideal if they could lower the floor to be level with the street instead of the internal mall.

 

Regarding the atrium area - IMO, you can't have "public open space" inside of lockable doors. At a minimum they would need to remove the glass wall fronting the square and leave the roof.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Eh I'm more excited about the inside. There is a 340 person capacity lounge with a 250 capacity bar restaurant with about 40 beer taps.

They're targeting a younger crowd and this will be a test bed for future Marriott's so they're putting a lot of money into it to ensure it succeeds.

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I didn't think the Founders Hall renovation was exciting. It was an aesthetic improvement and that's pretty much it.

Oh I agree, it's not. I just meant don't judge this project from the exterior. I have some pretty high hopes for the restaurant and their plans to engage locals and add to the nightlife scene.

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Looks as exciting as the Founders Hall renovation along College

Are you on crack? This is an amazing renovation. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.227266,-80.843165,3a,75y,353.71h,91.63t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sQ1sgO0f8qd3aWu2iuVZ-Zw!2e0!6m1!1e1

They are removing that entire atrium! Those doors are more of an impediment than you realize. There are shops and restaurants in there that will now be accessible from the street, and a crap ton of out door seating. I for one am very excited. 

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I'm completely disoriented in that rendering. Where is Trade street in that view?

On the other side of the building on the left. The building on the left is where Champions is. The area where the "light mural" is would be inside the atrium currently. 

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I agree it's a huge improvement. Just, I think, could've been better

There is still improvement to be done on the Independence Center street level too. This is just the plan for Marriott.

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Are you on crack? This is an amazing renovation.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.227266,-80.843165,3a,75y,353.71h,91.63t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sQ1sgO0f8qd3aWu2iuVZ-Zw!2e0!6m1!1e1

They are removing that entire atrium! Those doors are more of an impediment than you realize. There are shops and restaurants in there that will now be accessible from the street, and a crap ton of out door seating. I for one am very excited.

The atrium removal isn't confirmed yet. Marriott had LS3P make these renovations based on independence center doing that, but the new owners may not be so keen on doing it. We will see, I hope they do, it'll be a huge win for the square.

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Plans were approved. Here is a pic...there is a TON of info in the documents and I am too lazy to read through it right now.

 

It looks like they got their architectural context from the Omni parking deck (across from epicenter). I'm still excited about the renovations, but I agree that it's only marginally more exciting than founders hall from a design standpoint.

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It looks like they got their architectural context from the Omni parking deck (across from epicenter). I'm still excited about the renovations, but I agree that it's only marginally more exciting than founders hall from a design standpoint.

Thats just because you hate Modernist Architecture. This will be way higher quality and will not have blank walls like omni. 

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I walked by there yesterday and I now understand what they're doing. It's not a new façade design, it's just extending the existing Marriott façade around to the portion that is currently 'interior' and adding stuff to it. It's not very exciting, but it makes sense.

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