Metropolitan, Midtown Redevelopment

[DigitalSky]

It's Photo Time!

[HopHead]

I never thought I'd be excited about a Target opening up, but not having to drive down South Blvd to hit that place or Best Buy is music to my ears. Is the Oct 14th open date still on target?

BTW - Great pics DigitalSky!!

Edited October 1, 2007 by dbull75

[Spartan]

^ I thought it was opening Oct 10th?

[Raintree21]

I'm pretty sure it's October 14th.

[uptownliving]

I noticed they have started work on the Met Terraces condo buildings closest to the Greenway. They are closer to the greenway than they appeared in the renderings. I wonder what type of flood protection they are going to have.

[NCN8ive]

I think Target opens 10/14 and Home Depot opens 10/10.

[DigitalSky]

That sounds about right

I saved the best for last:

On the Charlottetowne Avenue side of the Parking Deck... (they are spaced out, i just fused them together)

This is the short history, a century-by-century breakdown, of what was on the Midtown site in years prior and some information about the surrounding area too.

1600s: Catawba Indians: a Sioux Tribe, lived in villages along the banks of the Sugar Creek. Their word "Suuk," a group of huts, gave Sugar Creek its name. Today the Catawba Indians still live on tribal lands to the south of Charlotte.

1700s: Scots-Irish Farmers began settling in the hills along Sugar Creek in the 1750s. Led by the Polk and Spratt families, they chartered the village of Charlotte in 1768 - named for Queen Charlotte, wife of England's King George III.

1800s: Thompson Orphanage was founded here in 1887. It preserved many acres of greenspace - farmland in the middle of the city. The orphanage's handsome Saint Mary's Chapel still stands 2 blocks to the north

1900s: Charlottetown Mall: Internationally renowned developer James Rouse built Charlottetown Mall here in 1954 - the first enclosed shopping center in the South. People came from miles around to enjoy its indoor fountains and escalator.

2000s: Midtown and Sugar Creek revived: Metropolitan is a mixed use development of residential, retail & office, which brings new energy to this important gateway to Uptown. A major component of this development is the revival of Little Sugar Creek and the extension of the greenway from here to South Carolina providing recreation, trails and connectivity for all to enjoy.

[Guest]

Where exactly is this I had not expected anything like this, this is a very very pleasant suprise, thank you for the awesome pictures.

[pk_brennan]

Oct 14 is the Grand Opening of Target.

Target always opens the Wednesday before grand opening for a soft opening.

So, Target will be open October 10. They will have an invitation only event the night October 9 (VIG night)

Edited October 9, 2007 by pk_brennan

[DigitalSky]

I never thought I'd be excited about a Target opening up, but not having to drive down South Blvd to hit that place or Best Buy is music to my ears. Is the Oct 14th open date still on target?

BTW - Great pics DigitalSky!!

Thank you!!

Where exactly is this I had not expected anything like this, this is a very very pleasant suprise, thank you for the awesome pictures.

It's on the parking deck side, if you walk on the sidewalk off Charlottetown

Oct 14 is the Grand Opening of Target.

Target always opens the Wednesday before grand opening for a soft opening.

So, Target will be open October 10. They will have an invitation only event the night October 9 (VIG night)

Thanks for that information!

[NCN8ive]

That sounds about right

I saved the best for last:

On the Charlottetowne Avenue side of the Parking Deck... (they are spaced out, i just fused them together)

This is the short history, a century-by-century breakdown, of what was on the Midtown site in years prior and some information about the surrounding area too.

1600s: Catawba Indians: a Sioux Tribe, lived in villages along the banks of the Sugar Creek. Their word "Suuk," a group of huts, gave Sugar Creek its name. Today the Catawba Indians still live on tribal lands to the south of Charlotte.

1700s: Scots-Irish Farmers began settling in the hills along Sugar Creek in the 1750s. Led by the Polk and Spratt families, they chartered the village of Charlotte in 1768 - named for Queen Charlotte, wife of England's King George III.

1800s: Thompson Orphanage was founded here in 1887. It preserved many acres of greenspace - farmland in the middle of the city. The orphanage's handsome Saint Mary's Chapel still stands 2 blocks to the north

1900s: Charlottetown Mall: Internationally renowned developer James Rouse built Charlottetown Mall here in 1954 - the first enclosed shopping center in the South. People came from miles around to enjoy its indoor fountains and escalator.

2000s: Midtown and Sugar Creek revived: Metropolitan is a mixed use development of residential, retail & office, which brings new energy to this important gateway to Uptown. A major component of this development is the revival of Little Sugar Creek and the extension of the greenway from here to South Carolina providing recreation, trails and connectivity for all to enjoy.

This is a really cool part of this project. I've checked it out a couple of times now as it's been installed for about 6 weeks or so. I even took some out of town guests there over the weekend.

[PharmDMBA]

Just wanted to pass along that Target had a soft opening tonight. They are now officially open with the Grand opening on the 14th.

Go have some fun at our new Target

[Spartan]

I knew they had a soft opening date. Ha! Great news. Thanks for the update.

[New Name]

I was sent to the new Target today for business reasons (okay and a little pleasure). My report: normality. Everything is normal. Nothing out of the ordinary on the inside of the building. They have groceries (not as large a selection as a Super Target, larger than a small Target). Once you are inside the walls, you will forget that you are not in the 'burbs. It's a safe calculation. There is also a Starbucks (thank god because the fifty eight other Starbucks within 4 miles aren't enough) and a Pizza Hut Express.

The coolest thing I found was that the shopping carts disengage their wheels electronically if they are moved outside of an electric perimeter. This is good for Target, and good for the neighborhood.

[ScottCLT]

I was sent to the new Target today for business reasons (okay and a little pleasure). My report: normality. Everything is normal. Nothing out of the ordinary on the inside of the building. They have groceries (not as large a selection as a Super Target, larger than a small Target). Once you are inside the walls, you will forget that you are not in the 'burbs. It's a safe calculation. There is also a Starbucks (thank god because the fifty eight other Starbucks within 4 miles aren't enough) and a Pizza Hut Express.

The coolest thing I found was that the shopping carts disengage their wheels electronically if they are moved outside of an electric perimeter. This is good for Target, and good for the neighborhood.

I checked out the Target, too, after lunch. I agree totally with the normalcy of the Target once you step inside. Nothing special, but at the same time I am absolutely thrilled that we have one near downtown. The coolest part to me was the parking deck. Inside, it's quite vibrantly decorated with Target and Home Depot logos and actually looks pretty cool.

btw, on the shopping cart thing, this was just recently installed in the uptown Harris Teeter as well. Go past the yellow line and the wheels will lock.

[PlazaMidwoodGuy]

I checked out the new Tar-jay this evening and I must say I'm thrilled to have one in the city. No longer do I have to drive to cookie-cutter suburbia to get my Target fix!

[nowensone]

So if the wheels lock how are urban shoppers supposed to get their groceries home 6 blocks away???

[Idaho]

So if the wheels lock how are urban shoppers supposed to get their groceries home 6 blocks away???

Buy a pull behind two wheel tote cart just like New Yorkers

[ontap]

For all the DIYer's I received an invitation to the opening of the Home Depot Design Center. It will be next Wednesday, Oct. 17, from 6 -9pm. See everyone there.

Also went to the Target last night. Not a soul in the place, nobody seems to know it's open. It's a much larger store than I thought it would be. Great addition to the uptown area.

[w8forme]

For all the DIYer's I received an invitation to the opening of the Home Depot Design Center. It will be next Wednesday, Oct. 17, from 6 -9pm. See everyone there.

Also went to the Target last night. Not a soul in the place, nobody seems to know it's open. It's a much larger store than I thought it would be. Great addition to the uptown area.

I was there as well...so big, so clean, so empty, so many helpful workers...i just love opening weeks.

[Guest]

The front if you can't read it says

There are 2,707 Home Depot stores on earth.

But only one looks like this.

Be the first to experience the one of a kind home depot design Center

Preview Night, Wednesday, October 17, 6-9pm.

And the back says

Join us before the grand opening for an exclusive preview and enjoy:

Delectable Desserts.

Free Giveaways

Baking demonstrations by City Sweets

Color and design tips on October 20, 12-2pm from Laurie Smith, designer on TLC's hit series Trading Spaces.

Sounds wonderful, I'll definately be attending, I hope to see others there.

Edited October 11, 2007 by Guest

[West Side = Best Side]

About the normalcy... I called a friend when I was in there yesterday and he asked "how is it?" Pretty much just like any other Target. But, on my way home. There were so few customers at 5:30 yesterday that the employees could play man-to-man defense. I expect now that word is out the place will be mobbed.

[NCN8ive]

The front if you can't read it says

And the back says

Sounds wonderful, I'll definately be attending, I hope to see others there.

Apparently this one and the one in Concord, Ca. are the only two Home Depot Design Centers in the country. I'm sure more will follow...but it's sortof cool to be first.

[ScottCLT]

No they're not. If you go to expo.com you'll see there are quite a few more.

It's not an EXPO Design Center, though -- This is a Home Depot Design Center. There are only two in the country.

See this article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for more info on this concept:

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/busine...c=7&cxcat=6

[dubone]

It is pretty much a standard store. It is nice to go while all the employees are excited about helping out. I got a sample of some Starbucks drink, I had register people waiting and escorting us to the check out counter, I had three or four people if I found everything I needed. I don't go to general merchandise stores like this that often, but I am SO glad to have all those products now within a mile or two, rather than 4 or 10 miles away.

The deck is oddly laid out, but whatever.