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Plaza-Midwood Projects (Central, Commonwealth, The Plaza)


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Conformity has purchased the old AutoVerks site at the intersection of Commonwealth and Pecan. I would be interested in hearing UPers thoughts about their vision for that corner. Site is near the Diamond Restaurant and the rest of the Thomas Avenue trappings.

What at great location! Being a neighborhood resident, I would like to see a mid-rise property with a wide array of units from affordable to luxury. The building should front the Commonwealth/Pecan intersection with all surface parking behind the development next to the Independence berm.

The ground level should be leased out to local entrepreneurs and restaurateurs, no Starbucks! Part of what makes the area so special is the connection between the residents with their local neighborhood merchants.

Just my opinion...

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I think some additional office in this area would work well. Not necessarily a lot of office, but say ground level retail, level or two of office, residential above. I say this mainly to increase the day time foot traffic and support of all these businesses as well as adding to the evening numbers.

Overall, GREAT news about the AutoVerks corner, though I will miss seeing the vast array of Mercedes from all eras that are parked there!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some new information on the two Hawthorne Ln. projects.

The Faison site (between Sunnyside and Central) will be 132 "luxury condos"

The former Party Reflections site will be 270 apartments. Both of these projects have been discussed often here, but this is the first hard numbers I've heard of.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

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AutoWerks is no longer empty ... it's gone. They're in there today hauling off the remnants. I suspect there may be some environmental issues at this site that will have to be cleaned up.

Some folks commented a while back on what they would like to see developed there. Any additional thoughts? I will assume from the Lowes South End string comments that Starbucks would not be a first choice. :P .....come on....I'm kidding....

Edited by Conformity
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Certainly more restaurants, as the area is developing a healthy mix. Something ethnic would be nice. There has been talk by John Nichols of turning the Plaza/Central area into a furniture hotspot. I'm thinking The Overstock Market would be a good compliment to the area (easy to cross shop City Supply Co.) and I have a feeling that the Honey Properties building on Morehead doesn't have many years left in its current form.

Depending on the truck routes in and out, a Discount Mattress company store would be a nice intown amenity (someone selling Sealy, Serta, etc.)

As far as other uses, I think this is a good location for apartments over retail. While the Conformity Corp, obviously had little problem selling out Elizabeth Village, I would think this site would benefit from rental due to less desirable surrounding uses, and the lack of quality (or even average) multifamily rental properties in the area.

Obviously building costs vs. rents are still an issue, but costs seem to be stabilizing while rents should increase at healthy levels. (look what the owners of The Rutzler are achieving in rents) I have a perfect building in mind, but I can't remember the name or find a picture. It's located in Seattle, and has a corrugated metal exterior painted purple, with whimsical artistic detailing attached to the facade. The balconies also have the illusion that they aren't parallel with the ground. This building would fit perfect.

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Wow....that's great stuff...thanks. I'd love to see the Seattle building should you come across it. What an amazing city.

I have not gone through the "Would You Pay More for Green" thread, but I need to do that. Thought about going with extremely small (400-500 sf) one bedrooms LEED certified starting at about $119,000. 2 Bedrooms 800-850 SF at 219,000 or so.

Don't think I can make rental work (what are our buyers getting in rent at The Rutzler???....I have no data on that myself....sounds like I'll be surprised) and given that Central 27 is doing about 265 SF.....apparently folks are willing to pay to be in this unique and highly walkable area. Building green is still quite expensive and we would need to get top revenues per SF to make it work, but the Thomas Avenue area seems to scream GREEN to me.

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I will assume from the Lowes South End string comments that Starbucks would not be a first choice. :P .....come on....I'm kidding....

Don't know if you're still listening but I would personally love to see something similar to Los Angeles' Urth Caffe in that area. (The website is here www.urthcaffe.com however it only focuses on their coffee). I had lunch there with some friends. It's a full scale organic cafe with salads, sandwiches, soups, baked goods, oatmeals etc. Charlotte has no organic cafe. Not only are organics quite the trend nationally but with the recent onslaught of organic grocers hitting the QC I think Charlotteans have shown an appetite for organic fare. While I doubt (although you never know) that Urth Caffe would open a location this far from home turf, perhaps a prodding of the guys up at Summit Coffee (www.summitcoffee.com) up in Davidson to open a 2nd location down here in Charlotte could do the trick if they were able to partner up with a creative talent out of JW who knows about organic cooking? I think the guys from Summit with the help of said chef could take the urth caffe concept and run with it. (On a side note, Summit Coffee was voted best coffee shop in the south by Turner South's show Blue Ribbon.) Just an idea.

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Don't know if you're still listening but I would personally love to see something similar to Los Angeles' Urth Caffe in that area. (The website is here www.urthcaffe.com however it only focuses on their coffee). I had lunch there with some friends. It's a full scale organic cafe with salads, sandwiches, soups, baked goods, oatmeals etc. Charlotte has no organic cafe. Not only are organics quite the trend nationally but with the recent onslaught of organic grocers hitting the QC I think Charlotteans have shown an appetite for organic fare. While I doubt (although you never know) that Urth Caffe would open a location this far from home turf, perhaps a prodding of the guys up at Summit Coffee (www.summitcoffee.com) up in Davidson to open a 2nd location down here in Charlotte could do the trick if they were able to partner up with a creative talent out of JW who knows about organic cooking? I think the guys from Summit with the help of said chef could take the urth caffe concept and run with it. (On a side note, Summit Coffee was voted best coffee shop in the south by Turner South's show Blue Ribbon.) Just an idea.

We'll see what happens. I shot an email to Shallom Berkman one of the cofounders at Urth Caffe. I will also try to get with the Summit Coffee guys to see if they have an interest. Thank you for sharing your ideas. They are very helpful.

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We'll see what happens. I shot an email to Shallom Berkman one of the cofounders at Urth Caffe. I will also try to get with the Summit Coffee guys to see if they have an interest. Thank you for sharing your ideas. They are very helpful.

Since we're dreaming ... I'd love to see a Maoz restaurant; they were my favorite lunch stops when we lived in Amsterdam. They only have one store in the states now - in Philly, but they are ramping up their operations, so I imagine it will only be a matter of time. Very hip, trendy, green and delicious.

On another green note; this area needs a bike shop - I can't imagine that they are real money makers that could handle high rents, but there is nowhere in the Central Ave district to get your bike fixed or buy simple parts.

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Speaking of rents in PM. What's "normal" for the neighborhood. I was looking at Nichols' website and rents there were between 17 and 19 dollars psf. I had no idea PM had gotten that high.

Anything remotely close to center city is getting high...this area is becoming a very popular area, well has been for a few years, and Central / Thomas / Commonwealth have been adding businesses pretty briskly. I love going over there on the weekends, lots of foot traffic and good window shopping.

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Speaking of rents in PM. What's "normal" for the neighborhood. I was looking at Nichols' website and rents there were between 17 and 19 dollars psf. I had no idea PM had gotten that high.

About a year ago Nichols had quite a few listings in the $12-15psf - I guess the recent boom and the promise of the Morningside development has helped to propel that up to what you found.

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