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

[archiham04]

stickin it to the man

[SgtCampsalot]

Thirsty Beaver's owner, file photo:

[sclark]

authentic dive bar has gotta be the ultimate apartment amenity... 

[UrbanGossip]

Yeah, like I said I get all that and hooray I guess.  I just personally think it's going to look dumb.  It would be one thing if it were a little "gem building" within an urban wall.  But I guess what I think will look dumb is that it's surrounded on 3 sides by one contiguous building.  Not sure if that makes sense or not but I know what I'm saying.

And it's worth noting that the Beaver owners do not own the building.  My understanding is that the owner of the building was sick and passed away right when Campus Works was gobbling up the land and the ensuing confusion among the family is as much the reason it didn't sell as anything.  That instability in the ownership of the building is why I make my prediction on the instability of the buildings future.

[archiham04]

20 hours ago, sclark said:

authentic dive bar has gotta be the ultimate apartment amenity... 

millennial catnip

[archiham04]

The best thing that I know of, that ever happened at Thristy Beaver, is when then mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx met with a drinking club president there.  The drinking club was called the "Plaza Midwood Bus Club".  They discussed transportation issues that were pertinent to Plaza Midwood Drinkers.  I have never been told if there were any campaign promises made or kept, but I think that the fact he eventually ended up on the President's Cabinet for transportation is no coincidence.

Edited February 3, 2017 by archiham04

[Bikeguy]

^ that's hilarious on its own.. but that the Plaza Midwood Bus Club even existed and THEN used the Thirsty Beaver for its clubhouse, has the makings of a Netflix worthy series.. 

[Crown]

A developer is planning to remodel and re-lease restaurant space at a busy spot on Central Avenue in Plaza Midwood, as a new apartment project there nears completion.

The TriBridge Residential development One305 Central includes 281 new apartments, expected to be complete this summer. As part of the $50 million project, TriBridge is looking to line up new retail tenants for the one-story buildings at the corner of the property.

“With both the character of the design and the modern amenities we expect will fill the commercial space, we anticipate One305 Central will be a welcomed addition to Plaza Midwood,” said Yates Dunaway, vice president for TriBridge Residential, in a statement. “The restaurant space, in particular, will complement the existing restaurants in the neighborhood.”

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article131327654.html

 

Edited February 8, 2017 by Crown

[Niner National]

Weren't there demolition permits issued for these two spaces a few months ago?

Glad they're being saved and renovated. I can only assume the apartment building will be offering parking for retail customers? If they're putting in 2000 square feet of patio space, that is only going to make the already limited parking out front even more limited.

[kermit]

On 2/2/2017 at 7:25 PM, UrbanGossip said:

The first 400' of the building look good in that rendering.  LOL.  Where's the rendering of the other 400'  from the other end showing the 10' tall Thirsty Beaver surrounded by 5 story walls?  So ridiculous.

It occurs to me that we spend some time here bemoaning the lack of iconic architecture or any other type of landmark -- perhaps the Beaver, snugly wrapped in a standard Beigeing apartment block, is it.

I am only half-joking.  

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, kermit said:

It occurs to me that we spend some time here bemoaning the lack of iconic architecture or any other type of landmark -- perhaps the Beaver, snugly wrapped in a standard Beigeing apartment block, is it.

I am only half-joking.  

They should rename campus works "Beaver View Place Residences"

[rjp212]

5 hours ago, Niner National said:

Weren't there demolition permits issued for these two spaces a few months ago?

Glad they're being saved and renovated. I can only assume the apartment building will be offering parking for retail customers? If they're putting in 2000 square feet of patio space, that is only going to make the already limited parking out front even more limited.

The portion that housed Fern is going to be torn down for parking.  The remainder of the building will be renovated.

[Niner National]

1 minute ago, rjp212 said:

The portion that housed Fern is going to be torn down for parking.  The remainder of the building will be renovated.

The article says that the  Fern and Something Classic spaces will be renovated.

[archiham04]

21 minutes ago, Niner National said:

The article says that the  Fern and Something Classic spaces will be renovated.

The rendering clearly shows Fern gone, and that is what we have discussed on this forum for awhile, so i think the article simply mentioned Fern to orient folks.  They mentioned it as "property formerly occupied by...."

Edited February 8, 2017 by archiham04

[southslider]

The "f.k.a. Fern" rendering shows parking between the building and street, so it's likely a reuse of existing buildings. If redeveloped, PED overlay would require any new building to front the street.

[archiham04]

I'm glad you brought that up... that was my assumption, but the area plan makes no reference to Maximum setbacks for "Village Edge Streets"... just Minimum:

Setback, Planting, and Sidewalks: The minimum building setback for this section is 24 feet from the back of curb at the unrecessed curb location, or 16 feet from the recessed curb. Where the curb is not recessed, the street cross-section will include the 8-foot planting strip with street trees as described above. A sidewalk with a minimum width of 16 feet will adjoin the recessed curb or planting strip. As discussed for Type 2 streets, planting strips are inappropriate adjacent to on-street parking within an intensive retail environment. The 16-foot sidewalk width provides sufficient space for pedestrian movement, sidewalk dining, and other merchandising activities. Trees in curbed planters are required along recessed curb edges to augment trees along the street edge for a maximum spacing between trees in accordance with the Charlotte Tree Ordinance. Trees in curbed planters shall be provided with irrigation, subdrainage, and adequate soil space for roots in accordance with City standards for Urban Retail sites.

http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Land Use Planning/PlazaCentralPedscapePlan.pdf

 

Edited February 9, 2017 by archiham04

[southslider]

^True, no maximum setback. However, no parking is allowed between a new building and the street. Thus, a new building would likely be built closer to the street to maximize developable area.

[archiham04]

... and that no-parking-in-front thing is not in that document (area plan) that I attached, so I had been concerned... but I just found it in the PED section (part 8 of Chapter 10 if anyone is wondering) of the city zoning ordinance.  

Edited February 10, 2017 by archiham04

[southslider]

^It's in the City's Zoning Ordinance for PED. 

[Guest]

These projects aren't 'fine grained urbanism'. They take up the size of an entire city block. Over time, it gives the neighborhoods a more monolithic quality and saps its diversity.

Downtown Charlotte is an extreme example. Look at photos from the 1950's and you see blocks made of small two story commercial buildings, twenty buildings per block. Now they are made of single buildings, some single use.

[Crown]

Any ideas for where Jackalope Jacks is moving? 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Crown said:

Any ideas for where Jackalope Jacks is moving? 

I'm not sure. I wonder what happened to them opening a Brewery in NoDa. 

[Spartan]

On 1/17/2017 at 4:20 PM, PMrez said:

This may be an unpopular opinion but is gridlock necessarily a bad thing? It's the only thing that will force people to start walking, biking, public transpo, etc and force conversations on how to make those methods of transportation better. The amount of people that live in PM, Elizabeth, etc that pay for parking uptown rather than taking the bus just boggles my mind. 

I personally agree with this statement, but do you think the average person in PM fee;s the same way?

 

On 1/18/2017 at 9:32 AM, archiham04 said:

What other neighborhood uses do you think PM needs to give it a healthy mix?  I ask because I think we have a remarkably healthy mix already, but recognize, there is room for improvement.  The PM merchants are advocating for change, but I think we as a neighborhood need our own list.  Their interests and ours are not always aligned.

IMO, Plaza-Midwood is one of, if not THE most complete urban neighborhood in Charlotte. It has the most retail services and options (including a Vespa dealer), a grocery store, a library, ABC store (soon), and a dollar store along with all of the bars and restaurants that we know and love. Noda and Dilworth are probably tied for a close second place.

 

On 1/21/2017 at 7:25 PM, J-Rob said:

Here is a picture of the Gibson from this evening.   This is a disappointing project to me.  Ignoring the lack or retail, if you look at the color choices it appears they literally chose a combination of grey and beige.  No accent of color at all.  Yeesh. 

Given that it lacks retail, it's actually not that bad from an urban design standpoint. It has active ground floor uses - even if it isn't the most ideal design. In terms of the overall building architecture, I'd say its' about average for Charlotte.

[Matthew.Brendan]

Where pray tell is the Vespa dealer? Please don't say the Scooter shop next to HT, as that is a sad scummy place indeed. The only real Vespa dealer in Charlotte off Worthington in South End closed a few years ago. Now the nearest one is in Greensboro

[sakami]

1 hour ago, Crown said:

Any ideas for where Jackalope Jacks is moving? 

It is moving to the old Biggs Camera spot that the Jack's ownership group has been operating as the Rabbit Hole. On the corner of Commonwealth and Pecan on the backside of Peculiar Rabbit.