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

[kermit]

Stumbled across this on the interwebs, Central Square sketch.  I believe its from @CLTdevelopment / Rickey_Davis_Fan / Tyree Ricardo ? Its from Dan Putman

Pretty rad place for a phase 3 Gold Line station. It makes me wonder if it makes since to run it out to Comonwealth instead (for a short transfer to Silver) before going back up to Central? Having said that the Silver-Gold transfer at Hawthorn is still a mystery.

Edited May 22, 2020 by kermit

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, kermit said:

Stumbled across this on the interwebs, Central Square sketch.  I believe its from @CLTdevelopment / Rickey_Davis_Fan / Tyree Ricardo ?

Pretty rad place for a phase 3 Gold Line station. It makes me wonder if it makes since to run it out to Comonwealth instead (for a short transfer to Silver) before going back up to Central?

Its by Dan Putman, a landscape architect that I interact with a lot.

[videtur quam contuor]

What streets are depicted there?

[kermit]

1 minute ago, tarhoosier said:

What streets are depicted there?

Independence to the right. Central is to the left of the sketch. the CSX tracks are at the bottom.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, tarhoosier said:

What streets are depicted there?

to the left is Central, on the top is Pecan. Going through is an extension of Commonwealth connecting to Clement 

Also includes a realignment of Pecan to connect directly across.

[Third Strike]

According to Polaris, the shopping center at the  northeast corner of Plaza and Central was sold in March to a company out in California, “EFC MIDWOOD CORNERS LLC”. Maybe redevelopment is on the way to this parcel?

[SpiritOf76]

Corner lot update at pecan and chesterfield 

[Nathan2]

36 minutes ago, SpiritOf76 said:

Corner lot update at pecan and chesterfield 

Kinda disappointing that their will be no front "pedestrian" entrances to these shops.  

[Nathan2]

Just looking at the aerials and realizing how much  opportunity  for a truly dense "neighborhood/downtown/entertainment" district their is being wasted. I know we still need parking because transit here isn't great yet, but jeez there is more surface parking space than buildings. I am surprised Plaza hasn't seen that much infill. 

[midwoodhoodie]

Does anybody know what's going on with the plot of land of central in between the McDonalds and Midwood Country Club (the Resident Culture over flow lot)? It's been for sale forever but saw the old building roped off the other day with construction trucks around it. Wonder if it's been sold and they're getting ready to begin demo. Anybody have any information here?

Updated pictures on pathway and Little Italy parking lot. Any ideas on what the steel structure is? There are also two large steel beams on the Little Italy side as well. My pipe dream would be a raised pedestrian bridge but that is unlikely due to the newly installed crosswalk in such close proximity.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[archiham04]

I think a lot of this is temporary shoring to keep the banks from collapsing as they work to install a giant culvert beneath Central.

[sakami]

I saw the announcement that YogaOne is closing both of their locations. I’m wondering how much of these closures are connected to COVID-19 vs the sale of the Midwood property.  

[JRCLT]

On 5/15/2020 at 9:38 AM, Blue_Devil said:

Q3 20? I don’t think they can build that in 4 months

That’s interesting. It’s been more than a month now. We’ll see if they will even get close to meeting their “estimated” delivery.

[JRCLT]

On 5/29/2020 at 4:08 PM, Nathan2 said:

Just looking at the aerials and realizing how much  opportunity  for a truly dense "neighborhood/downtown/entertainment" district their is being wasted. I know we still need parking because transit here isn't great yet, but jeez there is more surface parking space than buildings. I am surprised Plaza hasn't seen that much infill. 

If the silver line doesn’t get shelved it will pass by that area and with the proposed station being where it is proposed to be. The radius of comfortable walking distance and area of most influence is about a radial distance of 0.5mi  which includes that entire area. The picture below is possibly slight less than the 0.5mi but it includes that area almost entirely. Infill will surely happen then, if investors catch the wind of the Silver line with TOD.

[southslider]

2 hours ago, JeanClt said:

If the silver line doesn’t get shelved it will pass by that area and with the proposed station being where it is proposed to be. The radius of comfortable walking distance and area of most influence is about a radial distance of 0.5mi  which includes that entire area. The picture below is possibly slight less than the 0.5mi but it includes that area almost entirely. Infill will surely happen then, if investors catch the wind of the Silver line with TOD.

Interesting that the walk circle stops at Independence, despite Pecan having a decent underpass with sidewalks and lighting, but crosses the railroad, where Central is about the only mediocre crossing for pedestrians.

Also seriously question how anyone would regularly transfer between Gold Line at Sunnyside and Silver Line at Pecan.

[Madison Parkitect]

4 hours ago, southslider said:

Interesting that the walk circle stops at Independence, despite Pecan having a decent underpass with sidewalks and lighting, but crosses the railroad, where Central is about the only mediocre crossing for pedestrians.

The walk radius will definitely extend into Elizabeth and Chantilly for practical purposes. I'd assume some kind of direct pedestrian access from the Elizabeth side to the Silver Line stop anyway.

[kermit]

Will be interesting to watch Elizabeth and PM become two of the most rail accessible hoods in town.

[Nathan2]

I just hope it doesn't turn into another south end. Quality architecture and a pedestrian focus is key. 

16 hours ago, southslider said:

Interesting that the walk circle stops at Independence, despite Pecan having a decent underpass with sidewalks and lighting, but crosses the railroad, where Central is about the only mediocre crossing for pedestrians.

Also seriously question how anyone would regularly transfer between Gold Line at Sunnyside and Silver Line at Pecan.

Is there any way to build another connection across the railroad tracks? Somehow connect Sunnyside Ave to Commonwealth would be a huge plus to connecting the silver line to the gold line. 

[ertley]

1 hour ago, Nathan2 said:

Is there any way to build another connection across the railroad tracks? Somehow connect Sunnyside Ave to Commonwealth would be a huge plus to connecting the silver line to the gold line. 

You're totally right: A priority of the Central Square redevelopment should be a pedestrian crossing from the heart of the new Central Square to the east end of Sunnyside. 

[B Randy]

7 minutes ago, ertley said:

You're totally right: A priority of the Central Square redevelopment should be a pedestrian crossing from the heart of the new Central Square to the east end of Sunnyside. 

Should absolutely happen.  It's not straightforward w/ active rail clear height, security, etc.  Expensive extra and who would pay for it?  

But to directly connect Sunnyside w/ Commonwealth thru this project is a big picture move that needs to happen to expand the connectivity of this neighborhood...

[ertley]

4 minutes ago, Randolph Dragon said:

Should absolutely happen.  It's not straightforward w/ active rail clear height, security, etc.  Expensive extra and who would pay for it?  

But to directly connect Sunnyside w/ Commonwealth thru this project is a big picture move that needs to happen to expand the connectivity of this neighborhood...

My first instinct was to propose full extension of Sunnyside into the new Central Square, ultimately connected to Pecan/Commonwealth, but I took a Street View on Google Maps and realized that, if nothing else, the length of the approach a vehicular (but multimodal) bridge would require for grade separation would ruin the aesthetics of the old buildings in Central Square, and even east Sunnyside, So I immediately abandoned the thought of a full multimodal bridge built for car traffic (but bicycles would still make the pedestrian bridge technically multimodal, right?) I also knew a vehicular bridge would be complicated by rights, costs issues, so my suggestion of *just* a pedestrian (and bike) bridge is hopefully a reasonable compromise that could and should be made to happen.

I passionately hope the old buildings in Central Square will be preserved--they're gems--and that new buildings will be built around them.

The city needs to fully realize that with the Silver Line stop for Pecan on the south end of Central Square, this isn't just another mid- to large scale private development, but is actually the genesis of an entirely new TOD neighborhood, and they need to fully lean in/on all parties to make it fulfill as many TOD expectations as physically possible. 

Although, as I type this, I did come up with a Big Idea, which means it will only ever be that, but... If the design for the new Central Square includes a large parking garage (which you know it will), it's likely--or rather should logically be--built alongside the railroad tracks. If you're building a multistory parking garage anyway, you're going to necessarily obscure the north facade of the westernmost historic building (by the tracks) anyway, so if it's going to happen regardless...

I'm now *dreaming* of a radical structure combining two elements: a multimodal bridge on its south end, with access to the parking structure from the bridge to the garage's upper levels (with traditional ground level access to the garage as well). You could even combine THREE elements and build this *multimodal structure* with a third element--a la Honeywell HQ or the hotel at the Spectrum South Tryon--a parking structure actually topped by a multiuse building, with the "best views" in Central/Commonwealth! The street elevation of the residential/business/retail structure would face the new elevated street (i.e. the Sunnyside street extension bridge), and the lower garage floors of the structure would be effectively screened by the other, standard height buildings built in the development.

Just my Thursday morning fantasy, typed out!   

[wadesboro2]

My first instinct was to propose full extension of Sunnyside into the new Central Square, ultimately connected to Pecan/Commonwealth, but I took a Street View on Google Maps and realized that, if nothing else, the length of the approach a vehicular (but multimodal) bridge would require for grade separation would ruin the aesthetics of the old buildings in Central Square, and even east Sunnyside, So I immediately abandoned the thought of a full multimodal bridge built for car traffic (but bicycles would still make the pedestrian bridge technically multimodal, right?) I also knew a vehicular bridge would be complicated by rights, costs issues, so my suggestion of *just* a pedestrian (and bike) bridge is hopefully a reasonable compromise that could and should be made to happen.
I passionately hope the old buildings in Central Square will be preserved--they're gems--and that new buildings will be built around them.
The city needs to fully realize that with the Silver Line stop for Pecan on the south end of Central Square, this isn't just another mid- to large scale private development, but is actually the genesis of an entirely new TOD neighborhood, and they need to fully lean in/on all parties to make it fulfill as many TOD expectations as physically possible. 
Although, as I type this, I did come up with a Big Idea, which means it will only ever be that, but... If the design for the new Central Square includes a large parking garage (which you know it will), it's likely--or rather should logically be--built alongside the railroad tracks. If you're building a multistory parking garage anyway, you're going to necessarily obscure the north facade of the westernmost historic building (by the tracks) anyway, so if it's going to happen regardless...
I'm now *dreaming* of a radical structure combining two elements: a multimodal bridge on its south end, with access to the parking structure from the bridge to the garage's upper levels (with traditional ground level access to the garage as well). You could even combine THREE elements and build this *multimodal structure* with a third element--a la Honeywell HQ or the hotel at the Spectrum South Tryon--a parking structure actually topped by a multiuse building, with the "best views" in Central/Commonwealth! The street elevation of the residential/business/retail structure would face the new elevated street (i.e. the Sunnyside street extension bridge), and the lower garage floors of the structure would be effectively screened by the other, standard height buildings built in the development.
Just my Thursday morning fantasy, typed out!   

Based on the site plan it looks like 1 of the 3 buildings is going to be preserved but the others are demolished? Can someone confirm?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KJHburg]

Central Ave walking tour  pretty interesting. 

https://www.historysouth.org/centralavetour/

[SpiritOf76]

[archiham04]

On 6/25/2020 at 11:20 AM, ertley said:

My first instinct was to propose full extension of Sunnyside into the new Central Square, ultimately connected to Pecan/Commonwealth, but I took a Street View on Google Maps and realized that, if nothing else, the length of the approach a vehicular (but multimodal) bridge would require for grade separation would ruin the aesthetics of the old buildings in Central Square, and even east Sunnyside, So I immediately abandoned the thought of a full multimodal bridge built for car traffic (but bicycles would still make the pedestrian bridge technically multimodal, right?) I also knew a vehicular bridge would be complicated by rights, costs issues, so my suggestion of *just* a pedestrian (and bike) bridge is hopefully a reasonable compromise that could and should be made to happen.

I passionately hope the old buildings in Central Square will be preserved--they're gems--and that new buildings will be built around them.

The city needs to fully realize that with the Silver Line stop for Pecan on the south end of Central Square, this isn't just another mid- to large scale private development, but is actually the genesis of an entirely new TOD neighborhood, and they need to fully lean in/on all parties to make it fulfill as many TOD expectations as physically possible. 

Although, as I type this, I did come up with a Big Idea, which means it will only ever be that, but... If the design for the new Central Square includes a large parking garage (which you know it will), it's likely--or rather should logically be--built alongside the railroad tracks. If you're building a multistory parking garage anyway, you're going to necessarily obscure the north facade of the westernmost historic building (by the tracks) anyway, so if it's going to happen regardless...

I'm now *dreaming* of a radical structure combining two elements: a multimodal bridge on its south end, with access to the parking structure from the bridge to the garage's upper levels (with traditional ground level access to the garage as well). You could even combine THREE elements and build this *multimodal structure* with a third element--a la Honeywell HQ or the hotel at the Spectrum South Tryon--a parking structure actually topped by a multiuse building, with the "best views" in Central/Commonwealth! The street elevation of the residential/business/retail structure would face the new elevated street (i.e. the Sunnyside street extension bridge), and the lower garage floors of the structure would be effectively screened by the other, standard height buildings built in the development.

Just my Thursday morning fantasy, typed out!   

Atlantic Station in Atlanta combined multistory buildings, parking decks and bridges:

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7906878,-84.393213,3a,75y,329.36h,104.13t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sOPOPcJ07c4d-Epng8B3ysw!2e0!5s20181101T000000!7i16384!8i8192