Optimist Park / Belmont Projects

[nonillogical]

don't think it's demolition...

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/05/20/1447208/demolition-halted-on-condo-project.html

[dubone]

That is good news. Without this project completing, it will hard to keep things from deteriorating here.

[kermit]

I have yet to lay my own eyes upon it, but I am told that there is movement at Bloc 90. A new job trailer has shown up, and things are getting underway...

Unfortunately the fence and trailer were gone this morning. Anyone have news about the project?

[kermit]

Unfortunately the fence and trailer were gone this morning. Anyone have news about the project?

News here about Bloc90. On first read I thought the article was from 2008 (BofA is only now foreclosing???). The gist of the article is that there is some movement on who holds the note for the project but no one knows what will happen yet.

But it’s not clear what the next step is for the project after lender Bank of America Corp. secured a receiver to control and clean up the unfinished development

[url=http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/print-edition/2010/11/26/BofA-secures-a-receiver-to-clean-up-site.html?ana=e_ph#ixzz16Ont8WzZ]'>http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/print-edition/2010/11/26/BofA-secures-a-receiver-to-clean-up-site.html?ana=e_ph#ixzz16Ont8WzZ]

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/print-edition/2010/11/26/BofA-secures-a-receiver-to-clean-up-site.html?ana=e_ph

[kermit]

Unfortunately the fence and trailer were gone this morning. Anyone have news about the project?

(and now for more quotidian details....)

a new fence is up around bloc 90 this morning (this one is considerably studier than the last).

There is also a portapot but no trailer.

[thedarkknight12]

Does any one have an update on block 90?

[thedarkknight12]

Does any one know when the house on 15th street that caught fire will be torn down?

[archiham04]

Does any one know when the house on 15th street that caught fire will be torn down?

Probably not until a lengthy investigation, since it is tied to the murder case :

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/03/16/2146272/house-linked-to-valerie-hamilton.html

[tozmervo]

Believe it or not, Bloc 90 is getting finished

[kermit]

Believe it or not, Bloc 90 is getting finished

Significant site work has begun on the Bloc90 site. The lumpy area to the north of the building was graded down and I think they have graded the parking lot. Exterior of the building has been cleaned up (I think windows were being replaced last week).

[tarik]

WOW, there it a God!!! It is amazing to finally see this project being completed. It has been a long time coming. Hopefully they will complete it as designed with all the steel balconies and stairs. Looks like they are with the amount of money that is being poured into the site (actually stone being removed for raingarden). Go BofA!!!

[sleightofhand]

How many units are remaining to sell?

Who is selling it?

[krazeeboi]

I thought this one was a sure goner. Good to see it's being resurrected.

[kermit]

Its coming along. Exterior balconies and staircases are complete. They were also loading drywall into the top floor today.

[tozmervo]

A few photos (albeit not very good ones) of Bloc 90. It's about 90-95% done. My understanding is that the bank is trying to sell the project to a developer who will then sell the units. Until that happens, none of them will be available on the market.

[dubone]

What are those circular vent looking things in the stucco?

[tozmervo]

They are, in fact, vents. They were added after the "sit and mold" period to vent out the wall cavity. Gives the building an interesting mechanical aesthetic.

[nonillogical]

I have to say I kind of like how it turned out. The fire escapes make me smile. Is there another phase being constructed next door? Saw what looked like foundation work poking out of the dirt.

[ah59396]

that's one heck of a view - a lot of wrecked cars. add the noise from hunter wrecker as well. not to be a negative nancy...but man it'd take a low, low price for me to buy one of those places.

[Urbanity]

that's one heck of a view - a lot of wrecked cars. add the noise from hunter wrecker as well. not to be a negative nancy...but man it'd take a low, low price for me to buy one of those places.

What it takes is a pioneer.

Now I'm not disagreeing with your sentiment per se,.. In fact my husband and I passed up quite a few beautiful houses for rent in the area when we decided to save some money off our incredibly inflating rent in downtown, but the fact of the matter is that the area just felt unsafe. I won't go into details, but I trust that all will take my word when I say that we visited the neighborhood multiple times day and night in case our fears were more imagined than real.

Here's the point though. I have friend's who bought a two floor apartment in Hells Kitchen NYC for 200K plus change in the early 90's. If you have no idea what Hell's Kitchen in the early 90's was like, I suggest you rent the Exorcists and see the scene when Father Karras is visiting his mother. That area with the burned out tenements and abandoned cars in the 70's really didn't change much by the early 90's. But my friends were pioneers and they bought. 10+ years later their 200k+ "crazy" investment was worth over 1m.

Now Charlotte is not NYC and never will be, but Optimist Park and Belmont are just too damned close to the center to be so unappreciated for too long. Add the light rail and NoDa on the other end and you have a dream hood... It just takes some money, guts and confidence.

[dubone]

They are, in fact, vents. They were added after the "sit and mold" period to vent out the wall cavity. Gives the building an interesting mechanical aesthetic.

Yeah, it isn't aesthetically bad, especially with the rest being somewhat industrial and atypical. Perhaps with so many foreclosed buildings rotting from the inside across the US, those vents will be an architectural symbol of the twentyteens or whatever we call this decade.

[dubone]

As for the development potential, the biggest impact was the rezoning of a number of industrial parcels in this area. But it is still going to be a while (and probably not even with development interest when the light rail comes through) before current ongoing industrial concerns like Hunter will be interested in moving on and before the neighborhood reaches a tipping point where it is economically diversified and become safer.

[kermit]

Bloc 90 is looking very good and nearing completion (at least based on exterior appearance). A permanent sign (which reads Bloc 90) went up at the parking entrance from N Davidson in the past day or two.

Also interesting was the site work that has been completed on the 16th street side of the parcel (where the orange construction equipment is in the image here). The area is now flat and has several (more than three, less than 10 I think) new plumbing stubs sticking up through the clay. Are they going to put up another building?

Edited January 3, 2012 by kermit

[dubone]

I thought the idea was for BofA to finish off what was started so they'd have an asset that was marketable to recoup some of their money. So my instinct is that they're just making it 'ready' for a future owner to do phase II, which would enhance the marketability but not actually building the other building. I have no idea, just conjecture. It would be nice if they actually did finish off the block, as it'll help build out the area in a denser format.

[Guest]

I am not sure what alpha mill is considered. I feel like its on the border of uptown and belmont. It looks like there is a rezoning petition out for a new addition to the Alpha Mill area. Based on the developer (CHA) It is probably market rate and lower income apartments. Still looks kind of nice. Corner of N. Caldwell and 12th