Optimist Park / Belmont Projects

[28202]

15th and Davidson store is said to be going away... watch for a deed change. The First ward convenience store(Cindy's if you shop there) is owned by the UHOPFOP(United House of Prayer for all People) I am told and they are the ones that don't improve the property. Cindy will stock whatever goods you wish to purchase to save a trip to Reids or the Teeter.

Bottom line, with all the property changing hands in Optimist park and the transportation plans, Hope VI work, new construction... uptown is oozing out of the loop. Same aspects on the Presby side, Midtown outlet side, NC Music Factory side.

It is all a big shift that continues to pull more people to the center because the critical mass has been achieved to bring support functions and services. Yeah US!

[DigitalSky]

Cindy will stock whatever goods you wish to purchase to save a trip to Reids or the Teeter

That is quite nice!

[SCOTTER]

"15th and Davidson store is said to be going away... watch for a deed change. "

Thanks for the update on the store on 15th street.

If they decide to put a new store there hopefully the ownwer will model the store like the one on 21st street. The owner on 21st street seems to have put a lot of money into the store.

The owner of the store also informed me that a lake may be put in Camillia park as part of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway project.

Edited January 15, 2006 by SCOTTER

[dubone]

Cordelia Park, not Camilla Park. .

They are planning to put a little pond along Sugar Creek in Cordelia Park.

A lot of land in the area is flood plain, so a miniature creek dam with a little lake will help prevent some flooding. Also, it will be attractive and interesting.

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Park+a.../Masterplan.htm

Goto Section IV: The Greenway Master Plan, then page 8.

I believe that this section is going to be built this year, but I'm not sure if all of the planned amenities, like ponds, ampitheatres, etc., are part of what is funded.

[SCOTTER]

Thanks for the link to Sugar Creek Greenway Project. It looks like a nice plan. What impact do you see the greenway having on the community as a whole?

Secondly, given the amount of crime in that area how safe is it going to be to use the green way.

Thirdly, does the CMPD have a plan to address the crime rate in the Optimist Park Neighborhood? From November 1, 2005 to December 31, there were over 50 calls of service from Belmont down to Parkwood along North Davison Street. At least 4 involved fire arms. Source CMPD Community statistics.

[dubone]

It is hard to predict the impact of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway since most of the greenway is already in place, and the spending will mostly be to upgrade the amenities, and to create a few more connections.

Social change is needed in the area, as right now it is a bit scary to run on the greenway through there. There are bullet holes in many signs, and sometimes it is a bit uncomfy to run past a large group of kids playing basketball with gang-association clothing. Optimist Park and Belmont have long been known for violent crime, drug crimes, gangs, and poverty.

However, with the removal of Piedmont Courts, there is a chance for the neighborhood to have more diversity. There will still be public housing, just like First Ward, but it will be intersperse with market rent and owner-occupied housing for various income groups. Alpha Mills and the Tuscan projects are some of the first projects in the neighbhorhood to focus on middle class housing.

I believe strongly that as poor families are given the opportunity to live among middle class, and are provided housing in a neighborhood that is attractive and feels safe, that it leads to lower risk for gang affiliation of the teenagers living there and a lower risk of crime.

So, while the greenway will be a very nice amenity, the demographic diversity and crime reduction will have the broadest impact on this neighborhood and the quality of life of the residents.

[SCOTTER]

I noticed that the Alp-ha Mill project is going to be Apartments. I thought that the original intention was for Crosland to build Condos there or was I mistaken. I have looked over at the 2002 Optimist Park revitalization project apparently the neighborhood across from the Alpha Mills Project and Brevard street merging into Parkwood is supposed to be torn down and anew development along with a new street is supposed to be build. Has any one heard when that project will begin?

It seems that the projects along Caldwell and 15th Street are coming along quite well. The siding around the two condominium projects is already up and they are starting to put siding around one of the town home.

[dubone]

No, pretty much you can count on all conversions of old mills to be apartments. Atlrvr can probably explain it in more detail, but the long and short of it is the tax credits for historic structures pretty much prevent reselling as condos.

Here are some photos I took the other day of the Optimist Park projects:

Alpha Mill in the skyline. I'm pretty sure they are burying those wires so this shot will be much better next year.

In the district that Tuscan is building, here is Opt12

Duncan Gardens:

Duncan Methodist Church (please don't tear this down!)

The side of the buildings that front Parkwood/Brevard with an urban setback:

I forget what this project is called, but these were renovated recently, they are on 16th just west of Caldwell:

The warehouse buildings on 15th:

And, lastly, ghetto fab incarnate:

[Mobuchu]

OMG at that car, lol.

Thanks for the pics, I very rarely get to that side of uptown. Love all the color mixed in with some of those buildings.

[graydog]

Really amazing. Thanks for the pics. It'll be great to pull these up again in about 5 or 10 years. That car is a work of art! You don't see that in Cameron Wood.

[Hedgehog1]

Ive been looking at properties along N Davidson, Caldwell, Alexander streets closeish to the Opt12 development.

How is that part of the neighborhood?

The revitalization plan looks great, but wasnt sure how far along it had come since 2002?

Any advice and comments would be welcomed.

[Sabaidee]

I think there should be more connectivity in Optimist Park as the area is redeveloped. Currently the gridded streets going east to west, such as 15th, 16th, 17th and 19th are dead end streets and doesn't connect to Parkwood Ave. Only 18th Street is connected to Parkwood, well I'm not sure for the exact reasons why those streets don't connect, but in the neighboring Belmont, the city purposely close off some connectivity in the grid due to drug problems, so drug dealers and buyers won't have a quick get-away route and be easy cornered off by the law enforcement.

[fulcrumsf]

I think there should be more connectivity in Optimist Park as the area is redeveloped. Currently the gridded streets going east to west, such as 15th, 16th, 17th and 19th are dead end streets and doesn't connect to Parkwood Ave. Only 18th Street is connected to Parkwood, well I'm not sure for the exact reasons why those streets don't connect, but in the neighboring Belmont, the city purposely close off some connectivity in the grid due to drug problems, so drug dealers and buyers won't have a quick get-away route and be easy cornered off by the law enforcement.

I think that is what makes it even worse in this area. Because a lot of the dealers in the area are on foot,which makes it easier for them to get away from the Police that are driving.

[dubone]

I also think that the transportation departments closed off the cross streets to allow Parkwood to be a high speed route for people outside the neighborhood to get through. It was bad policy and should be reversed as the neighborhood redevelopments.

[SCOTTER]

I definitely agree there should be more access to Parkwood in that Area. I think 16th street should connect with Parkwood. 15th street appears to have an obstructive view to on coming traffic. If a majority of the new residents ask for access to Parkwood hopefully the city will listen.

By the way I got an opportunity today to see the Skyline view of downtown form one of the Duncan Garden Condo

[f0xym0p]

We were informed this week that Opt12 will be finished and ready for buyers to close by the end of March or beginning of April. Official notices are supposed to be in the mail soon.

[SCOTTER]

The contracts on the Duncan Garden

Edited February 4, 2006 by SCOTTER

[dubone]

They all definitely look close, as they are getting their exterior paint now.

Also, this morning, there were workers felling old trees at the intersection of Caldwell and 12th. That is where they are doing road work, and possibly widening Caldwell to make it bidirectional. It was interesting, though, as they had the trees on their side, with roots intact. I wonder if they are just relocating them. It seems odd, as they are trees bigger than the houses on the lot, but if they were just going to cut them up, they would have just used a chainsaw to get it down.

Needless to say, there is a lot of construction activity in Optimist Park, as there will be consistently for the next few years.

[atlrvr]

Someone with the city has said that there is a lot more going on that hasn't really been announced yet. With the straightening of Parkwood/Brevard/Caldwell, there will be lots more housing. The Housing Partnership is leading some of it....

Also, Piedmont Courts is expected to be completely demolished and the site cleared by mid-summer......

[atlrvr]

The Kroc Center needs the land along Seigle to do ball fields, which would require the city yards.....if they can't get the land, they would likely go to a site near Eastland or not come here at all....which would be a huge shame, because we were lucky to be selected iin the first place. It would be a HUGE positive for the neighborhood and it won't look like a normal rec center.....very cool and modern.

City Manager Pam Syfert said moving the entire operation would be difficult. But, she added, the city is exploring moving police-car maintenance to another site. That could free up a few acres along Seigle Avenue for the Salvation Army center.

Without that land, the center is more likely to go somewhere else in Charlotte, said former county commissioner Ruth Samuelson, who is working with the Salvation Army to get the grant.

Patsy Kinsey, who represents the area, said she does not favor relocating the maintenance yards.

"I think it will be extremely difficult to find another location," she said.

Another reason I hate Kinsey.

[dubone]

Oh my gosh, what is wrong with that woman!?!

I didn't realise that Croc Centers included fields and stuff. It'd be great to be rid of the city yards. I hope that they didn't already spend the $20 mil to spruce up the site as they had voted to do a few years ago. That way they can consider that as new funds to construct a new on. Preferably they will build it right next to Kinsey's house.

I don't know why they don't use some of the government owned parking decks downtown. Currently, most of those decks sit empty over night, so it would be a good place to park the police cars and other vehicles over night.

Also, I wonder whether the Kroc center could just plan to use the fields at Piedmont Middle, which is next the planned Kroc Center site.

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=...7&scene=1905461

[atlrvr]

Also, I wonder whether the Kroc center could just plan to use the fields at Piedmont Middle, which is next the planned Kroc Center site.

The idea was presented to them but they want to own their own.....

[dubone]

That is odd, but okay. But it would be tragic for the Salvation Army to abandon the most distressed neighborhood in the city over the ownership of fields.

[dubone]

New pedestrian connection being graded along trolley corridor to Alpha Mill

Alpha Mill

The inside of the Alpha Mill tower

New windows starting to be put in the old mill building

On the widening of Caldwell, I must have been wrong about what I saw about the trees, or else they only saved one tree and

cut down the others. This block is owned by the CHA and will likely become mixed income apartments as part of the Hope VI

project.

Opt12

Duncan Gardens and Duncan Methodist

[SCOTTER]

Thanks for the pictures. They are really nice. How were you able to get the pictures inside of Alpha Mill?