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Optimist Park / Belmont Projects


dubone

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13 hours ago, SgtCampsalot said:

So... Two years later, I was wrong about Optimist Hall. It is a blight upon the neighborhood in a "wealthy blight" kind of way.

Just a sinkhole of excessive crowds, commercialism, and nothing meaningful. A waste of a beautiful building. I live a stones throw from it (just enough to not live around the crowds) but every time I try to get food from there I have a panic attack.

Reminds me of similar places I went to in Boston and Atlanta years ago. It feels like there's no purpose to go there.

I applaud you for at least giving a controversial opinion even though I strongly disagree with your sentiments.

I'm curious what you would have preferred to have done with this mill? There are financial realities here and whatever is done needs to be able to sustain itself. A food hall that we can walk around in and enjoy is infinitely better than what's been done with everything else, namely apartment buildings.

Alpha Mill (Optimist Park), Louise Mill (Belmont),  Highland Park Mill #3 (NoDa), Mecklenburg Cotton Mill (NoDa) are all apartments. Johnston Mill (NoDa) is under construction to be made into apartments.

The Chadbourn Mill (Optimist Park) was turned into an office building. The property is still being developed and looks like a mix of office, retail, and apartments.

Every time I drive by Optimist Hall I'm so thankful it didn't go the route of the other mills in the area.
 

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CBJ reports on the sale of three parcels at Belmont and 13th for apartments by Alliance Residential ($6.88 million). I am pretty sure this has been discussed before in this thread:

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In February, CBJ reported that Alliance Residential Co. filed plans with the city to build 287 apartments and 367 parking spaces on the 2.1-acre site. The site is currently zoned TOD-NC, or transit-oriented development neighborhood center.

Also in the article was a brief discussion of other projects in the area including Hunter, I don't think we have seen this timeline yet:

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A representative from Hunter said he expects the business to move out by the middle of next year. The salvage yard will then operate out of its location at 5310 David Cox Road, off W.T. Harris Boulevard, and the wrecker service will be off of Brookshire Boulevard.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2021/11/12/deal-closes-on-property-next-to-birdsong-brewing.html

 

Edited by kermit
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On 11/11/2021 at 12:48 PM, SgtCampsalot said:

So... Two years later, I was wrong about Optimist Hall. It is a blight upon the neighborhood in a "wealthy blight" kind of way.

Just a sinkhole of excessive crowds, commercialism, and nothing meaningful. A waste of a beautiful building. I live a stones throw from it (just enough to not live around the crowds) but every time I try to get food from there I have a panic attack.

Reminds me of similar places I went to in Boston and Atlanta years ago. It feels like there's no purpose to go there.

Kinda same. Love the building, but the food is expensive, and seating is hit or miss. We walked there a few times the first year, but find ourselves wanting to go less and less. 

Also, Spindle Bar is just plain extortionate. Their pricing for pre-mixed tap cocktails is so high, and then their point of sale system defaults to a very high tip as the lowest option. If I'm getting a can of beer and a tap cocktail it ain't worth 25% tip. I'll tip well when there's some time and flair involved, but not for a can and tap. And I know we're paying for the building renovation, but I would also hope the price of the drink is covering some labor too. 

Makes me feel like a geezer on my lawn. 

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Pre-vaccine part of the pandemic, Optimist Hall was the only place my wife and I would go sit at.  But we've always done the Fonta Flora outdoor area and online ordering for whatever food we wanted.  I think most if not every place has an online order option. That way we had a seat, had a drink not from Spindle Bar (agree with the above comment) and didn't have to deal with the occasional craziness inside

I find this much more enjoyable then pre-pandemic going with friends and everyone separates with one person holding the table till the first person gets back. 

 

Edited by SouthEndCLT811
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5 hours ago, slipperypete said:

Kinda same. Love the building, but the food is expensive, and seating is hit or miss. We walked there a few times the first year, but find ourselves wanting to go less and less.

I agree. Plus the pedestrian experience to get there is pretty terrible. Would rather just walk up to NoDa or get in a car to go somewhere else.

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J'adore le Bordeaux. Their transit with wireless trams all round the city and into suburbs, the architecture,naturally, the river, the respect for the art of a space,(Miroir d'Eaux, Parc des Quinconces and more). The Herzog and deMeuron Stade Atlantique (stadium) is quite a visual feature but works far less well. Bordeaux has been a wealthy city for hundreds of years and thus could spend what was necessary to create magic spaces. 

It is a provincial capital, and as with French provincial cities it closes early at night, and Sundays are reserved for family time. Plan ahead for late night services or Sunday opportunities and transportation.

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40 minutes ago, DMann said:

it is not always so desolate, I have often been on it when it is quite active.

Accurate.  I run it several times weekly, it gets a lot of use.  Maybe everyone was tired from the marathon the day prior ;).  The soon to be connected piece that runs from Tyvola to Polk House in Pineville was very busy yesterday afternoon.  That portion is particularly awesome.

Edited by JBS
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  • 1 month later...
On 12/22/2021 at 11:05 PM, Hushpuppy321 said:

Wow - just reading CBJ and found that the planned Apartment Complex at 1000 N. Davidson that’ll be adjacent to Birdsong is set for Seven Stories.  That will tower over the Brewery.  Seems like a lot of the new Midrise Apts are being built taller. 

Birdsong has a pretty big solar array on the roof. I hope there's still enough sun exposure remaining.

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14 hours ago, Urban Cowboy said:

I think the solar panels will be blocked a fair amount. The apartment building is going to wrap the east and south sides. And Alta Purl is already to its west. Depends on the setbacks I suppose. 

OH I misunderstood the site. Yes, that's a problem. 

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  • 1 month later...
1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

^ Great looking building and I think it is a nice change for new office buildings.  When Duke Energy swooped into lease all the office space at Optimist Hall no one else got a chance to be over there and this will solve that. 

My hope is that Duke vacates their space and allows for more vendors. I get why white point wanted Duke as a tenant and financing. But at this point I think the larger the food hall, the better the experience. And optimist hall could be bigger IMO. 

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