Westside/Beatties Ford/Biddleville/West End Projects

[KJHburg]

These are new townhomes being built in the Smallwood area off Rozzelles Ferry Rd at one point this was a business park but now DRB Homes  is building townhomes here.  From Saturday. 

Called the Towns at Greenway 

Edited July 10, 2022 by KJHburg

[kayman]

On 7/9/2022 at 1:57 PM, KJHburg said:

From our walking tour today of the Five Points Seversville Johnson C Smith Univ. area.

We even had this put together by Shook Kelly and Neighboring Concepts architecture firms. 

https://www.neighboringconcepts.com/walkfivepoints

First couple of photos are new townhomes off West Trade beyond Five Points. 

Started at the Five Points Park which the neighborhood had a lot of input into what is there.  there is a splash pad, swings, seating, room for movies.  It is programmed space so there are events all month long.   Minority owned businesses and franchisees in adjacent retail building.  Another part of the park is across the street where a workout was being done and there is a Civil Rights monument. 

Mosaic Village is the 4 story colorful building with ground floor retail and office of Neighboring Concepts. 3 additional levels of student housing for JCSU and a rooftop event venue atop the garage.  Griffith Brothers Tire is the property owner and apartments are leased to JCSU.  

Across the street on W Trade is the old A&P store once owned by the Duke Endowment but now owned by JCSU.  This is a temporary park structure for events.  Hopefully the old A&P building can be saved. Once a location for Weaver St Market grocery now they are looking at other locations in the area and they are getting close so we were told.   Weaver Street is out of Carrboro with locations across the Triangle.  Also hinted that this space might be home to a minority owned business HQ. 

Inside shot of Neighboring Concepts office really nice space.   Next door is a 5 story office building that will be anchored by both architectural firms with ground floor retail.  

Inside the Shook Kelly office with their plans on the tv screens of a huge project Inlivian wants to to at I-77 between  5th and Trade along Frazier Park.  a mixed used development with lots of affordable housing with a parking garage underneath facing 277 especially if this interchange is redesigned as anticipated with 77 south widening and toll lane expansion.   This building was the old Griffin Brothers tire store and then JCSU arts center now offices and including the Black Box Theater. 

I learned a WHOLE LOT on this tour and got to see things I have read about but not sure where they are.  You may have missed this walking tour but go over there yourself and walk around and tour yourself.  

 

I was out there with the other group touring the West side and historical black neighborhoods with the Young Professionals of the Urban League of Central Carolinas. We passed you all twice during our walking tour of the area on Saturday morning through midday. 

FYI, the proper terminology is not "minority-owned", it is "black owned" for those particular programs for the area.  Our tour guide was a Charlotte native, politically involved, former veteran, and a major stakeholder of many of those programs in the area. 

[RANYC]

Not sure what this will be, but I always celebrate when a massive and unlandscaped asphalt surface parking lot gets dug up: this at McQuay and Tuckaseegee

Row of buildings along Tuckaseegee is getting rehabbed, but not sure what for 

Example of a duplex along Tuckaseegee coming soon to ruin a neighborhood near you 

[RANYC]

Has anyone heard what might possibly be done with this corner at West Trade and Wesley Heights Way, almost a leap away from the gold line stop?

[CLTNative]

McQuay & Tuckaseegee looks neat. Appears to include a basketball half court and bleacher seating.

Record LDCR-2022-00009

[RANYC]

28 minutes ago, CLTNative said:

McQuay & Tuckaseegee looks neat. Appears to include a basketball half court and bleacher seating.

Record LDCR-2022-00009

A bit confused here.  I drive by this area all the time.  McQuay and Tuck is a large surface lot that’s been dug up, with no buildings for renovation.  A couple blocks east of the Tuck intersection w/McQuay is a row of old bldgs fenced off and being worked on by fairwood construction.  Assume this permit relates to that project.

Edited October 11, 2022 by RANYC

[RANYC]

Holy cow, the lovely albeit abandoned church at Enderly and Tuckaseegee in the pic below has been reduced to a massive pile of rubble just in the past 2 weeks.  Major, major changes under way in this area of Charlotte.  Too bad Glenwood Street is one of the most littered stretches of residential roadway I’ve seen anywhere in the country.

[videtur quam contuor]

Maybe thirty five years ago my uncle was driving this way from Indiana and wanted to visit me. Pre-GPS, pre-mobile phone, I told him to take I-85 and then at any exit go to a phone and call me and I would coach him from there or fetch him if it were close enough. I sat at home awaiting the call. "Ring, Ring" "I am at a station at Glenwood Drive exit." I was unaware of such an exit or street though I had lived in Charlotte for quite a few years at that time. "Go back onto the interstate and choose another exit." I told him. Next one was more successful. I still have no idea why that exit was necessary, even less so now.

How many of us have been on Glenwood drive intentionally and know where it connects? 

Edited January 9, 2023 by tarhoosier

[Matthew.Brendan]

Any idea how old that church was? edit: 1937

I would reeeeeally love to know roughly what a stick apartment build from scratch (my assumption for what is going here) costs, versus a total gut renovation of the existing structure + a smaller stick build.

Yes renovations are more expensive than a knock it down, scrape the lot clear edge to edge and slap up some garbage "luxury" apartments which is why this happens ad nauseam all across the city, but I could at least sleep slightly better if I knew that the costs are truly something unpalatable like 5x a from-scratch build. I'm guessing the difference is not even that much but I just don't know.

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by Matthew.Brendan

[Matthew.Brendan]

Who needs a beautiful brick structure with amazing courtyard when you can have cookie cutter apartments instead? The quick-buck mentality is a cancer.

[Reverie39]

1 hour ago, tarhoosier said:

Maybe thirty five years ago my uncle was driving this way from Indiana and wanted to visit me. Pre-GPS, pre-mobile phone, I told him to take I-85 and then at any exit go to a phone and call me and I would coach him from there or fetch him if it were close enough. I sat at home awaiting the call. "Ring, Ring" "I am at a station at Glenwood Drive exit." I was unaware of such an exit or street though I had lived in Charlotte for quite a few years at that time. "Go back onto the interstate and choose another exit." I told him. Next one was more successful. I still have no idea why that exit was necessary, even less so now.

How many of us have been on Glenwood drive intentionally and know where it connects? 

I thought this story was going to end with him having accidentally driven to Raleigh, lol

[videtur quam contuor]

39 minutes ago, Reverie39 said:

I thought this story was going to end with him having accidentally driven to Raleigh, lol

So it does not register as a Charlotte interchange with you also. 

I have been on Glenwood since then (in Charlotte) and cannot understand what industry or transportation access required an interstate exit.

[QClifer]

Townhomes will be going where the church was.  The church has not sold yet but will soon.  The buyer wanted the asbestos removed from the church by the seller first and demo before close.     Townhomes dirt work has already started across the street from this. 
A lot of change is happening in this area. 
 

there is also some environmental cleanup going on on Glenwood right now.  Something about laundry chemical cleanup is what I got

[ertley]

21 hours ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

Who needs a beautiful brick structure with amazing courtyard when you can have cookie cutter apartments instead? The quick-buck mentality is a cancer.

To me, the most disappointing--I wouldn't even say rises to the level of upsetting--thing is the lack of imagination or vision. I still don't understand why so many people think in terms of All or Nothing, or either/or. Quite frankly, I think the sanctuary structure is mediocre architecturally (I think it came later) and is a bland, "tasteful" midcentury gesture toward "class," so I'm sanguine about it going; the (educational?) building connecting the two wings is less remarkable--although probably was of quality--but I wouldn't protest vociferously against its demolition.

But...but the (I would imagine) old sanctuary to the left--it must've been the 1917 element--had real character and more individuality: It was the element that should've been salvaged, IMHO. It sits right along the side street, so it could've easily incorporated into the larger development, and tearing down the other structures would've allowed as much continuous development space as they needed. That's a failure of vision, imagination, and--dare I say it--taste and discretion.

But, maybe, all the structures were in bad shape and couldn't reasonably be salvaged. I'll try and be charitable. 

[Hidden Valley memory]

On 1/9/2023 at 10:01 AM, tarhoosier said:

Maybe thirty five years ago my uncle was driving this way from Indiana and wanted to visit me. Pre-GPS, pre-mobile phone, I told him to take I-85 and then at any exit go to a phone and call me and I would coach him from there or fetch him if it were close enough. I sat at home awaiting the call. "Ring, Ring" "I am at a station at Glenwood Drive exit." I was unaware of such an exit or street though I had lived in Charlotte for quite a few years at that time. "Go back onto the interstate and choose another exit." I told him. Next one was more successful. I still have no idea why that exit was necessary, even less so now.

How many of us have been on Glenwood drive intentionally and know where it connects? 

Many, many times. Even 35 years ago!

[kermit]

Not many details (or much money) but this is positive news.

Edit: so this was totally a grant program that could have paid for removal of the Belk. This was a lost opportunity.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/02/28/reconnecting-communities-transportation-infrastructure/

 

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by kermit

[RANYC]

12 minutes ago, kermit said:

Not many details but promising.

 

 

Is this to get in front of the I-77 widening, and using the widening project to potentially better integrate west end & uptown?  $1.6 not nearly enough to actually design a solution, so instead this will study the prospect of finding a solution?

[a2theb]

10 hours ago, RANYC said:

Is this to get in front of the I-77 widening, and using the widening project to potentially better integrate west end & uptown?  $1.6 not nearly enough to actually design a solution, so instead this will study the prospect of finding a solution?

Maybe I missed something that is published but I assumed widening wouldn't start until Remount since 77 through Wilkinson/Freedom/277 onramp is all 4 lanes.

[SpiritOf76]

“New black Wall Street “ 

[RANYC]

New construction along Frazier Avenue, just behind the building that formerly housed Westside Meats.  New construction is indeed nice to see in this part of center city. 

[RANYC]

Sitting at my home in Wesley Heights watching holiday programming yesterday evening and I hear 8-9 very loud gunshots.  Immediately checked my windows and, of course, saw nothing.  Then, this morning, I read on Joe Bruno's twitter feed that someone was shot at the Bojangles at West Trade and I-77.  "Victim" now at the hospital with life-threatening injuries.  This can and does happy anywhere in Charlotte, yes?  Or should I be packing my things and finding a new spot in town?  Feels like gunshots have become a weekly or bi-weekly occurrence here and I've never in my life lived in an area where I have heard these on a somewhat regular basis and learned to dismiss the sounds.

Edited December 17, 2023 by RANYC

[Guest]

Someone being shot at that Bojangles is surprising to me but not very as it’s a public affordable restaurant near major thoroughfares. If someone gets shot in a residential portion of a gentrifying neighborhood (such as Wesley Heights) I would be certainly be most concerned.

As someone living in a similar inner ring neighborhood with a Bojangles nearby I can tell you I feel safe in my home but wouldn’t go to somewhere like a Bojangles or a convenience store too late at night. Property and personal crimes are low in my residential neighborhood but personal crimes like what happened at your Bojangles are always a risk in spaces like that, as is being collateral to one. 

I personally don’t think you are not safe where you live. That being said if you don’t feel safe going to your neighborhood’s shared amenity spaces late at night, or because you can hear other people become victims of crime that is also something to consider. Feeling safe can be as important as being safe.

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, MothBeast said:

Someone being shot at that Bojangles is surprising to me but not very as it’s a public affordable restaurant near major thoroughfares. If someone gets shot in a residential portion of a gentrifying neighborhood (such as Wesley Heights) I would be certainly be most concerned.

As someone living in a similar inner ring neighborhood with a Bojangles nearby I can tell you I feel safe in my home but wouldn’t go to somewhere like a Bojangles or a convenience store too late at night. Property and personal crimes are low in my residential neighborhood but personal crimes like what happened at your Bojangles are always a risk in spaces like that, as is being collateral to one. 

I personally don’t think you are not safe where you live. That being said if you don’t feel safe going to your neighborhood’s shared amenity spaces late at night, or because you can hear other people become victims of crime that is also something to consider. Feeling safe can be as important as being safe.

Yea, this is a tough set of considerations.  I'm in a townhome community abutting that Bojangles at West Trade.  A couple weeks back, I arrived home to find someone throwing a brick into the window of a BMW SUV in front of my place.  In that scenario, a vagrant saw a woman's purse in the passenger's seat and was trying to get at it.  The SUV belonged to a real estate agent visiting our street and showing a house.  The incident finally got a few of us in the neighborhood actually talking to each other.  Turns out, several gathered admitted to no longer walking about and instead just getting into their cars from our rear garages to get to where they want to be. 

I bought here 3 years ago.  For a period of that time, I was working from home and in the house all the time.  I never heard gunshots then.  Now I work in the office everyday and travel for work and still seem to manage being home to hear rapid-succession gunfire a couple times a month. 

Maybe the growing slate of incidents should spur my involvement in some sort of neighborhood association to get the area's progress back on track.  Maybe it's time to get way out of center city and head to some sort of walkable Main Street in surrounding towns/communities.  I want and prioritize walkability and mixed uses, and I thought I was getting that here.  I'm certainly not looking for urban grit nor any struggle stories.  I'm re-evaluating center city's value proposition.

Edited December 17, 2023 by RANYC

[KJHburg]

On 12/17/2023 at 5:28 AM, RANYC said:

Sitting at my home in Wesley Heights watching holiday programming yesterday evening and I hear 8-9 very loud gunshots.  Immediately checked my windows and, of course, saw nothing.  Then, this morning, I read on Joe Bruno's twitter feed that someone was shot at the Bojangles at West Trade and I-77.  "Victim" now at the hospital with life-threatening injuries.  This can and does happy anywhere in Charlotte, yes?  Or should I be packing my things and finding a new spot in town?  Feels like gunshots have become a weekly or bi-weekly occurrence here and I've never in my life lived in an area where I have heard these on a somewhat regular basis and learned to dismiss the sounds.

Blame game over spilled drink at Bojangles leads to shootout, CMPD says – WSOC TV

suspect arrested and it is unbelievable someone would shoot someone over a spilled drink.  

Here is a crime mapping tool I tell my clients to use if they have questions about an area or anywhere.    I always look for the more serious incidents not smaller stuff reported. 

CrimeMapping.com - Helping You Build a Safer Community

Edited December 20, 2023 by KJHburg

[Windsurfer]

On 12/20/2023 at 3:08 AM, KJHburg said:

Blame game over spilled drink at Bojangles leads to shootout, CMPD says – WSOC TV

suspect arrested and it is unbelievable someone would shoot someone over a spilled drink.  

Here is a crime mapping tool I tell my clients to use if they have questions about an area or anywhere.    I always look for the more serious incidents not smaller stuff reported. 

CrimeMapping.com - Helping You Build a Safer Community

Living in London this year,  and have come to realize just how much of a difference good gun control makes.  Worse that happens is somebody screams a couple of obscenities. And, fwiw, I'm a gun owner.