Legacy Union (former Charlotte Observer redevelopment)

[js4life]

^^ It wouldn't surprise me if some development happens on this land (maybe not all of it) If Crescent buys this property I see something happening sooner rather than later& wouldn't surprise me to see 277 capped in this cycle

[Dale]

i could see growth building on itself though.

[atlrvr]

That said, I'm torn.  I would hate for us to tear down one of the few decent examples of brutalist architecture, but the siting so far back from the curb makes it really hard to put in a better urban context.

 

I'm no longer torn.  I really want the building to stay and be re-purposed.

 

Here is my dream.

 

Remove the berms, and create legitimate plaza space.

Make ground floor and above into an urban shopping mall.

Turn the parking lot across Church into a higher rise parking deck, with ground floor retail (wrap with residential as long as we are dreaming.

Make the basement into a telecom/internet co-location hub for multiple carrier trunk lines would be amazing.  Charlotte is terribly disconnected as far as communication trunk-lines go (most route through Atlanta), but the state subsidizing trans-Atlantic cabling, and Miami/NYC/DC direct cabling would be amazing boost for the tech sector, the banks, or really anyone that cares about ultra-low-latency.

Finally, a new (hotel, office or residential) tower between the existing building and Hill St would complete the redevelopment, and fix the least approachable side of the current site.

 

There is a lot that can be done to make the existing building more approachable through land/hard-scaping, and removing some of the pre-cast panels that were added as screening at some point which I still don't understand the purpose.  The building itself isn't really that terrible (IMO anyway), it's just very unapproachable in its current condition.

 

Original architect rendering.

[49er]

Unless it can be repurposed into department stores, I think simple math will be its demise. 360,000 sq ft on 4 acres is hard to justify. I think I would miss this about as much as the old convention center. That building was neat from aerial views but awful at the street level.

[atlrvr]

^^^  What...did you just say a flagship Belk with their relocated HQ across the street in Tryon Place?  I like that a lot

 

In seriousness, while the old Convention Center had those cool pyramids on top, this building is infinitely better at the streetlevel with just some relatively simple fixes....it then becomes all about plaza programming.  Tryon Place across the street will have just about as big of a set back at the corner or Tryon and Stonewall as the CO building does....pretty renderings of steps/benches/signs etc make a big difference.

[15895]

I completely agree with Atlrvr's idea.

I also think that is the only chance of seeing anything happen with this lot this round.

If Crescent did purchase this parcel, and they decided to tear the building down... I believe the fate of the property is sealed and nothing would happen in the near future. Or if they did tear it down, it would have to be an epicenter type development where they can move forward with a retail portion and save air rights for later.

Stonewall has the current infrastructure and potential to be a nice retail row if (A) The market thinks a lot of retail can work (B) Crescent and/or other developmers want to create a retail row (C] The city of Charlotte provides assistance.

And of course as with every plot of land I wish an aquarium would go here (and retail as always)

Edited January 6, 2015 by AirNostrumMAD

[Guest]

One of my contacts thinks that its an out of town developer with deep pockets. It doesn't look like a complicated site on the outside, but due to underground tunnels, underground warehouse, and the amount of printing that went on there, it will probably require a lot of site excavation and maybe even soil remediation, so anything that would go on there will have to be $$$$ to make up for the costs of developing the site. 

 

Heh, watch it be Daniel Levine though...

[dubone]

 

Heh, watch it be Daniel Levine though...

 

I was thinking this very thing today.   Watch the building come down for a parking lot brought to you by Daniel Levine Foundation for Temporarily Abandoned Vehicles.   

 

 

"I'm Sarah Mclachlan.   For just $7 a day, you can provide a comfortable space for these beautiful abandoned vehicles.    Help us save these poor vehicles from windowless, overcrowded high-kill parky mill garages.

 

Spend all your time waiting

For that open space 

For a break you could leave it okay

There's always some reason

To feel it's not good enough

And it's hard at the end of the day

 

In the arms of the angle 

Drive away from here

From that dark cold office room

And the endlessness that you fear

 

You are pulled from the garage

To your asphalt reverie

You're in the arms of the angle

May you find some comfort here

[Third Strike]

One of my contacts thinks that its an out of town developer with deep pockets. It doesn't look like a complicated site on the outside, but due to underground tunnels, underground warehouse, and the amount of printing that went on there, it will probably require a lot of site excavation and maybe even soil remediation, so anything that would go on there will have to be $$$$ to make up for the costs of developing the site. 

 

Heh, watch it be Daniel Levine though...

 

This is a stretch, but what if it was Trump? Didn't he express interest in finally building a tower in Charlotte (although I think he was interested in North Tryon). It's also next to the Tryon Place site, which is where the Trump Tower was supposed to be built.

[Guest]

This is a stretch, but what if it was Trump? Didn't he express interest in finally building a tower in Charlotte (although I think he was interested in North Tryon). It's also next to the Tryon Place site, which is where the Trump Tower was supposed to be built.

Thats when we will know that the Bubble is officially going to burst again.

[Dale]

Thats when we will know that the Bubble is officially going to burst again.

 

 

If there is a bubble we'll just cover it up with a comb-over.

[js4life]

It appears Lincoln Harris is the buyer.

[navigator319]

Also 10-15 years to complete :/

[sleightofhand]

“We reached out to about 10 of the development companies that are active in the Charlotte market and solicited applications,” Bishop said. “We then went through a winnowing process and chose the ones that seemed to be the most serious, and finally narrowed it down to one.”

 

 

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2015/01/06/5427727/source-sale-of-charlotte-observer.html#storylink=cpy

[HopHead]

So now that we know it's Lincoln Harris.. Anyone have a guess what they will want to do with this property? Mixed-use? 80 story high rise? (kidding) I feel like whatever they want to do will get rubber stamped by they city...

Edited January 7, 2015 by wend28

[js4life]

So now that we know it's Lincoln Harris.. Anyone have a guess what they will want to do with this property? Mixed-use? 80 story high rise? (kidding) I feel like whatever they want to do will get rubber stamped by they city...

Mixed-use completed in multiple phases with a Phillips Place style retail/hotel component in phase 1

[Guest]

Mixed-use completed in multiple phases with a Phillips Place style retail/hotel component in phase 1

I definitely think Tryon gets the first love. 

[Niner National]

So for those more knowledgeable than myself, is Lincoln Harris getting the property a good thing? I know they've done some big projects in the city, but I can't think of any downtown that they have done

[ah59396]

IF the city can get it's crap together and actually attempt to force it's hand, we could actually have a nice little corridor (potentially) of retail options down Stonewall.  I won't get my hopes up though.  They already identified Brevard as a walk-able corridor then built a giant blank wall down it in the form of the monolithic NASCAR HOF.

 

I won't get my hopes up 

[Guest]

So for those more knowledgeable than myself, is Lincoln Harris getting the property a good thing? I know they've done some big projects in the city, but I can't think of any downtown that they have done

Its very very good. They have lots of money, and they are well rooted in this community. I think they will put together a very quality project.

[HopHead]

So for those more knowledgeable than myself, is Lincoln Harris getting the property a good thing? I know they've done some big projects in the city, but I can't think of any downtown that they have done

 

I believe they were involved in developing the BofA Corporate Center... So obviously they have some good history with center city. 

 

IF the city can get it's crap together and actually attempt to force it's hand, we could actually have a nice little corridor (potentially) of retail options down Stonewall.  I won't get my hopes up though.  They already identified Brevard as a walk-able corridor then built a giant blank wall down it in the form of the monolithic NASCAR HOF.

 

I won't get my hopes up 

 

Agreed. I think this is a great opportunity to establish that retail corridor. 

[CLTProductions]

I think this is our best opportunity to establish a retail corridor. 9 acres is a TON of land obviously and not only can they develop something with PLENTY of shops, but you also have Tryon Place across the street, which could potentially see a retailer as well. Now if only Stonewall was a bit more walkable.

[kermit]

So the confluence of the Observer site, Portman and Tryon Place combined with Mercedes CEO statements about the importance of transit in their move to Atlanta has me thinking about managing Charlotte's growth over the next 50 years.

Mercedes move makes clear the significance of transit accessible airports for Knowledge firm growth (HQs of manufacturing firms included). While it may be tough to make the case for rail to CLT now, the presence / possibility of that link in the near future could be very important to generating the kind of economic growth Charlotte most desires. The 2025 plan to use streetcar style connections to the airport seems awfully provincial now (too slow). Dedicated ROW LRT service which is directly connected to our main transit spine (the Blue Line) I think will be the minimal connection between uptown and CLT to attract more corp HQ activity.

We already know that routing the West line ROW is problematic. (Mixed traffic streetcar on Wilkinson is too slow and sharing ROW with Norfolk Southern reduces our ability to develop regional and intercity passenger rail). So I'll again suggest that the city should plan for a LRT route to branch off the existing blue line between 277 and the Portman tower, cut and cover tunnel the line under Hill street (and allocating space for a station in the Observer area and the park on the Cap), run along the edge of Charlotte Pipe land and then over / under 77 and through the Bryant Park area on Morehead. I'll let someone else solve the problem of how to get from Wilkinson / Morehead to the airport people mover. (I just returned from Chicago, how about an El?)

I know it will never happen, but now (well, five years ago actually) is the time to stake out this transit routing (before construction begins on these three significant parcels) and this high-speed link seems more critical to shaping growth now than it did pre-Mercedes.

Semi-off topic ramble over...

Edited January 7, 2015 by kermit

[nonillogical]

While anything is possible, I don't see Stonewall as a stroll retail street at all aside from this project and Tryon place, and I'd bet that will just feel more like clustering around Tryon. It's kind of an arterial street at rush hour so a road diet will not be happening, and past the Tryon Place site you have a big dead zone on both sides of the street at the convention center and Westin (though helped a bit by having the lightrail stop there admittedly), and then past that it becomes dauntingly wide and has the imposing intersection at South/Brevard. Any retail at the other Crescent site will be on a bit of an island then, so while I think the rumored Whole Foods or something similar definitely works, I wouldn't expect a lot of smaller storefronts to survive there. 

 

Has any notion of Stonewall as a retail corridor been acknowledged aside from our daydreaming here? Assuming Brevard to be a lost cause, I'd much rather see that attention go to West Trade (streetcar, a few older unique buildings, more inviting scale of street, central to lots of other interest points), or the 1st Ward Park area (blank slate with several suitable streets and existing interest from the 7th street market, park, and lightrail).

 

Sorry for going off topic but I've been a little perplexed every time this discussion about Stonewall crops up. 

[caterpillar2]

What a wonderful opportunity for a huge structure, i.e. ten floors businesses, ten floors hotel, ten floors, condos,  with two bottom levels (possibly subterranean) of retail, I.E., very cool boutiques, a very appealing international food court, cafes, bars, and unique retail shops (camera shops, bookstore,  jewelers, etc.) not available uptown. It could be something like you would see in Montreal or Munich. This would be the icing on the cake in my humble opinion. I just hope this happens before I am too old to fully enjoy this kind of thing.

Edited January 7, 2015 by caterpillar2