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Legacy Union (former Charlotte Observer redevelopment)


Missmylab4

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is from the CBJ article about Johnny Harris:

To read the rest of Harris’ thoughts on his company’s ambitious plans, including an uptown site formerly occupied by The Charlotte Observer and the Rea Farms project near Interstate 485 at Providence and Ardrey Kell roads, see the Dec. 30 print edition of the CBJ.

Might that be the announcement we have been waiting for?????

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1 hour ago, DMann said:

This is from the CBJ article about Johnny Harris:

To read the rest of Harris’ thoughts on his company’s ambitious plans, including an uptown site formerly occupied by The Charlotte Observer and the Rea Farms project near Interstate 485 at Providence and Ardrey Kell roads, see the Dec. 30 print edition of the CBJ.

Might that be the announcement we have been waiting for?????

Lets hope not. The end of year CBJ is the graveyard of news, a big announcement would be -anywhere- else.

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I'm not doubting. But it is just odd to think of BoA so far away from North Tryon 

Makes more sense than you can imagine. South Tryon is now the center of gravity in uptown. Not to mention is like 1/2 mile max. I heard a while back tenant could be a Merrill Wealth Management move

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8 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Makes more sense than you can imagine. South Tryon is now the center of gravity in uptown. Not to mention is like 1/2 mile max. I heard a while back tenant could be a Merrill Wealth Management move

As in new jobs to CLT? Or just consolidation of existing from other buildings?

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Make sense to me as banks are under tremendous pressure to be profitable in a low interest rate environment. ML has a whole 34 story building in Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan (the old World Financial Center) and that has to be some expensive space. Just as Wells Fargo is moving jobs and expanding here in Charlotte, makes a lot of financial sense to me. Lincoln Harris developed Bank of America Corporate Center and 1 BAC.  Charlotte has a huge pool of financial professionals at much less cost than NY City and the space is 1/3 the cost. 

Edited by KJHburg
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13 hours ago, Jayvee said:

Yes. We already know phase 1 (the tower) will have at least 20k

20,000 doesn't sound like a lot. It sounds enough for a couple of restaurants. 300 South Tryon is 22,000 sq. Feet of retail.

With 20,000 sq. Feet, I'm just going to assume it'll have tenants like the BoA Plaza or Independence Center retail conversions. 

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20 minutes ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

20,000 doesn't sound like a lot. It sounds enough for a couple of restaurants. 300 South Tryon is 22,000 sq. Feet of retail.

With 20,000 sq. Feet, I'm just going to assume it'll have tenants like the BoA Plaza or Independence Center retail conversions. 

Please note, Phase 1 of Many, MANY. When the bell tolls, there should be more than 150k sq ft of retail.  

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1 minute ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Please note, Phase 1 of Many, MANY. When the bell tolls, there should be more than 150k sq ft of retail.  

Thank you. If not more. For all who complain about restaurants and such, understand that as a comparative city, we are playing catch up. It may seem like a lot all at once (because it is) be we severely lack the number of bars and restaurants a city like Denver has downtown. 

As far as retail goes, for soft goods, this project will have it but there needs to be an understanding of the marketplace. We all want it because it doesn't exist however brick and mortar retailers are losing money to online. Macy's is closing stores like mad because its cheaper for them to beef up their online presence. Sure the downtown retail stores make plenty of money but there needs to be critical mass for it and honestly charlotte is not there yet. We will be, but not yet. Makes integrating space for it into projects like this a challenge 

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5 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Please note, Phase 1 of Many, MANY. When the bell tolls, there should be more than 150k sq ft of retail.  

I was specifically speaking about Phase 1 or whatever phases are about to start first.

 

I'm not complaining about restaurants, I'm just trying to sift through Charlotte Agenda info vs. reality. I mean. Truth be told, 20,000 sq. Feet of bars and such is exactly what I naturally would expect. I didn't just dream up of actual retail tenants and partnerships with Simon or what have you. 

I was just curious if we should expect "mall type" retailers in the phase that is being built first. 

 

And thank you gentlemen, for clarifying. :) 

 

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1 minute ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I was specifically speaking about Phase 1 or whatever phases are about to start first.

 

I'm not complaining about restaurants, I'm just trying to sift through Charlotte Agenda info vs. reality. I mean. Truth be told, 20,000 sq. Feet of bars and such is exactly what I naturally would expect. I didn't just dream up of actual retail tenants and partnerships with Simon or what have you. 

I was just curious if we should expect "mall type" retailers in the phase that is being built first. 

 

And thank you gentlemen, for clarifying. :) 

 

What we can expect exactly, I don't know. I have a friend at a major Sports Apparel company that was approached a year ago about opening a store uptown, so I know SOMEBODY is targeting soft goods retailers. I also know that there are more than a half dozen mall type retailers committed to Atherton Mill and Design Center. So it will really interesting to see how these three projects, all linked to mass transit, and plenty of rooftops interact with one another, and compete with one another.

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Just another data point on local retail:  I was at SouthPark Friday, a week before Christmas and shopping for the missus' gifts. First stop was better women's clothing, second floor, the heart and soul of the store. Well supplied with sales help but only two customers in sight on the floor. I asked the experienced saleswoman (Dawn, she was wonderful) about business and she said "SLOW, all season" and assumes online as the issue. Then to the perfume counter, the one you encounter just as you enter the store from the enclosed mall access, and the clerk there echoed Dawn. Anecdotal to the max.

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If the major retailers are beefing up their on-line presence in order to stay competitive with Amazon and the like, what does that mean for all of the existing brick-n-mortar locations? I'm confident in the newer generation with their fresh ideas and such, but how in the world would we repurpose the vast amount of square footage that would be left behind if Macy's, Dillards, Needless Markup, e.t.c simply disappeared?  Never mind the loss of all those positions from a job market perspective,  I can't even imagine!!

 

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^ non-discount brick and mortar retail is shifting quickly to an entertainment-oriented model, think open air, festival type settings like Atherton Mill or high-end lux like Southpark. . If shoppers are not excited about the prospect of going to a physical store they will just shop online. This shift presents a huge problem for traditional big boxes and malls since they can't be easily modified to accomdate expectations from consumers. Malls like Carolina Place and Northlake are going to get hammered since they are boring and the prices are all higher than shoppers can find online. Southend and Uptown are seeing lots of major retailer interest because they understand this trend.

Suburban retail is going to look completely different in 10 years. B+M retail is going to be much reduced in the near future, the reduction is not going to go well in the burbs.

Edited by kermit
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Regarding soft-goods retail in Uptown. The number one thing missing from the city is.... drum roll please .... people. 

Since we love to compare Charlotte to Denver, let's take a look at downtown Denver population: 73,000 vs Charlotte 15,500. Not only do the numbers speak for themselves but the difference is easily felt just by walking around town on say, a Saturday or Sunday.

Sure, there are people out and about but to describe it it as bustling with activity is a far stretch of the imagaination. Drunken crowds on a Saturday night isn't really the same thing as thousands of people out and about going about the daily run of the mill type of life stuff. 

Yes more and more people are moving into Uptown but the fact is we have a long, looooong way to go. 

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