Legacy Union (former Charlotte Observer redevelopment)

[cltbwimob]

Regardless of what happens - I still hold a hope that somehow the printing presses machinery in the Observer building which are amazing are somehow incorporated into a museum/cultural zone of the Levine Center for the Arts.   Could one imagine a NEWSEUM of the South in CLT?   Far Fetched I agree - but damn if I moved to the QC to be a realist and not a dreamer!

Start a crowdfunding campaign to save the printing presses for a NEWSEUM.  I'll support it.

[Urbanity]

Start a crowdfunding campaign to save the printing presses for a NEWSEUM.  I'll support it.

Fine!   I just wrote Rick Thames and asked him for ideas and donation of presses....

[videtur quam contuor]

In the CO lobby there used to be (still is?) a Linotype machine which used hot lead to make type for printing. A large and intimidating machine. Who worked that machine was a master.

[Guest]

Observer building is owned by McClathcy pension fund, which is almost assuradly "walled off" as far as the investment management staff not having any communication with the publication staff.  I'm certain there is no direct way for Observer peeps to talk directly to people in charge of selling properties, but obviously rumor mills may make their way through the company.

Johnny Harris is totally just blowing smoke. Lincoln Harris is totally going to purchase this property.

[ChessieCat]

Regardless of what happens - I still hold a hope that somehow the printing presses machinery in the Observer building which are amazing are somehow incorporated into a museum/cultural zone of the Levine Center for the Arts.   Could one imagine a NEWSEUM of the South in CLT?   Far Fetched I agree - but damn if I moved to the QC to be a realist and not a dreamer!

 

The reason the railroad tracks exist on Observer property was to bring in the printing presses if I'm not mistaken.  If all else fails, preserve the presses on top of gondolas at the NC Transport Museum in Salisbury!

[DMann]

The presses, I believe, are already gone.  The scrap rights were given to the person who removed (or is in the process of removing) them.  They were quite outdated and worth more as scrap.

[kermit]

CBJ reports that the Observer has toured the Chiquita space in its search for a new home. (The article goes on to quote a bunch of developers saying that the vacant Chiquita space will not impact their plans for new office space)

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2015/03/chiquita-space-uptown-isnt-giving-developers.html?ana=e_clt_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2015-03-25&u=jDmEk+CKbYnAvaVfOFOlFGXcGSC&t=1427289375&page=all

[CLTProductions]

CBJ reports that the Observer has toured the Chiquita space in its search for a new home. (The article goes on to quote a bunch of developers saying that the vacant Chiquita space will not impact their plans for new office space)

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2015/03/chiquita-space-uptown-isnt-giving-developers.html?ana=e_clt_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2015-03-25&u=jDmEk+CKbYnAvaVfOFOlFGXcGSC&t=1427289375&page=all

Off topic, but I don't understand this part: " NASCAR-branded office building is still a tough sell for some firms that find it inconsistent with their corporate image"??? Why is that?? Who cares what name is on the building?

[dcharlotte]

Off topic, but I don't understand this part: " NASCAR-branded office building is still a tough sell for some firms that find it inconsistent with their corporate image"??? Why is that?? Who cares what name is on the building?

 

If you're the CEO of a company paying a ton of money for office space, you don't want to direct clients who may not like NASCAR to the NASCAR building. NASCAR isn't Bank of America or AT&T in terms of brand equity. 

[15895]

Johnny Harris is totally just blowing smoke. Lincoln Harris is totally going to purchase this property.

Has anyone heard anything else on Lincoln Harris? Surely at this stage they have somewhat of an idea of what they would do with the land of they do opt to acquire the land.

[CLTProductions]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article21319551.html

Sounds like the deal is done and will be signed within the next 24 hours. I have a lot of confidence in LH but this is a HUGE site with a ton of visibility. Could be the most innovative and transformative project in Charotte (more so than either Crescent projects) or could be a giant bust.

[atlrvr]

So, in ironic contrast to my apathy about the Polk Building, I'm still hopeful that the main building remains as a retail destination, with the berms re-worked into great plaza space.  I'd like to see a tower along the Hill St side of the site, and across Church where the parking deck/storage buildings are.

 

I have low hopes that Licoln Harris shares this vision.

[Dale]

So, in ironic contrast to my apathy about the Polk Building, I'm still hopeful that the main building remains as a retail destination, with the berms re-worked into great plaza space.  I'd like to see a tower along the Hill St side of the site, and across Church where the parking deck/storage buildings are.

 

I have low hopes that Licoln Harris shares this vision.

Sorry if I missed it, but what do you suspect that we'll get ?

[cltbwimob]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article21319551.html

Sounds like the deal is done and will be signed within the next 24 hours. I have a lot of confidence in LH but this is a HUGE site with a ton of visibility. Could be the most innovative and transformative project in Charotte (more so than either Crescent projects) or could be a giant bust.

I am in the same boat; I think this site will either a) be truly transformative, or b) be a monumental waste of land. 

 

I definitely think this site will be the make-or-break site for a Stonewall retail corridor.  Between the two Crescent sites, there is ~100K SF of retail planned with almost half of that being a grocery store.  That leaves not too much room for the critical mass of shops needed to create a shopping district.  As such, the Observer site development will need to basically provide most of the retail space to turn Stonewall into a retail destination.  To that end, I am kind of hoping the model that is followed here is the CenterCityDC model due to its abundance of retail as well as its high quality midrise apartment and condo construction.

 

http://www.citycenterdc.com/overview

 

http://www.citycenterdc.com/project-details

Edited May 19, 2015 by cltbwimob

[HopHead]

I have to admit, I wasn't overly optimistic a deal would be made this quick. I'm very interested in seeing Lincoln Harris' plans. I assume that we shouldn't have to wait too long after this deal closes. If this is done right, we'll have a nice ~1 mile stroll up Stonewall from the Met to BofA Stadium, pending what happens with the Walton lot... which is less visible but still important stretch.

Edited May 19, 2015 by wend28

[Guest]

I have to admit, I wasn't overly optimistic a deal would be made this quick. I'm very interested in seeing Lincoln Harris' plans. I assume that we shouldn't have to wait too long after this deal closes. If this is done right, we'll have a nice ~1 mile stroll up Stonewall from the Met to BofA Stadium, pending what happens with the Walton lot... which is less visible but still important stretch.

I just hope all this development spills across the street. I think I was told that there is a development pad capable of holding a 15-20 floor building on the back side of the Nascar Hall of Fame, and there is a ton of underutilized land up and down the street. It would also be nice if this momentum helped spur Brooklyn Village.

[15895]

I've been saying it forever for the past decade, Stonewall has huge potential.

I'm not reall concerned with development on the other side of Stonewall as much as I'm concerned with the Tryon Place side of Stonewall from Met to Panthers being developed. I just think its very important to get Stonewall up and running and become a premier adress that will fuel the other side of Stonewall.

With Lincoln Harris, I would absolutely love an Epicenter type development where they could build ground floor retail and maybe a few apartments, parking deck and some token hotel presence with a plan to have larger Highrise development in the future.

Is it at all possible Crescent & Lincoln Harris could work together as far as aligning their ground floor for synergy? Maybe have a partner such as Simon market the ground floors together as a destination? For example, the overstreet mall is a single mall bit criss crosses through multiple developments?

I'm not sure How realistic that is but, ideas are better floated no matter how unrealistic

Edited May 19, 2015 by AirNostrumMAD

[dcharlotte]

If they can't get a development off the ground this development cycle I would like to see the entire inside of the building turned into some sort of 'open air' mall. Take out some of the exterior windows, redo the HORRIBLE landscaping around the building, and draw people in.

[HopHead]

While it's one massive development, I do like what Ricky Davis proposed a few pages back: http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php/topic/115797-charlotte-observer-relocation-and-site-development/page-6#entry1339098. Plenty of retail and residential.

 

The only thing I would maybe change is the scale of the office tower. Perhaps drop that down to ~35 stories instead of 42. With this and the likely hood of Tryon Place being 600 feet tall, I worry that the Duke Energy Center would lose some visibility. I love that building and the uniqueness it adds to the skyline with ever changing colors.

[HopHead]

It's official... Lincoln Harris has inked a deal for this property. They have a 60 day due diligence period before the sale closes. I suspect around the time it closes, we'll hear of their plans.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article21590409.html

[archiham04]

^^I am less optimistic about simple street frontage retail being able to make it...especially at this site.  I kind of think that a variant on "Ricky's" site plan that might work would be an epi-center type inner block development that orients itself to the stadium somehow.  I am hopefull that our uptown streets will be stroll worthy soon, but in the meantime, I think that the epicenter model is a safe route for whole block mega projects.

[Guest]

^^I am less optimistic about simple street frontage retail being able to make it...especially at this site.  I kind of think that a variant on "Ricky's" site plan that might work would be an epi-center type inner block development that orients itself to the stadium somehow.  I am hopefull that our uptown streets will be stroll worthy soon, but in the meantime, I think that the epicenter model is a safe route for whole block mega projects.

THAT IS A FANTASTIC IDEA, like what they did around American Airlines Arena in Dallas. 

[CLTProductions]

I've heard through the grapevine that Lincoln Harris is talking with Simon Malls about the site

[kermit]

^ that does not fill me with hope

[jednc]

I've heard through the grapevine that Lincoln Harris is talking with Simon Malls about the site

Not sure how I feel about this. I don't think a "mall" uptown is really what I'd want to see. Although, if they are thinking about reusing the Observer building for a "mall", then maybe. I say this because maybe the fact the building already exists makes it possible to have a retail site that otherwise wouldn't be cost effective. If they are going to completely demolish and rebuild, I would like to see something built that mimics something you would expect to see in an urban setting rather than a suburban type mall.