Legacy Union (former Charlotte Observer redevelopment)

[Guest]

So  it got shorter?

No the bottom part got taller and the top part shorter, 632’


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No the bottom part got taller and the top part shorter, 632’ so a win win for the proportions


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CTiger]

Is the pyramid on this building going to be anything other than purely ornamental?  Is there going to be a restaurant or observation deck up there?

[TheOneRJ]

23 minutes ago, CTiger said:

Is the pyramid on this building going to be anything other than purely ornamental?  Is there going to be a restaurant or observation deck up there?

They aren’t going to let the public that high into a BoA building. Not even employees have access to specific levels in these buildings. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

1 hour ago, CTiger said:

Is the pyramid on this building going to be anything other than purely ornamental?  Is there going to be a restaurant or observation deck up there?

It's really mindboggling to me why we don't have an observation/resturant up high. I dont buy the post 9/11 reasons. Plenty of cities have them. I hope when Duke builds their new tower, it builds one. Especially recently the view from above is spectacular but you either have to be paying $2k+ a month for an apartment or have access at work. Bentley's and Fahrenheit or nice but doesn't compare to being up 40+ stories. 

[CLT2014]

34 minutes ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

It's really mindboggling to me why we don't have an observation/resturant up high. I dont buy the post 9/11 reasons. Plenty of cities have them. I hope when Duke builds their new tower, it builds one. Especially recently the view from above is spectacular but you either have to be paying $2k+ a month for an apartment or have access at work. Bentley's and Fahrenheit or nice but doesn't compare to being up 40+ stories. 

Bank of America doesn't even want you taking photos in the lobby of buildings they occupy. Snap a photo in the 1BAC lobby without permission and you'll have six security guards descending on you. 

BofA is not the primary tenant in any building with an observation tower nationwide and they've actually had landlords close them, such as in Dallas, in order to sign a big lease. 

A tall hotel or apartment is probably our best chance at an observation facility as many office tenants don't want their lobbies full of teenagers in shorts and tank tops looking to make out on the roof. 

Some of the buildings that have done it, have constructed their lobbies with dedicated entrances and elevators for the observation deck.

Edited September 4, 2018 by CLT2014

[SgtCampsalot]

What I do is go up Tryon Plaza elevator looking like I belong there and snap photos from any of the handful of vacant office spaces 

[Tyrone Wiggum]

Des Moines has one of these. It hasn’t aged well. But at least Funyon has more glass. Or something

[DMann]

Hey look!  They have a Levine cell tower as well.

[Trickbot]

I wonder what BoA is hiding. Are the CEOs secretly lizards? Are the buildings disguised missile silos? Does anybody actually work for them? We demand answers now 

[JorgiPorgi]

Cranes, power lines, and is that an old fire truck? 

[Crucial_Infra]

Anyone else here get kind of a letdown after the cranes come down? Yeah, I like a finished product (most anyway) but there's just something about the action of the construction. Maybe they'll never finish this thing. 

[Tyrone Wiggum]

5 hours ago, Crucial_Infra said:

Anyone else here get kind of a letdown after the cranes come down? Yeah, I like a finished product (most anyway) but there's just something about the action of the construction. Maybe they'll never finish this thing. 

So you’re saying you’re upset by the size and appearance of the erection? And what they’ll think when the action is over?  Hmmmm, sounds bigly problematic

[JorgiPorgi]

It may not be an iconic building, but it will get the job done. 

[SydneyCarton]

It looks pretty good to me.

[Hunted]

14 hours ago, JorgiPorgi said:

It may not be an iconic building, but it will get the job done. 

I know this is a Legacy Union thread, but let's all take a moment to appreciate the beautiful architecture of our most prized building -- the Circa apartments. The circular cubby holes on the sound-dampening wall are very reminiscent of Cheerios. I mean, c'mon... who doesn't like Cheerios?! Sorry for the off-topic post, but let's not take for granted that we have such a marvelous structure that rivals anything you'd find in Paris.

[KJHburg]

Since this article about stadium area redevelopment mentions Legacy I will put this here.  Subscriber article from the Business Journal and some highlights I found interesting.

""• The 7-acre site near the stadium in Third Ward that now houses the Panthers practice fields. City government owns the land, part of the 33-acre property that includes the stadium. Tepper would need city approval to redevelop the practice fields for commercial purposes — think bars, restaurants and entertainment.

• The Mint Street parking deck owned by Duke Energy sits between the Panthers stadium and BB&T BallPark. 

• Two sites for future development in Lincoln Harris’ 10-acre Legacy Union across South Mint Street from the stadium. A 33-story office building is under construction there now.""

another section I found interesting     

""“You’re wrapping your arms around the stadium with a series of blocks in a mixed-use fashion,” said Brian Leary, president of commercial and mixed use at Crescent Communities, one of Charlotte’s most-active developers.  Leary broached the idea of retrofitting the 2,200-space parking deck occupying 4.8 acres on Mint Street next to the stadium. Later this year, construction will begin on an 0.7-acre sliver of the block housing that deck. The 31-story FNB Tower-Charlotte will combine 160,000 square feet of offices and 215 apartments.   The redevelopment of the practice fields should include restaurants and entertainment, but Leary suggested including some less-obvious elements, too. Mixed-income housing would be one of those. “So, the folks who might work at the stadium could live near the stadium,” he said.""

Hmmm wonder if a parking garage for Duke could be relocated to their new south Tryon site where their tower will rise.   Then you could have a clear area from the stadium to  ballpark.  Legacy is a 2 block project and with across the street access to the stadium and the only thing for certain on that block is their massive parking deck.  Lincoln Harris maybe very involved with Tepper with this (my thoughts) 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/09/06/what-next-stadium-makeover-could-mean-for-panthers.html

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

Very interesting. Been said on here before but this article strengthens the reason why we haven't heard any plans about the other phases yet at LU (at least publicly).  I could tell from the very first press conference with Tepper that he was already very aware of the surrounding area around the stadium and what he envisions. Doesn't surprise me one bit if LH and Tepper are planning some big things. At the bare minimum, "retrofitting", sounds like converting some of that deck into retail which is much needed imo. Wish they mentioned the old Duke hq in the article too. 

[Nick2]

Tepper sees an opportunity in investment and expansion and rightly so. How many stadiums are actually in their city's downtown and have essentially virgin land so close by, not to mention the sheer volume (relative to the situation)?

I could see there being some really transformative stuff here in the future.

[TheOneRJ]

An entertainment district on the practice field lot sounds like a nightmare for the surrounding housing developments and a celebration to the Johnson & Wales students. 

[KJHburg]

^^^ I agree those practice fields would be a bad location for an entertainment district since it is cut off from the rest of uptown only accessible by 4th street or the pedestrian tunnel under the tracks right by the stadium.   Not to mention Cedar Street could not handle that much traffic.  Better for housing or parkland which are both stated city goals especially affordable housing.  Duke Energy and Lincoln Harris hold the biggest chips in this plan.  Legacy has not really planned out their 2nd block other than the parking garage and pedestrian walkway down the center of the block. Plenty of possibilities there for sure and also when the Duke Energy garage was built at the same time as the stadium it was a sprawling garage on the EDGE of uptown where there was nothing but a few 1 story buildings down there.  Just my ideas!  Duke sells their property there or most of it,  the garage is torn down and since they will be building a new building on South Tryon building a larger garage there to handle their parking needs or rebuilding a compact taller garage by the stadium to serve their employees in the daytime and people attracted to the new entertainment center mixed used project between the existing Stadium and Ballpark.  4 big players Lincoln Harris, Duke Energy, city of Charlotte and of course Mr Tepper.  This area could be sorry for the pun a game changer for the entire uptown area.    Mr Tepper has also stated he wants more concerts, events, high school championships etc at the stadium.  

Now can we fit a dome on top of the existing stadium and we would have a SuperBowl within 5  years.  Plus all of this could accelerate a new Duke tower (and it is a when not if from my sources) 

[Nick2]

On a relevant note, I found a good example of a "stadium entertainment district" so to speak. Pittsburgh. It's a great read. They turned a dead zone into a destination even on non-event days.

Pro-tip: To read a subscriber only article on most news sites. Reload the page and quickly hit the "x" where the reload icon was right after you hit refresh and right as the page starts to load. I would support them by subscribing if I was able to afford it but I can't.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/09/06/how-pittsburgh-followed-its-own-path-on-stadium.html

Basically in the 90s, the pirates and Steelers were asking for tax payer money for sports specifc expansion and the city (mayor) said screw you, you need to do something more with your land to get more money from us. And they launched a creative campaign of state, private, and local govt funding to redo the area along with new nfl and also mlb (hint hint, Mr Tepper) stadiums after imploading three Rivers stadium which used to host both teams.

The 20 acre area developed mostly naturally over 17 years as the public sector sold the newly available land off piece by piece.

[SouthEndCLT811]

Haha that article mentions all of the developments by the Cordish Company who I happened to mention in the Panthers thread.  Seems they are the go to company for this type of district around sporting venues..

Edited September 7, 2018 by SouthEndCLT811

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

One of the main obstacles in making it a seamless connection between practice fields to the stadium is that lot of electric transformers (dont know what to call it).  I can imagine that lot being an integral part of Tepper's master plan in his head.  It's been mentioned before about moving those things, but what was the determining factor of that being unfeasible?  I know when they put those there, there probably really wasn't anything in the vicinity so ppl didn't worry much about it.  But fast forward and it's hindering a prime piece of land now.  was it too costly to move, nowhere else to put it, or land ownership? 

[DMann]

I think that you also need to look at the Duke concrete fortress on Church Street as going away when Duke builds on Tryon.  With the redevelopment of that block and the BOAT development it will pull BOA Stadium directly into downtown.