Legacy Union (former Charlotte Observer redevelopment)

[DownEast]

Add Cincinatti to that list. I prefer Charlotte's but vastly isn't the word.  Always loved their skyline. 

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

On 4/16/2022 at 12:24 PM, SydneyCarton said:

I agree.  I think that Charlotte's skyline is among the best in the US, along with NY, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, LA, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Austin, Denver,  Minneapolis, and Nashville.  Considering that its metro population is far smaller than most of those cities, it's a pretty impressive feat.  Also, it keeps getting better.

 

Charlotte is both larger than Nashville and has a much better skyline. Add Tampa to the list we are more impressive than.

[Norm2]

35 minutes ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

Charlotte is both larger than Nashville and has a much better skyline. Add Tampa to the list we are more impressive than.

Tampa's downtown growth is slower compared to other Southern cities. Not sure why that is.

[Reverie39]

I agree that Charlotte lacks the mid-rise density emanating from the skyscraper core that some other large cities have. But I think the skyscraper core itself is extremely impressive especially for its size. The verticality is no joke and beats out all but the top tier skylines in the country. 

Hopefully we fill in the density surrounding Uptown in the coming years.

[Mid South NC]

No doubt inevitable, a wise man once said, "it will quickly become a very sticky wicket when we compare ourselves amongst ourselves" Could not the same apply when cities and their skylines are compared to one another, as each is its own very unique entity that either thrives, survives, or dies dependent on what uniquely takes place within that metro? Buildings within a skyline are the result of what business within each particular city demands.  
Consider if BofA decided to build the corporate center as two twin 30 storey towers, and Wachovia went with three buildings instead of one 787' tower, and Duke and so on. You would certainly have the skyline density without the height. Think Nashville and San Diego as examples. Just something to consider as some of us appreciate the ever evolving Charlotte skyline, and how far it has come in the past 3 - 4 decades. 

[JorgiPorgi]

3 minutes ago, Mid South NC said:

No doubt inevitable, a wise man once said, "it will quickly become a very sticky wicket when we compare ourselves amongst ourselves" Could not the same apply when cities and their skylines are compared to one another, as each is its own very unique entity that either thrives, survives, or dies dependent on what uniquely takes place within that metro? Buildings within a skyline are the result of what business within each particular city demands.  
Consider if BofA decided to build the corporate center as two twin 30 storey towers, and Wachovia went with three buildings instead of one 787' tower, and Duke and so on. You would certainly have the skyline density without the height. Think Nashville and San Diego as examples. Just something to consider as some of us appreciate the ever evolving Charlotte skyline, and how far it has come in the past 3 - 4 decades. 

Even with the height, Charlotte’s Core Skyline is larger than Nashville’s core downtown skyline, and still more dense than both Nashville and San Diego. I’ve always been impressed with Nashville and how far outside of downtown it’s towers go.  San Diego’s skyline is more expansive, and beautiful on the water. It’s definetely not Inferior to Charlotte’s- it’s just different. 

[deleted account]

6 minutes ago, JorgiPorgi said:

Even with the height, Charlotte’s Core Skyline is larger than Nashville’s core downtown skyline, and still more dense than both Nashville and San Diego. I’ve always been impressed with Nashville and how far outside of downtown it’s towers go.  San Diego’s skyline is more expansive, and beautiful on the water. It’s definetely not Inferior to Charlotte’s- it’s just different. 

JacksonH, you should respond since you live in downtown San Diego...

[Richhamleigh, DC]

We forget that while Nashville, San Diego, Atlanta, even Austin were bigger cities than Charlotte for decades if not a century before Charlotte was more than a big town.  Charlotte wasn't even in the top 100 in 1930...in fact, even more remarkably no NC city was...

[Reverie39]

NC has always been sort of unique when it comes to population. It has pretty much always been one of the bigger states; I think I read somewhere it has ranked among the top 12 for its entire existence (of course, there were less states a long time ago, but still impressive). Currently sitting at #9 with 10.5 million people. 

The problem is that our population is very spread out. Many of the other large states (New York, Illinois, Georgia, Michigan, etc.) have one humongous metro area with a huge percentage of the population. We have never had that, and even now as Charlotte explodes, the Triangle does the exact same thing and keeps the population fairly spread out. We just have a bunch of small and medium sized cities in the Piedmont instead of one huge one. Charlotte, the Triangle, and the Triad are all fairly close to each other and would combine to make one of the largest metro areas in the US (>6.5 million), but they are too separated to make that mean anything.

In that sense, I guess we are similar to Ohio. In another sense we are also similar to New Jersey in that New Jersey does not have any particularly large cities, but the similarities end there as northeastern Jersey is absolutely packed with millions of people in dozens of small towns and cities close to NYC.

[15895]

 

Charlotte since about 1992 has always had a pretty skyline. Mostly because it has a couple of beautiful signature towers. I don't think it can be compared to San Francisco or some of the largest cities. The size discrepancy is just way too huge. But it has always had a extraordinarily beautiful skyline relative to its size. 

And speaking of Mid-Sized cities undergoing huge and impressive transformations....

Edited April 18, 2022 by AirNostrumMAD

[SydneyCarton]

1 hour ago, Reverie39 said:

NC has always been sort of unique when it comes to population. It has pretty much always been one of the bigger states; I think I read somewhere it has ranked among the top 12 for its entire existence (of course, there were less states a long time ago, but still impressive). Currently sitting at #9 with 10.5 million people. 

The problem is that our population is very spread out. Many of the other large states (New York, Illinois, Georgia, Michigan, etc.) have one humongous metro area with a huge percentage of the population. We have never had that, and even now as Charlotte explodes, the Triangle does the exact same thing and keeps the population fairly spread out. We just have a bunch of small and medium sized cities in the Piedmont instead of one huge one. Charlotte, the Triangle, and the Triad are all fairly close to each other and would combine to make one of the largest metro areas in the US (>6.5 million), but they are too separated to make that mean anything.

In that sense, I guess we are similar to Ohio. In another sense we are also similar to New Jersey in that New Jersey does not have any particularly large cities, but the similarities end there as northeastern Jersey is absolutely packed with millions of people in dozens of small towns and cities close to NYC.

I think that the NJ suburbs within 40 miles of Manhattan have around 5m people.

Does anyone know when renderings might be released for the new tower?

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

19 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Does anyone know when renderings might be released for the new tower?

Nice subtle redirect lol jk. I’m enjoying this off topic chit chat btw, reminds me of those old City Data forums of the City vs City threads like Charlotte vs Raleigh for example (ppl still visit that site?). That site was all about who had the biggest and girthiest…skyline that is. Past couple of pages here remind me of this shirt lol:

Edited April 18, 2022 by CharlotteWkndBuzz

[j-man]

1 hour ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

 

Charlotte since about 1992 has always had a pretty skyline. Mostly because it has a couple of beautiful signature towers. I don't think it can be compared to San Francisco or some of the largest cities. The size discrepancy is just way too huge. But it has always had a extraordinarily beautiful skyline relative to its size. 

And speaking of Mid-Sized cities undergoing huge and impressive transformations....

1992.....thats kind of a stretch. I mean if you just love Charlotte, then okay, but 1992....the city barely had actual skyscrapers...

[Crucial_Infra]

38 minutes ago, j-man said:

1992.....thats kind of a stretch. I mean if you just love Charlotte, then okay, but 1992....the city barely had actual skyscrapers...

Maybe but the fact that the NationsBank Corporate Center was the 30th tallest building in the world when completed was pretty epic. 

[15895]

2 hours ago, j-man said:

1992.....thats kind of a stretch. I mean if you just love Charlotte, then okay, but 1992....the city barely had actual skyscrapers...

it’s subjective I guess. 

The pictures suck but I thought it was a big looking skyline back then. Especially for a metropolitan area of around 530,000 people. 
 

I mean. Imagine the metropolitan areas the size of 1992 Charlotte and compare those skylines to 1992 Charlotte…

Fayetteville North Carolina has a larger MSA than Charlotte in 1992 did. 

Edited April 19, 2022 by AirNostrumMAD

[DownEast]

Metro was def larger than 530k. Heck, the 1980 city pop. was 314k. The only pictures I had ever seen of Charlotte were from the World Book Encyclopedia and travel brochures until my first visit at 16. Some of those demos are still fresh in my head. 

[15895]

1 hour ago, DownEast said:

Metro was def larger than 530k. Heck, the 1980 city pop. was 314k. The only pictures I had ever seen of Charlotte were from the World Book Encyclopedia and travel brochures until my first visit at 16. Some of those demos are still fresh in my head. 

~1.2M for the MSA? 
https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2000/phc/phc-t-29/tab01a.pdf

i still think the skyline was decent.

[DownEast]

100% agree.

[kayman]

On 4/13/2022 at 8:12 AM, carolinaboy said:

These construction sites always look so tiny to me when they're vacant. But once equipment and construction activities begin they magically become gigantic.

Is there no way to request one from the city? Surely Planning or Permitting or another city agency had to review elevations/renderings, right? 

Things like elevations are file upon the time of the rezoning and final permitting in Accela for the Charlotte Planning, Design, & Development Department along with the Mecklenburg County Building Department who issues the certificate of occupancy. It's already out there but you have to look for it

[KJHburg]

I found the models of the Legacy 4, 5 and 6 towers up here in Asheville today.   They were on display along with preleasing information. 

[GoingUptown]

A few photos - first, a before and after of the rain just after the groundbreaking (mud pool!).  And now one from today, where the giant auger has penetrated.  

[nakers2]

As always seems to be the case, I'm a little late to the thread, but I will say in regards to our skyline, we don't "need" to have a reason for people to like it. It's just a generally eye catching skyline and I think it is distinct enough to not be mistaken for other cities. I love many urban skylines for different reasons. Richmond VA is a good example. As a truck driver on a fixed route I travel there daily. The 70's grittiness, combined with the historic train station, James river, and historic mill district make it unique in my eyes. Every city needs some distinct features. A river city often has bridges, a city like Charlotte needs its towers, places like Washington DC have monuments, and NYC has sheer scale. 

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

With no renderings it’s hard to speculate but there were some very early “renderings” that showed the layout a bit. Is the base of this structure going to include the hotel/residential portion as well and is this going to directly connect to BOAT. Believe BOATs blank wall was designed to eventually connect to this future building. Hopefully they announce they’re going to go ahead and build an apartment or hotel tower simultaneously like 300 and kimpton. 

[Reverie39]

17 hours ago, nakers2 said:

As always seems to be the case, I'm a little late to the thread, but I will say in regards to our skyline, we don't "need" to have a reason for people to like it. It's just a generally eye catching skyline and I think it is distinct enough to not be mistaken for other cities. I love many urban skylines for different reasons. Richmond VA is a good example. As a truck driver on a fixed route I travel there daily. The 70's grittiness, combined with the historic train station, James river, and historic mill district make it unique in my eyes. Every city needs some distinct features. A river city often has bridges, a city like Charlotte needs its towers, places like Washington DC have monuments, and NYC has sheer scale. 

Agreed, especially on the skyline being distinct. I have actually found a lot of national recognition and love for BoA corporate tower. It has come up in discussions I've had about great skyscrapers and architecture in the US - most people who are into that stuff know about it and consider it an underrated building. I also know a few people who visited Charlotte for the first time and later discussed how they liked the look of the city, especially "that tall pointy building". Works for me!

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, Reverie39 said:

Agreed, especially on the skyline being distinct. I have actually found a lot of national recognition and love for BoA corporate tower. It has come up in discussions I've had about great skyscrapers and architecture in the US - most people who are into that stuff know about it and consider it an underrated building. I also know a few people who visited Charlotte for the first time and later discussed how they liked the look of the city, especially "that tall pointy building". Works for me!

I'm in Manhattan for a week currently, on business.

I do miss the availability of live music, and the kinds of people you randomly meet out and about or at a bar, and the willingness of people at a bar/pub to engage with strangers.  I find that in stark contrast to Charlotteans, based on personal experience/observation. 

Charlotte's uptown, however, with its tree-lined streets along every block, is really extraordinary.  The fact that our CBD is a bit of a forest set against towers and somewhat of a dense cluster of buildings gives it a clean appearance, makes it inviting and an enchanting walk.  The best, loveliest stretches of Manhattan are those that are tree-lined with a bit of canopy, they're just hard to pin down...excepting Central Park, of course.

We should continue to make Uptown a place of intrigue and amusement, 24/7.  Something like a dynamic, constantly changing CHARLOTTE SHOUT, except 365 days a year.  I'd love to see tryon closed for a week for a festive food & arts market. 

The heart of uptown along tree-lined Tryon, filled like this: https://www.manhattancc.org/common/news/articles/article_detail.cfm?QID=10624&clientID=11099&topicID=14&ThisPage=Events

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by RANYC