SouthEnd "Gold District"

[CLTProductions]

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/real_estate/2015/05/new-york-investor-buys-retail-building-in-wilmore.html

Gold district....assseeeeemmmbblleeeeeeee

Edited May 20, 2015 by Jayvee

[Spartan]

I've heard there is a proposal for a Gold Overlay District to be added to the zoning ordinance. The abbreviation would be AU, not GOD (this is about as much humor as can be applied to an ordinance). Ironically it would prohibit gold mining (or other commercial mining activities). More to come...

[CLTProductions]

I've heard there is a proposal for a Gold Overlay District to be added to the zoning ordinance. The abbreviation would be AU, not GOD (this is about as much humor as can be applied to an ordinance). Ironically it would prohibit gold mining (or other commercial mining activities). More to come...

It is not a proposal, it actually was filed. More to come indeed. 

Edited July 1, 2015 by Jayvee

[Niner National]

I would love for the master plan to incorporate at least some kind of small museum dedicated to the gold mining operations in the area. I understand that they cannot do underground tours like they do at Reed Gold Mine for a number of reasons, but it would be cool if they had a little something around one of the shaft entrances

[CLTProductions]

I would love for the master plan to incorporate at least some kind of small museum dedicated to the gold mining operations in the area. I understand that they cannot do underground tours like they do at Reed Gold Mine for a number of reasons, but it would be cool if they had a little something around one of the shaft entrances

Stay tuned!!!

[ah59396]

I would love for the master plan to incorporate at least some kind of small museum dedicated to the gold mining operations in the area. I understand that they cannot do underground tours like they do at Reed Gold Mine for a number of reasons, but it would be cool if they had a little something around one of the shaft entrances

Imagine if we'd sunk $160m into a big time gold mining museum as opposed to the NASCAR HOF. I bet they could have done a lot of amazing stuff, including underground tours (assuming that money could afford the necessary pumping required to get the water out of the mines and seal them). Not to say we shouldn't have built the NHOF, just using it as reference. Personally I would have preferred the gold museum. Oh well, maybe one day.

[southslider]

^The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry has a very cool coal mining exhibit. It's almost a theme park ride.

[AirNostrumMAD]

Im assuming Its Not just a development but something cool & not just a master plan.

On the other hand, Its going to always bother me the Gold line will not go through the Gold District.

[CLTProductions]

Im assuming Its Not just a development but something cool & not just a master plan.

On the other hand, Its going to always bother me the Gold line will not go through the Gold District.

I've heard through a source that the agenda will be posting a preview of the gold district tomorrow. Not nearly all the info out there but it's a start.

[cltbwimob]

I've heard through a source that the agenda will be posting a preview of the gold district tomorrow. Not nearly all the info out there but it's a start.

Man, you seem to always know when there is a forthcoming story in the agenda...weird.

[CLTProductions]

http://bit.ly/1LJLs0W

Can't wait until this comes together

Edited July 2, 2015 by Jayvee

[AirNostrumMAD]

That'd be neat if a museum actually went pretty deep in the ground and such. I haven't been to NAscar HOF but I would completely go to an underground museum

[atlrvr]

Hmmmmm....8' planting strip and 6' sidewalk is very disappointing.  At a minimum, that sounds reversed, but I'd really love to see 14' sidewalks with tree wells.  No one can stroll on 6' sidewalks. 

[CLTProductions]

Hmmmmm....8' planting strip and 6' sidewalk is very disappointing.  At a minimum, that sounds reversed, but I'd really love to see 14' sidewalks with tree wells.  No one can stroll on 6' sidewalks. 

While I intend to agree, I think this zoning is similar to Short North, which is what they are modeling this after.

 

Here's the reasoning:

 

Charlotte Urban Forestry has determined that trees  need 8’ of dirt to survive and thrive, unless they are located in tree wells (like downtown)…..so that is where the 8’ comes from…..we typically like to design 8’ or wider sidewalks and will have wider where we can.

The 8’ landscaping / 6’ sidewalk is a minimum and was established because there are so many older existing buildings that only have 14’ between the street curb and the building edge.  

Edited July 2, 2015 by Jayvee

[Spartan]

http://www.charlotteagenda.com/8567/the-gold-district/

 

While I support the ideas behind the Gold District, I have to say that the efforts to move the idea forward doesn't seem right. A zoning district shouldn't have a singular geographic purpose - typically  they should be set up to work in other places around the city as well. How does the "AU" district set itself apart from "PED" (Pedestrian Overlay District)? To me it sounds almost identical. Why go through the process of setting up a new district when there is an existing one that would accomplish the same thing?

 

What's interesting here is that if it is approved, a zoning district would be set up without a planning process to set the vision for what people actually want the area to be. So far all we know is that some people in South End want to set up this district; but there is not a singular, publicly supported vision for the area. 

[jtmonk]

This all sounds very exciting.  The one thing that really bothers me is the 8' landscaping/6' sidewalk requirement.  They really need to reconsider the 8' landscaping strip and just require tree wells instead.  If they envision this area as being like a stroll district similar to Short North in Columbus then how about developing an ordinance that actually encourages that type of streetscape!!!  At the very least on Mint Street.

[CLTProductions]

http://www.charlotteagenda.com/8567/the-gold-district/

 

What's interesting here is that if it is approved, a zoning district would be set up without a planning process to set the vision for what people actually want the area to be. So far all we know is that some people in South End want to set up this district; but there is not a singular, publicly supported vision for the area. 

They've actually been extremely active with local business owners in the area, existing business owners in the Gold District and residents asking what they want and such.

[CLTProductions]

Expensive = why there are no tree wells

[rockhilljames]

I like it, but the Short North developed as a commercial strip first and still isn't that deep. I still feel that Camden is our best hope for a true stroll district. Would be nice if they'd push the boundery of this to S. Tryon so those two districts could organiclly merge over time.

[AirNostrumMAD]

So is there a time estimate of when we should hear about a possible Mining museum? That will be so amazingly awesome.

Edited July 3, 2015 by AirNostrumMAD

[rjp212]

Possible renovation to 1508 South Mint St (probably more Wilmore than Gold District). 

[dubone]

On 7/1/2015, 8:02:11, ah59396 said:

Imagine if we'd sunk $160m into a big time gold mining museum as opposed to the NASCAR HOF. I bet they could have done a lot of amazing stuff, including underground tours (assuming that money could afford the necessary pumping required to get the water out of the mines and seal them). Not to say we shouldn't have built the NHOF, just using it as reference. Personally I would have preferred the gold museum. Oh well, maybe one day.

Imagine them building a $10m museum and then $150m of gold including as much as possible that was minted in Charlotte.    Not only would that be an appreciable asset, but absolutely a draw for tourism and mystique and tell the true and important story of how Charlotte went from village to a place on the map.

 

$150m is 10,000 lbs of gold at today's commodity prices.  I would pay real money to see 10,000 lbs of gold.       Even 5000 lbs of commodity gold and the rest spent on obtaining the rain "C" gold coins would be pretty amazing.    I'm sure the big banks have some in their collections that could be on loan. 

I have always thought this was a good idea in conjunction with a location that connects with the actual mines in SouthEnd.    Of course managing it under the Mint Museum makes a lot of sense as Mint Museum of History or Mint Museum of the Gold Rush or something like that.  Adding as much information as possible on Charlotte from 1799 to the civil war, after which the Charlotte Mint closed, or to 1913 when the assay office closed.

 

Gold has a lot of draw and mystique to it.   It would be very interesting for people to add to their itinerary, even as a small museum.  

[Guest]

I was all for this one block being fixed up for Restaurants and Entertainment. I understand that these renderings are conceptual and all. But I just worry about the kind of person that would dress up these old buildings in this manner for a presentation. All these buildings need is a spit shine, new windows, garage doors, maybe some funky paint colors, and a patio fronting West Morehead and a patio in the alley between the center buildings. They don't need Wood Panelling and Metal, and bullcrap. So disappointing. 

[CLTProductions]

Approach this with caution. Adam Williams always throws BS concept renderings into his marketing materials. 90% of which never materialize that way he presents them. He is just looking to bring in some people that want to move in. It's up to the tenants to decide how it is all dressed up. HOWEVER I will say, the owner of the property doesn't seem to be too keen on rehabing these buildings and has talked about a soulless nyc/miami vibe, and this fits that bill.

Another thing to note is this is just a temporary solution while the owner land banks. I don't see them putting a lot of money into it (which would further lead me to believe they just dress up the existing buildings).

Edited March 8, 2016 by Jayvee

[kermit]

has the Gold District just died from neglect? A year since the last post, I haven't heard about any openings, what happened to the arcade bar?