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Any discussion of the Randolph Park Apartments being torn down and replaced by a Target?  I haven't heard anything lately and was just curious if there were any updates from those of you "in the know".   

Also - odd question - what's the deal with all of the Masonic temples in the neighborhood?  Do they have a long history?  Is there any precedent of these organizations ever selling and relocating when property values rise?  We've got 3 lodges within a mile in Cotswold (Excelsior near Craig Ave, Joppa on Sharon Amity, Scottish Rite on Randolph) and with property values increasing I think they are prime lots.  They're only utilized once or twice a month for their super secret handshake meetings.  I want them to sell and build more restaurants/bars.  

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Any discussion of the Randolph Park Apartments being torn down and replaced by a Target?  I haven't heard anything lately and was just curious if there were any updates from those of you "in the know".   

Also - odd question - what's the deal with all of the Masonic temples in the neighborhood?  Do they have a long history?  Is there any precedent of these organizations ever selling and relocating when property values rise?  We've got 3 lodges within a mile in Cotswold (Excelsior near Craig Ave, Joppa on Sharon Amity, Scottish Rite on Randolph) and with property values increasing I think they are prime lots.  They're only utilized once or twice a month for their super secret handshake meetings.  I want them to sell and build more restaurants/bars.  

Scottish Rite is being torn down for Multifamily.

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Multi family < restaurants/bars

Is there any reason to be happy about living near a planned multi family development?   I can only assume it brings worse traffic to an already busy area.  Somebody give me a reason to be happy about this plan (I'm persuadable).   Maybe they'll have a pool?   

Also - Ricky Davis fan, all I could find was one mention of it in the Charlotte business journal, in which they mentioned expecting community pushback.   How does that work?  Is there a precedent of neighborhood pushback actually cancelling a development?   I wonder if Randolph Park is torn down and replaced with a Target if it won't be a big change? 

 

 

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^Living near multi-family means living near more retail and services. More rooftops support walk-friendly businesses.

In the right part of the city. Otherwise, a disaster. Bad things happened to the dense rooftop areas since the 60s/70s, and practically nothing was/is positive. Cotswold is between good and precarious.  The future is a flip of a coin.

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 Bad things happened to the dense rooftop areas since the 60s/70s, and practically nothing was/is positive.

Urbanism (aka density) is radically different today in terms of demographics, culture, urban design and the economy than it was in the 60s/70s/80s and 90s. Saying that high densities were a bad thing in the 60s is not particularly relevant to market-driven development more than a half century later.

EDIT: apologies to all if I misunderstood, I am currently on enough Dayquil to kill two Llamas.

Edited by kermit
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If you start looking at each "neighborhood" as their own self-dependent small towns ("nodes"), then multi-family developments (when using good urban design) are a god-send. They allow for enough easy-access patrons to sustain local businesses (instead of having to worry about the "visibility" for passing cars), and the renters lend them to turn-over, which, these days, brings energy into the vacuum that is left from having ONLY families with kids. Which, there's nothing wrong with, and you should have if you want, but, until recently, it was either/or. Either live in a single-family-home subdivision, or live in an undesirable apartment complex. Neither of which had any "nodes" to speak of in the first place.

That's why every nearly small town around Charlotte is trying to get more "heads on beds" within their cores, which until recently were just sleepy districts with subdivisions a mile away.

 

Edited by SgtCampsalot
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  • 1 month later...

^you might find it buried somewhere in this thread, but it is my recollection that the Target is not anticipated on that site.

I reread the thread and there is mention that the Target is not occurring at Providence and Fairview.   I am asking about the Randolph Park apts location near the intersection of Randolph Road and Sharon Amity.  

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  • 1 month later...

Rezoning Petition is up for 19 Townhomes at Woodlark and Sharon Amity.

http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Rezoning/2016/017-032/2016-018%20site%20plan.pdf

Also the petition to redevelop the Masonic Temple into Apartments.

http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Rezoning/2016/017-032/2016-024%20site%20plan.pdf

Edited by rjp212
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Can anyone who is familiar with comparing apartment complexes tell me what is good/bad about the apartments that will go on the Masonic temple lot?  I see it is designated as age-restricted.  Is this common?  A good thing for neighbors?   Tell me what to think about this.   :)

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^  It appears that this whole development is currently planned to be built on retaining wall.  Three out of four sides.  That is a rather blunt manner in which to construct adjacent to residential property.One thing I would say, is that it would be better to have some connections to the adjoining street network.  For instance if you were driving, walking, biking or pushing a walker  from this complex (whatever the case may be) to any adjacent area you would have to go out to Monroe Rd and then back into the neighborhood.  While the "private street" at the adjacent "Costwald Condominiums" may not desire a connection at this time, if this is a conditional rezoning, I would request that the site be graded (or something) in such a way that it would allow for a future connection... or perhaps at the very least, a pedestrian connection.  The southern end of the property abuts a public right of way... It is a cul-de-sac so the connectivity is not quite as critical, but you might look at some opportunites there.

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  • 2 months later...

Publix construction update:

Since Stiles Development told the neighborhood demo to the Cotswold Building would begin in November and it's now February and there's been no movement at the site, I decided to make a call. I tried the company's Charlotte office telephone, but it's been disconnected.  Hmmmm. Then called the Florida HQ, and after some wrangling, spoke to a representative who told me construction is set to begin "very soon" on the Publix store. When I asked it he could give me a window that was slightly more exact, he declined, saying "We've had some cost overruns that had to be addressed, but Stiles and Publix are committed to building the Cotswold store and will begin construction soon". 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
19 minutes ago, lefty23 said:

Costwold to get a Farmers Market, what great news for the area. 

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/45080/cotswold-getting-farmers-market/

 

Indeed.   I really hope the success of this market leads to increasing interest in walk-able/outdoor options for Cotswold.  The fact people enjoy hanging out on the 10x10 pad at Pizza Peel staring at a parking lot or the fenced pen at Leroy Fox is proof of the pent up demand for fun outdoor fun.    If somebody found a way to open a bar/restaurant with a shaded patio they would kill in 28211.  

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Does anyone else think the new PNC Bank is an architectural travesty? As soon as they started building it, I could tell it was going to be hideous. I try not to be a snob, but I do appreciate design that adds to the character of a community rather than puts a blemish on it.

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1 minute ago, Matt1234 said:

Does anyone else think the new PNC Bank is an architectural travesty? As soon as they started building it, I could tell it was going to be hideous. I try not to be a snob, but I do appreciate design that adds to the character of a community rather than puts a blemish on it.

Can someone grab a picture?
 

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The PNC Bank is no better or worse than I expected. It's a waste of a corner, taken out of its context...but its context is "between the Bojangles and Krispy Kreme, and across from Jack in the Box and a Shell station."

I think there's a lot of land nearby that intersection where developers have a chance to get it right, but if the longevity of the businesses at Fairview and Sharon are any indicator, the intersection of Sharon Amity and Randolph is locked into generic anonymity for the foreseeable future.

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7 minutes ago, morecowbell said:

The PNC Bank is no better or worse than I expected. It's a waste of a corner, taken out of its context...but its context is "between the Bojangles and Krispy Kreme, and across from Jack in the Box and a Shell station."

I think there's a lot of land nearby that intersection where developers have a chance to get it right, but if the longevity of the businesses at Fairview and Sharon are any indicator, the intersection of Sharon Amity and Randolph is locked into generic anonymity for the foreseeable future.

Honestly, I can't really gripe about Cotswold, or Madison Park. Two of Charlotte's signature neighborhoods anchored by a strip center. I am, however, happy to gripe about the intersection of Sharon Amity and Fairview, with its Shell, Circle K, Burger King and Verizon Store. 

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Even Midwood and Elizabeth have strip centers despite their urban bones.  But if those areas, as well as more comparable Madison Park, are any indication for Cotswold, older strip centers will either re-tenant/remodel into urban centers or be redeveloped via urban infill.  In actuality, it appears to be a combination thereof, just as the Harris Teeter-anchored strip rehabs, while the Publix site redevelops.

The what continues to be more urban. The how just depends upon the site's economics.

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If the Publix ever gets started. I'm starting to wonder. 

As for the PNC - It's not great, but there are much worse Bank designs than this, I was actually pleasantly surprised they went as far as they did to make it different from normal bank look in this town. I wished it wouldn't have been a bank, but since it is, I'll take the look. Just have to hope that one of those other corners gets the redevelopment that intersection needs. 

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