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I-485 Development (Prosperity Village, Riverbend, Crosswind, etc)


Third Strike

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I myself am a pure urbanist, when I'm in Charlotte, South Park is as far as I'll go from the more urban neighborhoods. So heres my question, what is the purpose of the 90:10 parking to building ratio fronting the streets around more urban town centers under development in areas around the 485 corridor. Is it...
1. Based on perception, to make people feel its more spread out, and less urban.
2. For drivers to see that parking is ample and accessible?
3. To protect buildings and assets from the possibility of out of control cars on high speed corridors.

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#2 to make sure parking is ample and available is a  must for suburban shopping center even if they are in the walkable town center format. We surburbanites like me drive there and then walk around but  we like to park close in. Waverly and Birkdale Village both have garages behind the shops for even more parking but most people like me would rather park at the door or on the street in front of the shops or close by.  #3 sometimes. I did see a car plow into the coffee shop once at Harrisburg Town Center. 

Edited by KJHburg
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Unfortunately #2 is a big part of suburban business location strategy.  Business owners want stores to look busy (e.g. cars out front), but also look like it is always easy to get a good parking space (which produces comically oversized lots). Its reason number 464 of how auto dependence creates positive feedback loops.

The Southend Lowes struggled against this phenomena for a while. They told their employees to park in the roof lot, but when potential customers would drive by they would never see the 'proper' number of cars in the lot and would assume the store was closed. It took more than a year for neighborhood customers to adjust to this.

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The Whole Foods in SouthPark has plenty of parking below it too, nice wide open spaces, and even directional signs indicating space in the basement. However people will sit up there driving in circles for 10 minutes to get one of the 30 or so spots that are directly in front of the store outside. Those are a lot of the people that complain how parking at the Whole Foods is challenging....

There are a lot of people that are intimidated by parking garages and just the thought of having to park in one is mind boggling. For many suburban centers they want that wide open parking lot visible to the customer so they can see they will have a place to park easily. 

 

Edited by CLT2014
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57 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

I myself am a pure urbanist, when I'm in Charlotte, South Park is as far as I'll go from the more urban neighborhoods. So heres my question, what is the purpose of the 90:10 parking to building ratio fronting the streets around more urban town centers under development in areas around the 485 corridor. Is it...

better than those stinking mudblood urbanists...!

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31 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

The Whole Foods in SouthPark has plenty of parking below it too, nice wide open spaces, and even directional signs indicating space in the basement. However people will sit up there driving in circles for 10 minutes to get one of the 30 or so spots that are directly in front of the store outside. Those are a lot of the people that complain how parking at the Whole Foods is challenging....

There are a lot of people that are intimidated by parking garages and just the thought of having to park in one is mind boggling. For many suburban centers they want that wide open parking lot visible to the customer so they can see they will have a place to park easily. 

 

HA this is so true!  Never an issue in the deck and I am never one row from the door. I never get it. Its not like you have to drag your groceries down a concrete dark staircase. Plus it is 50 degrees cooler down there in the summer. 

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1 hour ago, InSouthPark said:

HA this is so true!  Never an issue in the deck and I am never one row from the door. I never get it. Its not like you have to drag your groceries down a concrete dark staircase. Plus it is 50 degrees cooler down there in the summer. 

On the days following up to holidays I've seen the deck full too :-o

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7 hours ago, InSouthPark said:

HA this is so true!  Never an issue in the deck and I am never one row from the door. I never get it. Its not like you have to drag your groceries down a concrete dark staircase. Plus it is 50 degrees cooler down there in the summer. 

I work at the Metropolitan Target and everyone will flock to the third floor (level with the second floor Target) or the first floor for BJ's, the second and fourth floors are almost never full except during the absolute busiest days of the year. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Boys and girls we have our first 4 story office building titled up. I have seen this a lot in Texas but not so much here except on warehouses, parking garages. The new Jen Weld 120,000 sq ft building in Ayrsley  Plus another hotel the Tru by Hilton has started here too. 

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TopGolf looks to be on target for a June opening. Some photos in the link below. One thing that I was surprised by was that they will hire 500 people for their Charlotte facility. Honestly didn't see that many. I was thinking more in the 150 range. They may not all be full time positions, but this is certainly a larger operation than many people probably thought. 

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/04/03/topgolf-ramps-up-hiring-plans-for-new-charlotte.html

Edited by HopHead
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  • 1 month later...

Here are some photos of TopGolf today from the ground. It looks fantastic and can't wait till it opens. No wonder they are looking at site #2 in Charlotte already. This will be a must see and visit attraction in Charlotte! First photo is from I-485 the rest I drove on in to see it close up. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Here is what Class A warehouse space looks like this is in Metrolina Park the old Metrolina fairgrounds site off Statesville Rd. (and yes warehouse space has several classes just like office space does) 30-32 feet ceiling heights. Also nearby is where the site of signer of Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence lived. Not much here but it is a small park right off 485 and Old Statesville Rd. Warehouse space is being snapped up all over the area especially the newer space. 

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  • 1 month later...

I  am going to put this City Park news here since there is not really a category for this old Coliseum area better known for its office parks LakePointe and Water Ridge and Coliseum Center which all 3 hold some of the biggest employers in Charlotte. Big employers in this area are Vanguard, Compass, Belks, Sealed Air, UTC, etc.   Anyway if you not seen the City Park development has lots of apartments and for sale townhomes and now with this hotel a 3rd hotel and retail.  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/09/18/city-park-development-nabs-30m-hotel-retail.html?ana=TWT_staffJT

Didnt realize it was subscriber only it is a 139 key 4 story Aloft Hotel the 3rd hotel at City Park and 3rd Aloft in the Charlotte market. 

 

Edited by KJHburg
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  • 1 month later...

Those townhouses actually look kind of nice. I remember going to Hornets games with my dad when I was a kid, too. The place looked like the biggest waste of space a few years ago, though. I used to work at Compass Group and would stare at it while stuck in traffic going to and from work. 

I hope this can somehow magically turn into an interesting area. If not, at least it's a very short drive (10 minutes or less) to Lower SouthEnd, Ayersly, SouthPark and Uptown.

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