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The Matthews, NC Thread


SgtCampsalot

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I couldn't find a thread about Matthews, or generally about the small towns right around CLT, so I'm making this for all things regarding my home town of Matthews! Is anyone else from the area, or live there? There is some development happening now and down the road, but I haven't seen any info on it on the boards or on the development maps. 

First, I noticed another parcel in the North End district, right along N Trade St, is now under construction, but I can't find any info about it anywhere. Anyone have any insight about it? I'm loving how North End is looking and feeling. As they continue to connect more and more streets around downtown they're really expanding the urban footprint.

cophl.jpg

Also, the Silver Line talks have made me interested in how Matthews will develop its eventual TOD areas. Anyone think that once the Silver Line gets funded (God/Allah/Ganesh-willing), Matthews will have the potential to become a mini-urban center outside of CLT? Like Sommerville, MA or something? Food for thought.

Another is one I don't know how to feel about. Plantation Estates (Which has a big retirement community complex up Fullwood Ln on 51) is expanding onto the wooded parcel across the street from the big Methodist Church on S Trade St, behind that ever-present brick wall that's always been there. Here's another story that talks about the local concerns. Okay, sure, I understand. The Boomers are aging, they want places to feel at home. And elderly citizens are a stable tax base to have in a municipality (no kids to use up the public services/schools), as well as wanting to live in walkable communities. But my biggest issue is them gating it. Which I understand, they also want safety. But when you look at how adjacent the parcel is to the downtown gridded-street network, it seems like a waste of what could have been a well-designed SOUTH End district. But fortunately, the developer is going to extend the four-mile creek greenway from its current terminus that spits out onto Trade St, so that it wraps all around its property, along Fullwood and Trade, and connecting to Freemont. So that is nice for the suburbs further out there, at least. I am wondering if I'm just too young to appreciate diversifying your age demographics.

f41s02.jpg

Anyway. Any thoughts? Opinions about Matthews? News updates?

 

Edited by SgtCampsalot
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Can you link the location along North Trade in Google Maps?

And yes, I do see a lot of potential in Matthews. A light rail/streetcar link to the town would be extremely transformative for the town, and would create another urban "node" for the county. There's already an area plan for the stretch of Monroe Road between downtown to the Galleria area, and hopefully we will see some dense, urban development there. The town should also work on better linking the CPCC Levine campus with areas north of I-485. 

The "entertainment district" and the completion of the Sportsplex, will be a huge draw for the town and county:

http://www.matthewsnc.gov/Portals/0/Departments/Planning and Zoning/Family ENT District/ENT SAP final 2015-1-2 mj.pdf

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Here is the direct link to the google street view of the active retirement community development site.

Here's the view of the empty lot next to North End. PS: I wish they'd redevelop that Walgreens :P


Can you explain how I add developments to the google "Development Map"? I can't seem to figure it out.

Edited by SgtCampsalot
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The lot under construction is for a mixed use building anchored by Charlotte Metro Credit Union. It will have a pocket park, ground floor wine bar, a credit union branch and a lot of back office space. 

Here is the approved rezoning link with some building images, what do you all think?

http://www.matthewsnc.gov/Portals/0/Departments/Planning and Zoning/Rezoning Applications/2013-607/2013-607 SP Rev. Info 5-29-2014.pdf

 

 

 

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Here is the direct link to the google street view of the active retirement community development site.

Here's the view of the empty lot next to North End. PS: I wish they'd redevelop that Walgreens :P


Can you explain how I add developments to the google "Development Map"? I can't seem to figure it out.

The development map is unfortunately no longer editable for the public (I think there were a few colossal goof-ups).  Make a list of addresses with corresponding links to sources and hopefully the moderators will populate the map.

 

...keep in mind however, this is a Charlotte "Center City" Development map.  Many outlying projects have been added to provide some context, but the core intent of the map is to track the projects close in.

Edited by archiham04
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...keep in mind however, this is a Charlotte "Center City" Development map.  Many outlying projects have been added to provide some context, but the core intent of the map is to track the projects close in.

Gotchya, I don't want to step on any toes. I can make my own mock-ups of developments and keep them to this thread. I will just update the first post as it goes.

^^49er, thanks for that info! I didn't think to look there. I can't access that link, though here's the link again. I like the look of it. In 100 years it'll look downright historical :P I don't like how the stores fronting N Trade St are mostly not "truly" fronting it, but to their credit, that stretch of Trade St stinks (The medical plaza across the street is atrociously un-ped-friendly) and they've really done a good job making the "inside" of the district feel nice and ped-friendly. So it works.


Regarding the development sites, I've edited the first post with the map images:

And the map for the Plantation Estates expansion... Note the greenway/multi-use trail connections that are (hopefully) being built around it. At least that's a silver lining. But notice the gridded neighborhood streets to the NW of it? If only that could have been extended :(

 

 

Edited by SgtCampsalot
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Somebody lease this warehouse and open a brewery, ASAP! Is there enough buzz for that in Matthews yet? The Beer Temple is great, but downtown could use a more gritty craft beer spot.

The warehouse is for sale listed on Matthews' website. I've deduced that it is the only brick warehouse of its kind in the Historic Downtown Overlay district for downtown Matthews, the other nearest brick warehouses are near where that one LRT alignment route.

Of course I really think eventually the Town should dig a bridge to connect that street, W Matthews St, with the street across from it, on the other side of 51. Though I'm sue that will be massively expensive, as well as difficult to justify doing until the Silver Line funding is in place. Then  it would allow a safe ped/bike route into downtown from northern parts, avoiding the 51 traffic. Would NCDOT consider that a sound investment? 

2rejgp5.jpg

 

 

 

Edited by SgtCampsalot
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I suspect that those two streets were at one point connected to each, but were divided when the overpass over the CSX line was created. It might be cheaper in the long run to add bike lanes to John/Monroe and to Sam Newell. And speaking of that bridge, it was pretty short-sighted to not include sidewalks on that thing. It's a death trap for anyone trying to cross over to the other side.

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Yeah. The way I remember it, NC Route 51 used to take a right on Monroe Rd/John St, then take a left on Trade St, running directly through downtown Matthews. So that bridge rerouted all the traffic, but it was done in 1992, so nobody gave a care about sidewalks ("Why would we waste money on sidewalks?! Nobody walks anywhere! They'd be stupid to walk there!"). That road gave me so many problems as a kid. Sigh.

The lot under construction is for a mixed use building anchored by Charlotte Metro Credit Union. It will have a pocket park, ground floor wine bar, a credit union branch and a lot of back office space. 

Here is the approved rezoning link with some building images, what do you all think?

http://www.matthewsnc.gov/Portals/0/Departments/Planning%20and%20Zoning/Rezoning%20Applications/2013-607/2013-607%20SP%20Rev.%20Info%205-29-2014.pdf

 

I just realized how many non-angled parking spots there are there. Is it just me or is that horrible? Can we hope for infill in that parking lot in 10-20 years? 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 11 months later...

So, I think a new Publix is coming to Matthews. I was looking at the brochure for the Matthews Festival Shopping Center, which is located near the exit to NC 51 southbound on Independence Blvd, and I noticed that a Publix was listed as an anchor for the site. What's weird is that though Publix is listed, their identifying number is not displayed anywhere on the map:

http://tciicapital.com/wp-content/up...ter_051814.pdf

I did some more digging, and found out that there is a rezoning for the shopping center. Parts of the shopping center will be demolished for new retail:

https://matthews.municipalcms.com/fi...43080816AM.pdf

Edited by Third Strike
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The links are broken, but just looking at the web address I can tell you that the first link is to a previous owner that got foreclosed on. Ziff Properties bought the center through auction.com about 18 months ago. I also tried to buy that property through the auction and can tell you there won't be a Publix there. The center is part of a master declaration with the adjacent center that has Harris Teeter in it and the owner of that center would need to sign off on any redevelopment, which they won't do if it were to include a Publix. They did say they would consider a specialty grocer like Sprouts or Fresh Market since Teeter doesn't see that as direct competition, but at the time, none of them were interested. 

The rezoning will likely just be to add restaurant outparcels and nothing else. Big Lots has a lot of term left on their lease and at a really cheap rent, so they're not going anywhere. 

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4 hours ago, Prodev said:

The links are broken, but just looking at the web address I can tell you that the first link is to a previous owner that got foreclosed on. Ziff Properties bought the center through auction.com about 18 months ago. I also tried to buy that property through the auction and can tell you there won't be a Publix there. The center is part of a master declaration with the adjacent center that has Harris Teeter in it and the owner of that center would need to sign off on any redevelopment, which they won't do if it were to include a Publix. They did say they would consider a specialty grocer like Sprouts or Fresh Market since Teeter doesn't see that as direct competition, but at the time, none of them were interested. 

The rezoning will likely just be to add restaurant outparcels and nothing else. Big Lots has a lot of term left on their lease and at a really cheap rent, so they're not going anywhere. 

Ah, good to know. I still hope that another Publix is placed in Matthews, one that is closer to the Independence Blvd. I also didn't realize that there's an old theater in that shopping center. From the rezoning plans, it seems like that's going to be demolished for new shops.

Here's the link again for the rezoning: https://matthews.municipalcms.com/files/documents/2016-650application1318084343080816AM.pdf

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  • 10 months later...
  • 1 year later...

I’m looking in the Sardis area of southeast Charlotte & Matthews proper. Really the Providence High school zone which covers parts of both. To the newer arrivals how do you like it? Even if I land on the Charlotte side of the line, I’d imagine Matthews will be my closest town center so curious b/c it looks really nice. 

Somewhat related, do you think Char-Meck will ever go the route of Nashville-Davidson & consolidate or partially consolidate?

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4 minutes ago, Muggsy01 said:

I’m looking in the Sardis area of southeast Charlotte & Matthews proper. Really the Providence High school zone which covers parts of both. To the newer arrivals how do you like it? Even if I land on the Charlotte side of the line, I’d imagine Matthews will be my closest town center so curious b/c it looks really nice. 

Somewhat related, do you think Char-Meck will ever go the route of Nashville-Davidson & consolidate or partially consolidate?

Consolidate like Nashville and Davidson county probably not.   They have combined some agencies but I dont see that happening anytime soon.  

I don't live down that way but the neighborhoods I have been in and that is many in the area they look great.  

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1
10 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Consolidate like Nashville and Davidson county probably not.   They have combined some agencies but I dont see that happening anytime soon.  

Charlotte & Mecklenburg County got close to consolidation a few times, most recently in the 1990s, but it's never happened (mostly due to politicians not wanting to merge themselves out of a job, and the reluctance of the neighboring MC towns) but the governments are about as integrated as you can get, without (hardly any) public facing departments being duplicated.

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City-county consolidation was a hot thing for a while. Ultimately I don't think the benefits were ever that significant, and instead of a handful of small-to-medium size governments you end up with one behemoth government. 

Unlike Davidson County, too, Mecklenburg County is shared by several smaller strong towns that would never give up that identity and control of their own destinies. For example, while Mecklenburg Parks is shared & funded by everyone, all the cities still build their own parks sometimes according to local need. 

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2 hours ago, Muggsy01 said:

Cool. How’s the bar situation in Matthews? Specifically the sports bars? 

Have been to Mac's Speed Shop to watch a couple Sunday/Monday Night games.  

Jekyll and Hyde is a cool spot, tho not really a sports bar. 

There is also Beantown Tavern but be prepared to find a lot of Pats/Sox fans.

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