Learning from Other Places

[rancenc]

Hopefully someone can do a video  for Charlotte like this civic cheerleader did for Atlanta...check out the positive adjectives!!

 

[KJHburg]

I know we were talking about Jacksonville in some thread.  Here are a couple of stories about its downtown.  My thoughts I love the setting but there is a lot more work to do.  Any city on a wide river like downtown JAX is spectacular but they have had some major flops too.  

https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/what-shad-khan-gets-right-and-wrong-about-downtown/

this story mentions uptown Charlotte and our population density

https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/five-development-myths-that-hold-downtown-jax-back/

I will be in JAX later in the month on my journey to the Sunshine State. 

Edited January 2 by KJHburg

[go_vertical]

Interesting reads that further illustrate the problems they are struggling with.  It also shows how important it is to have experienced people on your development boards and city council.  In one of the articles it mentions that other than adaptive reuses and parking garages there has been almost no significant development in their downtown since 2001.  Their downtown is twice the size of uptown and South End (3.9 square miles vs. our 2.1) and look how much we have accomplished just along Stonewall let alone South End.  I know they are competing with more population centers there than we are here but Florida has grown considerably more than North Carolina and there really isn't any great reasons why they are lagging the way they are other than not having the talent in place to make it happen. 

https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/will-10k-residents-really-revitalize-downtown-jax

This is another article by the same publication from a year ago that provides the sources they used for the population densities and the 30,000 they quoted for Charlotte came from the CCCP 2018 annual report.  Does anyone have any idea how many new residential units have come online in the Uptown/SE area since then and how many more residents that may translate to?  And while I'm asking, any idea how many more we could see in the next year or two? 

[rancenc]

MSNBC and FOX reports groundbreaking news coming from Eastern NC....a new Dollar General store has been denied by local officials

https://www.robesonian.com/news/152200/commissioners-nix-dollar-general-development-on-n-c-41

[Skyybutter]

On 12/31/2021 at 9:46 PM, rancenc said:

Hopefully someone can do a video  for Charlotte like this civic cheerleader did for Atlanta...check out the positive adjectives!!

 

What tha. This is bad... elementary.. and not even necessary.  We know what we need to know about ATL already.. lol... this was a joke right?

[rancenc]

8 hours ago, Skyybutter said:

What tha. This is bad... elementary.. and not even necessary.  We know what we need to know about ATL already.. lol... this was a joke right?

Yes, the comment was to be sarcastic on my end!

[KJHburg]

Fort Lauderdale's new tallest building this striking condo tower  558 feet tall. 

https://www.bdcnetwork.com/will-be-fort-lauderdales-tallest-building?oly_enc_id=8019B2501789I8C

Edited January 6 by KJHburg

[tozmervo]

Man, but then you wake up and you're stuck in Fort Lauderdale. 

Edited January 6 by tozmervo

[KJHburg]

Look what Raleigh is doing with short term leases downtown for retailers.    From Business NC daily email today:

Raleigh's new pop-up retail
""Signing a long-term lease for a downtown storefront space can be a gamble these days. You have to guess at when most office workers will return to their buildings, and whether COVID trends will improve and increase in-person shopping

So it’s no surprise that pop-up stores are the latest trend in retailing. The Downtown Raleigh Alliance recently opened the Pop-Up Shops at Martin Street, which offers cheaper six-month leases to “up-and-coming retailers.” Currently a hair and skin care shop shares the space with a vintage clothing store.

A block away, developer Greg Hatem’s Empire Properties just finished renovating the historic Efird’s department store building on Fayetteville Street. But with demand for retail still slow, Hatem’s initial tenant is a sculpture artist who’s holding a temporary exhibition in the space. 

Hatem told me recently that activating a storefront with a temporary user can help generate interest from longer-term tenants.   Some pop-up retailers are starting even smaller. A corner of the lobby at 234 Fayetteville St. – roughly the size of a walk-in closet – is being transformed into the Black Friday Express. It’s an outpost of the Black Friday Market, which provides a retail venue for Black-owned businesses and others to sell their products.  The tiny space rents by the hour, so I’m excited to see what ends up for sale there.""

[AirNostrumMAD]

Are any of those pop-ups in Big office buildings? Looks like they're in smaller scale buildings (that could instead be large office towers)

 

 

[KJHburg]

9 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

Are any of those pop-ups in Big office buildings? Looks like they're in smaller scale buildings (that could instead be large office towers)

 

 

they seem to be in smaller buildings.  I said it before large uptown landlords would rather have empty spaces for years then discount their space.    To me that is a problem. 

[KJHburg]

Meanwhile in our Capital City of Raleigh this new tower has started at Midtown Exchange.   (first half of the twin tower complex will be built first)  Near North Hills but down the street from it.  

This is one of the best suburban office towers in southeast in terms of design I think. 

 

[KJHburg]

Other cities like Jacksonville have ugly parking garages too.  This one on a luxury riverfront condo tower (the Peninsula)  is completely unscreened but the next door apartment rental tower (the Strand)  looks a lot better.  It is literally screened with screen mesh but looks a lot better.  Screening like a porch is better than nothing and could be done on some of Charlotte's worst looking garages.    @TheRealClaytonI do agree a river makes any city look great! 

[KJHburg]

attention Charlotte developers of mixed use suburban and urban complexes.  We need a tree like this one in The Square in West Palm Beach an LED tree.  This would look good uptown somewhere what say you Lincoln Harris or Crescent?

Lots of people including tourists like me stopping for photos.   Maybe in a reimagined Epicenter which by the way needs a total rebranding and of course repositioning.  It looked so good at first I thought it was a real tree with LED lights until my friend said noticed it was manmade. 

by the way this was a great open air downtown shopping retail restaurant and arts and residential complex. 

Live, Shop, Work, & Dine in West Palm Beach | Rosemary Square (thesquarewestpalm.com)  and Related Companies did it.  Hey Related buy Epicenter for pennies on the dollar and work your magic.  

[KJHburg]

Every parking garage in Miami is above ground for obvious reasons.  But they do a good job of hiding those garages.  Here are some examples and of course they are some completely exposed.  And not all of these are on for sale condo towers some are on rental apartment towers.   Almost every tower in Miami is a podium style with ground floor retail, then levels of parking then office or residential above.  

first couple older buildings including office tower no screening or bad screening like the portholes LOL.  3rd photo: Notice the newer residential tower with glass and wood used to hide the garage, then the plant wall which of course is what the Ascent Uptown was supposed to have and sometimes they put their smallest and cheapest units in front of the garage to totally block them.   In Jacksonville I saw an apartment tower screened its podium parking deck with screen mesh and some glass.   Because these tower sites are fairly small they have to stack the parking into the building they dont have room for a separate garage but that in itself gives them height which is important in a city with lots of views but unless you are tall enough can be blocked. 

Miami is got to best the densest city in the south by a long shot.  In another note multistory Publix grocery stores are common here with garages on top of the store all over the Tri county south Florida area. 

[KJHburg]

things I saw we need  or could do in the Queen City from the City Beautiful Orlando.

from Lake Nona:  look at the screening of these parking garages,  they have autonomous vehicles to shuttle people around (I think Reimagined Ballantyne talked about this)  and this big dog would be nice near our big head at the Whitehall Corp. Park. 

Downtown has a lake natural of course but wish the lake at Marshall Park could have been redone and enlarged.   Downtown Orlando has a Taco Bell Cantina which sells booze.  Does the hotel in the next photo look familiar?  It should as it is the Grand Bohemian Orlando and I would say ours in a copy with a bell tower on top.  Downtown has an amphitheater with bandshell  which would be great in one of our parks.  The next condo tower is called the Vue Orlando which was built before our Vue but this one is all condos as the condo market tanked by the time our taller Vue was built.  Same developer.  a M&Ms store would be a nice add to our retail scene.  So would this net zero solar powered McDonalds on Disney property.  and lastly I still think a ferris wheel or skywheel would be nice here to view our skyline etc. 

 

[rancenc]

Recent aerial view of Charlotte's peer city to the west in Tennessee.

 

[KJHburg]

How the city of Raleigh  is making ADUs easier and cheaper to build.

""When the City of Raleigh legalized the construction of accessory dwelling units in 2020, city staffers knew their work wasn't done.  The City Council vote was years in the making, and while advocates praised the move as an important tool for affordable housing in the city, critics raised concerns about the potential for overdevelopment in neighborhoods. But over the last 18 months, the city received a little more than 40 permit requests, and about half of those have been issued.  To help speed adoption, the city has been working on a slate of programs to make building ADUs easier and more affordable. And now, it's rolling out one of the first tweaks to the city's ADU ordinance.  This year, the city is launching the Fast-Track Accessory Dwelling Unit Program, targeting one of the biggest barriers to ADU construction: costs. Through this initiative, architects and designers can submit ADU designs to the city, and the city will chose 10 designs to be used as essentially pre-approved options. Residents interested in building an ADU could pick from a collection of designs on a city-run website, costing just a licensing fee set by the designer. ""

Triangle Biz Journal   https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2022/02/07/how-raleigh-wants-to-increase-construction-of-adus.html

from the City of Raleigh  https://raleighnc.gov/services/zoning-planning-and-development/adu-open-call

[KJHburg]

Couple of things we can learn from once NC's largest city Wilmington.  

The more I visit this city the more I love it.

Brick high rises look great.  (like the new proposed Ascent Southend tower)

Dramatic water features.     Save historical buildings.  Uptown Charlotte may have dwindling numbers but what we have we should save (and yes CHA Inlivian that includes the Hall House aka Barringer Hotel)  (NO other city in NC would consider tearing it down now NOT one especially not for what you proposing) 

North end of downtown Wilmington is full of new apartment complexes on former industrial line served that was served by rail.  They need to brand this area like Southend in Charlotte to River North or Northend or something.  4 huge apartment complexes including one underway now and lots of vacant land for more.  It is like Southend but on a river and instead of a Rail Trail there is a Riverwalk boardwalk along the river.  Plus huge centerpiece park with amphitheater with frequent concerts and so forth.   https://www.wilmingtonandbeaches.com/listing/live-oak-bank-pavilion-at-riverfront-park/1855/   Plus from this "River North" area you can walk to downtown bars and restaurants  and shops. 

Waffle House downtown Wilmington how about one in Southend or Uptown.   Small scale buildings make great renovations that is why with Southend becoming a more high rise and mid rise district preservation of these older buildings is important.  

if you have not been to downtown Wilmington in the last 2 years you need to visit again.  

 

[rancenc]

When "do gooding" backfires in a city!

https://wlos.com/news/local/asheville-or-trashville-downtown-business-owners-residents-tired-mess-left-by-others

[KJHburg]

Winston Salem promotes saving old buildings downtown and Charlotte.... well you know.   #savetheHallHouse

https://livability.com/nc/winston-salem/where-to-live-now/reimagined-not-replaced-winston-salems-historic-buildings-receive-makeovers/

[rancenc]

Seems that progressive Portland is going into a regressive mode lately!

https://www.koin.com/news/business/pba-rising-prices-crime-hinder-metro-areas-growth/

[gman430]

Asheville and Portland both have one thing in common. Look at what political party runs both of them.  

Edited February 20 by gman430

[Windsurfer]

1 minute ago, gman430 said:

Asheville and Portland both have two things in common. Look at what political party runs both of them.  

Look at who runs EVERY major city in the country except San Diego....which isn't the San Diego of old anymore.

 

[KJHburg]

Learn from other places  build something that won't sink or tilt.  In news from the city by the bay.... San Fran 

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/millennium-tower-foundation-is-sliding-as-building-sinks-and-tilts/2819762/