Duke Energy Plaza Headquarters | 40 Story formerly Charlotte Metro Tower

[Guest]

Just now, Dale said:

... announcements other than a Spirit Square ?

you betcha

[CLT2014]

40 minutes ago, JacksonH said:

I gotta speak up for San Diego because that's where I live.  There is a building height limit of 500 feet in downtown San Diego due to the close proximity to the airport.  So until the airport is relocated, which is unlikely to ever happen (although Tijuana has an easily accessible airport on the border), there will never be any towers here taller than 500 feet.  That said, the number of towers in DT is quite large, and for the last five years or so downtown SD towers have been going up non-stop.  It seems like every time I go downtown (which is a couple times a week) I see another one.  So there are plenty of towers here and more going up all the time.  And it seems there are lots more overall towers in SD versus Charlotte because San Diego's downtown is quite large, with towers stretching two miles from end to end lengthwise, and over a mile widthwise.  And outside this downtown tower zone, there is a high-density urban zone that reaches some six miles outside of downtown, which makes it feel like a very large city.

That said, the Charlotte skyline is more aesthetically impressive with the ability to build higher than 500 feet that is missing here.  What is impressive about the San Diego skyline is how far it stretches, but with all these buildings being capped at the same height, and most being rectangular boxes with no standout architectural design, there's not really a wow factor other than water and boats in the foreground and mountains in the background.

I grew up in the San Diego area and moved away at 24. I'm back home every 6 months or so though (please take me home right now until Spring, it is too cold haha!) There definitely are lots of tall towers in San Diego and lots of new buildings going up, just meant the stubby skyline and lack of standout architecture due to the height restrictions doesn't make it feel like a superior skyline that Charlotte needs to "overtake" to join a big league. I would say the two skylines are already in the same league. With 800,000 more people in the metro area (32% bigger), San Diego's skyline just doesn't look much bigger than Charlotte's in my opinion given the population difference.

Now ground level density and walkability... San Diego blows CLT out of the water. Also, the San Diego skyline has a way more beautiful natural setting. 

Edited January 16, 2019 by CLT2014

[j-man]

56 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

its 190 feet tall. 

really? why did i think this was like an 80 ft tall building. 

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, j-man said:

really? why did i think this was like an 80 ft tall building. 

because you assumed very very wrong? 80 feet tall would be like 4-5 floors of office. This is 14 floors and 8. Though I suspect that will change to 18 floors hotel and 10 floors office.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Guest

[Hushpuppy321]

When I read on here that Charlottes Skyline rivals that of its Peers I had to conduct research on the 2018 Skylines of Each the cities mentioned (because I'm unaware).  I think Charlotte still has growing up to do as far as Uptown Skyline and surrounding Skyline development of Midtown/Southend areas in order to compete.  Maybe in a few years once everything planned/mentioned is nearing completion....?

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

When I read on here that Charlottes Skyline rivals that of its Peers I had to conduct research on the 2018 Skylines of Each the cities mentioned (because I'm unaware).  I think Charlotte still has growing up to do as far as Uptown Skyline and surrounding Skyline development of Midtown/Southend areas in order to compete.  Maybe in a few years once everything planned/mentioned is nearing completion....?

That last one is Louisville... And the photos that you showed feature cities who's density might look more so than Charlotte's, but if you think of it in the perspective that Charlotte has a building almost 400' taller than anything in Phoenix, Baltimore, Louisville (? at that pic) Tampa, and San Diego, it really evens out our density. We are far denser than you realize, its just skewed by two very very tall buildings. Though yes, all those cities are likely way denser. 

I recommend going to this site http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/

and searching for (Charlote, insert city name) at the same time, and compare the diagrams of each

Edited January 16, 2019 by Guest

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

Just my preference, but I like to exclude cities by bodies of water....I think it's unfair lol.  Water just seems to boost the height and density (for good reason).  Bring on the landlocked cities.

[JorgiPorgi]

16 hours ago, TheOneRJ said:

Yeah, Charlotte’s skyline is playing in the next tier of cities. Our peers still have a lot of catching up to do. 

 

Charlotte’s skyline is ahead of all those skyline’s pictured. Charlotte’s skyline is very tall and clustered. If it had the same spread out layout as a lot of cities- and height reatrictions- it would appear much larger.

HOWEVER- most major cities have been major cities longer than Charlotte. Their street level, and sheer amount of midrises are much much further along than Charlotte. Charlotte can’t compete with Boston, philly, etc in that regard. Charlotte will be there soon enough- the amount of change since 2006 is mind boggling. 

But back to topic- I WANT  OPTION 1 FOR DUKE TOWER!! 

[JacksonH]

37 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

I grew up in the San Diego area and moved away at 24. I'm back home every 6 months or so though (please take me home right now until Spring, it is too cold haha!) There definitely are lots of tall towers in San Diego and lots of new buildings going up, just meant the stubby skyline and lack of standout architecture due to the height restrictions doesn't make it feel like a superior skyline that Charlotte needs to "overtake" to join a big league. I would say the two skylines are already in the same league. With 800,000 more people in the metro area (32% bigger), San Diego's skyline just doesn't look much bigger than Charlotte's in my opinion given the population difference.

Now ground level density and walkability... San Diego blows CLT out of the water. 

Thanks for your comment, CLT2014.  I think we're pretty much saying the same thing:  more tall buildings in San Diego and a longer skyline,  and a much more extensive, and denser, overall urban area, but a 500' height limit in the downtown area that makes for a pretty "meh" skyline compared to Charlotte's.  As for the building boom in DT San Diego, I think that has a lot to do with a lack of remaining buildable land in the San Diego area, partly due to environmental restrictions.  There's just now more room to expand.  This is now forcing more building up and infill developments, rather than building out, which is fine with me as someone who loathes suburban development.  But what we're still having to contend with here is a housing crisis that has made owning a home out of reach for many.  And too many cannot even afford an apartment.  That said, I would find it very difficult (personally) to leave here.  As long as you can have a home, life is great here.  But even though I haven't lived in Charlotte in over 30 years, I have a great affection for the place and coming onto this site is a guilty pleasure.  I'm in Charlotte a couple times a year and never stopped following it's progress in all the years since I lived there.  (When I lived in DC back in the days before the Internet, I used to listen to WBT radio at night.)  It's sort of been like watching a child grow up.  I first lived there in 1981 and it seems it's been in a boom cycle ever since.  It's been fun and exciting to watch.  But Charlotte's main deficiency (to me) has been the lack of vibrant urban districts.  So the threads here that catch my interest the most are ones about South End, Plaza-Midwood and NoDa.  Those areas, to me, represent Charlotte's best potential for being a great, fun city.  And in my retirement (which is fast approaching), I'm hoping to have a home in both Charlotte (probably South End) and San Diego (and if I can manage it, a timeshare somewhere near Asheville).  A piece of my heart is still there.

By the way, I also lived in Phoenix years ago.  That was a pure suburban hell.  And hell in more ways than one in the summer.

Edited January 16, 2019 by JacksonH

[CLT2014]

@JacksonH, We swapped places! Thanks for the San Diego updates. Will always be home. Been here a few years now, and as you mentioned with housing in SD, has been much easier to own a home before 30 and have the wife and little one here. 

[Tyrone Wiggum]

So, two things, both serious questions:

1)  San Diego is - without a doubt in my mind - the most beautiful city in North America.  I would move there tomorrow if I could find a job that didn't involve a minuscule pay increase for a massive COLA.  So, not to be a wag (but I guess I'll be a wag anyway...) who cares how tall the buildings are?  San Diego is peerless as an NA city, and flying into the airport is always a fun experience.  Dear Charlotte: worry less about the height and size of your skyline and more about building a city;

2)  Have ya been to Phoenix?  The skyline looks like Winston-Salem.   Baltimore is a joke and dangerous AF.  Detroit has a really beautiful skyline but it's not as many buildings as ya think and also, dangerous AF.  St Louis: also a joke, also dangerous AF.  My favorite corollary is driving north through Richmond and being like, wow, it's a hell of a lot bigger than I thought when you've got the straightaway a couple miles out, only to get on top of it and realize it's a bunch of 15 and 20 story buildings.  

Charlotte will surpass most of the cities directly ahead of it in terms of 150m and taller buildings in pretty short order.  Like most of you, I care more about what's at the bottom of the buildings and what the buildings look like than how many or how tall they are.

/rant

[Dale]

I suspect that most visitors would regard the Charlotte skyline as being altogether more impressive than the cities pictured. For starters, they would be drawn to the overall height of the skyline, not so much the sort of density that could seen on the ground.

[j-man]

37 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

because you assumed very very wrong? 80 feet tall would be like 4-5 floors of office. This is 14 floors and 8. Though I suspect that will change to 18 floors hotel and 10 floors office.

I swore there were supposed to be condos too. This project has just been so dead I haven't payed much attention lately. 

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

18 minutes ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

Just my preference, but I like to exclude cities by bodies of water....I think it's unfair lol.  Water just seems to boost the height and density (for good reason).  Bring on the landlocked cities.

Exactly... AND perception of the stark elevation difference from the camera angle.

The Houston's and LA's Skylines are diminished by the same effect as Charlotte (albeit at a larger scale). They have a ton of large buildings, but their downtown density isn't thought of questioned because of the reputation of rest of the city being so spread out, and there are tall buildings that tend to stretch out the appearance of density, while there is vast land surrounding the downtown areas without height.

[j-man]

2 minutes ago, Dale said:

I suspect that most visitors would regard the Charlotte skyline as being altogether more impressive than the cities pictured. For starters, they would be drawn to the overall height of the skyline, not so much the sort of density that could seen on the ground.

I agree. Uptown feel like you could blink while driving and miss most of the skyline. And Charlotte, like Atlanta are both filled with trees more so than most major U.S. cities. Many are concrete jungles and forests, lol Brooklyn Village and so many more developments will add height is different areas that won't be blocked like more recent Charlotte developments.

[Trickbot]

We already have a better skyline than at least 3 of the top 10 biggest US cities; Phoenix,  San Jose, and San Antonio, which I consider a win since we are only the 17th or 16th largest depending on your source

[Crucial_Infra]

For skyline nerds, the following link offers a fairly robust ranking system of world skylines. For US cities, CLT ranks behind Detroit but ahead of San Diego. 

https://tudl0867.home.xs4all.nl/skylines.html

edit to add: It needs updating though. 

Edited January 16, 2019 by Crucial_Infra

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, j-man said:

I swore there were supposed to be condos too. This project has just been so dead I haven't payed much attention lately. 

Condos were scrapped a long long time ago. Originally was like 250 hotel 45 condos.

8 minutes ago, Crucial_Infra said:

For skyline nerds, the following link offers a fairly robust ranking system of world skylines. For US cities, CLT ranks behind Detroit but ahead of San Diego. 

https://tudl0867.home.xs4all.nl/skylines.html

edit to add: It needs updating though. 

mmmmm Geocities

[U_R_]

From  far away, you can see the height different of 500' to 800'. However, on the street I have found that an 18 story apartments feels massive and towers over you. I think its harder to tell height on the street, but from far away height it important;

[Dale]

3 hours ago, Tyrone Wiggum said:

So, two things, both serious questions:

1)  San Diego is - without a doubt in my mind - the most beautiful city in North America.  I would move there tomorrow if I could find a job that didn't involve a minuscule pay increase for a massive COLA.  So, not to be a wag (but I guess I'll be a wag anyway...) who cares how tall the buildings are?  San Diego is peerless as an NA city, and flying into the airport is always a fun experience.  Dear Charlotte: worry less about the height and size of your skyline and more about building a city;

2)  Have ya been to Phoenix?  The skyline looks like Winston-Salem.   Baltimore is a joke and dangerous AF.  Detroit has a really beautiful skyline but it's not as many buildings as ya think and also, dangerous AF.  St Louis: also a joke, also dangerous AF.  My favorite corollary is driving north through Richmond and being like, wow, it's a hell of a lot bigger than I thought when you've got the straightaway a couple miles out, only to get on top of it and realize it's a bunch of 15 and 20 story buildings.  

Charlotte will surpass most of the cities directly ahead of it in terms of 150m and taller buildings in pretty short order.  Like most of you, I care more about what's at the bottom of the buildings and what the buildings look like than how many or how tall they are.

/rant

I’ve logged time in San Diego and can give a ringing, but not this sort of Golden Endorsement. 

[skymiler]

9 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Yea just imagine all the pink completed. Nashville & Austin cannot compete with that, and guess what, we aren't done with announcements boys and girls.

How tall is the Intercontinental Hotel supposed to be?  Seems much taller in your depiction above than i thought it would be.

[KJHburg]

14 minutes ago, skymiler said:

How tall is the Intercontinental Hotel supposed to be?  Seems much taller in your depiction above than i thought it would be.

It will 420 feet tall since the base is really tall around the Carolina Theater.   And since it is closer in this shot than the 5/3 Building behind it they look the same size. 

[Dale]

Tampa ain’t going to catch Charlotte, but its skyline is set to transform radically. Water Street alone is set to see 20 cranes aloft this year.

[Guest]

How tall is the Intercontinental Hotel supposed to be?  Seems much taller in your depiction above than i thought it would be.

Yea like KH said, it’s a big tower. Very tall for only having 200 rooms


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[skymiler]

29 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Yea like KH said, it’s a big tower. Very tall for only having 200 rooms


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Got it, thanks.  When does it start going up?