Charlotte Pipe &Foundry redevelopment

[Urban Cowboy]

2 hours ago, Desert Power said:

Place is blocked off by police and their is a giant presence on nearby streets.  Any idea what is going on?

I received an email from NCDP that Mike Pence is in town campaigning for Thom Tillis. So my assumption, is that they're having an event at Charlotte Pipe.  They even have Wilkinson to 277 blocked off. 

If it's not Mike Pence, then it's some other kind of environmental disaster. 

Edited May 22, 2019 by Urban Cowboy

[jednc]

On 5/20/2019 at 8:43 PM, InSouthPark said:

PSL owners pay one time prices of $1500/seat and way up for the right to buy season tickets and were the first sports franchise to do so.  Hornets just had regular season ticket rules as you describe.  You get the seats as long as you keep buying season tickets.  Every franchise works like that.  I had season tickets for the gamecocks for 10 years. Same thing. I got to keep my same seats as long as I kept paying. 

This is what I was thinking too.

[nakers2]

Figured it would be appropriate to ask this considering it concerns the eventual moving of Charlotte Pipe, but the metallic/chemical smell that is prevalent around the plant can't be healthy. I happened to notice it as far away as the Fourth Ward tonight as I enjoyed an evening windows down drive and it gave me quite a headache, only to be compounded by a car fire I witnessed on my drive back to Plaza Midwood. 

Is this smell common in the area outside the immediate vicinity of Charlotte Pipe? Particularly in the Gold District and of course Third Ward, JWU area. If so, what kind of health impacts might it have had on the people in the area over the years, and could the population boom, and fear of liability have prompted the move?

 

[Urban Cowboy]

I have wondered the same thing. It’s a distinct smell, it almost smells like a bandaid. I pass by on 277 daily and on some mornings as you approach the foundry, you can clearly see a layer of haze/pollution that’s settled at about 100-200’ elevation, coming from the foundry.

I'm glad its moving for the air quality improvements more than anything else.

[DEnd]

16 hours ago, nakers2 said:

Figured it would be appropriate to ask this considering it concerns the eventual moving of Charlotte Pipe, but the metallic/chemical smell that is prevalent around the plant can't be healthy. I happened to notice it as far away as the Fourth Ward tonight as I enjoyed an evening windows down drive and it gave me quite a headache, only to be compounded by a car fire I witnessed on my drive back to Plaza Midwood. 

 Is this smell common in the area outside the immediate vicinity of Charlotte Pipe? Particularly in the Gold District and of course Third Ward, JWU area. If so, what kind of health impacts might it have had on the people in the area over the years, and could the population boom, and fear of liability have prompted the move?

 

It happens when they are casting.  My understanding is it's due to organic products used in the casting process (oils, resins and the like).  The major adverse health effects come from particulate matter, and sulfides.  The VOC's aren't healthy either but are less well understood.  The big thing is a possible increase in risk for lung cancer, which is partially why CP&F bought the land near the plant.  However as Wilmore and former industrial land near there gentrifies and becomes more residential CP&F  will be under increased pressure to reduce smells and emissions from the plant, which is either impractical or impossible.  They are also severely restricted on growth at their current site since due to the previous mentioned issues, that said as far as I'm aware there is still capacity at the current foundry.

The big issue is CP&F will likely need to take on debt to build a new plant, and their current location will be a brownfield site which will severely restrict its sale value.  In addition CP&F will also face potential liabilities due to loss of land value near where it moves to.  The company has to assess future liabilities, and restricted growth potential at the current site vs the cost of moving, building a new foundry, and the cost of future liabilities at a new site.  10 years ago their assessment was moving likely wouldn't be profitable.  These days with the tariffs they may have the ability to expand production, but betting on tariffs is a risky business move. 

*way late edit but CP&F is the only American cast iron pipe manufacturer left (at least in building sized pipe, there may be others in larger diameters that I'm not aware of).   It is a unique American asset. 

Edited May 29, 2019 by DEnd

[pgsinger]

While I think it would be great to see this redeveloped into more buildings, etc., I would support this becoming a park.  Let Tepper have the old Beazer land, but convert the rest to a park.  

[ChessieCat]

On 5/21/2019 at 5:06 PM, KJHburg said:

Subscriber article in the Business Journal

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/05/20/charlotte-pipe-to-leave-site-near-uptown-charlotte.html

""Charlotte Pipe & Foundry is close to a $325 million deal to move its metal pipe manufacturing operation near uptown Charlotte to an undeveloped site in the Oakboro area of Stanly County, sources have told the Charlotte Business Journal.  An announcement on an estimated $125 million in incentives that were signed into law Thursday could be made as soon as this week, according to one source. That legislation, Senate Bill 505, extends extra state incentives to an unnamed manufacturer, but limits those inducements to $154 million. N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper signed SB 505 into law on Thursday. The bill calls for the incentives to support 1,050 jobs.  The CBJ first wrote about the possibility that Charlotte Pipe was considering a move for the plant last month. Property values have escalated in the area near South End, and nearby development has added pressure on the company to question what is the best use for more than 20 acres on Clarkson Street where it now makes metal pipe and employs about 475 workers.""

I wonder why Stanly county wouldn't incentivize them to relocate to the old Alcoa site in Badin instead? 

[Windsurfer]

9 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

I wonder why Stanly county wouldn't incentivize them to relocate to the old Alcoa site in Badin instead? 

Brilliant question

[kermit]

On 5/29/2019 at 9:26 AM, pgsinger said:

While I think it would be great to see this redeveloped into more buildings, etc., I would support this becoming a park.  Let Tepper have the old Beazer land, but convert the rest to a park.  

The foundry itself is a crappy location for a park due to the Belk and Norfolk Southern but the structures make a great opportunity to build our own version of Seattle's Gas Works Park:

Reason #7945 why we should get rid of the Belk....

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by kermit

[Windsurfer]

4 minutes ago, kermit said:

Charlotte Pipe is a crappy location for a park but it would be our only opportunity to build our own version of Seattle's Gas Works Park:

 

I know I sound like a broken record, but its site is almost over the to of the St. Catherine gold mine. Some kind of nod to it would be an awesome historical note, provide a park-like setting, and enforce the idea of a "Gold District".

[archiham04]

Atlanta had a midtown industrial site that turned out pretty nice as a redevelopment.

Edited June 4, 2019 by archiham04

[KJHburg]

3 hours ago, Windsurfer said:

Brilliant question

I think it is location Badin is on the other side of Albemarle and the only 4 lane highway goes right through Locust area back to I-485.  I think they want it closer to Charlotte as to keep their employee base and closer to their HQ in Charlotte and other plant in Monroe.  They would have do tear down a lot of buildings to build it on the Badin plant site and that adds cost and time. 

[DEnd]

2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

I think it is location Badin is on the other side of Albemarle and the only 4 lane highway goes right through Locust area back to I-485.  I think they want it closer to Charlotte as to keep their employee base and closer to their HQ in Charlotte and other plant in Monroe.  They would have do tear down a lot of buildings to build it on the Badin plant site and that adds cost and time. 

I think the people in Badin would want the smell to be farther away.  They can go a couple miles south of Oakdale (near the Rocky River) and have a two mile radius of nothing but farms almost.

[ChessieCat]

^True... Badin Lake is a recreation and fishing destination after the closure of Alcoa so who would want the same smell that South End has to deal with when the wind blows east?

[Nick2]

14 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

^True... Badin Lake is a recreation and fishing destination after the closure of Alcoa so who would want the same smell that South End has to deal with when the wind blows east?

I thought it would be the perfect place for it too. But realistically, Badin is so small and far away from Charlotte that it's pretty much not even part of the metro so it'd make sense to so be much closer to the actual city. 

[ajfunder]

On 6/4/2019 at 6:51 PM, kermit said:

The foundry itself is a crappy location for a park due to the Belk and Norfolk Southern but the structures make a great opportunity to build our own version of Seattle's Gas Works Park:

Reason #7945 why we should get rid of the Belk....

 

I'm all for a railfan/train watching park feature, or is that just me lol.

Edited June 6, 2019 by ajfunder

[Windsurfer]

On 6/5/2019 at 7:25 AM, ChessieCat said:

^True... Badin Lake is a recreation and fishing destination after the closure of Alcoa so who would want the same smell that South End has to deal with when the wind blows east?

And, you cannot eat the fish out of Badin because of pollution from battery factories upstream as well as some residue from the aluminum plant.  

If Pipe and Foundry is heading towards undeveloped land, I sure hope Stanley County doesn't just allow them to pollute at will in their ambition to create jobs.  It's sad enough they'll be creating more sprawl already.

[kermit]

So a friend of mine was fiddling with some cellphone tracking data (its creepy) and looked to see where Charlotte Pipe (uptown) workers were commuting in from. Its nothing we didn't already know, and the N is kinda small, but the Stanly County move certainly makes sense: (except for the four workers West of the Catawba)

 

Edited August 30, 2019 by kermit

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, kermit said:

So a friend of mine was fiddling with some cellphone tracking data (its creepy) and looked to see where Charlotte Pipe (uptown) workers were commuting in from. The N is kinda small but the Stanley County move certainly makes sense:

 

oh my god, I want this ability. I've been so curious about Honeywell, Lending Tree, and a secret company I can't talk about.

[atlrvr]

I want that!

[cltcane]

Y’all... it’s Stanly County, without the “e”.  Stanley, NC is a town in Gaston County.

[tozmervo]

1 hour ago, cltcane said:

Y’all... it’s Stanly County, without the “e”.  Stanley, NC is a town in Gaston County.

 

[Eightane]

4 hours ago, cltcane said:

Y’all... it’s Stanly County, without the “e”.  Stanley, NC is a town in Gaston County.

I was born and raised in that tiny town! The star attraction there was always the Jones Bros. "Galaxy" food store.  All kidding aside, God I miss that place, it was shuttered years ago.

[/off-topic]

[KJHburg]

Eating lunch in the Stanly County town of Locust I was talking to someone from Oakboro. I asked him about Charlotte Pipe and Foundry's move there.  He said they have quietly bought over 500 acres near a rail spur.  Not a matter of IF they will move to Stanly county just when.  It is the buzz of the small town.  And they welcome it just like we Charlotte welcome their departure freeing up lots of land for redevelopment close to uptown.  

the KJ listening tour continues 

[davidclt]

Would this site be usable for an MLS stadium?