Jump to content

110 East: 23 story Tower by Stiles/Shorenstein


CLTProductions

Recommended Posts


Trust me, I am not saying destroy everything or ignore the areas architecture. All I am saying is that not everything can be saved and not everything should be saved. unfortunately sometimes we need more capacity, or something is beyond repair. This building is one in design that could be much better and I am disappointed in its design choice, but I remain positive that this “oopsie” in design adds uniqueness to south end. Something that doesn’t all reflect a warehouse aesthetic. The issue with a lot of these buildings is that low level warehouses and how many of those could you turn into dense residential or provide hundreds of thousands of office space in?

Now, should they demolish everything old? No.
Should they include elements in the building’s design that accommodates that areas history and architecture? Not necessarily, but if developers do that is great. They are adding something to the existing idea. If they do not also great. They are adding something new in design that sometimes brings out their design or accents that older architecture. In the pedestrian experience something different can catch someone’s attention and keep them engaged in the area.

I personally agree with you in bike lanes that are protected and make people feel safe should be priorities along with parks which dreadfully is lacking in south end. I would totally ride my bike much more if I felt safer on the road and lanes were dedicated for me. Personally the idea of bike lanes (protected ones) have always intrigued me as I rode my bike down the sidewalk of my neighborhood. Before I even knew they existed. I used to ride my bike to the HT near where I lived whenever I needed to go there. It was a little over half a mile away. I used to ride to the park nearby which was more than one and half miles away with no bike lanes or even sidewalks for that matter. I would have probably done it more times if they were there. I see their importances and that is more to do with city planning and infrastructure upgrades.

What I am saying is don’t forsake the past but also do not hinder the future or the present. Vision of what south end could look like is not hard to tell, for any place in fact. Many outside factors and many people with different ideas. The only vision I have and will have for any place is that is it is inviting, active, safe, diverse and inclusive. What better place to inspire innovation, creativity, and community than that. I unfortunately have minuscule say on how something may look so I sit back and watch how Charlotte unravels into the city that we as a collective strive for. That alone is exciting for me.

To get right back on point! I do realize that south end as a collective has an idea of its aesthetic and it is clearly visible, but that doesn’t have to be true for everything. South End has preserved a lot of things that honestly are great when incorporated into the urban fabric so by no means would I advocate to tear everything down and be insensitive to the existing trends.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who's advocating for the destruction of former mills?  I'm certainly not.  All I am saying is that not every old building is worthy of being saved just because it's old.  For every quality, aesthetically pleasing building in South End there is probably three or four.......

————————————————————

So, the above is what I was typing right as JeanClt's comment was posted.  I stopped realizing that I was about to literally make the same post.  Quite funny actually.  To add to what was already said, this doesn't have to be a black and white issue.  I don't care too much for the term "highest and best use" because many people take it as meaning bigger, taller, more dense, etc but many of these old structures don't contribute a ton to the neighborhood even if a fresh coat of paint was slapped on it.  I'm not saying tear it all down for the first crappy soulless project that is proposed.  There certainly needs to be respectable standards in regards to materials, street level activity, scale, etc. 

I'm going to use Prices as an example again.  It has been mentioned on here more than once that it should be saved because it once housed a loved business I guess.  That doesn't make sense to me and I look forward to seeing what the planned residential is going to look like.  I'm not going to loose sleep over the loss of that small building.  Now, the long barrel-shaped roof building adjacent to the rail trail on Park Ave that currently is home to Miller Office Equipment Co should certainly be saved.  Spruce it up and open it up to the trail and you have a something that contributes to the culture of the neighborhood.   The crappy DMC scrap metal building at the corner of Winifred and Bland.... get rid of it. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who owns the old Lance HQ building on South Blvd? Going off memory here. It’s the building that Lincoln Haberdashery is in. It’s a pretty lousy use of space imho. Banish the interior parking, remove the black tint on the windows and blow out the entire top floor to be open air. Total transformation of that space. Maybe when I hit powerball. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, jjwilli said:

Thank you for saying this! Atherton Mill, The Design Center, and the Lance Cracker factory are all beautiful buildings and to me represent the “vibe” of South End. Sprinkle that in with other older buildings like the Krispy Kreme HQ, Boone Oakleys HQs on Mint St and the barrel roof warehouses that are now home to places like Triple C Brewing. The warehouses and industrial buildings are a huge part of how / why South End developed and allowed for the various uses we see today (breweries, restaurants, dog bars, indoor mini golf, offices). Not all are the sexiest buildings by any means but they are huge part of what makes South End unique.

With that said, I’m excited to see what all the new development will bring. A mix of looks of the office towers isn’t a bad thing. The Square looks pretty good sitting next to Wilmore Park.
 

What South End really needs is money from the city to build out the urban fabric. Finish the Rail Trail on both sides. Improve Camden as a walkable corridor. More bike lanes. Bury power lines so trees can thrive. And a few more traffic lights to allow better flow of pedestrians and vehicles. 

I just want to say, I really like this post. Totally agree. 

Edited by AirNostrumMAD
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, JacksonH said:

We don't have that here in SoCal and when I visit there I'm salivating over those buildings.

Check out the Western Metals Warehouse in Petco Park, the adjacent Showley Brothers Candy Factory, the entire Gaslamp Quarter, the old police station at seaport village, etc. These are all walking distance from where you live. LA has a ton of old warehouses. It is true that brick is used less frequently in California due to earthquake building codes.

Edited by JBS
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

Won’t this planned building have their Uptown Views largely blocked once Greystar builds their 26 Story Apartment Tower across the street?

Maybe not as the apartment tower is going more where Walgreens stands closer to the corner of South and East so this tower will have views more up the rail line.  

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/2/2022 at 8:31 AM, KJHburg said:

Maybe not as the apartment tower is going more where Walgreens stands closer to the corner of South and East so this tower will have views more up the rail line.  

the  area i saw fenced off is the rosemont location.  CBJ reporting on this was a bit muddled, but from what I gather, the initial tower is 24-story (did this change to 26?) residential with 300+ units and 15,000 square feet of retail.  This initial tower will be adjacent to dilworth artisan station on the rosemont site.  a second location on the property (perhaps where the walgreens currently sits) may accommodate a 365,000 square foot office bldg.  So yes, the grand plan for this property is for there to be 2 towers and up to 28,000 square feet of retail space total.  In the latest CBJ reporting I saw, the development group wouldn't confirm whether walgreens would relocate to the retail component of either of the towers.  

Edited by RANYC
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, JBS said:

Check out the Western Metals Warehouse in Petco Park, the adjacent Showley Brothers Candy Factory, the entire Gaslamp Quarter, the old police station at seaport village, etc. These are all walking distance from where you live. LA has a ton of old warehouses. It is true that brick is used less frequently in California due to earthquake building codes.

Yes, I'm well aware of those places in San Diego.  My gym is next to Petco Park so I see that warehouse component all the time.  But large brick buildings like that are rare here.  Most are stucco or wood.  I  live in a century-old walkable neighborhood with a ton of retail buildings but only two of them are brick and they're very unassuming.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, jjwilli said:

Thank you for saying this! Atherton Mill, The Design Center, and the Lance Cracker factory are all beautiful buildings and to me represent the “vibe” of South End. Sprinkle that in with other older buildings like the Krispy Kreme HQ, Boone Oakleys HQs on Mint St and the barrel roof warehouses that are now home to places like Triple C Brewing. The warehouses and industrial buildings are a huge part of how / why South End developed and allowed for the various uses we see today (breweries, restaurants, dog bars, indoor mini golf, offices). Not all are the sexiest buildings by any means but they are huge part of what makes South End unique. 

That's exactly it.  Riding on the Blue Line, when I see Slate/Oak Room/Hot Taco, and the Design Center and that water tower, I know I have arrived in South End.  Those structures feel like its soul 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, JacksonH said:

Please say that's not so.  That would depress me greatly.

My friend who isn’t into urban development (but likes to live in the city, lived uptown & NoDa) said he heard those buildings are going down (hot taco) in addition to the ones In the back “Tavern on the Tracks”, Brickyard etc. to make room for an office building. He’s no reliable but. That’d be most unfortunate. 

Edited by AirNostrumMAD
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If Charlotte will allow an 80 year old, historic, brick skyscraper to be torn down and replaced with stick-built affordable housing, then Tavern on the Tracks doesn't likely stand a chance.
Once the cluster of single-story brick structures are torn down, that area can live up to the namesake of its adjacent street: Bland.

Not a skyscraper…but yeah you’re absolutely correct! Barringer Brick High-Rise RIP : ( and likely those buildings may follow. I haven’t heard any specifics on what they’re doing at that site other than it was bought.
  • Sad 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.