First Ward Photo Tour (Arena, Courtside, Imaginon, etc.)

[dubone]

9th Street greenway and saussy burbank houses

mstreet getting roof structure delivered for the 7th street building

work is beginning on the "enhancements" to mcdowell street, where the road is converted from 2 car lanes to 1 car lane

plus bike path and street parking.

Stained glass window at little rock ame church across from mstreet

skyline view from 7th and Mcdowell

"This Hole sponsored by Hunter's Affordable Bonds". As this isn't a golf course, i assume they are talking about the

"hole in the wall" shopping center where this particular bailbondsman is located. Who says there is no valuable

neighborhood retailers in first ward... we have two bailbondsmen.

First Ward park... which was sold to Merryland Properties for the renwick and associated development.

Apparently the wood for Court6 comes from great britain. curious...

The Backcourt

First Ward Rec Center

I heart Court6

Courtside construction

Caldwell (and many other streets) are getting repaved in first ward as part of the arena and other development in the area

The arena, and the Garden Inn in the distance

The practice court side of the arena

The new wind silos art under the skyline. I think that is the reason BofA funded it... it is almost always the "base"

of their HQ tower in photos...especially now that the arena will cause the area to be broadcast on ESPN, etc.

now there is so much more to take photos of...but we've always got to have one of the bofa corporate center

looking back at courtside

Imaginon's clamshell theatre

...

and as seen in the reflection of the window's of the nba practice courts

the bobcat's practice court, as seen from windows on the east side of the building

the fifth street entrance to the arena

looking down at the slightly hidden service/staging area and equipment

...which is hidden from pedestrian view by this wall

...and these screens

looking back to courtside again

and everyone's favorite telecom building

they are finishing up the paving on caldwell and the landscaping in the median

The REAL reason that the "Bobcats" name and colors fit our city...

The corner of trade and caldwell. honestly, i don't care if a building ever goes on this lot, now that trammel crowe pulled out. it will be a nice grassy plaza.

a look down trade, and the retail spaces

who is that doggie in the window?

and the semi-historic retail spaces across the street

... which were vandalized the other day

looking up at the brevard facade of the arena

And the arena's main entry plaza... which has loads and loads of colors. i love how it turned out in real life

the new jumbotron

and a peek inside

and the view when you exit the main doors

and the trolley going by in the reflection

...and moving up the stairs towards the tracks

where they are putting up the rest of the advertisements

(please don't say people with broken bones will climb this wall to find the hospital)

this looks like it is part of the textile spool-inspired art... but it just wire

and looking back at the transit center.

imaginon

looking up 5th street toward tryon

the fifth street facade and jumbotron

and the Windsilos. I think this will look pretty cool

the court and courtside

7th Street Station

looking down 6th to Imaginon and Courtside

Imaginon's 6th street facade

the tracks and cyclists by Reids

and more 7th Street station

and as reflected off imaginon

The Imaginon Plaza and the art.

there were many many families with little kids walking by.

the entrance of imaginon

courtside, as seen through the corner of imaginon

and as seen around the corner the imaginon

looking back down 7th

and north down brevard. these two blocks will be the new first ward park in the year 2070, the year i will be eligible

for social security. (note that that old warehouse was another building vandalized last week).

looking south down brevard to the arena

courtside from the north

and walking back down Davidson street toward home

[RiverwoodCLT]

Super Photo journey

This icon fits your pictures better.

[dubone]

why the eye roll?

[DigitalSky]

awesome photo tour. First ward looks really really nice! your photo tours are the best

cute dog too!

[RiverwoodCLT]

Don't think anyone would do a better job.

[HighRiseHillbilly]

Great pictures! Thank you!

[swh1972]

Awesome work!

[peaceloveunderstanding]

great stuff. First ward improves with every tour.

[UrbanCharlotte]

[NCB]

Great Pictures!

[ZachariahDaMan]

Amazing pictures, thanks for posting them. It looks like a certain dog likes to be in the reflections in your pictures haha. That wouldn't happen to be a golden retriever you have is it?

[dubone]

Amazing pictures, thanks for posting them. It looks like a certain dog likes to be in the reflections in your pictures haha. That wouldn't happen to be a golden retriever you have is it?

yes it would. it followed me around for some reason.

[graydog]

Awesome stuff.

[ZachariahDaMan]

yes it would. it followed me around for some reason.

haha, I have 4 golden retrievers, they are great dogs.

[dubone]

Awesome stuff.

thank you.

is that your roof being delivered?

i'm a little disappointed with how the jpeg compression turned out... i decided not to wait till 400megs uploaded, but they didn't turn out as crisp that way.

[graydog]

thank you.

is that your roof being delivered?

i'm a little disappointed with how the jpeg compression turned out... i decided not to wait till 400megs uploaded, but they didn't turn out as crisp that way.

On my screen the photos are superb so they must be incredible without the compression.

That's my neighbors' roof. We're on McDowell just north of 8th facing the backyard of the green house. Our section is supposed to be last. May is the target move-in.

I might be biased, but I think MStreet will be highly desirable and First Ward in general is going to increase in popularity. It has the greenway, Imagion, Reid's, close proximity to NODA, Midtown, Elizabeth and Central and it's just a trolley ride to South End. Plus the big downside, Piedmont Courts, is going away. The only other negative for me is the jail, but we were married there, so it's a bittersweet downside.

I'm not excited about the arena, but it is an impressive addition. I wish it was on the edge of Uptown so it wouldn't impact CBD traffic as much. I wish it wasn't paid for with tax dollars. I'm a little concerned about the dead zone that could occur there.

[dubone]

On my screen the photos are superb so they must be incredible without the compression.

That's my neighbors' roof. We're on McDowell just north of 8th facing the backyard of the green house. Our section is supposed to be last. May is the target move-in.

I might be biased, but I think MStreet will be highly desirable and First Ward in general is going to increase in popularity. It has the greenway, Imagion, Reid's, close proximity to NODA, Midtown, Elizabeth and Central and it's just a trolley ride to South End. Plus the big downside, Piedmont Courts, is going away. The only other negative for me is the jail, but we were married there, so it's a bittersweet downside.

I'm not excited about the arena, but it is an impressive addition. I wish it was on the edge of Uptown so it wouldn't impact CBD traffic as much. I wish it wasn't paid for with tax dollars. I'm a little concerned about the dead zone that could occur there.

i agree about first ward's popularity increasing. And as furman and merryland complete the blocks north of 6th on the current first ward park, that popularity will be tapped. the neighborhood will continue to expand its borders as it is with MStreet. I just hope Levine does SOMETHING with his land in the next two years.

The highest priority block in my opinion, is the one with the red Treloar house between Imaginon and Courtside. The blocks north of it are grass and trees, so it isn't so bad if they stay undeveloped for a while. But the block across from courtside has that nasty rusty chain link fence and barbed wire. Once it is developed, first ward residents will finally have a contiguously developed route from their neighborhood to the CBD. Developing that block would also soften the fact that the lots across from the arena remain surface lots.

[Neo]

You've been busy! Thanks for the updated tour!

[CSP]

Great shots.. indeed

[Dale]

Tour-de-force, dubone ! I've obviously been away from Charlotte too long. Uptown's just riot with change.

[dubone]

and for anyone who might have missed it in the arena thread, i posted some night shots of many of the same buildings/projects:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...ndpost&p=226569

[dubone]

here are some more photos around first ward and a few random shots from third ward. since they are so similar to the ones from last week, i figured i'd just reuse the thread. by the way, that is the moon visible in some of them.

and from the other side of the skyline in third ward, around where they are building the park

trademark's building site

duke power's two office buildings

Tryon Street

[peaceloveunderstanding]

My favorite building. I love how it is lit up at night. I only comment because I see it bashed on these these forums without mercy.

[DigitalSky]

From this vantage point, the enterance to the Arena reminds me of the entry to Northlake Mall