NoDa (N Davidson St Arts District) Projects

[JayGee]

There is always the West Side up W. Trade. Wonder what that nickname would become?

How about "SideWest"?

[New Name]

i just realized that the arena and courtside probably would show up from the northern view of the skyline.

here's another take on that same shot in two years:

[rockhilljames]

Man, how well did you nail Trademark, angle and all? Epicenter and Citadin are the only two not to make it from your shot, not bad even in good times. You were probably a little generous with your height on Vue, but other than that you seem to be dead on.

[atlrvr]

Looks great....a couple of surprises that were announced after the rendering...NASCAR, Catalyst, BofA, The Park (or the fact that it would ever rise at all), and Center City Green parking deck (which has 2 more floors to go).

I can say pretty confidenty that the Vue will extend to just below the lowest power line in the recent pic (and much higher than the tallest crane working on it now).

[dubone]

Yeah, I was way off on the Vue, but back then they were saying it would be the second tallest, but I realize now that was just fudging with the spires, which are now gone. But it is crazy to see how close I was on some of the others. I even was sort of right about the shape of the Wachovia tower, although we didn't know height or anything back then, and it is pretty cool that it is just a little shorter than what I referred to as a fantasy.

May Citadin, 210 Trade, and Berkman rest in peace. Although I do hope Encore happens.

Pretty amazing that we got Catalyst, Nascar, and the Park into that skyline too to fill in the gaps even more. That skyline angle used to be pitifully narrow, but now we actually have a skyline from that angle.

_________________________________

I took a trip up to North Davidson on Saturday for dinner with some friends from out of town who had never been. We ate at Crepe Cellar which is very very good, but they had a 30 minute wait, so I gave him me number to call when the table was ready, so we walked around. There were hundreds of people out and about, and live music at Salvador Deli and Neighborhood theater. It was Femme Fest, so there were lots of feminist and lesbian women out and about, but also a significant number of other types of people. I generally go to NoDa to go to Evening Muse or Neighborhood theater, but walking around in the sunshine and seeing lots of people out was very nice. It was nice to see.

[voyager12]

I was walking past Fat City Lofts this AM and was wondering about the two weedy and boarded up buildings across the way. Seem to have been in that state for quite awhile. Anyone know the backstory? Would be great to see new life and additional retail one day. Those spots could give a good boost of energy to that end of the block.

[brianb0518]

I was walking past Fat City Lofts this AM and was wondering about the two weedy and boarded up buildings across the way. Seem to have been in that state for quite awhile. Anyone know the backstory? Would be great to see new life and additional retail one day. Those spots could give a good boost of energy to that end of the block.

The owner wants uptown prices for the buildings

[UrbanFuture]

I was walking past Fat City Lofts this AM and was wondering about the two weedy and boarded up buildings across the way. Seem to have been in that state for quite awhile. Anyone know the backstory? Would be great to see new life and additional retail one day. Those spots could give a good boost of energy to that end of the block.

Yeah, as noted above, they are asking OUTRAGEOUS prices for the neighborhood. I am trying to remember the price of the one story building, I believe it was 1-2 million for the building, maybe even over 2 million, can't remember.

[New Name]

Yeah, as noted above, they are asking OUTRAGEOUS prices for the neighborhood. I am trying to remember the price of the one story building, I believe it was 1-2 million for the building, maybe even over 2 million, can't remember.

How can we keep NoDa affordable, with non-chain stores, when real estate is this expensive?

Honestly, I want some suggestions.

[rockhilljames]

You can't. It happens everywhere, but with break-neck speed in Charlotte, even long before a neighborhood has a chance to sink deep roots. At this point I'd say Central has more of a chance of being the hip/local flavor area than NoDa.

[monsoon]

How can we keep NoDa affordable, with non-chain stores, when real estate is this expensive?

Honestly, I want some suggestions.

Give it time. These prices will come down. Charlotte's local economy here is being buoyed by all the federal money pouring into the banks. It won't last forever.

[Charlotte_native]

I was walking past Fat City Lofts this AM and was wondering about the two weedy and boarded up buildings across the way. Seem to have been in that state for quite awhile. Anyone know the backstory? Would be great to see new life and additional retail one day. Those spots could give a good boost of energy to that end of the block.

One of themm used to be an awesome pool hall. Peanut baskets everywhere and shells on the floors. Pool tables, other games, foosball, etc. Cheap drinks and beer. The owner decided to move, can't recall the exact details, from town and closed the place and boarded it up. He'd owned it for many many years and doesn't seem motivated to sell at anything less than an outrageous price -- last time I looked he was asking over a mil for the place (as it deteriorates year after year...).

Side note -- we went to gallery crawl last night then met a bunch of friends for food and drinks and Dole Vida. Rather impressed with the big crowd all over the hood despite the intermittant rain. We would have loved to check out Crepe Cellar but it was too crowded. There was live music where we were, acoustic guitar player, and an acoustic band on the upper deck of Revolution. As we were leaving around 9:30 a whole new crowd was rolling into the hood for a show at Neighborhood Theatre.

How can we keep NoDa affordable, with non-chain stores, when real estate is this expensive?

Honestly, I want some suggestions.

Other property in the neighborhood isn't nearly this expensive. This is one case of an owner with a pot of gold in their eyes -- they are as likely to find it/get it as they are at the end of a rainbow. That building is worthless at this point after years of neglect and the lot is worth about $300,000.

[Skyybutter]

The NoDa of 2009 is about as fake and boring as SouthPark. I lived in NoDa in 1999 and it was actually fun. Fat City was there and the area was still creative. NoDa is just another example of Artists and Gays (including me) moving in and doing the dirty work so that everyone else can make a buck 10 years later.

[nonillogical]

The NoDa of 2009 is about as fake and boring as SouthPark. I lived in NoDa in 1999 and it was actually fun. Fat City was there and the area was still creative. NoDa is just another example of Artists and Gays (including me) moving in and doing the dirty work so that everyone else can make a buck 10 years later.

these kind of hyperbolic comparisons are getting old. i think that it is unreasonable to expect to popularize a neighborhood without any hint of gentrification or attracting of different crowds, which seem to be only becoming more, not less, diverse. it seems like the OG's shun any change in the area even when the majority of it is clearly positive.

if anything, i think NoDa's reputation precedes it so much that i WAS a little underwhelmed when i finally went and rents were sky-high, but i still really love spending time there and i think the price point of the area is going to settle down. a smaller variety of stores/restaurants and some more grit would not have made my first impression any better (and i do love some grit).

[voyager12]

Plenty of gays still in NoDa...actually to me it seems like the girls have the advantage. All in all NoDa and PlazaMidwood have done admirable jobs in maintaining and expanding upon the local vibe that makes the hoods so popular.

I do have to retract my opinion of the Davy Apts. Caught a Craiglist ad and they are going for $975. I know "affordable" is different for everyone but that's definitely out of my range. And while the complex looks nice it's not a stunner and wonder if the interior is worth it. I guess it's location near all the amenities is a large factor.

Just a little farther out though, Highland Mill is still leasing in the mid 7s. Aside from that the options for moderate apts are pretty scarce. There are older complexes leading out to Plaza but that stretch gets sketchy very fast.

[InitialD]

The NoDa of 2009 is about as fake and boring as SouthPark.

You've apparently never been to DuggDugg in NoDa.

[monsoon]

Looks as if the condos at the place formerly known as Fat City will be turned into apartments. At a starting price of $175K they could not find buyers. It's fairly interesting given that the demographic these have been marketed to, could get $8,500 tossed at them by the federal government. This is a housing windfall they are most likely never going to see again, yet they couldn't sell them. IMO, this isn't a very well built building but that hasn't seemed to stop people from buying places like that in the past. Isn't this place supposed to be highly successful because it's near a proposed CATS transit station for the train?

It's another sign that prices are headed back to what these places should be really worth. In another part of the forum, they are talking about the "investment" condos built across the street from Williams Brice Stadium that are larger and much better built than this Fat City place, which has basically sat there with just 10 initially sold units then has sat there for over a year with nothing. So this past weekend they basically cut the price on each unit by ~$100,000 when it was all said and done, and they were able to unload most of the place.

To me that means the FC condos should probably be lowered to start at $75K, and they they would probably sell out. Would suck for some of those who have bought nearby however.

[Spartan]

They were starting at 175k? I thought it was higher than that? I thought they were asking 200+ for a 1br/1ba. I'm not trying to argue... I'm just surprised. Had I known that I might have looked into it.

[Charlotte_native]

Interestingly there has been a spike in sales of homes in the neighborhood. There are currently 9 under contract between $170,000 and $495,000 and since the beginning of the year 20 have sold/closed priced between $96,000 and $421,000. There were 37 total that closed all of last year in NoDa with basically the same price range.

There are currently 9 condos under contract in the n'hood -- prices range from $134,000 to $249,000. 15 have closed since the beginning of the year -- prices from $142,000 to $260,000. In 2008 there were 29 closed condo sales prices from $121,000 to $278,000.

This neighborhood actually seems to be fairing much better than many central Charlotte areas.

[voyager12]

I was glad to read that the mill rehab by Tuscan is not dead.

[tozmervo]

I'm not sure I'd trust Tuscan for much, given the hilariously slow completion of Bloc 90. I know folks that pulled out of Bloc 90 late last summer when it became clear that it wasn't getting finished anytime soon.

[UrbanFuture]

I'm not sure I'd trust Tuscan for much, given the hilariously slow completion of Bloc 90. I know folks that pulled out of Bloc 90 late last summer when it became clear that it wasn't getting finished anytime soon.

I'd be shocked if that sales figure for Bloc 90 they mentioned in the Observer today in the Fat City article was accurate. I doubt they still have 18 under contract, given that absolutely nothing has taken place on that site for a year now. Also, I'd be pretty surprised if the weather hasn't warped or damaged some of the interior studs and/or subfloors.

The developers who did Fat City Lofts also did Dilworth Lofts, more than several of which never sold. Hopefully these guys can do something with the rental conversion so that building doesn't fall into disrepair or sit empty forever. I'm really digging the graffiti and colors on the street level.

[InitialD]

A group is looking at opening a new bar in NoDa at 3213 North Davidson (which is tentatively what it will be called). The building is a small 1,500 sq foot brick building next to Salvador Deli, and shares a wall with the building where Dolce Vita is located. Right now they are trying to get the zoning changed to mixed-use (it was zoned for office or shop, as in metal or woodworking type shop). Local artist William Puckett is currently doing a large mural on the side of this building, and they hope to open the bar by Sept. or Oct.

[InitialD]

New gallery/studio opened about a week ago in NoDa. Studio True opened in the bright red house at the corner of Davidson and 34th after several months of work. Going to interview the artist Tuesday.

[Spartan]

What's up with the south/east side of North Davidson Street? Aside from the Crepe place and a few art galleries, it seems like its mostly vacant over there.