NoDa (N Davidson St Arts District) Projects

[New Name]

Hi, I have a question. I'm in the part of NoDa which hasn't experienced the housing appreciation like the heart of NoDa has had. We live three houses away from the 28thRow project. Will that help very much or will it be a little while for homes in the neighborhood to be affected? I've read of the other project near 27th street which is a block away also and of course the light rail station if it is approved.

Also, to the person who mentioned the grocer near us, well the prices really suck there(I can't remember the name). As far as the Food Lion, well if you like luke warm milk that goes bad before the expiration date or the awful re-frozen ice cream which I purchased at least 3 different times and 2 different brands, then by all means shop at that Food Lion. The Bi-Lo isn't much better. We need a real grocer like Lowe's Foods, a real Harris Teeter, or of course I'm reaching.... a Whole Foods. If you don't like big corporate owned companies then you're almost out of luck if you want decent selection w/ decent prices. Hey it's better than a Wal-Mart.

I think it's against the rules to ask about home appreciation, but I would say a couple of things: you are actually in Optimist Park or Villa Heights (although NODA has welcomed anyone on Davidson to feel like part of NODA), that is why you see NODA Market and Amiles being absorbed as part of Noda. And if you are concerned about your home appreciating the same way as NODA, take solace in knowing that you will be on the same Light Rail line as NODA proper, and actually closer in. Hang in there. You should think about attending the NODA meetings at the Evening Muse on the first Tuesday of every month (except there is no meeting in July). We had a presentation from the developers of 28th/27th Row last month. They said they had looked into presenting in Optimist Park but were unable to find a functioning neighborhood association. So they came to us for our blessing (which we granted them).

[Lot66]

We had our monthly Noda Neighborhood Association meeting tonight. CATS came and did a presentation on the NE extension. Mostly it was about the placement of the actual station in Noda (their first choice is behind Johnston and Mecklenburg Mills, but realistically they may have to put it on the other side of 36th as a middle-of-the-track station). A few things they told us was that there will be a flyover to cross the freight tracks at Matheson, and another flyover at Craighead to bring the Lynx back to the Tryon side of the freight line. They have made no strides as to the alignment around the Asian Mall. Like I said, this was mostly about the Noda station. ALSO: I think many of you will be excited to hear about a prototype for community involvement that is being tried out for this project - Wikiplanning.org. It's for all the armchair urban planners who want their voices to be heard. (the log-in for this project will be NODA - although the site wont be active for a week or two). But I would hope everyone on this board who has ideas to share will do so and use this for the best of my neighborhood and for future projects.

Other than that, we had a presentation from The Comedy Zone about their "megaplex" in Highland Mills. They are opening a live venue for music and comedy (if I heard correct he said 1000 person venue - and likened it to a House of Blues). There will also be a coffee shop + wifi lounge, deli, restaurant, and *NOW HEAR THIS* late-night-drank-too-much-left-the-bar-and-now-I-want-something-like-Pita-Pit-kind-of-place.

There's my report. Hope you enjoyed.

Hi There. Quick question about the Light Rail. Do we know if the Lynx is going to use the existing tracks that parallel N. Davidson? More specifically, as you are going down N.Davidson and you approach Craighead, will the Lynx use the tracks the currently run along-side of Davidson (ie will it replace the freight/occasional passenger trains that run on those tracks)? I know you mentioned the fly-over, but i can't quite visualize it. If that is the case, will the freight trains be re-routed to other tracks?

[New Name]

^ No they will have to lay new tracks. That is why they need the flyover - to cross the freight tracks.

[monsoon]

Light rail, such as what has been used on the South LRT, is not allowed to share tracks with freight or heavy rail passenger trains, at all. This is dictated by the FRA for safety reasons.

With that said, the final design for the NE LRT has not been finished and CATS may make any changes to implementation in order to keep costs down low enough to qualify for federal funding. (without which, this line will not be built)

[voyager12]

According to today's O NoDa Studios will open in Sept instead of January. The building will house band rehearsal and studio space. My only question is which building is it? Also, the deal to redevelop Mecklenburg Mills is moving along.

[New Name]

www.wikiplanning.org is now up. Everyone on this forum who has an opinion on anything (which is all of you), should use this thing. Why argue every little detail into the abyss of computerland when you can actually direct it to the bodies who are producing the details. login for the Noda Lynx station is "Noda"

[Andyc545]

www.wikiplanning.org is now up. Everyone on this forum who has an opinion on anything (which is all of you), should use this thing. Why argue every little detail into the abyss of computerland when you can actually direct it to the bodies who are producing the details. login for the Noda Lynx station is "Noda"

I can't help but think (in the least negative way possible) how all of these projects that are beginning to pop up will be impacted, as well as all that is taking place in preparation up at UNCC if this line does not receive its federal funding... I'm not speaking as if it won't, I'm just saying there is a lot of work being done already and we still have what, a year(?) before we know if the line can even be built. Nonetheless, I'm excited to see what comes out of this wikiplanning NoDa Station, it sounds like the right thing to do (allow public creativity in its design) since that is much what the NoDa area is all about.

[New Name]

^Everything that is being done now is from the preliminary study budget that was granted last Fall. Right? So this money is allocated specifically for these studies.

[lukedog]

According to today's O NoDa Studios will open in Sept instead of January. The building will house band rehearsal and studio space. My only question is which building is it? Also, the deal to redevelop Mecklenburg Mills is moving along.

Noda really has come a long. I can't say that I am a huge fan of the Black Crows (they have had some great songs though) but I do think it is really cool that they are coming to Charlotte in November and not playing at the Bobcats arena, not at Verizon, not at Cricket, but at the Neighborhood Theater in Noda. If they keep bands like that coming to Noda it will continue to drive business and customers to the area.

[Lot66]

www.wikiplanning.org is now up. Everyone on this forum who has an opinion on anything (which is all of you), should use this thing. Why argue every little detail into the abyss of computerland when you can actually direct it to the bodies who are producing the details. login for the Noda Lynx station is "Noda"

I just finished going thru the wikiplanning process, and i think it is a really great idea. I would encourage everyone to go check it out and participate. Our feedback could only help the process!

[KickinChicken23]

Noda really has come a long. I can't say that I am a huge fan of the Black Crows (they have had some great songs though) but I do think it is really cool that they are coming to Charlotte in November and not playing at the Bobcats arena, not at Verizon, not at Cricket, but at the Neighborhood Theater in Noda. If they keep bands like that coming to Noda it will continue to drive business and customers to the area.

From what I can tell the only reason the Black Crows are playing Neighborhood is because one of the band members is fully involved with the creation of NODA studios. It's great for the area, and should be a killer show... but otherwise they would be in one of the big venues so they get more money and so on. As in just a year or two ago they played Verizon.

[atlrvr]

Fat City Lofts....cladding has begun.

Steel Gardens is turning out better than I expected from a suburban single-family home builder. The development appears to be a about halfway complete overall.

And Royal Truss is complete.

And 28th Row is still finishing up getting its water lines. Foundations should begin soon.

[monsoon]

^That one does look nice. It's good not to see another development like, I think it is called The Renaissance (Craighead & Davidson) which turned out absolutely hideous. It looks like the cheapest starter home development.

[New Name]

I'll post this in both the NODA Thread, and in the 2030 Plan thread:

Wikiplanning.org Northeast Extension chat session tonight (7/1/08):

"...We have had tremendous response, and we

[New Name]

The chat was ... um... minimally informative and mostly frustrating. Nothing really new to talk about. This is mostly outreach for CATS to understand the concerns of myself and my neighbors. But you can download the transcript at wikiplanning.org.

[Lot66]

Switching gears a bit, anyone have any color as to what could be going in where MellowMush/Moondog's used to be? Also, any word on when things will truly get going at the Meck/Johnston Mills? I haven't been able to go to any of the Neighborhood meetings for a while due to some health issues

[cltheel.sdl]

What happened to Moondog's? I ate there just last year, thought it was a pretty strong business.

[New Name]

What happened to Moondog's? I ate there just last year, thought it was a pretty strong business.

That's probably what happened to Moondog. You ate there "last year". I said the same thing. "Oh man, we just ate there like 3 months ago..." I think everyone in the 'hood ate there about once every 3 months... it's tough to sustain business on that. That's just my guess though.

^^^and the question about Meck Mills: I am really impatient for that place to get underway because I have to pretty much stare at it from my front porch. So I emailed the developer looking for some answers and got a pretty uninformed response that consisted of something like "...we are waiting for some 't's to be crossed and 'i's to be dotted by the city and then we're ready to start." We've been hearing that they are ready to start as soon as the city finishes up with them, but I got no answers from the email response.

[KickinChicken23]

Switching gears a bit, anyone have any color as to what could be going in where MellowMush/Moondog's used to be? Also, any word on when things will truly get going at the Meck/Johnston Mills? I haven't been able to go to any of the Neighborhood meetings for a while due to some health issues

I have heard that Harpers is trying to open up in the old Mellow mushroom/Moon Dogs site. Would be an odd choice in NoDa IMO.

[cltheel.sdl]

^ I agree about Harper's. They're definitely more of a South Park/suburban restaurant. I feel like they cater to a different crowd than would be in NoDa too. But best of luck to them!

[New Name]

I would kill for a Chinese/Japanese/Thai place. Anyone want to open one for me?

[New Name]

I got excited to see a fresh rezoning petition sign go up on Davidson just inside the Matheson bridge. I hoped it was for the heavy equipment lot that is such an eyesore for anyone coming into Noda, but it seems that it's just for the single family house in the front of the lot to be rezoned into a restaurant/caterer. 2008-130

(The links seems to be broken - the address should start with "ww.charmeck" not "ww,charmeck")

[ScottCLT]

What happened to Moondog's? I ate there just last year, thought it was a pretty strong business.

I think what happened at Moondog's was a lawsuit. The guy that owned all the Mellow Mushrooms around town supposedly (i.e. through hearsay) decided he didn't want to pay corporate anymore and decided to just stop calling it "The Mellow Mushroom" and start calling it "Moondogs." Supposedly, recipes weren't stolen and I can vouch for that -- the pizza just wasn't as good at Moondog's. Then, Mellow Mushroom apparently sued Moondogs because they still made Pizza -- some sort of non-compete agreement? I don't know...but I do know for a fact that at first it was called "Moon Dog's Pizza Shack" and shortly after was called "Moon Dog's Beach Shack." Shortly after that, they quit serving pizza and supposedly (I hadn't visited since, so no first-hand experience) started serving burgers only. That failed, and then they shut down.

Again...much hearsay, so take it for what it's worth. But that's the story I've heard.

[crf450r]

I think what happened at Moondog's was a lawsuit. The guy that owned all the Mellow Mushrooms around town supposedly (i.e. through hearsay) decided he didn't want to pay corporate anymore and decided to just stop calling it "The Mellow Mushroom" and start calling it "Moondogs." Supposedly, recipes weren't stolen and I can vouch for that -- the pizza just wasn't as good at Moondog's. Then, Mellow Mushroom apparently sued Moondogs because they still made Pizza -- some sort of non-compete agreement? I don't know...but I do know for a fact that at first it was called "Moon Dog's Pizza Shack" and shortly after was called "Moon Dog's Beach Shack." Shortly after that, they quit serving pizza and supposedly (I hadn't visited since, so no first-hand experience) started serving burgers only. That failed, and then they shut down.

Again...much hearsay, so take it for what it's worth. But that's the story I've heard.

The Observer basically said they did not pay their fee's to MM any longer and were then sued for copying recipes (but you're correct...was not nearly as good as MM). Bottom line is MM had great pizza and an outstanding beer menu. Big bummer.

[tozmervo]

Its just as well. Whatever was left of Mellow Mushroom had absolutely terrible food, especially for such a great location. Like Woods on South, I hope someone can come along and really bring out the full potential of that spot.