NoDa (N Davidson St Arts District) Projects

[UrbanGossip]

Looks to be fiber cement not vinyl.  Hope it gets painted and that's not the color.

[Guest]

Looks to be fiber cement not vinyl.  Hope it gets painted and that's not the color.

[dubone]

When are they going to start differentiating these buildings!?   They literally all look the same, it took me some adjustments to even realize which project I was looking at.  Then I was so confused that this was the NoDa topic and not the SouthEnd.   I mean NoDa welcomed a condo project covered in a GRAFFITI mural.  Please tell me they are at least going to go with a bold paint color.  

[ah59396]

The unfortunate fact is, no one does anything about it.  We just all sit by idly as more crap gets built in these neighborhoods.  Southend has enough boring architecture to keep us busy, I guess NoDa wants to join the crowd.  This project went from all brick with great street level retail, to half brick/half siding with no street level retail over the course of a couple years.  Amazing.

 

 

I know we've shared these before, but look at how GREAT this was supposed to look initially.  Unreal.

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2015 by ah59396

[CLTProductions]

The unfortunate fact is, no one does anything about it.  We just all sit by idly as more crap gets built in these neighborhoods.  Southend has enough boring architecture to keep us busy, I guess NoDa wants to join the crowd.  This project went from all brick with great street level retail, to half brick/half siding with no street level retail over the course of a couple years.  Amazing.

WOWWW that is a damn shame, it was originally going to be incredible. But, to your point, what can be done? We aren't the ones with the money unfortunately, and the people that have it churn out the cheapest, most generic crap there is. NoDa freaking NEEDS retail and character and these developers are going to destroy it. I have faith the Crescent project will actually take NoDa's needs into account and be a great project, but Mercury sucks. This is a major disappointment and I'll say it again, the execution in this city across the board is freaking garbage.

 

We should all write scathing emails to Woodfield, I just did

Edited March 20, 2015 by Jayvee

[UrbanGossip]

It's a crying shame there is no retail at Mercury - tragic really.  Expensive land up against zoning limitations and neighborhoods that resist density is what results in cheap buildings.  But it seems like retail revenue could have offset that and resulted in a better building.  But like you said, it's not my money.

[Guest]

WOWWW that is a damn shame, it was originally going to be incredible. But, to your point, what can be done? We aren't the ones with the money unfortunately, and the people that have it churn out the cheapest, most generic crap there is. NoDa freaking NEEDS retail and character and these developers are going to destroy it. I have faith the Crescent project will actually take NoDa's needs into account and be a great project, but Mercury sucks. This is a major disappointment and I'll say it again, the execution in this city across the board is freaking garbage.

 

We should all write scathing emails to Woodfield, I just did

In the past year, I've been to Philly, Austin, Cleveland, Nashville, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Las Vegas. I can tell you that everyone is building these crap buildings. Its astounding.

 

Also, go figure the neighborhood that is fighting tooth and nail with Crescent (though they didn't show up to the City meeting, heh, lazy asses) let this one go without a fight.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Guest

[tozmervo]

ricky davis beat me to the punch on the NoDa facebook page. I'm also interested to see what the general reaction is

[Guest]

ricky davis beat me to the punch on the NoDa facebook page. I'm also interested to see what the general reaction is

AHHHH! now everyone knows who I am!!! ;-) Just kidding.

 

Edit: On a side note, oh lord, what have I done. People get crazy on this group, and I stirred the pot.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Guest

[ah59396]

AHHHH! now everyone knows who I am!!! ;-) Just kidding.

 

Edit: On a side note, oh lord, what have I done. People get crazy on this group, and I stirred the pot.

 

 

The problem is none of them can tell what the difference is and think you are referring to height for some reason.

 

edit:  RDF, you really got them fired up now comparing them to Southend.  

Edited March 20, 2015 by ah59396

[tozmervo]

AHHHH! now everyone knows who I am!!! ;-) Just kidding.

 

Edit: On a side note, oh lord, what have I done. People get crazy on this group, and I stirred the pot.

 RIP inbox

[dubone]

It's a crying shame there is no retail at Mercury - tragic really.  Expensive land up against zoning limitations and neighborhoods that resist density is what results in cheap buildings.  But it seems like retail revenue could have offset that and resulted in a better building.  But like you said, it's not my money.

It is a shame, but if you look at the "urban grocery" section of that retail, that was going to be from TEARING OUT neighborhood Theater/ Boudreauxs.  So let's thank our lucky stars that they didn't "include retail" in this project, or we would have seen them tear out something great about the neighborhood and replace it with cookie cutter space.  

 

The saved retail is the retail for this project, and we are very lucky to have not lost the link to the past and the continuation of the organically-grown businesses in exchange for a Harris Kroger or something.   

[CLTProductions]

Yeah they are fired up and rather clueless to what they are looking at. My issue is the look, not the height or really, the lack of retail. It LOOKS like garbage.

[ah59396]

It is a shame, but if you look at the "urban grocery" section of that retail, that was going to be from TEARING OUT neighborhood Theater/ Boudreauxs.  So let's thank our lucky stars that they didn't "include retail" in this project, or we would have seen them tear out something great about the neighborhood and replace it with cookie cutter space.  

 

The saved retail is the retail for this project, and we are very lucky to have not lost the link to the past and the continuation of the organically-grown businesses in exchange for a Harris Kroger or something.   

 

 

Aside from the "urban grocery" portion, the rest of the retail on both the Davidson and 36th street sides are where current building is taking place with anemic street presence.  I totally agree, a loss of any of those institutions would not have been worth it.

[UrbanGossip]

The problem is none of them can tell what the difference is and think you are referring to height for some reason.

 

edit:  RDF, you really got them fired up now comparing them to Southend.  

 

Where is this crap show taking place?  I could use some entertainment.

 

edit : first time I ever tried to curse on UP.  LOL.  It autocorrects to more tame words.  Love it.  S**t became crap.

Edited March 20, 2015 by UrbanGossip

[UrbanGossip]

It is a shame, but if you look at the "urban grocery" section of that retail, that was going to be from TEARING OUT neighborhood Theater/ Boudreauxs.  So let's thank our lucky stars that they didn't "include retail" in this project, or we would have seen them tear out something great about the neighborhood and replace it with cookie cutter space.  

 

The saved retail is the retail for this project, and we are very lucky to have not lost the link to the past and the continuation of the organically-grown businesses in exchange for a Harris Kroger or something.   

 

Totally agree that losing the theater would be a shame.  I just think that all the units at the ground floor along 36th should be retail or office or some kind of commercial use.  They are just residential units with a "live work" appearance.  There is zero retail in Mercury NoDa.

 

edit : Retail along 36th and the access road should be a line in the sand from the neighborhoods perspective with Crescent and the Newco Fiber site.

Edited March 20, 2015 by UrbanGossip

[nonillogical]

It is a shame, but if you look at the "urban grocery" section of that retail, that was going to be from TEARING OUT neighborhood Theater/ Boudreauxs.  So let's thank our lucky stars that they didn't "include retail" in this project, or we would have seen them tear out something great about the neighborhood and replace it with cookie cutter space.  

 

The saved retail is the retail for this project, and we are very lucky to have not lost the link to the past and the continuation of the organically-grown businesses in exchange for a Harris Kroger or something.   

Are you sure? The other view shows where Salud is, and the main view looks like it leaves Neighborhood Theater in tact to me, its just mostly cropped out of frame. Back when this was the latest rendering I don't recall any hoopla about losing any of those businesses, which I'm sure there would have been plenty of.

[tozmervo]

The "Urban Grocer" in that view is to the right of the neighborhood theater - there's an alleyway shown between the two.

[Miesian Corners]

While I'll agree that most urban apartments in America look as if they were designed by a single terrible architectural firm, at least a few here and there use interesting exterior materials and finishes.  Cookie cutter shapes and forms are one thing, but uninspired/boring materials are a different story.  Even this complex in Jacksonville, FL looks more hip than anything I've seen in SouthEnd or NoDa.  Corrugated steel, glass, and interesting forms found nowhere in Charlotte.  Oh, and it has ground-level retail.   

[ah59396]

Honestly, these places need to start getting bad press for it, or some sort of public shaming.  I guess the good news is that with more and more building taking place, the hope is that people choose to live in better, more interesting looking architecture.  But maybe I'm just grasping here.

[CLTProductions]

Honestly, these places need to start getting bad press for it, or some sort of public shaming. I guess the good news is that with more and more building taking place, the hope is that people choose to live in better, more interesting looking architecture. But maybe I'm just grasping here.

I think the majority of people don't give a crap as long as the amenities are passable and the rent is cheap. Unfortunately.

[UrbanGossip]

I think the majority of people don't give a crap as long as the amenities are passable and the rent is cheap. Unfortunately.

 

Yep.  Totally agree.  "Granite counter tops - Check.  Pool with hotties - Check.  Kitchen in the club-room that I'll never use - Check.  Balcony that I'll use as an ashtray - Check.  Good looking design on the exterior - What?  Why do I care?"

 

Bigger discussion here but I believe it goes back to early education that there is little or no emphasis on the built environment and an appreciation for it.  Think about it.  In all the art and art history classes you took going back to grade school, how much was the built environment a part of it?  At best a footnote.

[archiham04]

I'm not really one to dwell on the built environment that Charlotte tore down but sometimes...

[Miesian Corners]

^To be fair, Most of that was torn down in the 40s and 50s.  The Meckenburg County Courthouse was demolished twice in a period of 40 years (1890-1930).  Cities with booming economies did what Charlotte did--old was bad, new was good--especially in the South, where having something to prove has always been just under the surface (at least since Reconstruction).  

[cltbwimob]

I'm not really one to dwell on the built environment that Charlotte tore down but sometimes...

That picture makes me sick.  I would like to think that some day this type of architecture will make a return, but I wonder if such architecture will ever be fashionable again.  I am beginning to see some trend toward a neo-brutalism, if I may use the term, in modern architecture; however I have seen no return to the late nineteenth/early twentieth century architecture.  Is it just too cost prohibitive?