Jump to content

Uptown Charlotte Project Rundown

dubone

By dubone
in Charlotte

Recommended Posts


  • Replies 169
  • Created
  • Last Reply
dubone Megalopolis

dubone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm not so sure that it won't be ~30 stories. It has 20 stories above the parking deck and theatre. The parking deck and theater section of the building is maybe 9 or 10 stories tall (The 6th Street rendering has quite a large number of horizontal lines, maybe showing 12-14 short parking deck floors above the theatre, which is about 4 or 5 stories tall itself, but that whole section seems to be 9 or 10 stories total if you use the ground floor section as a guide).

That means the building is about 30 stories tall in total, like many other Tryon buildings, and will be just a little shorter than IJL and Avenue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charlotteman Burg

Charlotteman

Posted
Posted

Is there a tentative construction starting date for the Berkman yet? I'm delighted to hear it will be around 30~ floors! :)

I've been meaning to ask something of you long time Charlotte folks---what ever happened to City Fair? In the 1980s I visited City Fair and it was quite nice/upscale. I believe it was near the Uptown Holiday Inn. I never heard anything about it since then. I wonder if it is still in existence?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
turbocraig Burg

turbocraig

Posted
Posted

Is there a tentative construction starting date for the Berkman yet? I'm delighted to hear it will be around 30~ floors! :)

I've been meaning to ask something of you long time Charlotte folks---what ever happened to City Fair? In the 1980s I visited City Fair and it was quite nice/upscale. I believe it was near the Uptown Holiday Inn. I never heard anything about it since then. I wonder if it is still in existence?

As a matter of fact, I worked for NationsBank and was based at CityFair during that time. It may have been considered upscale in it's heydey (maybe for two weeks in 1988), but it was basically a forgotten and underused piece of property. It did have decent Chinese take-out in the food court and I loved the promise of the neon outside that the facility itself could never quite deliver. We were moved to O'Dell/525 N Tryon St right before the CF tear-down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
atlrvr Metropolitan Area

atlrvr

Posted
Posted

CityFair did have "The Lunch Box" restaurant which was some sort of faux-Monogolian fast-food joint.....it sure was delicious though.

Speaking of which, there used to be a Wendy's in CityFair as well, and it was the busiest restaurant Uptown. I wonder why someone hasn't opened a new location? Though Wendy's profit margins doesn't typically allow for high-profile locations, there is serious money to be made by someone based on volume.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nyxmike Hamlet

nyxmike

Posted
Posted

Just a general question - why are there no spec-office buildings going up in Charlotte? If Charlotte wants to meet it's goal of 100,000 workers uptown, I think they need to get going. A lot of companies not only choose the suburbs because it is cheaper, but also because the buildings are already there...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
atlrvr Metropolitan Area

atlrvr

Posted
Posted

I agree with you nyxmike.....I think the problem is that most lenders don't want to take the risk. They see Charlotte as a suburban market and it has proven successful. Unfortunately, this only perpetuates the suburban cycle. I do think that we are losing some companies to the "burbs" because they can move quicker.

I think we will see a spec office tower when Uptown rents improve more substantially, making the reward more worth the risk. Also, as the city grows, we are more likely to attract national attention from REIT's that can afford and are willing to build spec office.

Lastly, I think Charlotte has to further become the dominant city of the Carolinas, and for both North and South Carolina to become Charlotte-centric......just as New England is Boston-centric, the mountain states are Denver-centric, and the Pacific Northwest in Seattle-centric. Due to the proximity of many mid-sized metros, I think many companies will see the wisdom in establishing a large presence in Charlotte.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CLT Unincorporated Area

CLT

Posted
Posted

Speaking of which, there used to be a Wendy's in CityFair as well, and it was the busiest restaurant Uptown. I wonder why someone hasn't opened a new location? Though Wendy's profit margins doesn't typically allow for high-profile locations, there is serious money to be made by someone based on volume.

Ive heard several times of the years the Wendy's @ Midtown Sq was one of the best performing in volume and sales.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
atlrvr Metropolitan Area

atlrvr

Posted
Posted

Ive heard several times of the years the Wendy's @ Midtown Sq was one of the best performing in volume and sales.

It is....but very few people working in Uptown (especially in the office buildings on Tryon) go to that Wendy's.....it's mostly supported by the hospitals and city/county employees.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Charlotteman Burg

Charlotteman

Posted
Posted

The comments about Wendy's made me laugh:)

Where I live in Bremerton, Washington, Wendy's closed its doors permanently before I moved here. I've always lammented that fact. To get Wendy's now, people in Bremerton have to drive to the next town. Wendy's needs to expand EVERYWHERE! Where else can ya get such delicious chili? Hard to believe the best chili is at a fast food restaurant. Personally I've never had chili anywhere, that is as delicious as Wendy's!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HighRiseHillbilly Whistle-Stop

HighRiseHillbilly

Posted
Posted

It is....but very few people working in Uptown (especially in the office buildings on Tryon) go to that Wendy's.....it's mostly supported by the hospitals and city/county employees.

It's hard to get there from certain directions. When I worked on Morehead, I'd occasionally get cought up in traffic and miss a turn then have to drive around in circles for a while.

It was always really busy, though. And they are also extremely efficient. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dubone Megalopolis

dubone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

What is Kroc Center? Why is that not ringing a bell? I'm probably scrolling too fast, but I can't find that on the first post.

I added it new to the image. It hasn't been discussed much on UP, and it doesn't have it's own thread. It is planned to be at 10th and Siegel near Piedmont Middle School in Belmont.

Ray Kroc is the businessman who sold milkshake machines in the 40s/50s. He noticed that even though his sales to drug stores were starting to go down dramatically, this little restaurant near Chicago seemed to keep buying more. He decided to go into business with that restaurant, run by the McDonalds brothers, to sell hamburgers. He bought the business, and set up a franchising business model that has made it the most successful restaurant business in history. When he died his fortune passed on to his wife, and when she died a few years ago, she gave the largest single charitable donation in history to the Salvation Army. She set up a fund with which the Salvation Army would set up community centers in poor neighborhoods. It was fairly flexible, although it couldn't go for housing.

Charlotte was in the running for two Kroc Centers, at Belmont and near Eastland. However, when funds were shifted to the gulf region after Katrina, Charlotte was told it could only do one. Currently, the local Salvation Army is planning to build the local Kroc Center in Belmont, although it might do some things in Eastland. The center would go at Siegel and 10th.

The main issue currently is that they have determined that they need their own fields as part of the center. The only viable land for those fields in the area is the city yards, which is basically a huge parking facility for different city departments. Some city council members are reluctant to give up the city yards because then they'd need to find other parts of the city to house the industrial uses there. Patsy Kinsey is a notable example of someone who refuses to give up the city yards. Apparently the Kroc Center would pay for the land. The city had already appropriated $20m to clean up the site, so not only would they save that money, but they'd get the proceeds and could potentially buy multiple smaller sites that would serve the same function. Apparently, even though the yards is a single facility, the different departments that use it operate independently, and could just as easily be in different locations.

It will be extremely upsetting if Charlotte gives up the Kroc Center funding simply because the city doesn't want to spend the effort to locate a new facility to park police cars and garbage trucks. Considering all the efforts going into revitalizing Belmont, there is no way that keeping the City Yards as they are is in the best interest of the city, even with spending $20m to beautify them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
dubone Megalopolis

dubone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Could somebody make a picture with the current skyline that includes the new projected towers? It would be really cool. I'm not too good at computer art! :lol:

Here are three I made not too long ago. I recently tried to add some more, but I wasn't happy with how they turn out, got annoyed and scrapped the project :).

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...ndpost&p=268391

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
atlrvr Metropolitan Area

atlrvr

Posted
Posted

I'm not sure where to put these tidbits, so here they are.

The new courthouse parking deck is signing its first tenant. Quiznos subs will take 1 of the 3 retail spaces in the deck.

4th Ward Park is FINALLY getting their new sculpture that they have been working towards for years. It will be a metal "skeleton" of a victorian home that is approximately 12'x12'. Roses will be planted to grow into the metal shell of a house. People will be able to walk through the sculpture.....sounds sorta cool.

Also, the Medical Examiner's Office is moving, but I'm not sure where.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rickydavisfan21 Hamlet

Rickydavisfan21

Posted
Posted

Could somebody make a picture with the current skyline that includes the new projected towers? It would be really cool. I'm not too good at computer art! :lol:

did you not see mine.... seriously? I'm working ya'll haha I just got back from florida, then went to atlanta today to see the georgia aquarium, leisure time, I'll get on it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
crispin Whistle-Stop

crispin

Posted
Posted

4th Ward Park is FINALLY getting their new sculpture that they have been working towards for years. It will be a metal "skeleton" of a victorian home that is approximately 12'x12'. Roses will be planted to grow into the metal shell of a house. People will be able to walk through the sculpture.....sounds sorta cool.

Where is this going to be located? Hopefully it won't reduce the useable space in an already-small park...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • 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.