Bojangles at Third and Independence

[Miesian Corners]

In true Charlotte fashion, a high profile piece of real estate is going to be a fast food joint. Bojangles will open its "flagship" store at Third and Independence this summer with the standard suburban model - set back from the street with a drive through. The building isn't supposed to look like a run of the mill Bo's, but from an urban standpoint, it will be the same old schlock.

I'm really disappointed on this one, as it will be sandwiched between two really good urban projects: Elizabeth District and Midtown Square. Oh well, at least it's not going to be a Walgreen's/CVS/Eckerd.

[krazeeboi]

^I saw that and was somewhat surprised. Oh well, "gotta getta hava eata Bojangles!"

[dubone]

I think I saw that they want it to be a place "where executives hang out", so they are putting in WiFi and a fancier design inside.

Hopefully, their designers will tell them that they should also make it more prominent and urban by putting it at the corner and putting parking behind it.

[DanRNC]

Bojangle's is possibly the worst fast food restaurant ever, plus they and their customers contribute to the most roadside litter. They should have put this closer to the Nascar Hall of Fame.

[f0xym0p]

Bojangle's is possibly the worst fast food restaurant ever, plus they and their customers contribute to the most roadside litter. They should have put this closer to the Nascar Hall of Fame.

On what grounds are you saying it is the worst fast food restaurant? You're clearly not basing it on the food.

[Southernyank]

On what grounds are you saying it is the worst fast food restaurant? You're clearly not basing it on the food.

I don't really care that much for bojangles that much either. I wish there was a bigger presence of Popeye's.

Is there a rendering or something of this new Bo's design.

[DigitalSky]

The paper said it's 4,100 square feet. Talk about a Taj-Ma-Bo's

[crispin]

It is interesting to watch Third Street (re) develop. Each new project is like another vote in an election between strip mall retail and a walkable urban district. What sucks is that it only takes a few projects like this to disrupt the emerging streetscape and discourage pedestrian traffic.

[DanRNC]

On what grounds are you saying it is the worst fast food restaurant? You're clearly not basing it on the food.

I was eating there with a work associate and he bit into the chicken and grease squirted out and hit his glasses. That was the last time I ever ate there. Then again, I don't eat much fast food but I would choose Wendy's, KFC, Hardlee's, McDs any day over Bojangle's.

[DigitalSky]

lol @ hardlee's

[monsoon]

Well there used to be one right on Tryon, in the center city so its not so bad.

[krazeeboi]

But their fries will make your blood pressure skyrocket with all of the salt they put on them.

[dubone]

That amount of square footage has now gotten me excited. I mean, we really could conceivably see an urban Bojangle's here. First of all, they consider their flagship, they plan to have space for seating and working, with wifi and flat screens. They are also clearly pumping in some money into the design of the building. But now take a look at the site:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=...9&scene=1905461

Take a look at where the driveway cuts are (the DOT would almost certainly not approve moving them closer to the intersection). That makes it seem most practical to put the building itself hugging the corner of the lot. But then when you couple the small lot, with a 4100 square foot building, there is very little chance that they could fit that in the center of the lot surrounded by parking. Better yet, it also looks hard to fit 4100 sq ft on that lot with parking, and not do a second story.

It is just food for thought. Even though the zoning doesn't require an urban design, the desired density, and the constraints of the parcel may yield that result anyway. I could be wrong, but it seems like they'd have to work awfully hard to do a typical suburban style store there.

Here is the article, by the way.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/new...er/14053474.htm

[Miesian Corners]

Just got off the phone with a very nice man from Bo's Corporate. I'm impressed he even took the time to call me back...maybe he was curious as to how I was able to get their number (its unlisted...guess they don't want people calling to complain about bad chicken). At any rate, here's the deal: Bo's actually presented the city with an urban form. The building at the corner with parking at the rear, the city said no. Yep, the folks at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission are the ones who are responsible for the building being pushed to the rear of the site. He was not sure as to why the city chose this specific site plan (Bo's offered four different versions). The drive-through will be on the Torrance Street side, materials consist of the same color brick and mortar as CPCC (with copy cat elements of those new buildings). The one good thing is that it will be heavily landscaped at the corner using large caliber hardwoods (maples, I think he said). The sign will be ala Cary.

What's really amazing is that he told me the new store at Highland Creek will be urban, in that it will do what this one should have, placed on the actual corner. The logic of the Planning Commission is not apparent to me as to why a suburban location would get a pedestrian friendly store and Elizabeth would get an unfriendly one. The city has not returned my phone calls yet. I'll keep you up to date as "Bo-gate" unfolds.

[atlrvr]

I demand answers! Someone will have to answer for this.

[dubone]

I'm very proud of Bojangle's for trying, and for apparently creating a high quality alternative.

I'm shocked that the planning department would have accepted that, when the rest of the area is becoming to pedestrian oriented. The rest of the buildings that have gone up on Third are also more urban in nature and hug the curb.

What is going on!?!

[atlrvr]

Obsolete zoning for the area.

[dubone]

Does that mean that the zoning actually disallowed the more urban design?

[redjeep77]

^Bo's is superior to anything KFC or popeyes could ever put out. Especially their biscuits.

We'll it may be true that they are building a suburban type Bo's here, but what's to keep them from razing it in 10 years? It's not like that would be the first time we saw this kinda thing happening

[atlrvr]

It would likely be a land lease anyway. Walker Wells owns the parcel, and he typically prefers to do land leases, as do fast food restaurants.

[Southernyank]

Now that I think about it, is'nt there a bojangles on Elizabeth in one of the CP buildings? whats does this city have against the word, "variety." At least you know you can always eat at Showmars no matter what street you're on . God forbid we get a wave of 7 Elevens (Although I do love them)

[dubone]

Well, that Bojangles is just a small one serving students during class hours. They are trying to capture the commuting crowd from Providence Road who might get some biscuits from breakfast. Also, now that the owner of Bojangle's is moving uptown (or so I've heard), maybe they wanted to build a nicer prototype to show off. There is a small Bo's To Go in Ivey's, but also a full fledged store on West Trade.

As for the rest, I dread too much dominance of fast food. But at least this is Charlotte based chain. When I first moved to North Carolina, I was obsessed with Bojangles. Of course, I was much younger, and fried chicken, sweet tea, and spiced fries, didn't really have much of a hangover then. .

[DigitalSky]

they said on WCCB "It's not your daddy's Bojangles' anymore"

[crispin]

They are trying to capture the commuting crowd from Providence Road who might get some biscuits from breakfast.

Which is exactly why it makes sense for them to have a parking lot rather than a sidewalk. Makes you wonder who pushed who.

[dubone]

Well, they could have easily met the needs of the auto commuters with a parking lot on the side/back and drivethrough on the side/back, with the building hugging the corner. But and hugging the corner would have also been pedestrian friendly, urban, and more consistent with the direction of the neighborhood.