SkyHouse Charlotte, Publix and 10Tryon Tower in 4th Ward

[Jayman]

maybe because they were actually moving dirt... thanks for the response.

[atlrvr]

This one is officially dead, and with that, we can finally see what it would have looked like. The parcel is be marketed for sale by CBRE. I guess the owner got tired of paying a mortgage for land that doesn't have a future, or they just need the cash.

Anywway, HERE is a link to the marketing flyer that has a couple of renderings of what appears to be a ~27 story office tower, and maybe a 15 story apartment building which is consistent with the last set of rumors about the site plan. The office design looks like either Duda Paine, or maybe Pickard Chilton. The top looks awkward to me, but it would have been nice overall. Oh well.

I guess this takes this project off the block for 5/3, so perhaps they are looking at 300 S. Tryon, and they are the tenant driving the rumor of that project being restarted.

[Norm2]

that project doesn't look bad, but yea the top does seem a little funky. I would rather 300 S. Tryon get built. that land has been vacant for much longer.

[dubone]

It would have been good to have that building adding to the northern end of the skyline, adding jobs to the northern end of North Tryon, and bringing 5/3 uptown. But I guess now maybe 10th St can be extended to Tryon and east as planned, and we can have a nice gravel parking lot for a while.

[Norm2]

I do think that 10th street needs to be extended. The more streets that can be restored, the better.

[Andyc545]

I do think that 10th street needs to be extended. The more streets that can be restored, the better.

It would only be connecting one more block; they could curve 10th to connect with Phifer Ave and bring it to college- giving two distinct marketable parcels and somewhat improving the grid. I'd love to see these parcels developed (And what Atlvr posted was a nice project). This area is so crime ridden and a dead zone for very expensive land within the loop.

[dubone]

The center city transportation plan calls for building 10th Street all the way to Brevard (there is already a stretch of 10th between Brevard and Caldwell which is school only that could also eventually be opened to the public).

http://www.charmeck.org/NR/rdonlyres/einou...sMap4.24.06.pdf

Phifer Ave will eventually go away. I am hoping that the can extend the avenue feeling of 10th all the way to Tryon, shaving a bit off of the land that this project would have gone. It is awkward for it to end at Church and even if they eventually allow you to go across Church on 10th, it will always be an odd intersection. 10th Street is the only practical way to go east from Graham in Fourth Ward, so it really ought to allow for easy access to the city's main street.

[krazeeboi]

Hmmm, looks like it would have been our version of the 20-story Phipps Tower (which is, ironically, being developed by Crescent) going up in Buckhead:

The architects for this tower is Little & Associates.

But dang, this one is a loss for us. I would have loved to have something like this extending the CBD feel further up Tryon.

[dubone]

As if we didn't already know this project was dead, ironically the event that was rumored to be needed to trigger this project, the sale of the old First Charter HQ in URP (5th 3rd bought First Charter) has now happened, but 5th 3rd will be obtaining space for their regional headquarters in 201 North Tryon rather than anchoring the new tower as originally planned.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/03/10/1303167/fifth-third-to-move-hq-uptown.html

With the death knell tolling loudly, I wonder when they will pave this site over for parking revenue. I can't help but wish that the city would just go ahead and buy the right of way to continue the 10th St right of way all the way to Tryon, in preparation for the eventual extension west. Why not make 10th Street a memorable and important address through this section, considering it will have a light rail station and is the central part of the Hal Marshall land the county wants to sell.

[southslider]

10th Street is the only practical way to go east from Graham in Fourth Ward, so it really ought to allow for easy access to the city's main street.

Unless the City could re-open 7th, 8th and/or 9th. Afterall, if reconnecting 10th is a good cause for First Ward, how about some renewed connectivity within Fourth Ward?

[Urbanity]

Unless the City could re-open 7th, 8th and/or 9th. Afterall, if reconnecting 10th is a good cause for First Ward, how about some renewed connectivity within Fourth Ward?

7th street would require a road through the 4th Ward Park which honestly is a bad idea IMO.

As for 8th Street and 9th street - I see 9th being the least disruptive of the reconnection but the least necessary, though I'm personally not sold on the need for the grid in that area.

[nonillogical]

^yeah, the interrupted area of Fourth Ward is a residential neighborhood where we're not trying to add density or encourage new development (without knocking down something beautiful and historic), so i don't see much benefit. this is the only example i can think of where i'm against any reconnection, except for 10th which will be enough to make it easy to get around 4th ward. also, i love those little brick fountains and would be sad to see the one at 9th go!

back on topic, i actually LOVED the look of that tower. though it may be dead, what are the chances of something happening here in the next couple of years? it must be getting more attractive with the dance theater and uncc building nearby. i would love to see several smaller projects on the same block, but i don't know the logistics of splitting up a property like this or why it never seems to happen here.

[dubone]

10th is connected one way. What I'm talking about is to help make 10th street a major address by continuing the wider boulevard cross section at least one more block, but preferably also through the Hal Marshall site. It seems that no matter what they do, they can't seem to get sustained momentum this far up on North Tryon, so why not help create a major address intersection. Our original city was 1st to 10th, so 10th is a perfect place to have that.

I put the chances at zero for that tower. The chances are far more likely that any new tenant would prefer another tower like 300 S Tryon or other locations more in the center of the action.

[southslider]

^I believe the plan is to just clip the corner of 10th & Church to allow eastbound traffic to cross Church on 10th, not a wide boulevard. I also think maximizing buildable area would be more attractive to an office tower developer than a prominent street. Besides, North Tryon would likely be the address.

Edited March 12, 2010 by southslider

[dubone]

I know that is the plan, I'm advocating something different but fair enough.

[caterpillar2]

This particular thread sat idle for over a year. Is the project still alive? Are there any actual start dates and is an 18 story structure still being proposed?

[Spartan]

^yeah, the interrupted area of Fourth Ward is a residential neighborhood where we're not trying to add density or encourage new development (without knocking down something beautiful and historic), so i don't see much benefit. this is the only example i can think of where i'm against any reconnection, except for 10th which will be enough to make it easy to get around 4th ward. also, i love those little brick fountains and would be sad to see the one at 9th go!

Increasing vehicular connectivity will not encourage new development. For that matter, having connectivity through the neighborhood would improve it, IMO.

I agree that 10 St needs to connect through. Or at the very least you need to be able to get from 10th to 11th more easily if coming from graham. If you are trying to to parallel 277 via 10th/11th it is a very circuitous route.

[dubone]

You don't even have to click back a page to understand why this thread was idle, but I will elaborate. This project is virtually dead. The main tenant expected here was to be First Charter, contingent on them selling their University Research Park headquarters. Since that time, First Charter was sold to 5/3 (Fifth Third) Bank, the economy failed to the third degree, and 5/3 had to receive TARP (bailout) funds.

Recently, Electrolux has purchased the old First Charter HQ to become their US HQ, but instead of that triggering this project to start, 5/3 announced they will obtain uptown space in 201 N Tryon instead to make their NC HQ.

All of the above lead completely to this project not being anywhere near the horizon. If the economics changes or a tenant appears, then maybe.

[caterpillar2]

You don't even have to click back a page to understand why this thread was idle, but I will elaborate. This project is virtually dead. The main tenant expected here was to be First Charter, contingent on them selling their University Research Park headquarters. Since that time, First Charter was sold to 5/3 (Fifth Third) Bank, the economy failed to the third degree, and 5/3 had to receive TARP (bailout) funds.

Recently, Electrolux has purchased the old First Charter HQ to become their US HQ, but instead of that triggering this project to start, 5/3 announced they will obtain uptown space in 201 N Tryon instead to make their NC HQ.

All of the above lead completely to this project not being anywhere near the horizon. If the economics changes or a tenant appears, then maybe.

Thanks for bringing me up to date.

[nonillogical]

i realize that this project as-planned is dead or on indefinite hold. my question was what are the odds of a different, scaled-down project or projects being started on this block instead?

if the idea is to sit until a large office tower can be built here, its going sit in rubble for many more years. is the land so valuable that a few mixed-use midrises or something won't fly here?

[Charlotteman]

if the idea is to sit until a large office tower can be built here, its going sit in rubble for many more years. is the land so valuable that a few mixed-use midrises or something won't fly here?

This is an unfortunate conundrum that many inner city lots face all over the country.......is the land too valuable to build something human-scaled? Is the land location too "iffy" to build a large project on?

There become so many if's that the property ends up sitting vacant. What a shame, as this project sounded pretty cool.

[New Name]

There are +/-20 new towers on this site now!

That's right... someone went inside the chain-link fence and stacked up a bunch of little "towers" made of the crumbled concrete and rocks. They stand about 2' tall, and they're scattered all over the site... kind of looks like Blair Witch Project actually.

[Munson79]

There are +/-20 new towers on this site now!

That's right... someone went inside the chain-link fence and stacked up a bunch of little "towers" made of the crumbled concrete and rocks. They stand about 2' tall, and they're scattered all over the site... kind of looks like Blair Witch Project actually.

...or is it Stonehenge from This is Spinal Tap?

[sharkdawg]

In ancient times, hundreds of years before the dawn of history, an ancient race of people... the Druids. No one knows who they were or what they were doing...

[uptownliving]

According the CBJ this project is back! Grubb Properties is looking to build 250+ apartments on the site fronting 10th and Church followed by an office project fronting Tryon (depending on the demand for Office space). Don't have any renederings at this point but its good to see some activity on this site. Development here will effectively "extend" downtown one more block and will connect the NC Dance Theatre studios with the rest of downtown.

Also havn't heard if they plan to realign 10th St with this project. Looking forward to hearing more.