Jump to content

Ritz-Carlton Hotel & 1 Bank of America Center

uptownliving

By uptownliving
in Charlotte

Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...

  • Replies 996
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Posted Images

HopHead City

HopHead

Posted
Posted

The site has been updated with a pretty amazing flyby. The curved facade is going to be very nice.

Ahh, you beat me to it... Yea, that flyby is pretty sweet. They even included the Wachovia projet as well. The tower is going to add some nice infill to uptown. After looking at it, I think I've become a fan of this project now. It doesn't seem quite as pale and boring to me as before. A great "green" project.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Andyc545 Burg

Andyc545

Posted
Posted

It's very sleek looking and definitely is in favor to going green, which could really be used as an example for developments to come. Did anyone notice the TWO skybridges?! It looks as if one will connect to the office tower and then a second would connect to Ritz. The office tower one I sort of understand because it's connecting the office workers between the two, but one to the Ritz doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I know the Ritz is mainly for the BofA execs to stay at when it down and all, but in the rare moments that one would have to go from the Ritz to the office tower is it that difficult to cross the street outside for 50 feet!? Seems sort of a waste to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
InitialD Burg

InitialD

Posted
Posted

It's very sleek looking and definitely is in favor to going green, which could really be used as an example for developments to come. Did anyone notice the TWO skybridges?! It looks as if one will connect to the office tower and then a second would connect to Ritz. The office tower one I sort of understand because it's connecting the office workers between the two, but one to the Ritz doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I know the Ritz is mainly for the BofA execs to stay at when it down and all, but in the rare moments that one would have to go from the Ritz to the office tower is it that difficult to cross the street outside for 50 feet!? Seems sort of a waste to me.

It looks like they both connect to the "garden" area between the buildings. I like how the office tower is seeking LEED Gold and will include bicycle racks, showers, and lockers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

It's very sleek looking and definitely is in favor to going green, which could really be used as an example for developments to come. Did anyone notice the TWO skybridges?! It looks as if one will connect to the office tower and then a second would connect to Ritz. The office tower one I sort of understand because it's connecting the office workers between the two, but one to the Ritz doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I know the Ritz is mainly for the BofA execs to stay at when it down and all, but in the rare moments that one would have to go from the Ritz to the office tower is it that difficult to cross the street outside for 50 feet!? Seems sort of a waste to me.

Watch the Fly By again, it details the entire Winter Garden that it all conects to in a Founders Hall type plaza.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tozmervo Metropolis

tozmervo

Posted
Posted

My understanding is that they originally wanted one very wide skybridge on which vendors could set up shop. The city had code issues with that so they had to decrease the square footage over the city right of way. Don't know if the city will still permit vendors, though, or even cafe seating.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

No joke, I just found out there is an overstreet mall uptown. But I still have no idea how to get there or what's in it.

Its mostly a foodcourt, but I guarantee you have been in it and just down know. Technically Founders Hall is part of the overstreet mall, so if you've been in founders hall, you've been in the overstreet mall. As far as whats there, there is a Belk Express, a couple mens clothing stores, a bunch of your average Newstands, fast food restaurants, a small bookstore, etc. The Overstreet mall actually is quite large and serpentine and stretches many many blocks.

map.jpg

Overstreet mall is represented by the small pink line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Commoner Whistle-Stop

Commoner

Posted
Posted

1 skybridge is too much. The fat cats at BofA should have to walk on the street just like the rest of us.

I will admit that using the winter garden/overstreet walkway to get from the Arena Lynx stop to the office (any office on the east side of Tryon Street for that matter) during inclement weather (including 90+ degrees with opressive humidity) sounds divine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
InitialD Burg

InitialD

Posted
Posted
Its not worth finding. Avoid it at all costs.
Not to get too off topic, but online I found there is a Tinderbox cigar shop in overstreet mall, but have no idea how to get to it. It would be so much simpler if these shops were on the street so I'd actually know it existed before now. Or if there was some kind of big sign or main entrance that is readily noticeable for this overstreet mall thing. Generally I'm scared to go into any of the office towers; they see me with a SLR and promptly shoo me away.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dubone Megalopolis

dubone

Posted
Posted

Really, InitialD, the 'Overstreet Mall' is just a poor label for the network of skybridges and the 2nd or 3rd floor retail that has been put in the office towers over the years. It is much more descriptive, I find, to say that the YMCA is in One Wachovia, the TinderBox is in the BB&T Center, the Salsarita is in the BofA Plaza building, or the BookMark bookstore is in Founders Hall. You can access those places by either entering that building and going to the right floor, or else using the network of bridges to get there from your building.

It doesn't operate anything like a mall, and that designation is purely for people who like to reference the entire network in a singular fashion. There are no signs at every entrance pointing out all the retail in the entire network. There is no single ownership group that ensures a good mix of retail.

As Spartan said, from an urban development perspective, it is an extremely negative force on the city, as it keeps office workers away from the street, which stunts the growth of street retail. From the already-too-late aspect of the designs of the buildings, it was a terrible idea, because it allowed for massive lobbies on the street level (doing little to help street life) while all the retail to support the office was tucked away inside the building, unavailable to people after hours. Many of us who oppose it philosophically boycott it as much as possible, although there is occassionally wisdom in using the network to avoid rain as I did the other day. Also, in some cases, the businesses are small businesses that had to go to Overstreet because there were no other real options for them. It is good to still support those businesses in hopes that they'll grow and eventually be able to find a place on the street. A great example is BookMark in Founders Hall, which is an independent bookstore.

http://www.thebookmark.biz/

To bring it back to the topic, it is one of those things that is philosophically negative, but is considered a necessity for linking sister buildings that are part of a headquarters campus. It is hard to argue the philosophical level when you are talking about the risk that people constantly going between the buildings for meetings might have an unfortunate interaction with a car or the weather. It is certainly doable, but since they've already got the connections to most of their other buildings, what's one more [one might argue].

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spartan Gigalopolis

Spartan

Posted
Posted

Not to get too off topic, but online I found there is a Tinderbox cigar shop in overstreet mall, but have no idea how to get to it. It would be so much simpler if these shops were on the street so I'd actually know it existed before now. Or if there was some kind of big sign or main entrance that is readily noticeable for this overstreet mall thing. Generally I'm scared to go into any of the office towers; they see me with a SLR and promptly shoo me away.

No, just do it. Go into one of the buildings and you'll find it. Its not a very will defined thing, but you won't be run off. They don't have security like that... its only there for the elevators.

To bring it back to the topic, it is one of those things that is philosophically negative, but is considered a necessity for linking sister buildings that are part of a headquarters campus. It is hard to argue the philosophical level when you are talking about the risk that people constantly going between the buildings for meetings might have an unfortunate interaction with a car or the weather. It is certainly doable, but since they've already got the connections to most of their other buildings, what's one more [one might argue].

I've decided that I'm not totally opposed to linking office towers (like BofA) for the purposes office functionality, though I'm still not a fan of it. I am mainly opposed to the retail elements that you mention along with Founders Hall and The Atrium- though the Atrium does a better job of it that Founders Hall, and they are putting SOME retail on the outside of Founders Hall now. Anyway the TWO tubes to the Ritz is ridiculous. The City is entirely too complacent with allowing these connections. It should never be possible to walk 7 blocks without getting on the street.

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.