Ritz-Carlton Hotel & 1 Bank of America Center

[New Name]

Reports that a worker fell 2 stories from the new BoA tower today. That's just too many incidents lately... I don't know anything about workplace safety on construction sites, but is this a lot, per capita I mean?

[InitialD]

I snapped this photo from the Holiday Inn on 3/21/09. The windows face south so unfortunately there is a glare all the time. When the rooftop pool is open this summer I'll try to go get some photos from there.

[cltheel.sdl]

This project is taking forever. Are they still on schedule?

[tozmervo]

Just FYI to shutter bugs/interested parties - this weekend is going to see some pretty significant changes at the block. The cooling towers on College are headed back to the parking deck and they're finally able to tie back one of the cranes so it is about to shoot up substantially in height (ie, this weekend).

The project is still on its original schedule, so as you can imagine the tower is about to rocket upward. There will be plenty of construction photo opportunities

[New Name]

^And I think they have removed the sidewalk covering from Trade St too - at least I walked by and felt like there was something different. I think that's what they did. The scaffolding is still blocking the front of the building, but you can now walk on the sidewalk without weaving between steel poles and plywood.

[HopHead]

Just FYI to shutter bugs/interested parties - this weekend is going to see some pretty significant changes at the block. The cooling towers on College are headed back to the parking deck and they're finally able to tie back one of the cranes so it is about to shoot up substantially in height (ie, this weekend).

The project is still on its original schedule, so as you can imagine the tower is about to rocket upward. There will be plenty of construction photo opportunities

Good deal... This weekend will be a perfect opportunity for our fellow UPers to take pictures here and around uptown. Supposed to be great weather. I'm not sure that I've seen a tower mover slower than this one.

[AuLukey]

The Ritz in the reflection:

A couple shots of the office tower:

I was actually planning on snapping a lot of pics of the complex, but right about the time we got to the area, we got a call that made us pressed for time.

[AuLukey]

A few more from earlier today:

[Miesian Corners]

The O reported yesterday that the tower should be ready for a 1Q occupancy. This thing's gonna fly up.

[HopHead]

The O reported yesterday that the tower should be ready for a 1Q occupancy. This thing's gonna fly up.

Yea, I noticed that too... I guess Speedy Gonzalez is going to be taking over the construction b/c this thing has been slow as anything I've ever seen.

[swh1972]

Q1 2010 or Q1 2011? I can see it being finished by 2011.

[HopHead]

Q1 2010 or Q1 2011? I can see it being finished by 2011.

The 1 BofA Center web site says Q2 of 2010... They must be on an ambitious schedule then if that's the case.

[tozmervo]

I wasn't kidding about the "rocketing upward" a few posts back

[AuLukey]

The office tower is starting to catch up to the Ritz pretty quickly.

Taken yesterday from the Avenue:

[JerseyBoy]

Update 5-9-09

[AuLukey]

I like how this is turning out. Very different than the rest of uptown. It's always so dark when I walk under those behemoth walkways.

[krazeeboi]

We should get rid of them whenever we can--this one included.

[queensguy06]

^I don't know about this one. Normally, I am in complete agreement with you krazeeboi. But if the new Founder's Hall is as street savvy as they say it will be, then I have no problem with this. That in-and-of-itself will draw people into the Winter Garden, and even then the only folks using this honky tube on the other side will be Ritz Carlton folk staying specifically for BoA and BoA staff. Of all the elevated skywalks in this city this is the most pedestrian friendly. The rest for the Overstreet Mall and such we could have done away with a long time ago.

[DMann]

^I don't know about this one. Normally, I am in complete agreement with you krazeeboi. But if the new Founder's Hall is as street savvy as they say it will be, then I have no problem with this. That in-and-of-itself will draw people into the Winter Garden, and even then the only folks using this honky tube on the other side will be Ritz Carlton folk staying specifically for BoA and BoA staff. Of all the elevated skywalks in this city this is the most pedestrian friendly. The rest for the Overstreet Mall and such we could have done away with a long time ago.

You misjudge the people going to the Belk and Blumenthal. When the original walkway went down, many people stopped coming to the performing arts.

[abttown]

^That's no excuse to stop attending a show. If people stopped going to see a performance just because they had to cross a street, they must not have enjoyed the show too much in the first place. I know these organizations put on great shows, so I'm not bashing them in any way, but people just need to tough it out...wussies

[AuLukey]

You misjudge the people going to the Belk and Blumenthal. When the original walkway went down, many people stopped coming to the performing arts.

Or was it the economy? I honestly can't see something like a walkway inhibiting theater attendance as theater goers (in general) would have to arrive for the show just to realize the walkway was gone.

[Spartan]

These tubes only serve to kill street level activity. Every person you see walking up there is someone who would be walking on the street if that tube weren't there.

[Norm2]

The dark glass on those walkways, and the dark tunnel they create just somehow seems.....gothamesque to me. is that even a word? LOL!

[krazeeboi]

These tubes only serve to kill street level activity. Every person you see walking up there is someone who would be walking on the street if that tube weren't there.

I feel the same way. Even the quality of this project doesn't justify its presence here IMO.

[HopHead]

I never understood Charlotte's fascination with these walkways... It's not like we're Minneapolis and have to deal with sub-zero temps, nor is it like NYC where you easily get run over by a mad cabdriver. This only slightly dampers my enthusiasm for this project though!