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Ritz-Carlton Hotel & 1 Bank of America Center


uptownliving

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What I don't understand is why they are moving the HVAC system. With all the leftover revenue, why don't they just junk the old systems in place for more efficient, cleaner systems to be used for all three towers? Or am I just jumping the gun and this sidewalk accident-waiting-to-happen is just a temporary holding place for the old systems that will be replaced completely once the new towers are constructed with updated systems? I still don't get why they just didn't place them on top of Founders Hall (the non-glass portion.) To me that would seem safer.
I imagine that the steel superstructure of Founders Hall isn't designed to carry that much weight. Building codes are strict; you just can't move things like this around willy-nilly. Look no further than the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store in Seoul (granted more than just the HVAC, but movement of HVAC had much to do with the structual failure) as to why.
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I had a acquaintance die in that collapse, and we definitely need to avoid any such thing here. Building collapses set us back quite far. I think we should be very appreciative of our strong building code, permitting, and inspection process. (Even if it does hold up our pet projects for years sometimes).

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Yes, I guess I wrote that too quickly as a segue to how lucky we are to have solid building codes here. I have had two friends die in two separate buildings collapses in two different countries. I am well aware of the human side of those events, and not downplaying that at all.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A couple of items here....

#1. The Ritz-Carlton is nearly through the permitting process.

#2. It appears they have begun blasting on the site to remove rock.

#3. I was search LEED projects on the USGBC website, and the BofA tower was registered on 11/29/06. The interesting fact was that the tower is listed at 1.1M sq. ft.....soooo...either the Hotel will be LEED too, or this tower will be larger than announced (or perhaps they are counting other sq. ft. such as parking deck)

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A couple of items here....

#1. The Ritz-Carlton is nearly through the permitting process.

#2. It appears they have begun blasting on the site to remove rock.

#3. I was search LEED projects on the USGBC website, and the BofA tower was registered on 11/29/06. The interesting fact was that the tower is listed at 1.1M sq. ft.....soooo...either the Hotel will be LEED too, or this tower will be larger than announced (or perhaps they are counting other sq. ft. such as parking deck)

Just a tangent to your point, but while you're bringing up LEED and BofA - they announced today they will only build office and banking centers to LEED certification. Also, they are developing a financial product aimed at corps specifically for the financing of LEED certified bldgs.

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Just a tangent to your point, but while you're bringing up LEED and BofA - they announced today they will only build office and banking centers to LEED certification. Also, they are developing a financial product aimed at corps specifically for the financing of LEED certified bldgs.

Thats a head scratcher. :dunno: Seems like a missed opportunity. BofA will own the hotel right? Why not build the hotel to LEED certification?

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It is probably one of those things where they will build it to sustainable standards, but won't spend the extra money to get it certified, or do the fancy ventilation, etc.

I really wish there was universal appreciation for green building, so that all projects would do it freely. But I'm sure in this case they hit budget issues, and so "green" is the first to go.

Frankly, with furniture, carpeting, and linens being major sources for people to be exposed to toxic substance, it would be nice if they just planned to fill the hotel with non-toxic textiles. Cradle to Cradle by McDonough deals with this considerably, how the trimmings from textiles are often considered hazardous waste, yet it doesn't stop companies from having us sleep, sit, or walk on it by incorporating it into a consumer product. Considering the bank is expecting its VIPs to fill up significant numbers of room-nights and they cover many of the health and retirement costs for those people, I would expect that would be a priority for the bank. I guess most people just don't think about that, so it is hard to prioritize that on a construction budget.

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The skywalk pedestrian connector coming out of Founders Hall will be dismantled next weekend. This is the one that used to connect Founders Hall with the Parking Deck. Unfortunatly it will be replaced with an even larger skywalk as part of the Ritz Carlton/ BofA tower project.

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The Sky Walk in this case is a good thing. The amount of jaywalking around Hearst Tower is getting out of hand, as people don't use, or refuse to use cross walks when going across College. The sky walk will facilitate people who are only going from their car to their place of employment across the street. I don't see this as a big deal given the current lack of anything pedestrian friendly at the street level on this block.

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Jaywalking is a traffic calming device. Somehow, the thought of killing someone walking across the street actually makes people go the proper speed. A few blocks up, where there are no pedestrians, there are a lot of accidents because the cars rip through there much faster.

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Charlotte really needs to define its crosswalk space more effectively. Stripes, bricks, lit-up poles, lights embedded in the street... whatever works.

Tonight I had to stand and wait for 20 cars, INCLUDING A POLICE OFFICER, to pass before I could get across the crosswalk in front of the HT. Considering there's a street sign advising cars to stop for pedestrians, diagonal stripes, AND light-up flashers in the asphalt, I really think there is a lack of understanding in this city as to what a crosswalk actually is.

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Charlotte really needs to define its crosswalk space more effectively. Stripes, bricks, lit-up poles, lights embedded in the street... whatever works.

Tonight I had to stand and wait for 20 cars, INCLUDING A POLICE OFFICER, to pass before I could get across the crosswalk in front of the HT. Considering there's a street sign advising cars to stop for pedestrians, diagonal stripes, AND light-up flashers in the asphalt, I really think there is a lack of understanding in this city as to what a crosswalk actually is.

That's why over here in University we just walk across, hold our breath, pray, and know that if they hit us, we may be crippled; but at least we'd be rich cripples. Because of this, most traffic in University City yields to pedestrians where warranted. It's easy to tell drivers that aren't from the area, and even easier to tell that a student is a freshmen at Charlotte. By second semester they have it figured out though.

Nevertheless, I agree with you that this etiquette should be taught out within center city. The crosswalk may help traffic flow along College street during rush hour, and that is the only reason why I believe it is still a good idea despite the push for pedestrian friendly streets uptown.

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Charlotte really needs to define its crosswalk space more effectively. Stripes, bricks, lit-up poles, lights embedded in the street... whatever works.

Tonight I had to stand and wait for 20 cars, INCLUDING A POLICE OFFICER, to pass before I could get across the crosswalk in front of the HT. Considering there's a street sign advising cars to stop for pedestrians, diagonal stripes, AND light-up flashers in the asphalt, I really think there is a lack of understanding in this city as to what a crosswalk actually is.

This is obviously confusing for most drivers. If I am in heavy traffic and see the blinking lights, I usually will not stop (unless someone has already done so) because I know that 80% of the other drivers behind me will ignore it anyway, but if I am only one of a few cars, I will stop. The only way to change the bahavior (unfortunately) is to have a police officer on the other side issuing $50 tickets for violating the law.

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I agree. People in this city are just not used to pedestrians, and almost never need to change their driving behavior in response to a pedestrian. The crosswalk at Harris Teeter is a great example of where cars roar past, and even if the lights are flashing, and you are standing in the middle of the flipping lane, the cars will still zoom past you at 45 mph. Even if someone stops for you, half the time some one behind them changes lanes and zooms past. I have nearly been hit there a number of times.

I believe that will change as more pedestrians are around, but in the mean time, I don't blame the BofA workers from being a little nervous to have to cross College Street every day now.

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I think the solution is simply to have more clearly-marked crosswalks. If I were passing that HT for the first time, I'd have no idea why lights were flashing out of the pavement. The fact that it's the only crosswalk uptown in which pedestrians have full right-of-way makes it a tougher "sell" on drivers.

Most crosswalks, even right on Tryon St., are still marked with only two white stripes. I think that, especially in relatively low-traffic areas like First Ward, those need to be converted to full crosswalks like that in front of HT. The area around the stadium would also be a good place for this. It's not a complicated or expensive conversion, but it would go a long way toward making Charlotte's urban drivers more ped-conscious.

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