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Wachovia 48 Story Office Tower & 42 Story Condo Tower


Bled_man

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Not to throw cold water on this discussion, but I am quite disappointed to see what they are depicting at street level on these towers. It looks like more of the same old thing that has taken life off the streets in Charlotte, at the hands of the banks btw, for the past 35 years. When will they get a clue and figure out there is a lot of money to be made by using the ground floor of these places for a massive retail project?
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note, we used to get excited about 1 building going up. Now we are getting them in bunches. And we still are waiting on 300 S. Tryon, the building on Stonewall that was hinted at at the Brevard meetings, Renisance site, Brevard corridor cluster, Novare power building redev., 222 S. Church, etc, etc..... Good stuff :)
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Based on the models (as I see them), this retail would have to be accessed from the interior of the building, which is more for the convenience of the building's dwellers, not people on the outside, off of the streets. And this also does nothing to change the monolithic relation to the street, there is still essentially a foreboding "wall".

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Based on the models (as I see them), this retail would have to be accessed from the interior of the building, which is more for the convenience of the building's dwellers, not people on the outside, off of the streets. And this also does nothing to change the monolithic relation to the street, there is still essentially a foreboding "wall".
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It is interesting to note the differences in how this tower was revealed with how BofA revealed their tower.

BofA held the annoucement in Founders Hall which was open to the public...whereas Wachovia held their annoucement at a private reception.

BofA posted a press release about the new tower on their website the same day of the unveiling. Wachovia has yet to post a press release on their website.

I hope that Wachovia moves the model to a public space so that everyone can get a look at it.

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Why? Do you not like those posts for some reason? Its a model of a 48 and 42 story building......... You look at it to see what the building is going to look like and for massing. Not to see how many doors there are to the street. There is a site plan for how much retail there is going to be, so why would you base your opinion off of a 4ft tall building model? I, as well as other forumers here, were at the public meeting with Wachovia. It has been stated that 70% of the site is dedicated to retail. So why would you continue to dismiss what we have seen and heard all of a sudden because a model doesn't show it?

Desperately trying to find something wrong....

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The base of the tower has 32 elevators, two escalators, security desks, the Wake Forest lobby, and stairwells. There's really not room for retail on the ground level of the tower. However, Wachovia still managed to place a large amount of retail in the project as a whole. Nearly all of the ground level space below the trading floors is retail, as is nearly half of the ground level space of the Mint.

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As for retail, there's plenty in the project. Refer to page 2 of this thread for a site plan.

Unlike BofA's project on College, the Sq Footage at 500 S Tryon is oriented to the street and the plaza between it and the Mint. The footprint of the tower is really not that large; about the same as the Corporate Center. So given all that had to be accomodated on one block, I think they did an OK job. I don't think it's perfect (sorta wonder who will actually see, much less use the retail on Stonewall facing the hideous Observer building), but they did include a good amount of ground level commercial space. Let's just be thankful there's not another branch bank planned there.

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I respectfully and completely disagree with you. Incorporate that type of retail somewhere on the entire block of this project, but don't put it in the base footprint of the tower itself. I don't think you'd have the room to make it work as it is as MC pointed out. I'd prefer to build a Founders Hall-esque wing, outward facing towards the street though attached to the tower to incorporate this type of retial or inward facing but outdoors like Latta Arcade.

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At the public meeting back in spring, Bob Bertges did spend a decent amount of time discussing retail. He indicated that wanted a steak house in the complex, and also a convenience retail, but he solicited suggestions, and invited all participants that knew retailers interested in the center city to have them contact him.

That said, there wasn't much discussion regarding actual design of the retail, but it was clear that it would all be accessible from the street.

I can see monsoon's concerns from the model as it reminds me of several office towers here in Boston that have street level retail, but still aren't inviting to the public.

Here is an example of an office tower (32 stories built in 1974) that has street retail on all sides ( dry cleaner, restuarant and jewelry store), but still isn't engaging.

post-1289-1165513066_thumb.jpg

And here is a picture of the 22 story building built in 1989 directly across the street with great retail space (bank branch, coffe shop, gym, salon).

post-1289-1165513072_thumb.jpg

EDIT. Photos from Emporis.com

post-1289-1165513066_thumb.jpg

post-1289-1165513072_thumb.jpg

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I'm not sure we're looking at the same thing. I see outward facing retail from the tower footprint on Stonewall adjacent to the Wake Forest school. I see outward facing retail all along Stonewall and Church Street as the interior is going down to the underground parking deck. At the corner of church and first you have the 42 story condo tower with outward facing retail along First Street. You also have the interior arcade of retail, but given the block size, I'm assuming that the outward facing retail along First is double-loaded back to the arcade? Am I incrorrect in making this assumption? Given the elevators in the tower, where could you squeeze more retail into the tower footprint, that's my question?

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Additionally, I'd be curious to see the required parking count for this project. They're already digging a 100 foot deep hole for parking and I'm sure, like most developers building a parking structure, they're not wanting to pay to construct one more parking space than they're actually required to have. Retail generally requires twice as much parking as office by city parking standards. Most if not all developers are always trying to squeeze as much retail onto sites as they can rent it for a much higher rate than office, but a balance always come to a head when they can't park the square footage of the retail proposed (and much higher for restaurant space at that). I'd be curious to learn about the process and the cuts and plan revisions made due to design constraints. I'm sure we'll never know, but it would be interesting to know what was initially proposed and what the final product was (in a more detailed sense than what has been speculated and disccused on this forum).

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If there is absolutely no street level retail on this entire block, then I'd condemn the street level design, I just don't think any of us can tell for sure. I'm speculating on what I see in plan view and elevation like everyone else, but haven't formed a concrete opinion one way or the other. You're taking a hard line that the retail portion of this project is a bust based on the model, I'm still trying to put all the pieces together and see what's really being built and how on the ground plain.

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