Sears Building in Downtown Charlotte

[monsoon]

It's being reported the city has decided to sell the former Sears building on N. Tryon and move all these employees to it's new office complex at the former Freedom Mall on Freedom Dr. The city took over the Sears building in the 1980s after Sears had departed it to move to Eastland Mall. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the building by this name, the city unceremoniously renamed it the Hal Marshal complex. (sounds like a jail)

While the building is a great example of modern architecture, and one of the few that hasn't been re-clad in 2000s style gaudy EFIS, it's my guess a developer won't keep it. Given that the Renaissance Hotel across the street is also being torn down, North Tryon could see a significant transformation over the next few years. Let's hope the city requires the developers to do something better with this land at street level than what has taken place on S. Tryon and S. College.

[DigitalSky]

Here is a pic of the Hal Marshall Services Center, as it is called today, from the Mecklenburg County tax site

It's been reported that the city would get at least $20 million for it and possibly up to $30. However, as you said, if developers were to grab hold of this property...poof.

[RiverwoodCLT]

It is the Mecklenburg County that owns the former Sears building and the office complex at the former Freedom Mall. They plan to take money from this sale to finish the Freedom Mall complex. This is the info in todays paper.

[mallguy]

I don't shop at Freedom Mall but I hope the mall keeps at least some retail parts, which I guess it will- don't people in that part of town need somewhere to shop? Isn't there office space available at the government center uptown?

http://www.labelscar.com/category/north-carolina/

In retrospect, BAD move by Sears to Eastland. It could have stayed uptown and probably come out ahead, with a building now worth more than $20 million rather than a location in another dying mall!

[monsoon]

Maybe. I would guess they would have made far more money over the past 3 decades at Eastland than they would have if they had stayed in that store. These days it is a different matter of course.

[Miesian Corners]

This annoys me to no end. Our government keeps preaching the merits of mass transit, yet it moves high-profile government offices out to a place that is reachable only by automobile or one lousy bus line. Good move, Meck.

[fortyniner]

This annoys me to no end. Our government keeps preaching the merits of mass transit, yet it moves high-profile government offices out to a place that is reachable only by automobile or one lousy bus line. Good move, Meck.

[monsoon]

I don't have any problem with moving government offices out to Freedom Drive. That is an area that is in need of investment and the movement of all these employes to that dead mall can't do anything but help that area. Charlotte is more than just downtown and the city needs to invest resources in the other parts of the city lest we end up with more areas like Freedom.

[Charlotte_native]

I don't have any problem with moving government offices out to Freedom Drive. That is an area that is in need of investment and the movement of all these employes to that dead mall can't do anything but help that area. Charlotte is more than just downtown and the city needs to invest resources in the other parts of the city lest we end up with more areas like Freedom.

[ilektronik]

I used to work in the basement of this building on a gig for the county. The basement floods regularly and the mold has taken over down there. Naturally, they stick the programmers down there

[fortyniner]

I agree that all of the federal, state, county, and city offices should be in one district.

Originally, Second Ward was to be the government district. I thought it a bad idea to move the county

offices to the old Sears building. A few years ago, I had to go to an IRS office, umpteen miles out Albemarle Rd. of all things. INS was or is located in Woodlawn Green office park, 5 miles from uptown.

The move to Freedom Drive seems insane, although it's probably too late to stop it. The good news is Second Ward and the city are set to generate more tax money through private development. As regards the

auto dependency issue, why not start planning now for something on the extreme edge of uptown, but in a somewhat depressed area....maybe a few more blocks north on Tryon? And maybe more vertical growth. BTW, will the federal courthouse of the future on W. Trade include federal offices? I hope for vertical more than low rise, although they have to take security seriously, without building blank fortress walls.

[hauntedheadnc]

This building figures into some of the novels of Kathy Reichs, who sets her books in her two hometowns of Charlotte and Montreal. It's amazing to me how quickly her books become outdated when she decribes the city. This changes, that changes, and in a few years I suppose when her character is doing a Y-incision on some poor wretch, she'll have to write about how the coroner's offices moved from here to Freedom Drive.

[Miesian Corners]

I'm all for helping Freedom Drive overcome its decline, and I certainly think that branches of government should be available citywide (think Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police). I disagree with relocating entire departments to the Freedom Mall site.

[StevenRocks]

Maybe. I would guess they would have made far more money over the past 3 decades at Eastland than they would have if they had stayed in that store. These days it is a different matter of course.

[uptownliving]

Mecklenburg County Commision voted unanimously to put the Hal Marshall Services center property out for bid. They will advertise in the Charlotte Observer and the process will work like the recent Charlotte Colisiem bids.

There were reservations expressed by some of the commisioners that they wanted to ensure what is put there is a quality development. The staff pointed out that the property is already zoned UMUD (Uptown Mixed Use District) so the design standards would mimick what is already on Tryon St. Also it is anticiapted that as part of the bid process the developers will state what their development plans are for the property. Of course if the County Commision doesn't like the highest bid they don't have to accept it.

[Charlotte_native]

Mecklenburg County Commision voted unanimously to put the Hal Marshall Services center property out for bid. They will advertise in the Charlotte Observer and the process will work like the recent Charlotte Colisiem bids.

There were reservations expressed by some of the commisioners that they wanted to ensure what is put there is a quality development. The staff pointed out that the property is already zoned UMUD (Uptown Mixed Use District) so the design standards would mimick what is already on Tryon St. Also it is anticiapted that as part of the bid process the developers will state what their development plans are for the property. Of course if the County Commision doesn't like the highest bid they don't have to accept it.