Elizabeth Projects (7th St, Elizabeth Ave, etc)

[atlrvr]

Lots of reasons.

Office demand collapsed 3 years ago.

Building costs skyrocketed (derailed the highrise apt. plan)

Burger King

The city's lack of dedication to the streetcar project

Those are the key 4 issues.

[Charlotte_native]

I'm sorry....I guess I should have clarified. I was referring to the Elizabeth development project by Grubb.

Reasons already posted are part of the Grubb picture, the rest are:

Presbyterian Hospital has been a part of this and flips and flops as to their level of involvement -- currently, far reduced involvement leading to a need to find more money since they were coming up with lots of it.

Burger King held out forever.

Key entities that were to be part of this project have backed out or held out on committing. The movie theater that was supposed to be part of this was a big one, a hotel that was planned is no longer, and a couple other tentative tenants that were never named didn't come through.

They have also changed their plans multiple times. Currently adding a tower that requires approval.

None of this is to indicate something is "wrong" just reasons why such a large project has had trouble putting all the puzzle pieces together and getting started. They actually have renovated a couple buildings and built a couple others, but just a minor amount compared to the scope of the whole project.

[PlazaMidwoodGuy]

Very interesting. Thanks for all the info!

That area is in a great location. This development, if done right, could end up being a huge success --especially with the possible changes in store for Cherry.

[voyager12]

I think the opening of Customshop this coming year will be a nice albeit small boost. Carpe Diem and NOFO are great places with character and Customshop will have a very impressive pedigree, helping the street along.

[atlrvr]

Here is a link to the newest site plans and elevations for the rezoning. It reflects what was already posted on here minus the hotel The 4th St. facade isn't too pedestriant friendly, but the Elizabeth Ave facade is great.

[cinco]

Here is a link to the newest site plans and elevations for the rezoning. It reflects what was already posted on here minus the hotel The 4th St. facade isn't too pedestriant friendly, but the Elizabeth Ave facade is great.

the elizabeth facade is great! i'm loving what grubbs is doing (so far) with this area... i just wish it would all happen a little faster. nice architecture and a whole foods.... this area is shaping up to be one of my favorite parts of town.

[uptownliving]

Yeah 4th is definitely the "back" side of this development.

I hope he designs the parkingdeck so that retail pads could be installed in the future along the street level.

You hardly see any pedestrians on that section of 4th right now, but who knows what the future holds.

[revitalize]

whoa... just seeing that "Whole Foods" logo on the rendering got me really excited for this project. should be very cool. The Visualite, Carpe Diem, the new ice creamery, Whole foods, etc. makes for a nice block.

[orulz]

I'm not a huge fan of the "raised plaza" along Hawthorne (what's underneath it - parking? part of the grocery store?) but then again, it has on-grade access to the retail at both corners which is most important.

[RiverwoodCLT]

[dubone]

It is odd to me that is probably the biggest thing Grubb has ever had going, yet he hasn't included much info on his website, which is almost the same as it was a few years ago.

[cltheel.sdl]

When will this building be completed? Has construction began yet?

[graydog]

Here is a link to the newest site plans and elevations for the rezoning. It reflects what was already posted on here minus the hotel The 4th St. facade isn't too pedestriant friendly, but the Elizabeth Ave facade is great.

So what do you call that architecture style? It seems like half a dozen of the major new/recent projects have a cylinder as the primary entrance or focal point. Providence Plaza, Parktowne Plaza and EpiCentre come to mind easily. Even Meck Cty courthouse has one.

[Charlotte_native]

So what do you call that architecture style? It seems like half a dozen of the major new/recent projects have a cylinder as the primary entrance or focal point. Providence Plaza, Parktowne Plaza and EpiCentre come to mind easily. Even Meck Cty courthouse has one.

Also seems like those "flying" roofs are becoming common.

Now that you bring it up, to all you architects out there, what style is Trademark, Courtside, Ave, Vue?

What would you call Ratcliffe?

[cinco]

Also seems like those "flying" roofs are becoming common.

Now that you bring it up, to all you architects out there, what style is Trademark, Courtside, Ave, Vue?

What would you call Ratcliffe?

you guys are right that many of these projects run in a common thread.

hmmmm... i am not an architect and i'm not sure if there is a named style for the above buildings.... i would call the style of these buildings CONSUMER GRADE CONTEMPORARY or CONSUMER MODERN. certainly david furman's projects are distinctively his own - however, they do seem to be inspired (as well as inspire) the forementioned style. perhaps it is the building material selection and the similar cost umbrella in which these projects work under coupled with their target demographic....

mr. furman has the distinct advantage of being an architect/developer... he can distance himself a little from the "consumer modern" style b/c of this. i hope that he continues to push the enevelope on his architectual creativity instead of becoming content with the status quo. not that i dislike the status quo.

Edited January 4, 2007 by cinco

[uptownliving]

This Grubb Elizabeth project is due for its Rezoning Hearing on Monday. So far the Charlotte Planning Staff review of this is not that good. Here is the list of some of the things Staff would like to see before giving this project their stamp of approval:

-The Development Standards limit maximum building height to 250 feet but the elevations describe an

[voyager12]

I was excited to see the Customshop banner hanging out front of their space this week. This should be a great restaurant. We seem to be starting a small but quirky restaurant row along Liz with Carpe Diem and NOFO already in place and Customshop opening this year

[appatone]

UL, is there a place where we could get a better look at elevations to actually see how this thing interacts with the street? It seems if the city saw 4th street these elevations must be somewhere where the public could take a look. Am I wrong in that assumption?

[uptownliving]

atlrvr posted this a little while back...

Here is a link to the newest site plans and elevations for the rezoning. It reflects what was already posted on here minus the hotel The 4th St. facade isn't too pedestriant friendly, but the Elizabeth Ave facade is great.

[A2]

What the heck is the up with the Zoning limiting height in the Midtown district??? It seems dated to me, since this area of Midtown would seem an appropriate place in the city to have taller bldgs. Am I missing something here, or is Midtown to continue to limit its height on ALL future projects after Grubb's has been built out, based on current Zoning.

Of all the area's that seem to have some Urban Appeal, this area is it. To restrict bldg's on height is somewhat weird.

Maybe I am in the minority, but I just think that this project was awesome and just needed some touching up. I surely hope staff begins to feel the same way. If not, my fear is Grubb will start to scale back all of their efforts since in reality they were counting on Streetcar service by 2009/2010. Now with that gone and time and money being used to fight staff, they might just decide to pack it in and pursue other less complicated, more transit friendly projects.

We are a city aren't we???

A2

Edited January 11, 2007 by A2

[atlrvr]

Midtown in general is limited to 120'. I don't think staff is opposing the higher height, they just want the developer to clarify if the building maximum will be 250' or 260'.

I don't think Charlotte is anywhere close to eliminating maximum heights in midtown, and I don't think they should. Instead, they should focus of getting all B-2 properties rezoned to MUDD.

[A2]

Midtown in general is limited to 120'. I don't think staff is opposing the higher height, they just want the developer to clarify if the building maximum will be 250' or 260'.

I don't think Charlotte is anywhere close to eliminating maximum heights in midtown, and I don't think they should. Instead, they should focus of getting all B-2 properties rezoned to MUDD.

Thanks again for the info atlrvr (as usual, your knowledge has left me feeling a bit more optomistic about this project moving forward). I agree with the 2nd part of your statement 100%. My hopes are that we can finally get this project off the ground and then momentum can carry Grubb the rest of the way in to completing what they set out to do. This whole Elizabeth district plan by Grubb eventually bleed into other high quality development by other developers if the city could just commit to the vision.

A2

[Miesian Corners]

Well, this news isn't all that thrilling, but the new CPCC parking garage is now open for biz. And I'm pretty sure they have begun site work for the new King on 4th.

[uptownliving]

City Council unanimously approved the Rezoning for the Whole Foods and related development.

It was approved with the following modifications:

[A2]

So with this approval, can we expect the dirt to start turning soon???

A2