Ally Charlotte Center (f/k/a Tryon Place) - 26 floors - 427'

[krazeeboi]

After Chicago and Toronto, I think this design is the best of the Trump Tower designs that have been revealed in the past few years for other cities across the country.

[Guest]

http://www.charlotte.com/485/story/602412.html

So we must have ruined Doug Smith's hopes. His "Next Big Thing" is something up 2ITP's Alley, Blakeney, about as suburban as you can get.

On another note, I think Little and Associates coming out and having this being their premier feature on their site is yet another good sign. I checked Little and Associates earlier this morning looking for the project and it wasn't there, so I don't see how this could all be a coincidence...

[dubone]

Charlotte is a surprisingly big hub for truck and rail shipping. Maersk does have connections with Charlotte because it purchased Sealand, which was based here. I remember when I first moved to Charlotte, my company at the time did a lot of work with Sealand locally.

According to this cached page from what appears to be the defunct sealandalumni.com references that in the 90s, Sealand consolidated some offices here from Rotterdam, Seattle, and NJ.

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:-mSlO...;cd=2&gl=us

It is possible that the former-Sealand executives at Maersk made the business case all over again to bring the US headquarters here. Often, that is how things happen, though people who once lived somewhere pushing a case to move something there. I am a little skeptical that it would some magical new tenant at a Trump tower, but it is entirely possible given the historical connections.

[Guest]

So they had a rendering of the trump tower on the preview for the 10 o'clock news on fox. It said the queen city seems to be about to be trumped, and when they said "trumped" trump wigs fell on the tops of each tier. So the News is getting in on our action once again, I bet there will be an urbanplanet plug.

[Andyc545]

This might be a friend pulling my chain, but they said maerskline shipping is looking at relocating to charlotte at least some of their operations or establish a new US Headquarters. I believe Mearskline is headquartered in Denmark maybe. My buddy works for them and says that he might actually have to move to charlotte if there is a corporate relocation. My question is why would charlotte benifit a primarily port based shipping company. I have not been able to find anything online suggesting this to be the case, however, but who knows.

I don't know exactly why I have a recollection of this in my mind from last week, but I actually heard something about a shipping company in Charlotte. Maybe it was something else I read or something unrelated, or maybe just a dream, but I swear I heard something about a shipping company being in Charlotte...

[JayGee]

Maersk has been in Charlotte for years (initially as SeaLand), in Southpark. And yes, you did hear recently, they are moving their HQ from Southpark to the former Royal Insurance building at Arrowpoint, off of Arrowood Rd.

I would think it unlikely they would move again, even in the several years it would take to complete the Trump project.

Edited April 30, 2008 by JayGee

[Spartan]

Hah, Fox Charlotte is airing this story as I type They basically read off this discussion. Trump didn't call them back BTW.

[AuLukey]

I love this design and I am very pleased they decided to build two separate buildings rather than one large supertall. However, I do hope they end up building on one of the newly freed up lots as this will move attention away from Trade and Tryon more, much like The Vue. Also, I'm now specifically hoping that they do not build these buildings on the goodyear site as their overall design mimics the Wachovia design as well as the hypothetical One Charlotte. It would look too much like Emerald City (only blue... sapphire?) on that end of uptown if these were built there. I'd like to avoid our skyline looking too much like Detroit.

This project bodes extremely well for Charlotte's perseveringly strong economy regardless of how the banks are doing. It proves that despite how the country is doing and how poor real estate is, these companies still have to build somewhere to make a profit. For a major company like this to keep its eyes on Charlotte over all other cities is just amazing to me. I wonder if they will take a Novare approach to this project and go more the self-financing route to bypass the loan issue or if they will take advantage of the amazing rates now underway and hope some bank out there will recognize Charlotte's potential. IMO, it doesn't seem like a project like this would be a gamble in the long run with this company so it would serve in BoA or Wachovia's best interests to further invest in their HQ city.

Edited April 30, 2008 by aussie luke

[Mid South NC]

Wow!!! This thread has exploded with 76+ posts just today!

Trump is not stupid. He knows how to pull an ad before press time. Add to that the web-site coming online today, the Little Architecture site, and we have a project on the move.

Smart investors know that economic downturns are the best time to keep a level head and keep moving foward.

Like it or not Charlotte is HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

Edited April 30, 2008 by Mid South NC

[JayGee]

Smart investors know that economic downturns are the best time keep a level head, and keep moving foward. Like it or not Charlotte is HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

From the Business Journal: Charlotte was the sole U.S. metropolitan area to record a gain in housing prices in February among the 20 markets tracked by Standard & Poor's and Case-Shiller.

This information is not wasted on developers. They know the reason is that people are moving to the area. That is the only possible explanation. And that obviously bodes well for the overall health of the local economy and the development opportunities.

[Southernyank]

The website keeps being built piece by piece. There is now a hyperlink that allows you to enter the site (which is pretty much the brochure page). Also, If you go to Little's home page, you'll see that it's pretty much the same as the Trump Charlotte page and the project is listed as coming soon.

Edited April 30, 2008 by southernyank

[Charlotteman]

I guess I'm still hoping Trump will build on the Goodyear site. I'm in love with the renderings. The architecture is not only exciting, it is also beautifully suited to sit next to the new Wachovia Corp. center.

However when it comes to compromising initial designs, Trump does have a bit of disappointing history. In Toronto they announced their new tower, and I felt it was the most exciting new design in years. But then the design was completely redrawn, and I feel the final result is just a "nice" tower.

If this project does go forward, it would hopefully be based on this drawing we're currently seeing.

[grodney]

I notice the HTML source for the web pages has the author as "skyscraper3d.com", which is a group within Little. Digging around at skyscraper3d.com (or the apparent previous name skyscraper-digital.com) yields . . . nothing. Although they do have some cool renderings of the NASCAR HOF and other buildings.

[brad_clt]

Fox Charlotte has an article on their website

http://www.myfoxcharlotte.com/myfox/pages/...mp;pageId=1.1.1

They also have some video footage.

Somebody at Fox also had fun with PS....

http://www.myfoxcharlotte.com/myfox/photo_...&isP16=true

Edited April 30, 2008 by brad_clt

[Mobuchu]

I guess I'm still hoping Trump will build on the Goodyear site. I'm in love with the renderings. The architecture is not only exciting, it is also beautifully suited to sit next to the new Wachovia Corp. center.

Plus going to the Goodyear site could help with getting the 277 cap we have all been wanting. I just think its a better site too and is better connected to the city. The convention center really divides the far side of Stonewall from Tryon and the rest of uptowns buildings.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

It is so obvious that the media read this forum and get story ideas from us.

[palmetto75]

I do believe a major relocation has to take place in order for this to go through. Bank... maybe but I doubt it. I would see Tryump using this as his negotiating tool to maybe cut a better deal with the city. Hmmm... guarantee 5000 jobs uptown in a downturning economy??? Pretty strong negotiating position to be in. Interesting to promote a building with no property (at least to our knowledge) under contract yet. I'm sure its been done before, but interesting to say the least. You can do pretty much anything in the RE biz with the right tenant in hand.

As for Maersk, I will unofficially squash that one. The property they purchased off Arrowood is more than enough room to handle their Charlotte based operations as well as the US HQ in New Jersey combined even if it moved down, and that would be a monumental IF. They do have a deal with the state to create/transfer jobs to NC and get tax incentives, but its not all that many positions. Besides, they also recently cut about 10% of their global workforce so they aren't exactly busting at the seams.

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

It is so obvious that the media read this forum and get story ideas from us.

Maybe Fox, but not Dougie. He never mentioned the website being offline until yesterday. I think he would have mentioned that if he knew it was only recently added. This is classic Trump. He won't "announce" until it is blatantly obvious, more obvious than this.

-Rob

[AuLukey]

Maybe I'm alone in thinking that if they build these towers so close to Wachovia that it will take away from Wachovia and make it seem less iconic. As it stands right now, Wachovia will stand out beautifully. Build a larger tower right next to it and it just becomes another 400 S Tryon. It would be like building Atlanta's BoA next to ours. Which one stands out more in that situation? You'd still be able to appreciate both still, but it would retract from the tower's appearance. There are a lot of other places uptown where this tower would look better. But as Mo said, it would help serve to push for a cap over 277, not to mention encourage development past it along Tryon, so who knows?

Edited April 30, 2008 by aussie luke

[83alphaunder]

Maybe Fox, but not Dougie. He never mentioned the website being offline until yesterday. I think he would have mentioned that if he knew it was only recently added. This is classic Trump. He won't "announce" until it is blatantly obvious, more obvious than this.

-Rob

I disagree, I think Dougie has read it, he just wants the story all to himself since he has lost so much of his credibility. He doesn't want the story to get out before he can write about it, just like what happened when the wachovia rendering leaked on the board thanks to Norm. We created the buzz that time, and he wanted it all to himself.

[elvigy]

Just to comment on the timing of this (possible) tower, I tend to agree with those who've speculated that this might actually be a good time to start a new tower in Charlotte. Large companies like Trump don't just freeze in place when things go bad in the economy. They will regroup and focus on more sure-fire projects (at least, as much as anything can be considered sure-fire in real estate) while suspending the riskier projects. They don't just stop operations and wait for the good times to come back. And as someone else has pointed out, somehow Charlotte has managed to continue increasing the value of most homes in the area. That obviously speaks to some kind of underlying strength in the local economy making Charlotte definitely a place to look at if you're searching out those "sure-fire" locations to start another project.

A similar risk vs reward strategy plays out in the stock markets. Speculators try to get a feel for where the bottom is, buy then and ride the wave up before selling. And there are quite a few people who think that the economy has reached bottom and is poised to begin recovering later this year or perhaps next year. To be honest, I tend to be more in the doubtful category, but we'll see. Anyway, my point being, the Trumps may have decided that we've reached bottom, Charlotte looks fairly good now and will probably be smoking hot on the next upturn and maybe they should get moving now. Who knows. But I can definitely see the justification for striking while the iron is cool so to speak.

[dxartist]

I disagree, I think Dougie has read it, he just wants the story all to himself since he has lost so much of his credibility. He doesn't want the story to get out before he can write about it, just like what happened when the wachovia rendering leaked on the board thanks to Norm. We created the buzz that time, and he wanted it all to himself.

Yep, Dougie does read this forum. Not only that, photo was also snagged from UP and used for his article.

As far as the Trump project, paraphrasing Monsoon, "until the shovel hits the dirt...."

[Andyc545]

I do believe a major relocation has to take place in order for this to go through. Bank... maybe but I doubt it. I would see Tryump using this as his negotiating tool to maybe cut a better deal with the city. Hmmm... guarantee 5000 jobs uptown in a downturning economy??? Pretty strong negotiating position to be in. Interesting to promote a building with no property (at least to our knowledge) under contract yet. I'm sure its been done before, but interesting to say the least. You can do pretty much anything in the RE biz with the right tenant in hand.

There's a lot more going behind our back then what we have seen through a Wachovia Championship flyer and a Trump sponsored website. I'm sure he has some land in mind and I'm sure the city is already working with him. Usually contracts are signed to keep your mouth quiet about projects like this, so I'm sure there is more known and more concrete facts and ideas, it just hasn't made it to public information yet.

[Charlotte_native]

Yep, Dougie does read this forum. Not only that, photo was also snagged from UP and used for his article.

As far as the Trump project, paraphrasing Monsoon, "until the shovel hits the dirt...."

One should feel pretty confident that Dougie was either told about this site and rumors about the tower and the Wachovia Brochure discovery, otherwise why would the Observer print a 'wait, don't jump to conclusions' article? I've never seen one before, an article dispelling rumors. And they couldn't have gotten it from Fox News at 10 -- it would be too late to print I'd guess. That blurb in the business section today was an attempt to stop the rumors. My guess, there is a big story on the way that won't be quite as much of a surprise when it comes out. But the cat was going to jump out of the bag at the Golf Tourney anyway, so this is likely only by a couple of days.

Of course we could all be wrong, but there are an amazing number of coincidences happening and the line about not being able to pull the ad...come'on...

[dxartist]

One should feel pretty confident that Dougie was either told about this site and rumors about the tower and the Wachovia Brochure discovery, otherwise why would the Observer print a 'wait, don't jump to conclusions' article? I've never seen one before, an article dispelling rumors. And they couldn't have gotten it from Fox News at 10 -- it would be too late to print I'd guess. That blurb in the business section today was an attempt to stop the rumors. My guess, there is a big story on the way that won't be quite as much of a surprise when it comes out. But the cat was going to jump out of the bag at the Golf Tourney anyway, so this is likely only by a couple of days.

Of course we could all be wrong, but there are an amazing number of coincidences happening and the line about not being able to pull the ad...come'on...

actually, my comment was in reference to the leaked Wachovia tower from a few years ago from one of our members, but oh well. Nevertheless, I'm taking the Trump project with a grain of salt. If it gets built, great. If not, it's not the end of the world (unless we are talking about Dec 2012 ). I'm indifferent about the news one way or another.