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615 South College (Portman Office Tower near Westin)


CarolinaDaydreamin

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...also, once it becomes 'the place' we can actually get more of the richest people in the city to buy uptown.

I think that if this income level can own uptown, we can really get the disposable income figures up enough to really pull substantial retail development. It is the key reason that so much retail goes to SouthPark.

Do you think once all of Charlotte's "rich and famous" move downtown, the bars and restaurants will take note and raise their prices to match their clientele, effectively shutting out us poor folk?

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Do you think once all of Charlotte's "rich and famous" move downtown, the bars and restaurants will take note and raise their prices to match their clientele, effectively shutting out us poor folk?

I honestly don't see Charlotte's rich and famous moving downtown. Maybe they will invest in these places, but I don't think we are going to see a lot of for sale signs on Queens Rd, Piper Glen and on the banks of Lake Norman.

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I agree. This will be just like Jeff Gordon and Bob Johnson living in the Ratcliffe. It is one of many homes, and they will use it when they want and need, but not live there permanently.

It is still good for legends, and for demographics, though, to have those rich people owning uptown. It is great fun for tours to say 'Jeff Gordon lives in there' or 'Michael Jordan has a place in there'. I do that myself. It just adds to the things to talk about. However, it won't be the case that suddenly everyone everywhere uptown will be rich enough for the restaurants to double their prices. That just wouldn't be practical, and they'd see a decline in business and revenue.

Instead, I see a few places opening up new that cater to that market. Maybe Tiffanys, which was fairly successful over Christmas in Emerson Joseph, would open up inside one of the new buildings. Maybe we'd see Saks consider it, although most people say that is not likely.

I guess Portman sees a market for them, at least 99 people deep. We'll have to see how he does.

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Do you think once all of Charlotte's "rich and famous" move downtown, the bars and restaurants will take note and raise their prices to match their clientele, effectively shutting out us poor folk?

Nah, two years ago I paid $2.50 a slice for pizza in New York's Upper East Side (62nd and Lex) which is much closer to the epicenter of Rich and Famous than uptown Charlotte will ever be....those prices seem in line with Fuel Pizza.

I agree with Dubone, you may have a few places open that cater to the top-end clientele, but most restaurants and bars understand you can only charge so much, and the number of people who watch their wallet will always far outnumber the people who blow their money on opulence for the sake of it.

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Instead, I see a few places opening up new that cater to that market. Maybe Tiffanys, which was fairly successful over Christmas in Emerson Joseph, would open up inside one of the new buildings. Maybe we'd see Saks consider it, although most people say that is not likely.

I guess Portman sees a market for them, at least 99 people deep. We'll have to see how he does.

Maybe I have a bias but I feel that uptown retail other than resteraunts has to be self supporting, and its hard for 10 or even 20 thousand to support something like Tiffanies. This might happen years from now but there isn't much chance of uptown competing in retail since it is centered between the discounted Concord Mills and the designer/regular priced retail of southpark. This is especially true since Southpark is more Centrally located between most of the cities wealthy population, or at least it doesn't exclude anyone since it is easily reachable from Dilworth, Southend Midtown, Myres Park, South Park (Duh), and Ballantine (tell me if I spelled that wrong). I feel a healthy market for retail and offices is available in both, but until we reach Mid-town and Buckhead status I'm afraid most of the retail will stay in SP and the major office towers will stay Uptown.

Relating this to the topic, if what you say is true and 1 Charlotte has a lot of part time residents then I feel that it will only help out modestly upscale neigborhood resteraunts (ie. Coco) and grocery/drugstores which fullfill immediate demand. On top of this I know that many people especially ex-execs leave the city when they retire and go to places like Charleston, Palm Beach, and Grandfather Mountain. These people could easily create a market for some full service high priced condos to live in when they come back to Charlotte to visit.

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I have a question I am sure some of you can help me out on. Is there any sort of market in Charlotte for big name (i.e. big bank) companies to invest in a couple of condos with the idea that when they bring either employees of the company or prospective clients to Charlotte, instead of putting the person in a hotel room for a week you simply put that person in the company owned condo? I am sure there is a lot of inter-city travel - both domestic and international - and it seems like there might be some advantages to having a company condo as opposed to booking hotel rooms constantly. Any thoughts?

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Yes there is.....BofA had a lot of corporate apartments at 5th&Poplar (I know that was rental) but I believe The Tower is expecting the banks to take several units. The banks like condo/hotel projects because the room service/maid service is a nice benefit for the employees.

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I have a question I am sure some of you can help me out on. Is there any sort of market in Charlotte for big name (i.e. big bank) companies to invest in a couple of condos with the idea that when they bring either employees of the company or prospective clients to Charlotte, instead of putting the person in a hotel room for a week you simply put that person in the company owned condo? I am sure there is a lot of inter-city travel - both domestic and international - and it seems like there might be some advantages to having a company condo as opposed to booking hotel rooms constantly. Any thoughts?

Contrary to the last few posts answering your question, I believe they are part right and part wrong. Might businesses (banks, hospitals, etc.) buy a condo or two somewhere for guests or employees...yes it does happen. Will they buy one at One Charlotte at 1.5 Million...or even a half million dollars- no. These business we are talking about are not in the real estate market and they don't buy expensive properties hoping it will appreciate so they can make money off it...that is not their business. If they did buy a condo it would have to be much less expensive and it would simply be bought to satisfy the need of supplying housing...not making money off the property. In most instances they just rent apartments (like Grand over) as there is no risk involved.

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Contrary to the last few posts answering your question, I believe they are part right and part wrong. Might businesses (banks, hospitals, etc.) buy a condo or two somewhere for guests or employees...yes it does happen. Will they buy one at One Charlotte at 1.5 Million...or even a half million dollars- no. These business we are talking about are not in the real estate market and they don't buy expensive properties hoping it will appreciate so they can make money off it...that is not their business. If they did buy a condo it would have to be much less expensive and it would simply be bought to satisfy the need of supplying housing...not making money off the property. In most instances they just rent apartments (like Grand over) as there is no risk involved.

I didn't even think about this. I was just answering the question in general that some condos downtown would be bought by corporations. There's no way that any company is going to buy a million dollar plus condo just as a guest house. There are so many other things they could do with that money and could easily get a whole group of condos for that amount. If I were an investor in a company and I found out they spent that much money on a condo I'd be pissed.

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As many of you know, lately I've been critical of some Uptown architecture.

This one goes on my list of gems.:) When I first saw the drawing, my eyes almost popped out! Now this is what I call fine architectural design.

But one question someone already brought up has me curious too. US $1.5 million isn't exactly chump change--would someone pay that much for a lower level condo with a direct view of the Westin?

One thing for sure, the owners of higher floor condos will not only be living in splender, they will have incomparable views.

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I love Charlotte. I swear that every time I go on vacation, I come back to some kind of new announcement. This one was quite unexpected. I mean, we all knew about the potential tower being built larger than the original 11 story office tower. But man! $1.5mil+? That's amazing. It's about time that Charlotte started attracting higher end client

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Regarding views in ONE, I think the article says there are only 4 per floor on the lower levels. That assumed, each one can be a corner with primary focused views away from the Westin wall. This one also has the potential for better views by being a few blocks further away from the core. Slam up against a wall with one exposure is never going to compare to a panarama which a small amount of distance will give. Examples, Royal Court, One, Vue, Citadin... that small amount of distance will likely make those superior views. Upper floor, obstruction free places excluded, those will be good even in the core. And corner units that can have long distance views down the canyons feel better too. 210 has a plan that has exposure on 3 sides, that will be superior over the long haul to the end everyone seems to be migrating to...

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Do you think once all of Charlotte's "rich and famous" move downtown, the bars and restaurants will take note and raise their prices to match their clientele, effectively shutting out us poor folk?

I don't think "all" of Charlotte's rich and famous will move downtown, but a few will, and in a % perspective of the city compared to the number of units, only a relatively small percentage need to.

As for food prices, I've been watching something interesting. As more restaurants are on the way, specials are on the rise. Sonoma and Taverna now have half price wine on Fridays and Saturdays (including nights), McCormick and Schmicks $1.95 menu is now copied on game nights for any arena event by Lavacchias, and Brixx has half price wine and $3.00 bloodies on Sundays. The very high-end places haven't jumped in on this, but the others are doing what competition tends to do, compete.

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As for food prices, I've been watching something interesting. As more restaurants are on the way, specials are on the rise. Sonoma and Taverna now have half price wine on Fridays and Saturdays (including nights), McCormick and Schmicks $1.95 menu is now copied on game nights for any arena event by Lavacchias, and Brixx has half price wine and $3.00 bloodies on Sundays. The very high-end places haven't jumped in on this, but the others are doing what competition tends to do, compete.

Wow, I will have to check out those great prices. Although I wonder, to go back to my previous point about possible meal price inflation, not many of the high dollar customers have moved in downtown. Once the restaurants have a "captive audience" with the residents, they can do what they want with prices. Kinda like with gas prices. The companies know they can raise their prices because we refuse to quit driving everywhere and will pay as much as it takes.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Any news on this project over the last few weeks? This tower reminds me of the "Tomorrow Square" development in Shanghai where the JW Marriott is. I think this tower is beautiful and will be a welcome addition to the skyline.

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