Founders Hall Renovations/Expansion

[monsoon]

Does anyone have a photo of the current building that would be good for comparison purposes? Thanks in advance.

[ontap]

I'm not disappointed at all. The design plays off of the whole 'winter garden' design of the bridge connector and new tower. I think that you have to remember that banks are very conservative and that this will face a lux hotel. I didn't expect anything funky. I suspect this space will house exclusive boutique shops. Being two stories of glass, you'll be able to see the activity inside which attracts even more shoppers. It will bring much needed street activity and will create synergy with epicentre's tenants.

[83alphaunder]

Does anyone have a photo of the current building that would be good for comparison purposes? Thanks in advance.

http://oxblue.com/client/flahertycollins/twotentrade/

You can partially see whats there by looking at this webcam. The only minus to this whole situation is the loss of bistro 100s turret, I've eaten outside there before, its a pretty neat atmosphere.

[tiblerbrit]

You can see that there is some retail along Trade and more retail along College just under the skybridge. Also, as ontap said, by making the whole wall glass you will be able to see straight through into the main atrium of Founders Hall, which will definitely lure more people inside. Now you wouldn't even know its there if you were visiting.

[Raintree21]

Current View

I was expecting to see separate storefronts, each unique with its own design. All they are doing is replacing it with glass. How does that create street-facing, street-level retail?

The way it is currently set up would seemingly make it difficult to do street front retail without alienating the stores that are already inside of Founder's Hall cause they would be blocked by the back of the street retail. None of them really face out towards the street. They ring the atrium of the hall just like a food court in a mall does. The glass does make it more open and inviting to the street crowd, but the original designs we heard of spoke of a large slice of glass to extend out of the building and point toward the bar and restaurant at the Ritz in addition to the skyway filled with lights and pictures. Those appear to be missing from this preliminary drawing.

[Justadude]

^ I agree. While it would be nice to have several storefronts facing directly onto the street, I don't think that is going to happen because of the fundamental design of the building. What will be nice is that visitors will not go right past the atrium without ever realizing it has shopping inside. Simply changing that wall to glass, even if nothing else changes, at least provides a clear view into the mall area, which will undoubtedly increase business there and possibly even draw a better selection of stores... I could absoutely imagine this being the location that we finally get a big name in designer retail.

[49er]

Lets just hope they dont use all that new street level space to create a flagship bank branch like Wachovia did. I could really see that happening. I am a little underwhelmed by the drawing. Its very indescript just like the new BoA Tower renderings we see.

[83alphaunder]

Here's the current rendering:

While it's much better than the current blank wall, it looks like all they're doing is replacing it with glass. I thought there was going to be some funky glass design involved.

photo from nibbletodell

For Reference, this is the other side of the street, so I think this will be a pretty neat stretch

[fulcrumsf]

I personally like the design. It really opens up Founders Hall quite nicely and is more inviting. I does look like some store fronts could face Trade St, where the old Bistro 100 valet used to be.

[AMZIE]

They can put retail facing Trade & College because the shops in Founders Hall are on the second level not on street grade, if you use the current Trade St. entrance you walk through a close off auto court, that area could be converted to retail.

[atlrvr]

Bank of America Plaza is getting into the retail overhaul mix. Below is the rendering for the blank wall at the corner of College and Trade.

There will be a total of 11k sq. ft. of new retail space created.

[tiblerbrit]

Wow, I hope they can keep that design. This is will really complete the area, Bank of America plaza really detracts from the street level experience.

[CLTNative]

So that is at the base of the Omni facing the EpiCentre and Founders Hall? That will look awesome if they keep the bright organge color. I like how things are stating to come online with more color uptown.

I will wait to see a more finished rendering, from this sketch, it almost looks like this structure will be built on the site of the building over the sidewalk. That can make for scary night spots.

[83alphaunder]

Bank of America Plaza is getting into the retail overhaul mix. Below is the rendering for the blank wall at the corner of College and Trade.

There will be a total of 11k sq. ft. of new retail space created.

Believe me I am extremely impressed and excited about the above mentioned rendering and plan but what about the even bigger offender on this block, the 4th and college corner and fascade. Honestly it appears to have been built to hide some sort of national treasure, its pretty indestructible looking and quite uninviting. Are there plans to sacrifice a couple of parking spots for an updated look on that part of the block?

[charlotte49ersuptown]

wow, this is very exciting. Now all four corners of Trade & College will have some form of retail on them. The rendering is puzzling, where will they relocate the Omni drop off and parking spaces and unless I am mistaken the corner of Trade & College has some strucutral and mechanical signifance which this rendering does not show. Anyway, I will wait patiently for more info.

[uptownliving]

Walking on Trade this weekend I noticed they are doing some color testing on the bland white concrete panels at the base of the Omni Hotel. Even though it is just a minor paint job it will hopefully be better than bland white. Combine that with this rendering I think it will make that dark and pedestrian unfriendly section of Trade St come to life.

[Miesian Corners]

They've been testing color swatches on the precast concrete panels near the Omni entrance. I am assuming this is being done as part of the rehab.

[tiblerbrit]

what colors?

[abttown]

This is fantastic news! I have always loved how BOA Plaza looks from a distance with all the glass, but the street presence just sucks. It will be interesting to see how they go about doing all this work, but it should be well worth it. Like others have said, once this piece is complete this section of downtown will be a happening place! I too hope they keep those lively colors as they do add quite a bit to the many bland tones nearby.

[dubone]

MC, are you referring to the concrete panels along College across from Epicenter on the actual Omni building? If so, I'm greatly disappointed. That thing needs a hell of a lot more than paint to make it look good. I still think they could simply remove them at the ground level and make some storefronts and only lose a couple of specialty parking spaces.

The Founder's Hall is expected to get a glass facade, right?

[ScottCLT]

Work is beginning at Founders Hall. This picture isn't much to look at, but at least it shows that some progress is happening.

[New Name]

I know there have been some plans released for this project, and I am not sure what was finally decided upon for the interior; but I got to see some of the plans at one point before the release, and they were looking for curved escalators leading from an open three story atrium at street level up to the upper mezzanine. The interior layout wasn't all that different, but the whole front wall is open to the street including the streetside walls of the interior shops. The street inclusion of Founders Hall will really make this feel like a brand new building. It may seem like a renovation, but you're looking at a huge commitment to street level retail.

[AuLukey]

Whoa, hang on. By "open" do you mean outdoors or just an open space? If this is going to turn into an open space outdoors with retail along the lower and upper levels open to the street, it would really be a nice addition. However, I think I am just over analyzing the term and getting my hopes up.

[New Name]

[New Name]

I saw some renderings for the new inside of Founders Hall. If this is the final plan, expect to be disappointed. It's not really what anyone here wanted. Looks very institutional. Think Wachovia Atrium.