Hotel Sierra

[Charlotteman]

More hotels are needed. I recently had a group of 8 from Baltimore visit Charlotte. They were ready to book a month and a half in advance. All the hotels in downtown were 100% booked, from the Westin to the Hampton Inn. We checked all levels of hotels and there was nothing. They ended up staying at the Holiday Inn on Woodlawn just because there was nothing available downtown. I love the fact that Charlotte can fill up rooms like that, but at the same time, doesn't that mean we need more rooms? I like the design, and I think a hotel at this location will be a hit.

Well there are a few more on the horizon: 12, Trump Hotel, Ritz Carlton, aLoft. This news about the Balitmore folks not being able to stay Uptown because there were no vacancies is quite surprising. I had no idea Charlotte had so many visitors.

It brings up again a question I asked a while back.......will everyday folks be able to book a room at the upcoming Ritz? I have a strong feeling they will be at near capacity almost every night. I guess if you wanna stay at the Ritz you'll have to make reservations long in advance.

[Raintree21]

Well there are a few more on the horizon: 12, Trump Hotel, Ritz Carlton, aLoft. This news about the Balitmore folks not being able to stay Uptown because there were no vacancies is quite surprising. I had no idea Charlotte had so many visitors.

It brings up again a question I asked a while back.......will everyday folks be able to book a room at the upcoming Ritz? I have a strong feeling they will be at near capacity almost every night. I guess if you wanna stay at the Ritz you'll have to make reservations long in advance.

The Observer reported yesterday that for the first time in 10 years, the hotel occupancy rate was abvoe 70% and the average room rate was above $80 for two consecutive months. The information comes from the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.

[Justadude]

The past month has seen the two-weekend NASCAR extravaganza plus Taste of Charlotte; that's three out of four weekends with major festivals going on, plus the simple fact that it's early summer and people are vacationing. That probably explains why you couldn't find a block of rooms for 8.

[tiblerbrit]

Whats the timeline on this?

[uptownliving]

An update from the City Manager on this project:

The developer has been working with City staff on issues that are particular to this small parcel. These issues included the access for the construction of the 150 room Sierra Suites Hotel and 110 space parking deck. Lodgeworks has engaged a Charlotte engineering firm to design and submit the necessary plans for City staff's review and comments. They anticipate the design drawings will be complete and submitted for staff review by the end of October. Upon review and modifications, Lodgeworks would be closing on the property in January and beginning construction in the spring of 2008.

[Raintree21]

Did they ever submit their designs to the city? Is the parcel under contract?

[Andyc545]

Looks like this project has reemerged.

This will still be located on the 1/3 acre slice of land within the arenas' borders. Will feature a 16 story all-hotel tower with 4 floors of parking, which is one story more than the original 15-story hotel design. There will be 163 rooms and construction will begin this summer.

Judging from the rendering, it looks like a good design to blend with the brick arena and will provide some needed hotel space even with the Ritz and aLoft so close by. Glad to see a second development planned with the land available that borders the arena. Hopefully this will lead to some life on this side of the LYNX tracks and boost activity around the arena with all that is planned.

V Apparently me and nible are battling out this one...

[Guest]

So this is not a bump...

Seems this hotel has come back into light, thankfully, I'd been hankering for some announcements.

Apparently they had not made any announcements because they were trying to make sure it worked. It looks like they have a firm plan and the sierra hotel will be 16 stories and 163 suites, and they plan to have it done by late 2009. I think the project looks pretty nice for the most part, and it seems like if everything goes right this couple block area will have a nice amount of hotels.

here is a link to the story.

http://www.charlotte.com/296/story/702251.html

[dxartist]

wow, this thread came back from the dead. It's cool that the tower compliments the arena, though it looks a little too boxy for my taste.

[atlrvr]

Great news, I was going to give this up as dead, as I didn't realize they still had the land optioned.

Looks like the design is pretty much unchanged. I really don't mind the design. It should be a solid, non-flashy contributor to the exisiting building stock. This will also be the tallest brick highrise in Charlotte, I think. It will throw a little color into our skyline, and if the brickwork is solid, then I think it will be a pleasant surprise. I was hoping for a little more street level activity, though obviously it's hard to program too much on such a small site. I just hope the bar is inviting to passing pedestrians as well as the guests.

This should also help bolster the restaurants at the arena, which is and added benefit.

[AuLukey]

Good to hear this project is still coming along so well. With all the coming attractions to uptown there is a really striking need for rooms in the area. I was actually going to bump this about a week ago to see if anybody had heard anything; patience pays.

The article mentions the need for a major convention hotel, I wonder who he has in mind.

[Charlotteman]

Of course this is no architectural marvel. But it has it's own charm anyway- especially if it ends up being clad with real brick.

I'm no architecture expert, but I like it!

[Guest]

Are the three other hotels in the works, ritz, aloft, and twelve? I thought there were more, what about the proposal for gateway village.

[ScottCLT]

The article mentions the need for a major convention hotel, I wonder who he has in mind.

My guess would be Hyatt or Rennaissance if one were to come. Rennaissance already has two locations in Charlotte, one of which is a convention hotel (old coliseum area). Charlotte has no real Hyatts -- just Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites.

I think this is a necessity, and with all the entertainment options popping up at Epicentre, I could see Charlotte turning into a good place for a convention. I know when my company hosted our (very small) user convention, everyone really loved having all the restaurants and bars within walking distance. We surveyed them on whether they'd rather have the convention in a different city next year or keep it here, and nearly every guest said they wanted to come back to Charlotte next year. Even the folks that came from Columbia University and NYU were thrilled with the scene here. The only people that didn't like it were from suburban CA, and they said there were too many homeless people (granted, when I went to visit them, there were prostitutes in the parking lot of my hotel and homeless people knocking on your window at stoplights -- maybe they just don't open their eyes at home).

[Andyc545]

I made this quick diagram to demonstrate the proportions of this property (which is a very small footprint). I don't think it is unreasonable to only expect one bar taking up space instead of more retail, given that there needs to be a hotel entrance and check in, plus the space for ramps to the parking garage. One thing that I am glad is that when properties like this and Encore are creatively taking up small spaces, it demonstrates the demand for land as well as helps infill density. One of my concerns, however, is how will this building effect the sidewalk and streetscape when there will be a curb cutout with a building in tight corridors. Also, what are the zoning rules on Trade and how much space does there have to be for a sidewalk and the distance between the road and the hotel itself. Will the curb cutout account for the sidewalk space or will it be city owned street? If indeed the sidewalk is reduced or vanished all together, this would be a burden to future developments by having an abstruction of connectivity from the future federal court house that is slated to take up the lot next door on Trade and other future development. The arena has undergone scruitiny for acting as a deterant against the pedestrian streetscape and creating deadzones; this could be the thing that kills it, however, IMO.

Google Map of Sierra Hotel site

[monsoon]

So is this like Concourse but without the condos?

[Guest]

So is this like Concourse but without the condos?

Yea pretty much. The only difference is 117 less condos, 8 more hotel suites, 3 less levels of parking, david furman as an architect, lodgeworks as the sole developer, and a whole heap of brick. At least that is how i understand it.

[New Name]

I'm glad they're doing this project on such a small lot. I don't think every single building needs to take up a WHOLE city block. That's where our street-level problems start.

[atlrvr]

Looks like this is finally starting to move forward. They applied for their building permits last week and there have been crew trucks parked on the site for the last couple of days.

[AuLukey]

Looks like this is finally starting to move forward. They applied for their building permits last week and there have been crew trucks parked on the site for the last couple of days.

Wow, you know, considering the state of things in Charlotte right now, I'm very surprised this wasn't shelved for the time being. But it's good to see that developers still haven't forgotten Charlotte.

[Guest]

Wow, you know, considering the state of things in Charlotte right now, I'm very surprised this wasn't shelved for the time being. But it's good to see that developers still haven't forgotten Charlotte.

Even with the state of things in charlotte, with the expansion to the convention center, the addition of the Nascar Hall of Fame, and other things going on in charlotte, we still are in need of more Hotel Rooms in the Center City. So I am definately not suprised that this has not been shelved. Its good to know that this tower is starting prelim work already, I look forward to having another new hotel around the arena, that will be what, the third under construction within a block of the arena?

[ppdd]

Looks like this is finally starting to move forward. They applied for their building permits last week and there have been crew trucks parked on the site for the last couple of days.

has a permit been filed with the city yet? i can't find it. will you link please? thank you!

[Eastman]

Is Furman still doing it? This is very visable on all sides, and Furman is kinda a two sided kind of guy. Ok, three sided on a good day.

[Guest]

Is Furman still doing it? This is very visable on all sides, and Furman is kinda a two sided kind of guy. Ok, three sided on a good day.

Hasn't been furman for quite some time. Its Lodgeworks I believe, I could be horribly wrong however. And from what I've seen the building is fairly adequate on all four sides. However with the size of this project in relation to the arena, it will only be 100% visible from 2 sides, and partially visible from the other 2.

[Andyc545]

Hasn't been furman for quite some time. Its Lodgeworks I believe, I could be horribly wrong however. And from what I've seen the building is fairly adequate on all four sides. However with the size of this project in relation to the arena, it will only be 100% visible from 2 sides, and partially visible from the other 2.

Lodgeworks is the builder and funder but unless it has changed, I believe Furman is still the architect.