Charlotte Knights AAA Ballpark in Third Ward

[ah59396]

Man, I will be walking from Hooligans through Romare Bearden to the ball game WAY to often...

[Guest]

What's the deal with the hotel? Is it just speculative, or do they have a developer/interest already?

They already have interest, and in meetings past they have said there is 700+ units of apartments that will be announced once this starts construction.

[tozmervo]

What's the deal with the hotel? Is it just speculative, or do they have a developer/interest already?

The way it was told to me is that the renderings show a "possibility" and reflect the design intent the Knights desire.

[cityboi]

Very impressive. I love the scale of this ballpark. Its not a huge stadium and more like the size of a AA park. The setting will be more intimate and there won't be a bad seat in the house. I like that fact that is has both retro and modern elements. The upper deck is inset like Greensboro's ballpark which helps bring the ballpark down to a more human scale on the exterior. Actually I see a number of similarities between the layout of this stadium and NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro.

compare the roofline

Edited May 31, 2012 by cityboi

[dubone]

I agree about the retro and modern combination. It is also quite open where people walking by will be able to see the play or when not in use, they'll see the green lawn.

[15895]

The way it was told to me is that the renderings show a "possibility" and reflect the design intent the Knights desire.

Is there a possibility that it may be taller than what the picture suggest? I know the whole point of the rendering is to showcase the stadium (and not a hotel/Apartment), so is there a possibility we could be surprised by height, you think?

All these years (since ~2005) of waiting for another highrise hotel and not a single one since Westin has came about.

Edited May 31, 2012 by AirNostrumMAD

[dubone]

The hotel could theoretically be taller, yes. It all depends on whether they have something lined up or if it is a placeholder. Generally, it seems that they were looking for development partners and settled on a hotel, so I suspect they do have a partner lined up and that rendering shows the current design based on the size their partner would need.

[southslider]

Why is the block between Mint, Poplar, 3rd, and 4th to the east of the ballpark shown with nothing on it? Could it be because any mid-rise or taller building on this block risks impacting the skyline views from home plate?

[grodney]

Crude MSPaints of the day.

Using the rendering:

Using the Greensboro ballpark:

[HopHead]

There's an article in today's Charlotte Biz Journal that talks about the development that would occur once construction of the stadium commences. It again reiterated that the Knights have talked to a developer and have the interest for a 120-150 room hotel behind the left field wall as depicted in the rendering. There are also that multiple developers waiting in the wings to announce plans for other developments, likely residential, once this stadium gets the green light. $350 mill worth of projects is the number we keep hearing. They also fully expect whatever vacant retail spots in 3rd Ward fill up (such as the empty spot in the Catalyst parking deck) when there will be 72 home games a year. I know we've all heard this before, but it's good that we continue to hear it. We could possibly have more infill in 3rd Ward very soon.

Edited June 1, 2012 by dbull75

[rugger62]

That overhead is awesome! Any chance you can add something to represent the new apartments that are planned for the open parking lot on the NW corner of the Catalyst lot? I think there is a link to the renderings for it someone in one of the boards, but I can't remember which.

[cityboi]

great job Grodney

[krazeeboi]

That looks good; could possibly give Autozone Park in Memphis a run for its money.

But seems a bit confusing that BB&T has naming rights on Winston-Salem's ballpark and this one.

[dubone]

http://www.bizjourna...-charlotte.html

Oh. My. God. What is wrong with that man? Does he have any clue that the economy killed any chance of Charlotte getting MLB for DECADES? It is pretty much seeming like a psychosis at this point, but I can't understand how so many terrible projects in the world can skirt opposition yet a simple ballpark that is modest and wanted by the community can get such a harassment and abusing our legal system.

Not to mention he is now creating a lawsuit claiming that city funding like that is illegal, while certainly if his crazy MLB plan were to happen, he would be asking for a mountain more of this exact funding. Without it, it is even less likely that Charlotte would get MLB. You almost never see sports teams relocating or expanding without getting a near-free stadium in return.

[New Name]

I hope the Knights do one of those "buy-a-brick-sponsorship" programs - so we can launch a drive to get Jerry Reese's name on as many of them as possible. JUST. TO. PISS. HIM. OFF.

[HopHead]

Before the city closes that turn lane at Stonewall and College, they should let Jerry Reese walk through that intersection a few times.

Regarding the ballpark, there is now a new web site up with some really cool photos of the ballpark. Some of which we haven't seen yet: http://charlotteknightsatuptown.com/media-gallery/photos

[dubone]

http://charlotteknightsatuptown.com/media/k2/items/cache/077ab55046ce80eaf9a3ddea999597ca_XL.jpg

The Graham/MLK corner is actually not the street-oriented facade that it seemed.

[grodney]

Updated my MS Paint mock-up with the proper overhead drawing.

[krazeeboi]

http://charlotteknig...999597ca_XL.jpg

The Graham/MLK corner is actually not the street-oriented facade that it seemed.

It's practically a blank wall.

[CltFlyer]

I know the chance of getting a mlb soon isn't good or realistic. But shouldn't they just go ahead and make this ballpark mlb expandable. I mean it is in a great area right next to Bank of America Stadium. Id go ahead and spend the few extra bucks to leave space for more seats as it doesn't like they are going to.

[dubone]

Take a look at the renderings and the map. This is a very modest stadium. The land is in no way capable of holding a giant MLB stadium, nor would anyone really want it there. Even if they were able to expand the land holdings, this stadium would be torn down if we got MLB, so there is no point in planning for what would be too far in the future and too hypothetical.

The proper course is to still hope for MLB and when the city grows large enough to actually support it at a successful level (we do not need to be cannibalizing the teams we have already, risking their financial success), but then when that happens, the 3rd Ward land would revert back to the county to then use either as a park or to sell off for redevelopment at that point.

Certainly MLB will be something we should aspire to, but it is painfully obvious that Charlotte barely deserves the pro teams we already have. The Bobcats couldn't even get a sponsor for their arena, instead virtually giving the rights away to TWC as payment to get out of a contract they had.

The city and county will have paid for half of this stadium, and to get a return, we need there to be the hotel, and the develop-ability of the land around the stadium (plus the normal economic activity yielding sales taxes). There are some intangible benefits that count, too, such as reduced blight and a community amenity for existing residents for improved quality of life. But if we have to somehow reserve land for a dreamed up possibility of MLB, we end up erasing all the develop-able land around the stadium, and setting in motion a plan that completely mess up the urban grid. MLB absolutely will not fit well in area, so that is obviously off the table.

[Munson79]

I like the building out behind left field. Is this going to be a residential building? Team offices? A parking garage?

[Guest]

150-250 room hotel

[jednc]

Certainly MLB will be something we should aspire to, but it is painfully obvious that Charlotte barely deserves the pro teams we already have. The Bobcats couldn't even get a sponsor for their arena, instead virtually giving the rights away to TWC as payment to get out of a contract they had.

How do you come to this conclusion? Why would Charlotte not deserve the pro teams it already has?

[ah59396]

I agree. That is a shamefully poor description of Charlotte sports. Charlotte has great sports fans. We've had pro teams for 20 years now and no championships, yet we still show up!