Belk Place: Carolina Theater and Hotel Intercontinental

[KJHburg]

I do believe a hotel can be built at this site but travel may have to get to some sort of normalcy first and this could take a few years. I do think business travel will be down for a long  time but without full stadiums, arenas, plays it just really hurts uptown hotels.   What I don't think will happen anytime soon is a huge 800-1000 room hotel.  This Intercontinental was only going be 256 rooms or so. 

[Blue_Devil]

21 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

The Fortune 500 I work for in the DC area had to address whether we will continue to have flexibility to work remotely. 

A company surveyed showed an overwhelming amount of people like teleworking with a bunch of comments. We were very flexible and had at least 1 telework day a week pre-Covid. Until it became inevitable with stay at home orders. 

A video was sent out that we all will be returning to work because there is value in interactions. Whether it’s even just social, in the elevators - it will help us be more innovative to have that communication. In addition, he said it’s too hard to collaborate on video conferencing because multiple people can’t talk at the same time.

At BofA, from what my friends told me (at least in GT&O) they were very reluctant to telework for Covid. They started to even have 1/2 the workers come in 1 week and rotate. 
 

I think everything will go back to status quo. DC and the suburbs continue to break ground on new & large projects. And I think I’ve seen some Raleigh announcements and maybe even Charlotte. There have been no projects put on hold due to Covid I’ve seen. 

The company I work for will have us all in the office as soon as this is over. I wouldn't be surprised if it is by June with employment mandated vaccinations. 

[15895]

5 hours ago, Blue_Devil said:

The company I work for will have us all in the office as soon as this is over. I wouldn't be surprised if it is by June with employment mandated vaccinations. 

I think if this lasted for a few months, companies would’ve adjusted to telework being more integral. 

Dragging on for literally an entire year seems to have made companies turned off from the idea. Based only on people I know and their company communications.

 maybe with all the cramming companies were  doing will reverse back to more spacious work areas. We had “space modernization” that squeezed us all in small areas when I started my current company and when I started at BofA in Corp. center, it too went to tiny areas. 

[navigator319]

6 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I think if this lasted for a few months, companies would’ve adjusted to telework being more integral. 

Dragging on for literally an entire year seems to have made companies turned off from the idea. Based only on people I know and their company communications.

 maybe with all the cramming companies were  doing will reverse back to more spacious work areas. We had “space modernization” that squeezed us all in small areas when I started my current company and when I started at BofA in Corp. center, it too went to tiny areas. 

I think you hit on something here.  The first 2-4 months it was wow we can do all this with 95% folks at home virtually.  Everyone was happy employee to executives.

The cracks began to show around the 6 month mark and its a fisher at the current moment at my company.  Sure will always have a higher percent of employees that preferring WFH, but even those numbers dropped 20% from the June survey to the October survey our company did.  And the exec and management team  are trying to coax folks back into the office and cant wait for the day until they can force it.  With current situation they not in the position yet to mandate it, but as soon as not optically bad they will be.

[a2theb]

On 11/21/2020 at 3:04 AM, King of the Queen City said:

Another thing to be considered is that the pandemic may have changed the business world permanently to some degree. Virtual meetings through Zoom, etc. may eliminate the need for business travel in some cases and the ability to work remotely may reduce the amount of office space needed (though I think most people prefer to work in person and will have cabin fever when all this is over if they don’t already).  I read an article somewhere suggesting that we are never going back to the old economy but to an altered economy.  That’s not to say that it won’t recover, but that it will be different.

I know you aren't saying completely eliminated but through personal experience I have been working on projects over the past year that have been dragging on for months over zoom that could have been wrapped up in 2 weeks in person.

 

Being in person was somewhat mandatory for most positions that were traveling  regularly pre-COVID . Whether its that in person touch in negotiations/sales or a client wanting the consultant they are paying big money for to be on site. Will flying to Tampa for a lunch meeting end? Yeah probably but I would say the vast majority of travel will continue once companies lift their travel suspensions.

[QCxpat]

Today 10:55 a.m.

Edited November 23, 2020 by QCxpat

[DMann]

I hate that it is not going up now, but I recall talking with someone a while back about the Library project and was told it will not start until the Intercontinental was done.  Reason being that 6th Street would be a nightmare with activity on both sides.  So, any knowledgeable people out there with any information if the Library project might get accelerated?

[CLT>]

4 hours ago, DMann said:

I hate that it is not going up now, but I recall talking with someone a while back about the Library project and was told it will not start until the Intercontinental was done.  Reason being that 6th Street would be a nightmare with activity on both sides.  So, any knowledgeable people out there with any information if the Library project might get accelerated?

The library project is more tied to Seventh & Tryon, but Demo is still on track to start in 2021.

[nicholas]

On 11/23/2020 at 6:52 AM, navigator319 said:

I think you hit on something here.  The first 2-4 months it was wow we can do all this with 95% folks at home virtually.  Everyone was happy employee to executives.

The cracks began to show around the 6 month mark and its a fisher at the current moment at my company.  Sure will always have a higher percent of employees that preferring WFH, but even those numbers dropped 20% from the June survey to the October survey our company did.  And the exec and management team  are trying to coax folks back into the office and cant wait for the day until they can force it.  With current situation they not in the position yet to mandate it, but as soon as not optically bad they will be.

This is getting a bit off-topic, but I read an article a month or two ago about this in I believe the WSJ.  It said that productivity was very high during the first few months of WFH mainly due to employees fearing their job security.  But as time has dragged on without mass corporate layoffs everywhere, that fear-based productivity has starting fading away, and more and more employees are having a hard time getting their work done at home.

I know that for me personally, my classes were all online this summer, and it wasn't too bad because there was a feeling that UNCC would go back on campus this fall.  However, the Belk College of Business has remained entirely online this semester, and I've been struggling with my classwork more than I ever have before - and I took almost entirely online classes when I was in community college so it's not like I'm new to this.  I'm also living with my family right now, and since everything is online, I don't get extended time away from them like I did in the spring, and it's really wearing me out.  If I wasn't going to be graduating this coming spring, I honestly don't think I would be able to make it without leaving and coming back once classes returned on campus.

Edited November 24, 2020 by nicholas

[QCxpat]

Today 2:05 p.m.

 

[videtur quam contuor]

This topic started as condos with car elevator. Without reading 70 pages, Why is it named Belk Place? Carolina Theatre I understand. What is the connection, if any, for Belk?

[KJHburg]

18 minutes ago, tarhoosier said:

This topic started as condos with car elevator. Without reading 70 pages, Why is it named Belk Place? Carolina Theatre I understand. What is the connection, if any, for Belk?

Belk family gave $8 M to the theater restoration I think. 

[gman430]

[QCxpat]

Today 11:55 a.m.

Edited December 2, 2020 by QCxpat

[j-man]

Ok I’m so confused. So are they really only building the bottom portion? Wasn’t clear on what was actually going on 

[Guest]

And if so does that mean an elevator shaft will stick out until it’s finished?

[DMann]

maybe we can stick a TRUIST sign on it!

[CLT>]

2 hours ago, j-man said:

Ok I’m so confused. So are they really only building the bottom portion? Wasn’t clear on what was actually going on 

Expect something close to this till the hotel kicks off.

[j-man]

Just now, CLT> said:

Expect something close to this till the hotel kicks off.

Ugh! Ok thanks 

[JacksonH]

1 hour ago, j-man said:

Ugh! Ok thanks 

From the street it should look fine.

[Guest]

Great! Will blend in to that corner well for the time being

[j-man]

16 hours ago, JacksonH said:

From the street it should look fine.

Yeah but I’m just ready for a tower. Lol

[RANYC]

22 hours ago, JacksonH said:

From the street it should look fine.

Yes, from the street is all that matters.  This will be great and will fill in this block nicely.  

Edited December 3, 2020 by RANYC

[JacksonH]

3 hours ago, RANYC said:

Yes, from the street is all that matters.  This will be great and will fill in this block nicely.  

And most importantly to me is that it will encase the facade of the restored theater the way a curio cabinet in a home encases those valuable and special items we most want to display and protect.  I've been waiting for more than three decades to see this theater brought back to its full glory, and it's come close a couple times to being lost forever.   But now the dream of saving it is closer than ever to being realized, which makes me ecstatic.  There is so little history left in Charlotte so this preservation, and classy way of displaying it and making it useful again, is so meaningful.

Perhaps this short glass building might look a little odd for someone looking down on it from the upper floors of the Dunhill across the street, but they'll get over it.  And for everyone else -- those driving by or strolling down the block -- it will be beautiful, especially at night. 

Charlotte has more than its share of towers, and they will keep popping up all around, so this one, if built, would just be lost in a forest of urban towers and likely would go unnoticed on the skyline.  So if  it takes awhile to turn this structure into another tower, so be it.  Even if a tower never gets built at this spot, so be it.

[RANYC]

15 hours ago, JacksonH said:

And most importantly to me is that it will encase the facade of the restored theater the way a curio cabinet in a home encases those valuable and special items we most want to display and protect.  I've been waiting for more than three decades to see this theater brought back to its full glory, and it's come close a couple times to being lost forever.   But now the dream of saving it is closer than ever to being realized, which makes me ecstatic.  There is so little history left in Charlotte so this preservation, and classy way of displaying it and making it useful again, is so meaningful.

Perhaps this short glass building might look a little odd for someone looking down on it from the upper floors of the Dunhill across the street, but they'll get over it.  And for everyone else -- those driving by or strolling down the block -- it will be beautiful, especially at night. 

Charlotte has more than its share of towers, and they will keep popping up all around, so this one, if built, would just be lost in a forest of urban towers and likely would go unnoticed on the skyline.  So if  it takes awhile to turn this structure into another tower, so be it.  Even if a tower never gets built at this spot, so be it.

I'll go a step further.  Uptown Charlotte desperately needs a very long corridor of pedestrian interest and engagement that isn't as corporate-oriented.  One could argue that such a corridor could be realized much sooner with low-rise and mid-rise structures, built right up against the sidewalk, the insides of which being transparent to passersby.  You see this in the incredibly vibrant cities of Europe.  I'm sure plenty on here will disagree, but towers don't necessarily make a city vibrant.  It's the sidewalk interaction, and the way the structure encourages people to gather at street-level and engage with one another and their surroundings.  This restored theater appears to do that, and while bodies from an Intercontinental would be nice additions to Uptown, the most important objective of this project is achieved without a hotel tower.

Edited December 4, 2020 by RANYC