Misc. Uptown Projects/News

[baraklech]

My firm lovrs your design and has decided to endorse it.

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[KJHburg]

The Embassy Suites is open all value engineered and all but it looked like it was busy today. Also the 300 South Brevard building renovations moving fast and their retail space will add street life to this area.  One photo of the Stonewall Station from a long block away. 

[kermit]

I woke up annoyed with Center City Partners today -- I am sick of their focus on big projects and plans that never get implemented. I think their special assessment dollars could be spent much more productively on smaller initiatives (like the rail trail mini parks) that would create more street level activity in uptown and Southend. I have a few suggestions for them based on observations of city life in the UK.

1. Encourage buskers. Create 20-30 designated spots on the street where busking was unambiguously permitted. Create a system where the most talented receive some recognition (annual cash prize?). The benefits are more people on sidewalks, arts community promotion (something Charlotte desperately needs) and breaking up our monotonous streetscape. Cost: very little.

2. Solar streetscape. Solar energy is something that NC is surprisingly good at but it gets very little promotion. Apple paid a ton of cash to greenwash their Maiden server farm with solar and would have PR points to gain by promoting that investment. Duke is also a firm in need of some greenwashing. So, CCCP asks Apple and Duke to sponsor solar trees (streetlights, wifi, usb chargers and perhaps fans for summer), solar benches (the solar panel is a canopy over top of the bench powering usb chargers and perhaps a fan), solar panel shade canopies. Perhaps get Alevo to donate one of their massive battery packs from Concord and stored solar power could run things like cooling misters (like Carrowinds), outdoor AC (why not?) and nighttime lighting. Its all kinda gimmicky, but folks like the alternative energy thing, it is a significant local industry and all the usb charging ports will encourage some folks to sit and hang out rather than just go from building to building. Cost: very little (nothing) with sponsorship.

3. Micro retail space. Retail flourishes where their is plenty of cheap, flexible space for new businesses. CCCP could either lease existing space or build a box park kind of setup (stacked shipping containers with utilities) and rent very cheap / heavily subsidized retail space to small vendors  as a retail incubator. If big enough, the complex could act as an 'anchor store' to draw people in from the burbs to see whats new. Ideally this would be supplemented with food trucks to reinforce the node's drawing power.

4. "City bucks": create a currency that is accepted by in town merchants (CCCP can serve as the redeeming bank). The city bucks could be given away by interns or merchants to promote specific behavior (biking or taking transit to work, eating lunch in Bearden, setting your car aflame, etc.). The benefits are incentivizing behavior that creates a better city and steering more customers to in town businesses  (no city bucks accepted in South Park or bollywood!): Cost: its basically just rebating some of the assesment that businesses pay CCCP.  significant legwork to get initial merchants signed up.

5. Outdoor gallery space: There are lots of dead plaza spaces in town (around the cablebox, and ballpark, Hearst tower plaza, etc.) no reason they can't be populated with outdoor display boards that can be used to show photos or art  (its all waterproof and designed for outdoor display, these things are all over Britain). The boards could display the entry's into local competitions which (again) would help promote local artists. 

There are certainly some obstacles, but I have seen all of these things in action in the real world so they can certainly work.  The goal of all of this is to make Charlotte more ped friendly and less car centric. This should create more businesses and investment in these neighborhoods and thus stimulate the development of even more more walkable spaces. Longer term it will create a morensustainable form of land use in town, making future transit easier. None of these projects is hugely expensive and CCCP already collects money for this exact purpose in uptown, southend and west end. All it will take is for CCCP to shift their priorities a bit.

Solar bench example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34699163

Solar tree example: http://bristolgreencapital.org/projects/solar-tree/. (Most manufactured ones are much smaller)

Shipping container mall example: https://www.popbrixton.org

Local currency example: http://bristolpound.org

 

 

Edited April 2, 2017 by kermit

[deleted]

^^

Great ideas!

[AuLukey]

Those are great ideas. I've been hoping for a shipping container retail yard for awhile (primarily in the Preferred Parking mini lot next to Ink & Ivy.)

While you may have just said it in jest, I hope that outdoor A/C never becomes a thing someone expects. A/C units, by their very design create an overall net positive heat amount (meaning they produce more hot air externally than they provide cool air internally.) If humankind ever produces an efficient way to harness that net-heat and reuse it as electricity, then we'd be in business.

Solar streets have a LONG way to go before they will be even a little practical. For now, their use on pathways is the most practical application.

I'd love to see light up pavers on sidewalks in Uptown, especially if they were solar or even lit up when you stepped on them (a la Avatar.). That'd be a neat gimmick to add in kid areas of parks.

But the idea of whether the funds CCCP uses are being spent rationally really comes down to Charlotte's lack of strict zoning. That and city counsel just pencil whips any development that has somebody with deep enough pockets behind it.

The idea behind what CCCP is doing is correct, it isn't their fault that the rest of Charlotte isn't making sure those ideas work.

[asthasr]

Solar paths and such are a gimmick, and an expensive one. I'd much rather see incentives for big box retail to install solar canopies over parking lots. Buskers, small retail, and similar things would be fantastic uptown, though.

Have you guys seen Singapore "hawker centers?" They're basically food courts, but freestanding--with many small stalls for restaurants and vendors. I'd love to have one in the ground floor of one of our parking garages or in place of a cavernous lobby space.

[elrodvt]

Yes, those hawker centers are great. I liked them a lot better when they were outside at night though.

[asthasr]

1 hour ago, elrodvt said:

Yes, those hawker centers are great. I liked them a lot better when they were outside at night though.

True. (You can still go to Vietnam and find street food outdoors at night, as at the beginning of this video). I can't see that sort of thing happening in any real way in an American city, especially one as buttoned-down as Charlotte. I can see Hawker-center style food courts happening here, because it would give a needed boost to street life, is much tidier (and more sanitary) and would allow locals to start food businesses in an affordable way -- if rents were calibrated correctly and the food court was seen as an amenity rather than as the income center for the property.

It's frustrating because a lot of the interesting innovations in urban forms come from Asia, but represent either targeted public investment in amenities or, conversely, a highly capitalist approach to things that we consider the domain of public investment (i.e. transit companies that build private rail lines and own the land around stations, meaning that they make a profit from their investment).

[Windsurfer]

What's with the butchering of all the trees and plants along the bank on I-277 between the light rail and South Blvd ?

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Windsurfer said:

What's with the butchering of all the trees and plants along the bank on I-277 between the light rail and South Blvd ?

Camden's Townhouse project next to Grandview. There will be a railtrail extension over there as well. 

[atlrvr]

A reminder of what that project will look like, as seen from South Blvd standing underneath the Morehead St overpass.

 

From Axiom Architects website.

[AP3]

Just now, atlrvr said:

A reminder of what that project will look like, as seen from South Blvd standing underneath the Morehead St overpass.

 

From Axiom Architects website.

Really excited to see more infill projects like this, helping to bridge the gap.

[grodney]

The parklet outside French Quarter has been removed.

[elrodvt]

Too bad they could never make having drinks out there work.  

[Spartan]

 

On 3/10/2017 at 1:58 PM, Jayvee said:

Spoke with 101 n Tryon peeps. There's 2 pieces to this project. Lobby reno (as seen here) and a non-restaurant/bar retail component that will affect the atrium, entrance and street level presence. They can go at separate times and don't impact each other heavily during construction. The lobby is ready to go. Retail is not. So rather than holding up the lobby, that's just phase A. Retail is phase B, which I was assured, WILL happen. It's a tenant demand and the building needs to do all it can to keep whoever it can. 

So is the atrium going away? I'm not clear on that.

 

 

On 3/22/2017 at 2:41 PM, grodney said:

400 S Tryon backside, across from Mellowshroom, before (streetview) and today:

^This is one of the most exciting projects in all of uptown. It may not be "sexy" but this is the type of infill project that will help move Charlotte's urban experience to the next level. I can't wait for Rhino Market to open. Anyone recall when that's supposed to happen?

 

 

On 4/2/2017 at 0:38 PM, kermit said:

I woke up annoyed with Center City Partners today -- I am sick of their focus on big projects and plans that never get implemented. I think their special assessment dollars could be spent much more productively on smaller initiatives (like the rail trail mini parks) that would create more street level activity in uptown and Southend. I have a few suggestions for them based on observations of city life in the UK.

1. Encourage buskers. Create 20-30 designated spots on the street where busking was unambiguously permitted. Create a system where the most talented receive some recognition (annual cash prize?). The benefits are more people on sidewalks, arts community promotion (something Charlotte desperately needs) and breaking up our monotonous streetscape. Cost: very little.

3. Micro retail space. Retail flourishes where their is plenty of cheap, flexible space for new businesses. CCCP could either lease existing space or build a box park kind of setup (stacked shipping containers with utilities) and rent very cheap / heavily subsidized retail space to small vendors  as a retail incubator. If big enough, the complex could act as an 'anchor store' to draw people in from the burbs to see whats new. Ideally this would be supplemented with food trucks to reinforce the node's drawing power.

1- Not a bad idea at all, but I question whether Charlotte has the right culture for that. Asheville is just better suited for it.  

3- I've heard CCCP is working on using the old bus shelters as micro-retail spaces.

 

 

2 hours ago, atlrvr said:

A reminder of what that project will look like, as seen from South Blvd standing underneath the Morehead St overpass.

 

From Axiom Architects website.

These seem to be pretty well designed. I like the look. It may be my new favorite townhome project in Charlotte if the final look holds up to this rendering.

[grodney]

4 minutes ago, Spartan said:

 

I can't wait for Rhino Market to open. Anyone recall when that's supposed to happen?

 

I haven't seen anything other than "Spring".  I'm pretty sure it's ASAP....but as I walked by today, there doesn't appear to be very much (if anything) tenant-specific done inside yet.

[Guest]

I haven't seen anything other than "Spring".  I'm pretty sure it's ASAP....but as I walked by today, there doesn't appear to be very much (if anything) tenant-specific done inside yet.

I think they hand over the shell space to Rhimo for their upfit in a few weeks


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[CLTProductions]

THey handed the space over for rhino and b.good. Both have their permits and should start any day now. Spring summer is still a good bet. As for the atrium going away for 101 N Tryon. It will eventually. 

[CLTProductions]

The Grand Bohemian will be 254 rooms, officially. 

[papadog]

how many floors?

 

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

Hoping it's in the 20+ range to go along with the Trademark and Carillon.  Is the plot of land for this hotel just that park area or does it contain that parking lot behind it as well?  Guess depending upon that answer, could affect the height of this building.   

[CLTProductions]

The one in Orlando is 250 rooms and 10 floors. Look for it to be about that. And it's just the pocket park. Not the parking lot. .5 acres. 

Edited April 6, 2017 by Jayvee

[edmundblackadder1999]

24 minutes ago, Jayvee said:

The one in Orlando is 250 rooms and 10 floors. Look for it to be about that. And it's just the pocket park. Not the parking lot. .5 acres. 

With all of the parking lots in Charlotte, it sucks that they're building on green space.

[jwntim]

28 minutes ago, Jayvee said:

The one in Orlando is 250 rooms and 10 floors. Look for it to be about that. And it's just the pocket park. Not the parking lot. .5 acres. 

That didnt sound right to me so I just checked and the orlando grand bohemian is 17 floors on 0.64 acres. http://www.ocpafl.org/Searches/ParcelSearch.aspx/PID/292226593600022

Edit: Marriott says 15 floors http://www.marriott.com/hotels/fact-sheet/travel/mcoak-grand-bohemian-hotel-orlando-autograph-collection/

Edited April 6, 2017 by jwntim

[KJHburg]

Can we start a new Bohemian topic so as this hotel rises it wont get lost in the miscellaneous uptown?