Misc. Uptown Projects/News

[kermit]

16 minutes ago, asthasr said:

That's very fair. I just wonder whether all of the building would've burnt down at all (costing 400 apartments worth of tenants their possessions, despite a lack of injury) if the thing wasn't a pile of wood.

It was unoccupied (it was in the middle of the construction process). Toz did a good job of convincing me that the fire would have been much less severe if an occupancy permit had been issued since more fire walls would have been in place and the sprinkler system would have been operating.

I would imagine the only significant costs involved in this fire were to the insurance carrier and the city of Raleigh (Fire Dept costs).

Edited March 18, 2017 by kermit

[asthasr]

Sorry I wasn't clear, I was referring to the Avalon fire I linked above.

[KJHburg]

Where exactly was this fire says West 9th Street? http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/2-alarm-fire-rips-through-vacant-warehouse/504032326  Maybe the building at W 9th street and Smith St in Fourth Ward near the ADM silos? 

[11 HouseBZ]

Yeah it was behind ADM

[Bikeguy]

another one of these infernos is now in progress in Overland Park KS.  In this instance, reports are that up to a dozen nearby homes are now also ablaze from hot, flying embers..  http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article139693098.html

[Squid7085]

4 hours ago, Bikeguy said:

another one of these infernos is now in progress in Overland Park KS.  In this instance, reports are that up to a dozen nearby homes are now also ablaze from hot, flying embers..  http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article139693098.html

I am originally from this area, literally down the street. I watched this whole thing unfold as I still have many of the local KC stations on my Facebook newsfeed. There was all this talk above about these buildings going up in dense urban areas (Talking about the Raleigh Fire) this is the exact opposite. This is about as suburban as you can get. Large apartment complex going up on a busy street surrounded by a suburban neighborhood. I assume these were likely going up mostly for college students and young professionals. The Local community college, the University of Kansas - Overland Park campus and Corperate Woods (Think smaller Ballantyne) are right down the road. At some point these developers need to be held accountable for this kind of stuff, they are effectively giant bonfires waiting to go up before (and arguably after) they are finished. 17 homes damaged.

 

I live in one of these "stick built" complexes in South End currently. I watched the Townhouse fire by the Midnight Diner from my balcony. I have a lot of trust in the building codes not letting a place like where I live completely go up in flames, but it seems like just a matter of time.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Squid7085

[Bikeguy]

Latest update is that 22 nearby homes were damaged.  http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article139801943.html

[grodney]

From 400 South Tryon....update on Retail renovations, see below.  Somebody should go take some pics.  Oh wait.

"

Please be advised, we are excited to inform you that the Church Street sidewalk renovation will be completed on Tuesday March 21, 2017. The sidewalk, as well as the parking deck stairwell on MLK and Church, will reopen on Wednesday March 22^nd at 5:00am. We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we completed this section of our retail renovation, and we can’t wait to unveil the completed retail space to you.  

"

 

[grodney]

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

 

Edited March 22, 2017 by grodney

[go_vertical]

Looks fairly bland and boring, but also 1000 times better.

[nonillogical]

10 hours ago, go_vertical said:

Looks fairly bland and boring, but also 1000 times better.

All it needs is some awnings and signage to come to life. A little preview of what Matt Stevens is cooking up for the JJ's location (looks like there will be some more neon!): 

 

[Guest]

I miss the days when we used to get scoops from the CBJ and Observer every Friday. Now we are the source of the scoops. LOL

[DMann]

[atlrvr]

On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 8:49 AM, KJHburg said:

Any design of Bohemian released yet and I missed it? Their location in Savannah is beautiful one of the best looking hotels on the riverfront. 

 

They just submitted their land-use plans today in the Accela system...I assume it will sit with land-use review staff for several months before the approved plans get publically posted.

[elrodvt]

I was curious about the progress of Google Fiber in uptown so went for a walk today to see if I could figure anything out. I walked north along Davidson and around 7th street you start to see utility boxes labeled GFBR. There is also a lot of fresh digging from there along 8th up to Sky House (i think it was 8th, i should have taken notes). I think they're pretty much ready to tie in Sky House if they want. It also looks like they're getting close to The View but I don't understand how it ties into the Sky fiber and perhaps is coming from a different direction (hub). It's pretty hard to figure out their master plan from all this but I I would bet they're taking the path of least resistance to hook up the large residential buildings and any office buildings they've signed up. There are also a TON of fresh utility markers throughout uptown near the street curbs that would seem to lead to most of the large buildings. I probably missed a lot.

I also read an article that across the country their pace has picked up a lot as they adopt a newer practice called micro trenching (http://www.thefoa.org/tech/ref/install/Microtrenching/index.html) and maybe that is why I saw some GFBR utility boxes without much apparent digging nearby? Don't know if that is allowed in Charlotte though.

All in All still pretty confusing but I felt a lot more optimistic than before my stroll.

Does anyone have any actual facts about their roll out plan uptown?

[Niner National]

2 hours ago, elrodvt said:

I was curious about the progress of Google Fiber in uptown so went for a walk today to see if I could figure anything out. I walked north along Davidson and around 7th street you start to see utility boxes labeled GFBR. There is also a lot of fresh digging from there along 8th up to Sky House (i think it was 8th, i should have taken notes). I think they're pretty much ready to tie in Sky House if they want. It also looks like they're getting close to The View but I don't understand how it ties into the Sky fiber and perhaps is coming from a different direction (hub). It's pretty hard to figure out their master plan from all this but I I would bet they're taking the path of least resistance to hook up the large residential buildings and any office buildings they've signed up. There are also a TON of fresh utility markers throughout uptown near the street curbs that would seem to lead to most of the large buildings. I probably missed a lot.

I also read an article that across the country their pace has picked up a lot as they adopt a newer practice called micro trenching (http://www.thefoa.org/tech/ref/install/Microtrenching/index.html) and maybe that is why I saw some GFBR utility boxes without much apparent digging nearby? Don't know if that is allowed in Charlotte though.

All in All still pretty confusing but I felt a lot more optimistic than before my stroll.

Does anyone have any actual facts about their roll out plan uptown?

I live in Seigle Point (10th and Seigle). They are actively installing Fiber in the neighborhood right now. Unfortunately only to the apartments so far. I'm hoping the townhomes aren't left behind.

[JRNYP2C]

Noticed that there are more heavy drilling trucks on the lot between The Gantt Center and St. Peter's Church today, right along Tryon.  Rico's Acai had to move down in the lot from their corner space to make room.  I tried to go back on the thread to see where this was mentioned before, but couldn't see anything.  

[tozmervo]

14 minutes ago, JRNYP2C said:

Noticed that there are more heavy drilling trucks on the lot between The Gantt Center and St. Peter's Church today, right along Tryon.  Rico's Acai had to move down in the lot from their corner space to make room.  I tried to go back on the thread to see where this was mentioned before, but couldn't see anything.  

Sounds like someone might be doing some geotech borings*, which is an early prelude (sometimes very very early) to design work.

*basically taking deep core samples of the soil/rock at a site to know how a building foundation should be designed and what potential site work costs may be

[Dale]

Maybe to see if the site will support 70 stories.

[edmundblackadder1999]

55 minutes ago, Dale said:

Maybe to see if the site will support 70 stories.

That would be nice!

[Dale]

59 minutes ago, edmundblackadder1999 said:

That would be nice!

The site cries out for something iconic.

[edmundblackadder1999]

49 minutes ago, Dale said:

The site cries out for something iconic.

I agree.  It would be nice to have a great plaza with fountains too.  This could host outdoor seating for restaurants at the base of any new tower.

[NCMike1990]

Like others on here are saying, I'd like to see a big attraction for this site. Like maybe an aquarium or a natural history museum. Maybe something like Raleigh's Natural Science Museum, with the large globe. Something eye catching like that is what I'm imagining. I think something iconic (or something unique to Charlotte) would go well with the nearby Mint and Bechtler Musems.

Source: NC Museum of Natural Sciences

Just something other than a hotel, apartment or office tower, IMO.

[elrodvt]

1 hour ago, NCMike1990 said:

Like others on here are saying, I'd like to see a big attraction for this site. Like maybe an aquarium or a natural history museum. Maybe something like Raleigh's Natural Science Museum, with the large globe. Something eye catching like that is what I'm imagining. I think something iconic (or something unique to Charlotte) would go well with the nearby Mint and Bechtler Musem

Source: NC Museum of Natural Sciences

Just something other than a hotel, apartment or office tower, IMO.

That'd be awesome although I think anything science related might be better as part of the library development near Discovery?

A really grand art museum to complement bechtler sounds fantastic. A few more artsy things like that centrally located would make a really decent "arts district" tourist draw. Although I've heard HB2 is hurting us here too as exhibits don't want to come. I'm sure that'll be resolved before anything like that could be built though. Right????

Edited March 29, 2017 by elrodvt

[Popsickle]

On 3/27/2017 at 7:02 PM, elrodvt said:

I was curious about the progress of Google Fiber in uptown so went for a walk today to see if I could figure anything out. I walked north along Davidson and around 7th street you start to see utility boxes labeled GFBR. There is also a lot of fresh digging from there along 8th up to Sky House (i think it was 8th, i should have taken notes). I think they're pretty much ready to tie in Sky House if they want. It also looks like they're getting close to The View but I don't understand how it ties into the Sky fiber and perhaps is coming from a different direction (hub). It's pretty hard to figure out their master plan from all this but I I would bet they're taking the path of least resistance to hook up the large residential buildings and any office buildings they've signed up. There are also a TON of fresh utility markers throughout uptown near the street curbs that would seem to lead to most of the large buildings. I probably missed a lot.

I also read an article that across the country their pace has picked up a lot as they adopt a newer practice called micro trenching (http://www.thefoa.org/tech/ref/install/Microtrenching/index.html) and maybe that is why I saw some GFBR utility boxes without much apparent digging nearby? Don't know if that is allowed in Charlotte though.

All in All still pretty confusing but I felt a lot more optimistic than before my stroll.

Does anyone have any actual facts about their roll out plan uptown?

I know this is a bit off topic of the original post.  Nevertheless, I'll ask it here as it pertains to the advance of the area, and something people should be aware of.  In regards to the google fiber network, I will say that I have not read their "terms of use" for the fiber service.  But, are the terms of service in line with their existing products?  I.E. google photos, chrome, calender, and mail, where they log ("read") all your data sent through those services to essentially better their add service?  Additionally, just like FB, all data you upload to these services are then property of the owner of the service.

Remember, if you are not paying for the service, you are the product. 

Sorry for the rant, remove tinfoil hat now.