Misc. Uptown Projects/News

[Cadi40]

Actually Union wasn’t out.

[KJHburg]

Miscellaneous photos of uptown towers today.  Some of the KJ favorites.  I love the 1 Wells Fargo some of you may say it screams 1980s but its distinctive top aka the Juke Box is a great building on the skyline.  Photo from straight up on the 1 WF plaza. 

it was a great day for photos up to when T storm hit but even some of those shots are great too. 

[KJHburg]

Average land prices per acre in uptown, South End, Midtown is up 54% from 2015 according to this report from JLL    Another reason why things have to go tall and large to make the numbers work.

https://www.us.jll.com/en/views/snapshots/charlotte-snapshot-5-8-19-jll

[elrodvt]

^so explain all the parking space? Seems discongruent doesn't it?

[southslider]

Generating more traffic in a finite space. The resulting gridlock may help correct the price bubble. Literally slow the densification.  Especially if not capturing increased values to expand transportation options.

[Matthew.Brendan]

Just a quick note to say that this SHOUT festival is the best I've ever seen in Uptown. I hope they bring it back in the future.

[Guest]

Just a quick note to say that this SHOUT festival is the best I've ever seen in Uptown. I hope they bring it back in the future.

yea really. It really looks like the least hokie thing Charlotte has ever put together. Super 2019 planning.

 

[KJHburg]

This Charlotte shout reminds me of the old SpringFest that was very popular years ago. Streets are closing down today.  

[KJHburg]

Miscellaneous photos of the skyline today going up Caldwell.  Last one is what people called Levineland the large vacant parcels. As I said last year and it is not too late we ought to use this land to grow fresh vegetables for the homeless and others in need in the inner city.  Grow corn, tomatoes,  beans etc.  as it is really not even used for parking.   We all know  nothing will happen on this land between now and the first frost in October.    Think of the goodwill Mr Levine! 

Edited May 10, 2019 by KJHburg

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

23 hours ago, elrodvt said:

^so explain all the parking space? Seems discongruent doesn't it?

Often a lending requirement for residential, office is because those rent office space or build are usually older and "can't imagine" that those who work downtown wouldn't want a parking space, think Harris/McColl era lol. 

[elrodvt]

1 hour ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

Often a lending requirement for residential, office is because those rent office space or build are usually older and "can't imagine" that those who work downtown wouldn't want a parking space, think Harris/McColl era lol. 

Gotcha but planning should prohibit.  It also doesn't explain how the yuge # of independent garage and surface lots fit into the statement @KJHburg made. 

Seems like raising taxes on those lots would make that land available for development. What're we talking - 25% of the downtown "yuge density" land being a wasteland of asphalt? :-) and that drives high rises? Something smells.

[J-Rob]

It doesn't seem incongruent to me.  His statement was that values were up 54% since 2015, indicating that as new developments are built out they will go taller/denser.  It will take time obviously.  All of Uptown can't be built out all at once, but  I think the run CLT is on actually supports his statement.  I mean, between LU, Ally, and DEC2 we are talking about the potential addition of 4.5 million square feet of office space, and nearly every building will be at least 20 floors tall.   Yeah, sure, they are building parking decks, but how many cities have 4.5 million square feet of office space being added within two blocks?  To @KJHburg's point, the increased land value will lead to increased density/height moving forward.  Increased property taxes on the parking might help eventually, but only if there are developers willing to invest, which also requires new development.

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

10 hours ago, elrodvt said:

Gotcha but planning should prohibit.  It also doesn't explain how the yuge # of independent garage and surface lots fit into the statement @KJHburg made. 

Seems like raising taxes on those lots would make that land available for development. What're we talking - 25% of the downtown "yuge density" land being a wasteland of asphalt? :-) and that drives high rises? Something smells.

Charlotte Planning is stuck in 1981. The city of Charlotte has NEVER required a reduction in parking per square foot of nearly any development. Its like saying, I'm shocked the banks aren't self policing their interest rates. Maybe once the TODs are finally implemented, but as of now we are still in an autocentric era which if doesn't require a certain amount of parking, nearly never limits the number of parking spots.

[kermit]

^ I don't think we are far from banks / lenders beginning to view parking as a rapidly depreciating unproductive asset. Eventually loans will not be underwritten because of too much parking, not too little.

[elrodvt]

^wouldn't that be the day! It's evident our city is so scared of the developers they won't push on it. Or worse they don't see an issue.

[KJHburg]

Miscellaneous photos today and the see-saws by the Mint and Bechtler were being taken down.    (in the last photos that is not an alien craft hovering over the skyline) 

[kermit]

277 rail trail ped bridge is on the move:

I am really glad this is moving forward, but I still wonder -- what happens when you get to Stonewall Station? Does everybody take the stairs down to Wholefoods for Fiji water and Macaroons?

 

Edited May 13, 2019 by kermit

[navigator319]

Looks like 121 W Trade is getting a new glass base. Reno’s have started at least on the inside. No more outside patio for Kings Kitchen it looks like.

[Dale]

Of all the buildings they could have torn down ... and this one they won’t tear down.

[KJHburg]

2 hours ago, navigator319 said:

Looks like 121 W Trade is getting a new glass base. Reno’s have started at least on the inside. No more outside patio for Kings Kitchen it looks like.

 

that is 129 W Trade building and the facade has not changed since my mom's office with Wachovia moved over there when the building was brand new in 1958!   I will tell mom they are updating now!   The Charlotte Chamber moved into this building after Wachovia moved on to 400 South Tryon.   The problem with the building are the small floor plates however it makes for great smaller offices that need space uptown.  Not everyone wants or needs 25-30K sq ft floor plates.   To me this building is so ugly it is beautiful and I want it to be a part of the skyline for years to come. 

[ertley]

I actually think 129 West Trade is a really cool building--and not necessarily because it's beautiful--but because it's so unique. I'm all for preserving old buildings solely for history's sake, but the other, equally important, reason for preserving them is because it keeps a city from being generic. A city that doesn't preserve as much of its older building stock as it can ends up looking like every other comparable city. 

IMO the proportion of buildings built, in any era, that are truly distinctive, is well under half. Compounding that--and I know I'm stating the obvious here--is the tendency in architecture, as in any arena of design, to follow current trends and fashions. Even if the first few buildings of a cycle are noteworthy and interesting, the ensuing similar dozen or more will reduce their distinctiveness.

129 West Trade, love it or hate it, keeps that corner and adjacent blocks of West Trade from being indistinguishable from any other similar-sized city in North America, and for that reason alone I think it should stand as long as it can. As someone pointed out, the Grand Bohemian is being built very much along the lines of its sister structure in Orlando--and the last thing I would want is for Charlotte's downtown to be analogous to Orlando's.  

I'm super glad that terrible facade of its lower levels is being undone. I don't know if the proposed design is as good as it could be, but it's definitely an improvement.

[Matthew.Brendan]

I really like that. Anyone know what is currently on those floors behind the new glass facade? Offices?

[Dale]

Attended a Knights game last night, first time Uptown in four months. I suppose it was a combination of four months of pretty pictures, as well as runaway expections, that fostered disappointment. Impression: outside of a stretch of Stonewall, Tyron south of Spirit Square and perhaps a couple of pockets of activity ... Uptown has a LONG way to go. I suppose it is well to remind myself how far it has come, since the 80’s, when it called to mind a nuclear bomb site.

[videtur quam contuor]

streetscape>skyscape

[CLT_sc]

2 hours ago, Dale said:

Attended a Knights game last night, first time Uptown in four months. I suppose it was a combination of four months of pretty pictures, as well as runaway expections, that fostered disappointment. Impression: outside of a stretch of Stonewall, Tyron south of Spirit Square and perhaps a couple of pockets of activity ... Uptown has a LONG way to go. I suppose it is well to remind myself how far it has come, since the 80’s, when it called to mind a nuclear bomb site.

Everyone has a perspective.  However, if a person is truely interested in development and real estate, seeing how downtown Charlotte has transformed this decade is nothing short of amazing.  What once was a parking lot is now a small urban park lined with high rise apartment buildings and a baseball stadium.  The level of pedestrian activity in that area is light years ahead of where is was, which in no was was nuclear.

Stonewall has seen apartments, hotel and a lot of office space built in the past 3 years, we can aggregate the numbers, but it is substantial. And, better yet, more is coming.  You can now walk from BofA Stadium to midtown and be surrounded by development in every block.  That is absolutely amazing.  Now, if your perspective in NYC, the height won’t be impressive just as someone from Paris won’t be excited about NYC architecture.

North of Trade is not expanding at the same rate but definitely has activity in hotels and apartments which are nice infill projects.

Southend is one long construction zone of residential and retail following light rail, that is impressive.  

The important thing to remember is that CLT has many more projects in the pipeline which will continue to fill out all areas downtown and neighboring districts.  We still have Honeywell, BB&T as well as hotels which are way behind where we should be for this city.  We have 30 ish tower cranes up across the city (not just downtown) which is a really good #.