Misc. Uptown Projects/News

[j-man]

On 6/15/2021 at 11:26 AM, norm21499 said:

Uptown is our financial district. How many financial districts in the country are lively, happening places after 5pm? 

So did you miss my point when I said most of them are? But like besides that there are thousands among thousands of people that live uptown, tens of thousands of visitors Uptown everyday for sporting events, retail, museums, and so on. You wouldn’t think it would be this dead. Though my venturing around just felt so empty in comparison to other parts of the city. 

Edited June 16, 2021 by j-man

[Norm2]

2 hours ago, j-man said:

So did you miss my point when I said most of them are? But like besides that there are thousands among thousands of people that live uptown, tens of thousands of visitors Uptown everyday for sporting events, retail, museums, and so on. You wouldn’t think it would be this dead. Though my venturing around just felt so empty in comparison to other parts of the city. 

Unless there is an event occurring, Uptown currently will not be as active as other parts of the city.  It will change, but that's the current reality. How many events are occuring right now in Uptown in a daily basis? How many are going to museums on a daily basis? Uptown doesn't have much in retail outside of restaurants, convenience stores and pharmacies. As events slowly return, more people will come and Uptown will be more active again. Right now most people want to get away for a good vacation to relax!

Edited June 16, 2021 by norm21499

[Desert Power]

4 hours ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

They would have a large profit from this land sale, I don't think we would lose them as a museum, just a less marquee location probably. First Ward or South End wouldn't be the worst place ever.

Brooklyn redevelopment would be perfect. Or on some empty actual Levine land...

[Windsurfer]

1 hour ago, Desert Power said:

Brooklyn redevelopment would be perfect. Or on some empty actual Levine land...

My vote would be for The Gold District, along with a section dedicated to the old gold mines.  That was, after all, a major part of the South and this region.

[go_vertical]

12 hours ago, Desert Power said:

Brooklyn redevelopment would be perfect. Or on some empty actual Levine land...

Speaking of Levine.... is he in hiding or something? Has he popped his head up at all in the last year or so? 

[DMann]

I say the Power Tower corner of Stonewall and Church.   Wasn’t that a gym?  

[KJHburg]

These tech companies everywhere not just in Charlotte are giving up office space.  It is a bigger problem in major tech hubs but here is Passport giving up for sublease 2 of its 3 floors at the First Citizens Bank.  

"""Charlotte software company Passport is the latest uptown tenant to put its office space up for sublease. The company, which develops mobility software platforms, leases three floors at First Citizens Bank Plaza, at 128 S. Tryon St. The fast-growing company first moved there in late 2017 and eventually expanded into additional space.  Passport's space listed for sublease totals 46,710 square feet. The company's office includes the tower's top two floors.""

""Passport remains fully committed to Charlotte. Like many tech companies, we will be supporting our employees' desire for hybrid work schedules. As we plan for our return to work, we anticipate that our corporate workspace will be revamped to offer more collaboration areas as well as increased hoteling options to best meet the current and future needs of our growing company.""

 

Software company Passport to sublease its uptown office space - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

[navigator319]

2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

These tech companies everywhere not just in Charlotte are giving up office space.  It is a bigger problem in major tech hubs but here is Passport giving up for sublease 2 of its 3 floors at the First Citizens Bank.  

"""Charlotte software company Passport is the latest uptown tenant to put its office space up for sublease. The company, which develops mobility software platforms, leases three floors at First Citizens Bank Plaza, at 128 S. Tryon St. The fast-growing company first moved there in late 2017 and eventually expanded into additional space.  Passport's space listed for sublease totals 46,710 square feet. The company's office includes the tower's top two floors.""

""Passport remains fully committed to Charlotte. Like many tech companies, we will be supporting our employees' desire for hybrid work schedules. As we plan for our return to work, we anticipate that our corporate workspace will be revamped to offer more collaboration areas as well as increased hoteling options to best meet the current and future needs of our growing company.""

 

Software company Passport to sublease its uptown office space - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

This is a growing issue across the country.  only the big name companies make the news when in fact they really only a fraction of the workforce.   My company just updates on its office plans/ growth and its not good for office buildings that cater to cubical and meetings rooms. 

Feb 2020 plans - New/expanded  'professional services' space needed and coming in San Diego, Glasgow, Boston 

Updated June 2021 plans - no new space in San Diego, no need for expansion plans in Boston and only need/want  1/3 of the original idea for Glasgow 

Not company related either as we are hiring and growing like mad 

[CLTranspo]

1 hour ago, navigator319 said:

This is a growing issue across the country.  only the big name companies make the news when in fact they really only a fraction of the workforce.   My company just updates on its office plans/ growth and its not good for office buildings that cater to cubical and meetings rooms. 

Feb 2020 plans - New/expanded  'professional services' space needed and coming in San Diego, Glasgow, Boston 

Updated June 2021 plans - no new space in San Diego, no need for expansion plans in Boston and only need/want  1/3 of the original idea for Glasgow 

Not company related either as we are hiring and growing like mad 

Exactly. My firm is keeping the same number of employees or has hired more, but our office space across the country is getting halved including Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta, etc

[KJHburg]

according to the Biz Journal a $15 M permit has been pulled for the parking garage behind One Independence Center now owned Crescent.  Are they rebuilding or adding a new deck where that old one was?  120 N Church is the address.  I heard rumors long ago that they might rebuild the deck and allow for future tower above?  Does anyone know? 

[atlrvr]

It's going to just be a precast deck with no retail and not designed to support a future building in top.

8 stories, 525 parking spaces.

It'll have aluminum screening on the Church St side.  A 2 story "vegetative wall"  about 20' wide between the in 2 drives (ingress/egress).

 

[J-Rob]

Is this the one they are rebuilding bigger than the existing deck, so owner can potentially knock down one of the other decks they own?

Edited June 25, 2021 by J-Rob

[michaelef]

2 hours ago, atlrvr said:

It's going to just be a precast deck with no retail and not designed to support a future building in top.

8 stories, 525 parking spaces.

It'll have aluminum screening on the Church St side.  A 2 story "vegetative wall"  about 20' wide between the in 2 drives (ingress/egress).

 

Here for the vegetative wall but BOOO on everything else. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

Just think of it as additional housing uptown .....for cars.

[RANYC]

2 hours ago, michaelef said:

Here for the vegetative wall but BOOO on everything else. 

4 hours ago, atlrvr said:

arking spaces.

It'll have aluminum screening on t

Going to look at the bright side of this.  

Number 1 - vast improvement over what's there now and has been there for years. 

Number 2 - vegetative wall on a garage is actually innovative by Charlotte standards.  If done properly, a vegetative or garden wall can be its own form of street-level activation and source of pedestrian interest and engagement. 

Number 3 - a vegetative wall on this garage might start a trend up and down Church which would vastly improve Church, and may even set a trend for other garages throughout Uptown. 

Number 4 - isn't this the crew behind the One Independence street-level activation on Tryon?  If so, they've already shown they get it, and are working a miracle for us on our city's main drag - Tryon.  Furthermore, I might go so far as to say that I'd rather have a well-done garden wall fronting Church street, than to have perenially vacant retail space  if the market just isn't there for it.

[Norm2]

I have little faith in a vegetative wall in parking garages after what we have seen in Charlotte so far...

[Spartan]

17 hours ago, RANYC said:

Going to look at the bright side of this.  

Number 1 - vast improvement over what's there now and has been there for years. 

Number 2 - vegetative wall on a garage is actually innovative by Charlotte standards.  If done properly, a vegetative or garden wall can be its own form of street-level activation and source of pedestrian interest and engagement. 

Number 3 - a vegetative wall on this garage might start a trend up and down Church which would vastly improve Church, and may even set a trend for other garages throughout Uptown. 

Number 4 - isn't this the crew behind the One Independence street-level activation on Tryon?  If so, they've already shown they get it, and are working a miracle for us on our city's main drag - Tryon.  Furthermore, I might go so far as to say that I'd rather have a well-done garden wall fronting Church street, than to have perenially vacant retail space  if the market just isn't there for it.

The City's design standards are also a lot better than they used to be, and decorative screening treatments are required for things like this. Give them credit for a vegetation wall, but not for going slightly above the minimum requirement.

It's disappointing that so much $ is being invested in parking, but I suppose its a good sign for the future viability of uptown. That block of Church doesn't have anything on it, nor does it have the potential. IMO, since they will have to improve the sidewalk on that side, its a win for the city.

[tozmervo]

Frankly, I'd rather see stand alone garages vs the integrated decks like in Southend. Stand alone garages at least can be redeveloped in the future.

[Spartan]

OH! In other news, I was walking by the old Fire Station on 5th St last week, and saw a Lamborghini SUV parked out front. I hope this is a sign that life could happen in that building in the foreseeable future.

[Blue_Devil]

6 hours ago, Spartan said:

OH! In other news, I was walking by the old Fire Station on 5th St last week, and saw a Lamborghini SUV parked out front. I hope this is a sign that life could happen in that building in the foreseeable future.

Wasn't there a 12-20 story project proposed for that lot?

[davidclt]

20 hours ago, tozmervo said:

Frankly, I'd rather see stand alone garages vs the integrated decks like in Southend. Stand alone garages at least can be redeveloped in the future.

I'd rather see buried garages and a vibrant streetscape but to each their own. City "leaders" are soo afraid to hold developers to (any expense) account so we keep getting crap development. It may look good, but how will it look in 20, 30, 40 years? Tourists will come to Charlotte to marvel at the architecture of our parking decks! It's just missing some of that je ne sais quoi that timeless architecture has. We can make excuses but crap is still crap.

I wonder what the street presentation of One BAC would be if it were to be developed today?

[j-man]

On 6/26/2021 at 11:35 AM, tozmervo said:

Frankly, I'd rather see stand alone garages vs the integrated decks like in Southend. Stand alone garages at least can be redeveloped in the future.

I agree 100%!! They called me crazy when I said this before. And I feel like stand alone decks allow for more buildings to use them instead of just the one building it’s integrated with. I’d rather see one large screened deck with nice landscaping and retail that can hold like 3 thousand cars rather than a bunch of tiny ones all over the city. I don’t mind large decks like on the LU project because it’s placed nicely  with lots of space for retail and I feel like it’s easier to build stand alone towers rather than them built on top of decks like Ascent Apartments which look so weird to me. 

Edited June 30, 2021 by j-man

[nakers2]

On 6/27/2021 at 11:27 AM, j-man said:

I agree 100%!! They called me crazy when I said this before. And I feel like stand alone decks allow for more buildings to use them instead of just the one building it’s integrated with. I’d rather see one large screened deck with nice landscaping and retail that can hold like 3 thousand cars that a bunch of tiny ones all over the city. I don’t mind large decks like on the LU project because it’s placed nice with lots of space for retail and I feel like it’s easier to build stand alone towers rather than them built on top of decks like Ascent Apartments which look so weird to me. 

The Aescent deck is a crime against humanity. I live in the Camden Cotton Mills, which has similar "exposed podium" parking deck, but at least the upper floor is utilized as a sun and pool deck, and it is strategically hidden by the surrounding structures. Aescent will never have anything blocking it's lower floors. 

[Spartan]

On 6/26/2021 at 6:40 PM, Blue_Devil said:

Wasn't there a 12-20 story project proposed for that lot?

No, but several investors have looked at it over the years at one point Steve Smith was going to open a high end restaurant there. Most recent was a bottleshop type of place that was proposed right before the pandemic.

[a2theb]

12 hours ago, Spartan said:

at one point Steve Smith was going to open a high end restaurant there. 

Was this the same as the Charles Johnson proposed restaurant?