Misc. Uptown Projects/News

[Reverie39]

9 hours ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

Thanks! Been waiting forever for them to update this. Uptown looks so much denser with the update of stonewall, grand bohemian, Ellis, 500, fnb and others. Another cool thing too is that you can see the progress on gateway staton which is neat. It’s very apparent where the empty lots are and next spots for development boom. 

Good catch with Gateway Station! From an aerial perspective you can see what they're doing with getting a set of tracks to diverge from the main ones and run through the future station. Pretty cool stuff.

You can also really start to see South End's baby skyline forming from certain angles. 

 

[carolinaboy]

Have the office workers returned to Uptown? Have the employers asked their workers to come back?

[CLT2014]

2 hours ago, carolinaboy said:

Have the office workers returned to Uptown? Have the employers asked their workers to come back?

Somewhat. It is the most busy it has been in a long time, but really far from what it used to be in 2019. Monday and Friday are pretty dead with hybrid schedules resulting in most people picking some combo of Tues-Thurs. Traffic in Uptown isn't very bad either, other than in the areas with all the construction like the one-lane situation on Stonewall. On cloudy days when you can see into adjacent towers with lights on, most look to be rather empty still. Maybe 50% full on any given day.  Talking to friends that work at places like BofA, Wells, Ally, Truist, et... in Uptown, I'd say the vast majority are doing 2 or 3 days in the office. My network skews towards IT workers though. 

That's just my 2 cents.

Edited April 6, 2022 by CLT2014

[deleted account]

39 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

Somewhat. It is the most busy it has been in a long time, but really far from what it used to be in 2019. Monday and Friday are pretty dead with hybrid schedules resulting in most people picking some combo of Tues-Thurs. Traffic in Uptown isn't very bad either, other than in the areas with all the construction like the one-lane situation on Stonewall. On cloudy days when you can see into adjacent towers with lights on, most look to be rather empty still. Maybe 50% full on any given day.  Talking to friends that work at places like BofA, Wells, Ally, Truist, et... in Uptown, I'd say the vast majority are doing 2 or 3 days in the office. My network skews towards IT workers though. 

That's just my 2 cents.

This feels very accurate to me. Our office decided to go every Wednesday only and we still have complaints. This will be our schedule forevermore unless performance drops. Nights in Uptown are much more lively and restaurants are seeing a lot more diners. I suspect this is replicated throughout the country in other major cities. Maybe someone can explain to me again why all these office towers are getting built? I love them but I don't get the economics (especially considering the cost of materials). COVID forever changed how employees work. 

[Blue_Devil]

Somewhat. It is the most busy it has been in a long time, but really far from what it used to be in 2019. Monday and Friday are pretty dead with hybrid schedules resulting in most people picking some combo of Tues-Thurs. Traffic in Uptown isn't very bad either, other than in the areas with all the construction like the one-lane situation on Stonewall. On cloudy days when you can see into adjacent towers with lights on, most look to be rather empty still. Maybe 50% full on any given day.  Talking to friends that work at places like BofA, Wells, Ally, Truist, et... in Uptown, I'd say the vast majority are doing 2 or 3 days in the office. My network skews towards IT workers though. 
That's just my 2 cents.

Bank of America just announced a full 5 days back, no hybrid running through June 1. Their RTO doesnt start till next week. Wells RTO began a few weeks ago, and is still not up to speed. Once BOA begins, it’s going to get crowded.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[deleted account]

1 minute ago, Blue_Devil said:

Bank of America just announced a full 5 days back, no hybrid running through June 1. Their RTO doesnt start till next week. Wells RTO began a few weeks ago, and is still not up to speed. Once BOA begins, it’s going to get crowded.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interesting! Let's see if that lasts if they see mass resignations...we adjusted partly for that reason (in CA, not here). 

[j-man]

What’s this…

[Urban Cowboy]

Looks like LU4, but viewed from behind. 

[KJHburg]

Yes I would guess it 600 South Tryon tower at Legacy a 24 story tower that will face the Deloitte tower.   I think  that image is showing the top very similar to the sketch in the Legacy thread LOL

[CLT2014]

Legacy Union will soon have more towers than total retail tenants!

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

30 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

Legacy Union will soon have more towers than total retail tenants!

After this office tower, LU needs hotel or residential bad. Need that 24/7 foot traffic in that area which will also help spur some action in those retail spaces. Personally, I’m most interested in the other vacant lot which happens to also be the largest facing Mint st and the stadium (lot of potential there). 

[j-man]

9 hours ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

After this office tower, LU needs hotel or residential bad. Need that 24/7 foot traffic in that area which will also help spur some action in those retail spaces. Personally, I’m most interested in the other vacant lot which happens to also be the largest facing Mint st and the stadium (lot of potential there). 

I've definitely been saying this. There are too many office towers on the edge of Uptown, and it is not a good thing if there isn't something to mix it up for foot traffic and liveliness. Because if it was just all office then it would be like one big 9 to 5 section of town. There needs to be a major residential and a major hotel here. I don't see why not. And when I say major, like maybe 500 residential units and MINIMUM 600 hotel rooms. The amount of office space in this area so far alone doesn't have a lot that closely nearby to support it. And to have a stadium right there....its literally a no brainer. I know its not always that easy but having a nearly 80,000 seat stadium, and over two million newly built square feet of office space, there just has to be some talk of residential and hotel.  And a major hotel right across from the stadium would seriously cut down on hundreds of cars from visitors needing parking because they could just walk to the stadium for games and events. 

[RANYC]

I understand your criticism, but I don't suspect there's much anyone can do.  Lincoln-Harris probably seeing more demand for office and more potential yield from office leases on these lots than residential or hotel.  We on this thread would like 24/7 vitality everywhere in Uptown, but there will probably always be pockets of 9-5 in Uptown, just like things are 9-5 occupancy in suburban office campuses.

Perhaps:

• FLEX RETAIL: Center City Partners might consider working with property managers of ground-floor retail all across uptown for some sort of flex-lease-incubation program.
• GALLERY DISTRICT:  Not sure if this would be of interest in Charlotte, but years ago, Jacksonville, FL arranged for vacant ground-floor spaces in a concentrated part of downtown to be turned into gallery spaces (paintings to sculptures to performative art).  Not a lot of build-out required.
• ART WALKS:  Once a variety of temp galleries and recital spaces are in place, there could be weekly "Art Walks" showcasing what's on display.  Manhattan's Chelsea district used to host something similar like 12 or so years ago - would take place Thursdays (not sure if it still happens).

Arguably, vitality in uptown needs to focus on incentives for creative activation of existing streetscape spaces, and less on new big-box and big-block construction projects.  I'm not convinced a new mid-rise or high-rise will result in the vitality we seek without being more imaginative about engaging pedestrian spaces.

I will say that building on elements like Charlotte SHOUT helps.

 

[CLT2014]

Anybody work at Wells or BofA? Did workers actually come back Uptown or are future waves still pending and some people are still 100% WFH?

Foot traffic still seems pretty low and traffic isn't really bad. You can leave at 5PM and there's barely any cars in Uptown until you get out of the loop and start mixing with people running errands, soccer moms, Atrium traffic, et.... From my office, it looks like many of the BofA and Wells towers have each floor maybe ~30% - 40% full from what I can see when their lights are on. Monday and Friday is a ghost town. 

Edited April 13, 2022 by CLT2014

[DonkeyKong]

1 minute ago, CLT2014 said:

Anybody work at Wells or BofA? Did workers actually come back Uptown or are future waves still pending and some people are still 100% WFH?

Foot traffic still seems pretty low and traffic isn't really bad. You can leave at 5PM and there's barely any cars in Uptown until you get out of the loop and start mixing with people running errands, soccer moms, Atrium traffic, et.... From my office, it looks like many of the BofA and Wells towers have each floor maybe ~30% - 40% full from what I can see when their lights are on. Monday and Friday is a ghost town. 

I was just uptown and looked like a lot of companies and  people are back.   Lots of foot traffic and people eating at restaurants. 

[KJHburg]

My cousin works at Wells out in the CIC on Harris Blvd.  He is in the office 3 days one week and then only 2 days the next week the rest from work from home.  Not sure if all are doing this but this is a strange way to do I would think it would be easier to set 3 days a week every week. 

[kayman]

I don't know how many times I have to tell you all. Hybrid schedules are here to stay. The flexible or alternating work weeks are very common now.  People have full lives outside of work and that toothpaste is out of the tube.  You can successfully do a white collar job mostly elsewhere with the only reason to come to the office is for very specific reasons. No socializing with coworkers is not a real valid reason.  

Demands or constant inquiries about why hasn't whomever hasn't had their employees fully returning to Uptown offices 100% is just odd at this point. Any major company who wants to keep from losing hundreds if not thousands in talent will fully embrace hybrid or flex work schedules permanently.

Uptown will have to adapt to this by becoming major mixed use activity center beyond predominately offices is key. 

Edited April 14, 2022 by kayman

[TheOneRJ]

Sorry but an employee making a six figure salary is not giving up their job because the company is forcing them back into the office. At least not enough to have any real effect. People are replaceable, especially in Charlotte.

Edited April 14, 2022 by TheOneRJ

[Blue_Devil]

8 hours ago, kayman said:

I don't know how many times I have to tell you all. Hybrid schedules are here to stay. The flexible or alternating work weeks are very common now.  People have full lives outside of work and that toothpaste is out of the tube.  You can successfully do a white collar job mostly elsewhere with the only reason to come to the office is for very specific reasons. No socializing with coworkers is not a real valid reason.  

Demands or constant inquiries about why hasn't whomever hasn't had their employees fully returning to Uptown offices 100% is just odd at this point. Any major company who wants to keep from losing hundreds if not thousands in talent will fully embrace hybrid or flex work schedules permanently.

Uptown will have to adapt to this by becoming major mixed use activity center beyond predominately offices is key. 

I mean, Bank of America is not doing 5/5 following JPM… JPM is not seeing much attrition 

[J-Rob]

12 hours ago, KJHburg said:

My cousin works at Wells out in the CIC on Harris Blvd.  He is in the office 3 days one week and then only 2 days the next week the rest from work from home.  Not sure if all are doing this but this is a strange way to do I would think it would be easier to set 3 days a week every week. 

I had to do this when I was at WF.  In my case, the reason they did this was that they literally did not have enough seats for everyone in the building, so I "shared" a cube with someone.  We both had to be in the office 50% of the time, so we accomplished that by the 3/2 schedule.

4 hours ago, TheOneRJ said:

Sorry but an employee making a six figure salary is not giving up their job because the company is forcing them back into the office. At least not enough to have any real effect. People are replaceable, especially in Charlotte.

They will if they can find a remote/hybrid role paying the same amount. My company (Fortune 25) slowly transitioned to a remote-first company in part because of talent acquisition and retention. 

Edited April 14, 2022 by J-Rob

[CLT2014]

1 hour ago, Blue_Devil said:

I mean, Bank of America is not doing 5/5 following JPM… JPM is not seeing much attrition 

JPM has given in as employees just were flat out not showing up five days a week and is moving to hybrid for 40% of the workforce and fully remote for 10%. Largely frontline workers like retail bankers and facilities teammates will need to be in five days a week. Tech employees, ops, product managers, et... are getting hybrid. They are going to do flex seating at the new HQ as a result of employees not being there full time. 

https://www.curbed.com/2022/04/jp-morgan-chase-latest-firm-to-cave-hybrid-work.html 

Edited April 14, 2022 by CLT2014

[KJHburg]

all of this has major implications for office space users and office building owners.  I read 2022 was the year the highest number of leases come up for renewal.  I suspect will see  office users using less space but still have physical space.  But whatever happens I think we will see less office buildings going forward nationwide as there will be less demand across the board.  Does not mean there wont be office space built but just less of it. 

[tozmervo]

18 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

Anybody work at Wells or BofA? Did workers actually come back Uptown or are future waves still pending and some people are still 100% WFH?

Foot traffic still seems pretty low and traffic isn't really bad. You can leave at 5PM and there's barely any cars in Uptown until you get out of the loop and start mixing with people running errands, soccer moms, Atrium traffic, et.... From my office, it looks like many of the BofA and Wells towers have each floor maybe ~30% - 40% full from what I can see when their lights are on. Monday and Friday is a ghost town. 

I should point out that this week particularly is Spring Break for CMS and so a little quieter around Uptown. M & F are definitely the slower days of the week, where T, W and TH feel basically back to normal. This was true pre-pandemic, too, and that's only amplified right now. 

I will say this emphatically for everyone in the room - even in the back of the room - UPTOWN IS BUSY. It's critical to realize that a lot of detached 9-5 workers weren't engaging with Uptown anyway, just creating more traffic. They weren't sticking around for events and restaurants. 

There are a handful of places still not open for lunch that previously were, but the ones open seem to be thriving.  There have been a couple of dinner hours where I've struggled to find a table without a wait. A steady stream of evening events in Uptown is helping. Blumenthal has a jam-packed schedule now, soccer, baseball is back, arena events are back, etc. 

[ES Charlotte]

2 hours ago, tozmervo said:

I should point out that this week particularly is Spring Break for CMS and so a little quieter around Uptown. M & F are definitely the slower days of the week, where T, W and TH feel basically back to normal. This was true pre-pandemic, too, and that's only amplified right now. 

I will say this emphatically for everyone in the room - even in the back of the room - UPTOWN IS BUSY. It's critical to realize that a lot of detached 9-5 workers weren't engaging with Uptown anyway, just creating more traffic. They weren't sticking around for events and restaurants. 

There are a handful of places still not open for lunch that previously were, but the ones open seem to be thriving.  There have been a couple of dinner hours where I've struggled to find a table without a wait. A steady stream of evening events in Uptown is helping. Blumenthal has a jam-packed schedule now, soccer, baseball is back, arena events are back, etc. 

Thank you.

If you haven't been in Uptown over the last two weeks, don't continue to drag this discusion. It is back. 

Charlotte Shout has actually been a major draw for Spring Breakers & Families.

Edited April 14, 2022 by ES Charlotte

[hokiehigh]

Activity has definitely picked up but there is a ton of room to grow.   I would say the Uptown Y is only about 20-30% full in the morning vs early 2020 and honestly not many people I work with are taking the company's order to return to work seriously.   Yesterday I was maybe 1 of 5 people on a floor with maybe 400 cubes.  It's kind of depressing to go in on days when it is completely empty.   I think companies can figure it out as long as if they set and enforce rules that are equal throughout the company.