Misc. Uptown Projects/News

[Madison Parkitect]

7 minutes ago, atlrvr said:

In a win for Uptown leasing (and 201 S College in particular), it looks like this will be the permanent home for MUFG (currently operating out of WeWork).

I wonder if they'll take the Lowe's floors that got finished during COVID and, as far as I know, Lowes never took. Floors 14/15/16, the old Charlotte School of Law space.

[turbocraig]

Their website currently doesn't list CLT as an office location in the US.  Wonder if that will change, or if the functions based here don't technically warrant a "Location" on the site.  I'm not really knowledgeable about them or their structure here.

https://www.mufgamericas.com/who-we-are/our-locations/united-states

[KJHburg]

25 minutes ago, turbocraig said:

Their website currently doesn't list CLT as an office location in the US.  Wonder if that will change, or if the functions based here don't technically warrant a "Location" on the site.  I'm not really knowledgeable about them or their structure here.

https://www.mufgamericas.com/who-we-are/our-locations/united-states

they have 124 jobs advertised here 

https://jobs.mufgamericas.com/search-jobs/Charlotte%2C NC/29757-30166/4/6252001-4482348-4478884-4460243/35x22709/-80x84313/50/2

[DonkeyKong]

Whatever happened to the apartment project in 4th ward where the McCarthy tire place is? Across from Dunkin’ 

[KJHburg]

1 hour ago, DonkeyKong said:

Whatever happened to the apartment project in 4th ward where the McCarthy tire place is? Across from Dunkin’ 

still in the works by Daniel Corp. from Birmingham.

 

[turbocraig]

This afternoon I saw three excavators going to town on the plot of land at N. College and 12th St. across from Morningstar Storage.  What’s going there again?  The images below are from Google street view   Those trees on 12th are gone now.

Edited July 5, 2022 by turbocraig

[RANYC]

On 7/1/2022 at 12:21 PM, ertley said:

Charlottetowne is, quite frankly, embarrassingly provincial and should be done away with regardless. I cringe every time I see it on Independence and 277 signage.

I think that's harsh

[Spartan]

On 7/1/2022 at 12:21 PM, ertley said:

I agree with both of these sentiments. If the city is going to go through the machinations and technicalities of changing a street name, then why cut corners? It wouldn't have required that much more effort to change a smaller, relatively insignificant street name concurrently, which could've easily been made a Place, Trace or Terrace. 

I've opined before that I think the city should have a regular, routine effort of changing street names city-wide. They've proven through this initiative that it's possible if only the political will is there. 

One example:  Trade Street continue all the way to Presbyterian/Novant at the east, and on its west end should continue past JCSU all the way up to 85. In my personal schema, 85 would become the universal break point between the old rural road names--which I want to preserve--and the city street names. So, in this case specifically, Beatties Ford would become Trade South of 85. The vestige of Trade no longer connected to Five Points would then be a great renaming opportunity for the city or even locally the Biddleville community.  

Elizabeth Avenue should not disappear, it should be reconstituted by renaming Charlottetowne Avenue to Elizabeth. Charlottetowne is, quite frankly, embarrassingly provincial and should be done away with regardless. I cringe every time I see it on Independence and 277 signage. I know it's supposed to commemorate the old mall--but it wasn't spelled CharlottetownE--just Charlottetown!!!! Adding superfluous "e"s to the ends of English proper names is always purely ridiculous affectation. Anyone who's actually been to England realizes it's not actually a thing there. (I know that sounds incredibly snobbish, but it's just...true.) Charlotte leaders should've realized this when it was named, but anyway let's correct a bad idea. 

On a similar vein, Fifth should continue through Five Points and then replace Idaho--why is there even an Idaho Avenue in Charlotte??--Rozelles Ferry still has plenty of length far beyond 85. I think it would be wonderful to have a sign for "West 5th St" on Brookshire as your driving east towards downtown, instead of "Idaho Ave"--but that's the superficial reason: It would just help make Charlotte a more integrated, in all the senses of the word, if it's major streets and avenues continued uninterrupted, and instead of letting real estate developers devise sometimes (often) questionable monikers for residential or business areas, you'd have strong major street names instead. 

I have dozens and dozens of other renaming proposals, which is why I think it should be a regular, routine operation of the city. None of my proposals are about getting rid of old names, just regularizing street names throughout the city so Charlotte looks and operates more like a world class city, with more than just a few continuous corridors with consistent names.    

 

I don't like Brooklyn Village Ave because its too long. Brooklyn St would be much better. The City's street naming rules are unfortunately strict and seem to produce overly long and wordy street names to "avoid confusion by emergency services." 

I realize you weren't being overly serious but Idaho St exists because of the former Hoskins Mill village located approximately at Brookshire and Hoskins Rd. Many of the streets in that area are named after states. Why? Idk. Trade Street used to be on that route and then changed to Bellhaven somewhere in Hoskins (prior to Brookshire). When they built Brookshire it looks like they took another random state name and assigned to the former (approximate) alignment of that portion of West Trade Street - W Trade/Bellhaven itself being a new parallel route to Rozzelle's Ferry Rd, which was historically the primary route to the west in this area. This is a great case study of the poorly planned adjustments to Charlotte's street network over time.

The historic business center in that area (which still exists along Hoskins Ave/RFR) was partially leveled for the eventual construction and later widening of Brookshire. Ever wonder why there's an ABC store, fast food, and other random businesses there? It's not because of the interchange. It's because the community was already there when they built 85. The street that I-85 replaced is called Sage St or possibly Ingle St, both of which are now relegated to disappointing frontage roads. Presumably it was a residential street similar to the others nearby.  The location of I-85, which bisected the community, is a classic example of Charlotte's poor record on highway construction through black neighborhoods that is overshadowed by the the larger urban renewal projects in and around uptown.

 

 

[RANYC]

4 hours ago, Spartan said:

 

I don't like Brooklyn Village Ave because its too long. Brooklyn St would be much better. The City's street naming rules are unfortunately strict and seem to produce overly long and wordy street names to "avoid confusion by emergency services." 

I realize you weren't being overly serious but Idaho St exists because of the former Hoskins Mill village located approximately at Brookshire and Hoskins Rd. Many of the streets in that area are named after states. Why? Idk. Trade Street used to be on that route and then changed to Bellhaven somewhere in Hoskins (prior to Brookshire). When they built Brookshire it looks like they took another random state name and assigned to the former (approximate) alignment of that portion of West Trade Street - W Trade/Bellhaven itself being a new parallel route to Rozzelle's Ferry Rd, which was historically the primary route to the west in this area. This is a great case study of the poorly planned adjustments to Charlotte's street network over time.

The historic business center in that area (which still exists along Hoskins Ave/RFR) was partially leveled for the eventual construction and later widening of Brookshire. Ever wonder why there's an ABC store, fast food, and other random businesses there? It's not because of the interchange. It's because the community was already there when they built 85. The street that I-85 replaced is called Sage St or possibly Ingle St, both of which are now relegated to disappointing frontage roads. Presumably it was a residential street similar to the others nearby.  The location of I-85, which bisected the community, is a classic example of Charlotte's poor record on highway construction through black neighborhoods that is overshadowed by the the larger urban renewal projects in and around uptown.

 

 

Other replacement names offered to residents included "Diversity Drive, Equality Boulevard, Liberation Boulevard," among others.

Brooklyn Village Ave will be fine.  If the city invests in place-making, programming, and streetscape activation, that will make the street a draw...more so than the name.

Now back to making sure our nation can get comfortable gathering and assembling in public spaces given the plague of extremism, rage, mass killings...

Mass fear, insecurity, distrust, general helplessness, and the ease of access to the devices of mass death that a growing set of fringe figures have in this country are the pernicious forces working against Uptown's prospects, and the prospects of so many main streets, central plazas, and civic spaces and engagements around the country.

Edited July 6, 2022 by RANYC

[AP3]

14 hours ago, turbocraig said:

This afternoon I saw three excavators going to town on the plot of land at N. College and 12th St. across from Morningstar Storage.  What’s going there again?  The images below are from Google street view   Those trees on 12th are gone now.

Apartments (5 stories with garage).  Silver Hills at "Noda."

[JHart]

38 minutes ago, AP3 said:

Apartments (5 stories with garage).  Silver Hills at "Noda."

Lol that's egregious. 

[Madison Parkitect]

53 minutes ago, JHart said:

Lol that's egregious. 

It's like two entire neighborhoods away from NoDa, and one of them even has a big landmark in Optimist Hall. It would be like if apartments next to Freedom Park said they were in South End. 

[InSouthPark]

1 hour ago, Madison Parkitect said:

It's like two entire neighborhoods away from NoDa, and one of them even has a big landmark in Optimist Hall. It would be like if apartments next to Freedom Park said they were in South End. 

You heard it here first:

Freedom Park is now SoSoSeSe

south, southeast of southend 

[turbocraig]

3 hours ago, Madison Parkitect said:

It's like two entire neighborhoods away from NoDa, and one of them even has a big landmark in Optimist Hall. It would be like if apartments next to Freedom Park said they were in South End. 

I wouldn’t get too worked up about it.   As soon as it’s sold to a new investment group it’ll be rebranded to something else anyway.  

[KJHburg]

the Silver Hills of NoDa on N Tryon at 12th right by 277.   Was a low rise Holiday Inn hotel many moons ago.   Literally this Silver Hills at NoDa is next to gateway to Uptown.   Actually this apartment complex should do good more affordable than a new high rise.  

 

[RANYC]

Thrilled to see this land graded and something get underway here.  This part of uptown needs this activity.  Couldn’t quite make out the site plan posted earlier, but can we be assured this will have a truly urban site plan given its location?  No surface parking or exposed garage along street?

Edited July 6, 2022 by RANYC

[Madison Parkitect]

19 hours ago, RANYC said:

Thrilled to see this land graded and something get underway here.  This part of uptown needs this activity. 

It's not uptown, it's NoDa.

[JRCLT]

I can’t keep defending these developers on the naming anymore… NoDa (North Davidson) but this way out of line. Uptown is just right there … but yeah it might just end up being renamed anyway.

[RANYC]

5 hours ago, Madison Parkitect said:

It's not uptown, it's NoDa.

Arguably, the naming is ridiculous; however, I rarely take notice of these apartment complex names.  The truth is, the project is bringing life and activity to a forlorn adjacency to Uptown, and that likely outweighs any naming offenses by the developer. 

Might it hurt or dilute NODA's brand, especially to newcomers to Charlotte and out-of-towners, who read about NODA, visit this complex and see its surroundings, and then write NODA off as grossly-misrepresented?  Possibly.   A NODA Community Association could trademark rights in the name NODA.  Not sure if there's precedent in Charlotte, but I suspect some version of this has been done in master-planned communities in the 'burbs. 

Edited July 7, 2022 by RANYC

[KJHburg]

Charlotte Cotton Mills and the apartments and retail space there is in the oldest mill in Mecklenburg County built in 1880.   On N Graham between Trade and 5th St. 

[videtur quam contuor]

Those of us with living history recall the building as the home of Speizman Industries, a textile machinery concern and a specialist in doubleknit and polyester thread when that was a major development. I had some doubleknit polyester clothing, fashion slave that I was,  and it was HOT, too hot to wear in the summer. Anyone who has worn polyester underwear knows of what I write. The textile connection lasted more than a century in the building. For some reason Charlotte was/is quick to demolish other types and uses of buildings but the mills lasted far longer, even after they ceased operation as a textile concern. Witness the many survivors. Why would that be?

edit: typo

Edited July 9, 2022 by tarhoosier

[atlrvr]

It's very expensive to demolish a mill, as they are very well built.  Also, given they were mostly in industrial areas, the areas around most of them weren't particularly desirable for other uses, and undeveloped nearby land cheaper than demoing a mill.  Most of them were subsequently used just as storage, or boarded up (cheaper than demo) until re-use became a trend in the 1990s.

[CLT Development]

On 7/9/2022 at 5:16 PM, atlrvr said:

It's very expensive to demolish a mill, as they are very well built.  Also, given they were mostly in industrial areas, the areas around most of them weren't particularly desirable for other uses, and undeveloped nearby land cheaper than demoing a mill.  Most of them were subsequently used just as storage, or boarded up (cheaper than demo) until re-use became a trend in the 1990s.

As a testament to just how strong and sturdy they are, Sodoma Law, next door had a very significant fire in its history and you can see the alligator charred beams still structurally intact on the bottom floor, which has been converted into a event space. If anyone ever wants a tour just holler.

[KJHburg]

Miscellaneous uptown photos and comments. 

1. Hamilton St bridge view 2. FNB 3. Honeywell 1 look for another one for Honeywell  4. Duke Energy building to become apartments built like a fortress.  5. Ascent Uptown 6.  300 South Tryon and the Kimpton 7.  I remember when this sign was the talk of the tower until someone put up a huge T 8.  This building needs to be saved maybe boutique hotel or apartments please do not tear this one down! 

[RANYC]

Do you have a hunch on Honeywell 2, or do you know for a fact that a new Honeywell Tower project is imminent or in active planning or active design?