Metropolitan, Midtown Redevelopment

[monsoon]

.... I'm not sure they'd be willing to spend the money on a store such as the one at the base of their headquarters as a store in midtown Charlotte.

Nobody was willing to spend money on Midtown Square until the city gave them tax money to make the project happen. The Target in Minneapolis part of a city financed project. The point is the city could have used their money to fund a much better development than the one we got and we didn't have to settle for what Pappas designed because the above Target and Home Depot prove otherwise.

[A2]

Quick questions:

Is the development of the condo tower a definate?

What are the elevations (in feet) of the other towers in the project that we know are u/c currently?

(I had heard that the office tower was 10 stories)

Thanks....

A2

[uptownliving]

I think the city's money was well spent on this area of town. The Charlottetown Cinemas was sitting vacant for over a decade and Midtown Mall was quickly going downhill. This area was quickly becoming a spreading cancer that did not promote development at all.

In regards to the urban design of the Target/Home Depot the real villian here is Wendy's, not the city. Wendy's refused to have their store intergrated into the parking deck. If they had been able to do that...then the Target/Home Depot could have been pushed up to the curb.

I think there is better hope for the Kings Drive street scape. The siteplan already shows about 30% of Kings having street level retail between Independence and Baxter. And putting retail into the ground level of the parking deck at a later date is a possibility.

[rockhilljames]

Looks like there will be a nice strolling district along the Sugar Creek. The project looks like it's designed to pull people in from their cars and create a pedistrian experience in a small area, much like Phillips Place.

There is almost no connectivity at street level to the adjoining neighborhoods, which is a shame. The Wendy's, while awful, isn't my main concern. They could have fronted the entire King's Drive with retail rather than parking.

[uptownliving]

There is almost no connectivity at street level to the adjoining neighborhoods, which is a shame. The Wendy's, while awful, isn't my main concern. They could have fronted the entire King's Drive with retail rather than parking.

I agree with you, but looking at the current environment I'm not so sure retail along Kings would have been viable in the short term. Kings is heavily travelled with most cars going about 40mph+. That combined with the strip shopping center parking lots directly across the street does not make for a very enjoyable pedestrian experience. That is where I would think it would be more fair to require the developer to design the first level of the parking deck to be converted to retail at a later date when traffic can be calmed on Kings and the shopping center across the street is redesigned in a more urban manner to match Metropolitan.

My guess is that if the developer were required to build all of Kings as retail now they would sit empty for a while.

[tiblerbrit]

Do you think they'll have Birkdale/Atlantic Station like stores (Gap, Banana Republic, etc..) on the main street part of this development? I hadn't heard what kinds of small stores would be in the ground level and was just wondering if anyone knew?

[atlrvr]

The big news reported today was the NewDominion Bank is going to anchor the office tower.....with about 35,000 sq. ft. The tower is expected to be completed in mid-2008.

[New Name]

I'm a little confused about the roads in this project. Someone help me out:

I understand that this is not the freeway portion of Independence (it is however a busy avenue that connects the area in question from the freeway to uptown. yes?

I haven't known this area of Independence to ever be UNDETOURED at the Wendy's. I haven't lived here that long and so I've never seen it any other way. I am gathering that it will be reopened. Right? But this new development spans that street east/west. So how is Independence being configured for pedestrian crossing? Know what I'm sayin?

EDIT: oh wait, is Independence below grade in the development? how heavy is traffic on that road normally?

Edited January 17, 2007 by The Escapists

[DigitalSky]

Do you think they'll have Birkdale/Atlantic Station like stores (Gap, Banana Republic, etc..) on the main street part of this development? I hadn't heard what kinds of small stores would be in the ground level and was just wondering if anyone knew?

Limited Brands could relocate to this project due to the fact that they are closing their Eastland stores.

[monsoon]

I'm a little confused about the roads in this project. Someone help me out:

I understand that this is not the freeway portion of Independence (it is however a busy avenue that connects the area in question from the freeway to uptown. yes?

I haven't known this area of Independence to ever be UNDETOURED at the Wendy's. I haven't lived here that long and so I've never seen it any other way. I am gathering that it will be reopened. Right? But this new development spans that street east/west. So how is Independence being configured for pedestrian crossing? Know what I'm sayin?

EDIT: oh wait, is Independence below grade in the development? how heavy is traffic on that road normally?

Independence used to be a 6 lane highway that ran from East Charlotte, through Elizabeth, onto a bridge and over by CPCC, past the former Midtown Square, on to downtown Charlotte, where there was a frightening bridge with a curve in the middle of it over S. Blvd and finally it went over I-77 where it became Wilkinson Blvd. When they built the John Belk Freeway, (South and East sections of I-277) they cut this road off at midtown square and the bridge over South Blvd disappeared. Route 74 was then routed onto I-277.

When this happened Independence basically became a cul de sac that ended at midtown square. They appear to be correcting this mistake by reconnecting the part of old Independence now called Stonewall to the part that is still called Independence. This will have the effect of connecting Independence directly to downtown which I presume will greatly increase the traffic through there. It probably will not rise to the to the levels it was at before because of I-277, but my guess is that it will be significantly higher than it is now. Anyone going downtown from East Charlotte on Hwy 74 might take this route because it will be easier to drive than the confusing I-277 and its U-turn exits.

[New Name]

Independence used to be a 6 lane highway that ran from East Charlotte, through Elizabeth, onto a bridge and over by CPCC, past the former Midtown Square, on to downtown Charlotte, where there was a frightening bridge with a curve in the middle of it over S. Blvd and finally it went over I-77 where it became Wilkinson Blvd. When they built the John Belk Freeway, (South and East sections of I-277) they cut this road off at midtown square and the bridge over South Blvd disappeared. Route 74 was then routed onto I-277.

When this happened Independence basically became a cul de sac that ended at midtown square. They appear to be correcting this mistake by reconnecting the part of old Independence now called Stonewall to the part that is still called Independence. This will have the effect of connecting Independence directly to downtown which I presume will greatly increase the traffic through there. It probably will not rise to the to the levels it was at before because of I-277, but my guess is that it will be significantly higher than it is now. Anyone going downtown from East Charlotte on Hwy 74 might take this route because it will be easier to drive than the confusing I-277 and its U-turn exits.

I can picture it. Thanks Metro. So am I correct in assuming that Independence will bisect the Midtown development below pedestrian grade? I am trying to imagine the pedestrian connectivity between the Target area and the Office/retail area.

[monsoon]

No, the road appears to be at grade.

[uptownliving]

To further confuse the issue, the city will be renaming that section of Independence Blvd to CPCC Blvd. They are doing this to end the confusion by drivers coming into town on US 74 that see the exit for Independence Blvd...when that is the road they are already on.

I don't think many people from East Charlotte will use this road to get to Uptown. You would have to go through 6 stoplights at 35 mph before you even got to Stonewall St. versus 55 mph on 277, no stoplights and a direct exit to Stonewall St.

[monsoon]

^277 does not go to downtown Charlotte.

[dubone]

Thats right, it goes to uptown Charlotte .

277 has a half dozen interchanges with the downtown street grid, so it is used to distribute Independence drivers to various parts of downtown. Obscure hairsplitting does not elevate the discussion.

I am very glad they are reopening the Kenilworth to Independence intersection. It will be a solid redundancy to many of the existing high-volume connections, and that will be valuable during peak times, or for having short trips be more efficient. It will especially be beneficial to the new trips going to the developments in Cherry, Elizabeth, and Midtown. The funny thing is, if they had simply done this needed roadwork (or never made this horrible mistake in the first place), the Midtown Square incarnation could have probably done much better. At minimum the cinema land would have been redeveloped earlier.

[New Name]

The reason I was thinking Independence (CPCC Blvd) ran below pedestrian grade inside the Midtown development was because of this picture. I have not been by there in a while, so can anyone tell me what the bridge+retaining walls are there for? What's below grade there?

[uptownliving]

Sugar Creek

[NCgfx]

If this has already been posted, I apologize, but I hadn't seen it yet...

http://www.collett.biz/Properties/Met-Video.aspx

[turbocraig]

I haven't seen that before, thanks. I realize this is a digital rendering, but is little Sugar Creek really that wide? It almost looks like a small river. Any time I've ever caught a glance of it, it looks more like a rocky ditch. Lovin' the palmettos in the last few seconds too. I hope they make it into the final cut.

[rjp212]

Is Chili's gonna be one of the restaurants? Their logo is in that video.

[voyager12]

Thanks for the link, it was interesting. I found the entire complex to be rather uninspiring though. There is nothing innovative in the design and the boxy mass gives the whole development a cold hospital like look in my opinion. And apparently only people who have Audis, BMW's, or Mercedes will be allowed into The Metropolitan. Those were the only cars I saw featured in the video

[DigitalSky]

Is Chili's gonna be one of the restaurants? Their logo is in that video.

Probably

[monsoon]

I haven't seen that before, thanks. I realize this is a digital rendering, but is little Sugar Creek really that wide? It almost looks like a small river. Any time I've ever caught a glance of it, it looks more like a rocky ditch. Lovin' the palmettos in the last few seconds too. I hope they make it into the final cut.

When it rains it does turn into a raging river at times. This is were all the runoff goes from the streets.

[schmopperX]

When it rains it does turn into a raging river at times. This is were all the runoff goes from the streets.

So are there plans to damn up the creek down stream to make it wider? & Are there plans to do daily litter pick ups?

I think the design is great, especially considering what had been there for the past 20 years, but that video is way over the top.

[monsoon]

It reminds me of what they did at University City and most likely it will end up exactly the same way.