Metropolitan, Midtown Redevelopment

[Urban Cowboy]

2 hours ago, Temeteron said:

Can’t remember if this was mentioned earlier but according to Charlotte Agenda, the West Elm Store is closing the Met location.  Rumors were that they’d have both south end and that one but apparently that’s not the case

Makes sense. I thought it was odd to have two so close together. And the stores at Atherton pair better with West Elm than Best Buy and Marshall’s. Thanks for the info!

[XCltRunner]

On 11/12/2019 at 4:04 PM, Vitamin_N said:

Aside from rush hour or the Trader Joe's garage, it's not too bad. Better than South Blvd or P-M anyway.

The traffic generally moves there imo, but that garage has its own circle in Dante's Inferno... the worst!

Edited November 14, 2019 by XCltRunner

[t_money]

21 hours ago, j-man said:

I always say that parcel should be a huge hotel, and get rid of that damn wendys and replace it with some mixed use building.  

Didn't Wendy's refuse to sell when all that was being redeveloped initially?  I thought I read that somewhere otherwise it would have been a part of the Target building.

I don't go to that Wendy's as it is always the slowest service imaginable. 

[J-Rob]

eh. I like the Wendy's.  Nice to have a drive-through option in the area.  In the grander scheme considering the entire Metropolitan development, Wendy's is mixed use compared to everything else.

[j-man]

5 hours ago, t_money said:

Didn't Wendy's refuse to sell when all that was being redeveloped initially?  I thought I read that somewhere otherwise it would have been a part of the Target building.

I don't go to that Wendy's as it is always the slowest service imaginable. 

Not sure but the Wendy’s on this corner feels just as random as the Burger King in SouthPark.

[videtur quam contuor]

Wendy's content here:  Some years ago the WSJ interviewed a top Wendy's executive. A key question for him was that McDonalds was recognized as the absolute leader in store location decisions. McD property department knew all the necessary info, data, and research to site a store to be certain of success. Everyone in the burger business knew that. So, "How does Wendy's decide to locate new stores knowing McDonalds has superior knowledge and resources?" Answer from exec: "We follow a new McDonalds and then put one of our stores a close as we can to their position." Executive was on the street in short order.

That Wendy's was one of a group owned by a Charlotte man years ago. Somehow, he lost tons of money and could not keep the store staffed or order supplies since he was not paying his suppliers, or Wendy's. The corporate team took control of his stores, including that one. The last few weeks before the corporate intercession it was a cluster fudge at that location (maybe others). Complete chaos.  (This must have been pre-internet as I find no link to that event)

[jordan704]

Vivace closing March 2020

[sakami]

7 hours ago, jordan704 said:

Vivace closing March 2020

Are they relocating or just closing for good? We don’t normally get 4 months notice on these kinds of closures. 

[Third Strike]

I wonder what retailers will occupy Vivace, West Elm, and Staples. West Elm especially has a great spot at the corner of Charlottetowne and Metropolitan, and frontage towards Sugar Creek. A major retailer like H&M or Apple would be a huge win for the complex. 

[jordan704]

15 hours ago, sakami said:

Are they relocating or just closing for good? We don’t normally get 4 months notice on these kinds of closures. 

Closing. Employees have been notified. 

[Cadi40]

It’s a very attractive and high traffic area so hopefully a decent retailer will lease.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Cadi40

[15895]

19 hours ago, Third Strike said:

I wonder what retailers will occupy Vivace, West Elm, and Staples. West Elm especially has a great spot at the corner of Charlottetowne and Metropolitan, and frontage towards Sugar Creek. A major retailer like H&M or Apple would be a huge win for the complex. 

Michaels, H&M  and pier 1 make sense to me.

 

those 3 seem to be tenants that are in these big Urban retail centers together along with Target and Petco. 

 

[Prodev]

H&M is struggling and has shifted to focusing on online sales and closing under-performing stores. They're still opening new stores selectively, but it wouldn't be here.  Pier 1 is on the retailer bankruptcy watch list and isn't opening any new stores.  With Michael's at PRSC, I don't think they'd be able to get a strong enough sales forecast to support opening a store here. Just my 2 cents... 

[rumphy]

Valid points, I personally think a Michael's or Hobby Lobby boutique could work. I’m not saying I have the spending capacity to keep it afloat, but crafts are always trendy and we don’t really have a solid art supply store anymore. 

[KJHburg]

Maybe this website has been posted before but I don't think I have seen it for Pappas redevelopment on Charlotte Regional Realtors site and medical office buildings.

http://www.destinationmidtownclt.com/

[KJHburg]

drive bys today looking forward to the office building non medical and hotel to get started here. 

first photo coming down Kings. 

[Vitamin_N]

There's some new signage going up today in the former DeSano's Pizza space at 3rd & Torrence. The new tenant is apparently called "Midtown Tavern". Anybody know anything about it?

[jordan704]

On 11/25/2019 at 11:35 PM, jordan704 said:

Vivace closing March 2020

 

Little off on the date. Sad to see it go.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/charlottefive/c5-food-drink/article238893218.html

[Cpink]

Per Charlotte Agenda on Facebook -

"BJ's CLOSING: BJ's Wholesale Club is closing its Charlotte store in Midtown by February 1, spokeswoman Kristy Houston said in an email. The retailer has operated in its 101,000 square-foot spot at 900 Metropolitan Avenue, right below Target, since late 2015.
.
Before it was a BJ's, the space was vacant for years. Home Depot Design Center shuttered its store in that spot in 2009, during the downturn.
.
BJ's, which sells everything from chewing gum to batteries to snow boots at wholesale prices, is currently offering a 25 percent off store-wide sale in Midtown. Within a few weeks, BJ's also closing its store in Geneva, New York.
.
"These closures are based on a review of club performance as well as real estate and market evaluation," Houston said. Members will be eligible for a refund of their membership fees, she added."

[Blue_Devil]

16 minutes ago, Cpink said:

Per Charlotte Agenda on Facebook -

"BJ's CLOSING: BJ's Wholesale Club is closing its Charlotte store in Midtown by February 1, spokeswoman Kristy Houston said in an email. The retailer has operated in its 101,000 square-foot spot at 900 Metropolitan Avenue, right below Target, since late 2015.
.
Before it was a BJ's, the space was vacant for years. Home Depot Design Center shuttered its store in that spot in 2009, during the downturn.
.
BJ's, which sells everything from chewing gum to batteries to snow boots at wholesale prices, is currently offering a 25 percent off store-wide sale in Midtown. Within a few weeks, BJ's also closing its store in Geneva, New York.
.
"These closures are based on a review of club performance as well as real estate and market evaluation," Houston said. Members will be eligible for a refund of their membership fees, she added."

I mean, the site can't really be redeveloped can it? It still have the Target and Petco too. Or could they save the BJ's and leave the other two

[CLT2014]

BJ's is too much stuff for Center City apartment dwellers who usually live in households of 2 or less and don't want to store 60 rolls of toilet paper, yet doesn't carry upscale enough products to appeal to the affluent suburban housing in Dilworth and Myers Park where they might actually have space to store 60 rolls of toilet paper. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by CLT2014

[Temeteron]

Why hasn’t Harris Teeter open a spot here yet? It would def alleviate some of the other locations as Plaza HT, Uptown and South Blvd locations are always super crowded 

[tozmervo]

9 minutes ago, Temeteron said:

Why hasn’t Harris Teeter open a spot here yet? It would def alleviate some of the other locations as Plaza HT, Uptown and South Blvd locations are always super crowded 

Years ago (when the HD Design Store closed), I heard that Target's lease blocks there being a full grocery down there. Dunno if there's truth to that or not.

TBH I think a Costco would have done fine there. To me the problem is BJs as a brand is just overshadowed by other club stores, and no one wants to pay for more memberships.
* That's also Target's highest sales store in the Carolinas, so the location certainly isn't the problem. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by tozmervo

[pathb]

33 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

Years ago (when the HD Design Store closed), I heard that Target's lease blocks there being a full grocery down there. Dunno if there's truth to that or not.

TBH I think a Costco would have done fine there. To me the problem is BJs as a brand is just overshadowed by other club stores, and no one wants to pay for more memberships.
* That's also Target's highest sales store in the Carolinas, so the location certainly isn't the problem. 

I would love to see a Costco in this location.  I currently bike from Center City ±8 miles each way to Costco (or take my bike on the light rail to Tyvola station when it's not too crowded). 

I wonder if  REI would ever consider this for an urban location.  Uptown provides lots of young residents and workers nearby, and the whole Metropolitan area is pretty active and lively on the weekends when they could get a lot of "foot traffic" from the greenway adjacent to this location.  

[turbocraig]

45 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

TBH I think a Costco would have done fine there. To me the problem is BJs as a brand is just overshadowed by other club stores, and no one wants to pay for more memberships.
 

I totally agree.  When they announced that BJ's was moving into the old HD Design space, I couldn't help but think that Costco would be a better fit there.  They had just entered the market a few years prior to that and were the newer west-coast kid in town.  I've had memberships previously to both and I really can't remember any appreciable difference because its been so long, but there was always something kinda "your father's Oldsmobile" about BJ's to me.  Costco just seemed.... slightly cooler and less utilitarian I guess.  I think a Costco there would have pulled more people from Target.  Like combined Target/Costco runs.