The Avenue

[skysdalimit]

You mean Avenue condos here in Charlotte, behind the IJL Financial Center?

[jobe21]

That's the one.

[Southend]

RJ Griffin will be the contractor for this project. They've already began to set up over there.

[monsoon]

Ahh speculators and the real estate bubble.

[atlrvr]

Intown Charlotte is far from a bubble, and will likely avoid one for the next 10-15 years assuming we don't lose a large employer. The only thing that could possibly drive down prices in Charlotte is what happened in Atlanta, and that is Novare began to refine their product and were actually able to offer new units at cheaper prices than their original offerings, and were delivering so many units to the market on a continual basis, that it did correct the existing Novare resells by about 15%, though the only people who lost on this were the original buyers of flipped units.

[dubone]

I saw an ad in Creative Loafing the other day for this project, so i guess they are well on their way to marketing and selling the units. They used "Ave" as the name.

On a related subject, since i heard the name announced for this project, i've thought it a little dumb, considering there are no "avenues" anywhere near it. But my thinking has evolved slightly. I think it might be cool for charlotte to rename the one-way streets in downtown "Avenues". We'd have 5th and 6th Avenues, 3rd and 4th Avenues, and Church and College Avenues. Does that make any sense?

What defines a road, street, avenue, boulevard, place, court? In charlotte it seems a little random how they are used. Park Ave in Dilworth is tiny, South Boulevard isn't really a wide fancy corridor, and so on...

[atlrvr]

Something about Church and College doesn't sound right as ave....though 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th do.....interestingly, in Charlotte, avenues are typically residential streets in the older streetcar suburbs.

[atlrvr]

in NYC, avenues run north-south, and streets run east-west.

[dubone]

I was thinking that Church Ave and College Ave sounded a little funny.

The NYC model would be hopeless in charlotte , although we do have the numbers running e-w, and the names running n-s.

[monsoon]

I wonder if looking at a street map of the city from 100 years ago would give any indication of what they had in mind with the names?

[dubone]

i think the original map had n/s trade and e/w tryon.

also brevard, caldwell, and davidson were orginally "b", "c" and "d" streets.

[Norm2]

That is really interesting

[atlrvr]

Construction fences were up this morning, and some equipment was on site.

[A2]

I spoke with a friend of mine who mentioned this as well. He lives at the Cotton Mills complex in 4th ward and walks by there on his way to work. My question is when do you think we will see a ground breaking??? I was thinking we would see the implosion of the Old Center City Inn before we saw any activity on The Avenue. I remember reading somewhere where the construction of the Avenue would be staggered out about three months from the start of Trademark.

[atlrvr]

I read that too, though the wording in that article was confusing.....I think it meant the opposite actually.......regardless, I fully expect parking lot removal to begin by early next week, and digging to begin within 2 weeks.

[A2]

speaking of Trademark....Any word on when the old Center City Inn comes down. It looks like the "wrap" has been removed. That can only be a good sign. Right????

[Raintree21]

This is from the Pennscapes website but still gives decent definitions of what each type is. Sorry they didn't have an Avenue definition. You'd think there would be more sites that had this kind of stuff but this is the only one I could find.

Boulevard: A street with a planted center median, where traffic is divided into two separated lanes, is called a Boulevard Street. The choice of which Boulevard Street type to use will depend on average daily traffic volume and location within the neighborhood. Often Boulevard Streets have a higher daily traffic volume than Mixed Use or Local Streets. However, their use can also be appropriate for lower traffic volumes when a different roadway character is desired.

Alley: Alleys serve an important role in neighborhoods. They enable properties to have an unencumbered public front towards the street by eliminating the need for driveways. Alleys create an ordered, pedestrian-scaled front to a property by placing service and maintenance functions in less visible locations.

Local Street: Local streets serve the residents on that street and from the immediate neighborhood. Street type Local I is most appropriate for use when fewer houses front on a street or when off-street parking can be accommodated.

To accommodate on-street parallel parking, Local Street II allows parking along either side of the street in an informal, unmarked manner. Because this street type provides for a modest amount of on-street parking, it is most appropriate for use when the houses fronting the street are single or double houses (see Section 343) on medium to small lots.

[cinco]

haylo, i saw on 11 o'clock news (WSOC) last night, that groundbreaking ceremony for AVENUE is today. also, in the newsclip they said it would be 38 stories....? could they have bumped this up @ last minute or maybe just a error in reporting...

[A2]

haylo,

[atlrvr]

A dumptruck just dumped a load on dirt on the site....possbily for a ceremonial groundbreaking......I think I'll stroll up there around 2pm and see what's going on......how I enjoy the occasional slow day at the office.

[ElricSeven]

A dumptruck just dumped a load on dirt on the site....possbily for a ceremonial groundbreaking......I think I'll stroll up there around 2pm and see what's going on......how I enjoy the occasional slow day at the office.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A lot of actual physical construction efforts have started in the past few weeks. I think we need a list. I recall these:

1. Courtside (now building 12th floor)

2. Trademark (wrapping building in plastic for demolition)

3. Epicentre (demolition preparation work)

4. 8th and M (dirt is moving in earnest)

5. The Avenue (ceremonial groundbreaking)

6. Court 6 (cleared lot and looks ready for foundation work)

7. The Garrison (?)

Note sure about the Garrison, I thought someone said they'd been moving dirt. Any others? Have they started any physical efforts on the Renwick?

e7

[atlrvr]

The plastic is off the TradeMark now that asbestos removal is complete, and they are still tearing thing out of their like crazy.....in fact all the exterior walls to the room are now gone.

The Garrison site has been cleared of brush and debris, but I don't think ground has been broken yet....I believe June is the date they claimed when the project was announced.

Nothing on the Renwick......I have no idea what is going on there, but I'm losing faith.....it certainly doesn't bode well for Phase II.

Spectrum Properties was at 230 S. Tryon yesterday clearing out the parking deck of items that were in storage. I believe the bank branch is now closed, but I'm not sure.......facade removal should begin within the next few weeks..

And at the Vue site, it looks as if they are clearing out the building that is to be razed, I assume in anitipation of it being bulldozed in the somewhat near future.

[atlrvr]

Meanwhile, The Park has a brand new sign up advertising monthly parking for rent there.......hmmm....

[SmellyCat]

The plastic is off the TradeMark now that asbestos removal is complete, and they are still tearing thing out of their like crazy.....in fact all the exterior walls to the room are now gone.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wonder if some of the nascar out-of-towners might still try and book a room there at a reduced rate

There is now a sign up for the Drakeford condo project in First Ward. Literally, it was spiked in the middle of the lawn in front of one of the houses to be torn down or moved.

Also - not residential - but there is now a sign at the site where the proposed J&W business school is supposed to go, near the bus terminal. Thanks for Bork for this tidbit.

[A2]

A dumptruck just dumped a load on dirt on the site....possbily for a ceremonial groundbreaking......I think I'll stroll up there around 2pm and see what's going on......how I enjoy the occasional slow day at the office.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey atlrvr...I just went by on lunch, and they are looking for the cermony to begin at 4. I actually went and spoke with RJGriffin (the contractor). They said that the earth moving equipment is soon to follow. I am really getting excited now. We will have four buildings going at once by the end of June, first of July

1. Courtside

2. Epicenter

3. Trademark

4. The Avenue.

On a side note I went by the warehouse you were speaking about. They are definately clearing it out. I also went to the fire station next door to ask if they were going to be tear it down with the rest of the structures on the block. The man there said no. That makes me very happy. I really like to have older structures in dtwn. In many ways that is the only thing that frustrates me in CLT. They tear down their history. We still have some pieces of it. (I just hope they try to keep them)