First Ward Urban Village / North Tryon Vision Plan

[Rufus]

Honestly, is Levine even making money off of this anymore? Surely he is bleeding money from taxes and fines and unfulfilled contracts. It just boggles my mind that the guy is either inept at good business or is deluded into thinking he can provide something better than what has already been built. Why is the city not hounding this guy? 

[Third Strike]

2 hours ago, Rufus said:

Honestly, is Levine even making money off of this anymore? Surely he is bleeding money from taxes and fines and unfulfilled contracts. It just boggles my mind that the guy is either inept at good business or is deluded into thinking he can provide something better than what has already been built. Why is the city not hounding this guy? 

Probably makes a decent penny from parking fees. 

[kermit]

18 hours ago, Third Strike said:

Probably makes a decent penny from parking fees. 

deck is not open yet. This means he is making penalty payments to UNCC per contract.

Edited September 6, 2018 by kermit

[Nick2]

To be fair, the property value is also dramatically increasing over time too so as an investment it is likely worth it to simply sit and let it continue to rise with parking fees to offset taxes.

[dubone]

It seems bizarre that it is not simply opened as a revenue deck.   We all were skeptical that his incompetence could push thru an apartment building, but the deck is near finished.   

My perception, partially from what I have heard this year and maybe buried in these pages, is that he owes the builders, so he is having difficulty getting companies to sign up to complete the work and even when completed, he will have lawsuits against the income of that LLC. 

I don't know, but clearly he has no interest in making progress.  I laughed out loud when he was showing of the apartment renderings at the North Tryon meeting.    

We will have Carolina Theater, a new library, new Discovery Place, but still will be seeing exposed rebar at this 95% completed parking deck.  

19 hours ago, Rufus said:

 Why is the city not hounding this guy? 

The city/county is certainly fulfilling the terms of their own deal on the property taxes.   But I think it is not fully allowed for the government to try to force you to build anything.   

 

However, at some point, they may need to withdraw his lane closure.  That has been frustrating to change lanes for a stalled building. 

[kermit]

2 hours ago, dubone said:

However, at some point, they may need to withdraw his lane closure.  That has been frustrating to change lanes for a stalled building. 

This! They are among the most dangerous lane closures in town for peds and bikes.

[KJHburg]

From Ashley of the Business Journal twitter feed schedule for North Tryon RFP timing. 

Ashley Fahey‏ @CBJFahey 1h1 hour ago

More

The timeline for selecting a master developer for the Seventh & Tryon project (https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/03/14/search-begins-for-private-developer-to-spearhead.html …) has been altered. Developer negotiations aren't expected to begin until late November.

Edited October 4, 2018 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

First Ward Park is really maturing nice.  Working on the turf in the main lawn area and it is looking great.  Today.  Then 1.5 blocks away the Levine garage and apartments wasteland.  Plus some photos of my #2 favorite building Hearst.

[KJHburg]

Found down at the beach  the possible Levine plan for its extensive land holdings in First Ward. It seems to be a domed Capitol Towers like building surrounded by cylindrical condo or apartment towers.  Evidently the code name for this project is Project Roo.  Projected opening date 2075 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Mecklenburg  Declaration of Independence. The massive parking garage under construction now will open slightly sooner.  

[DMann]

At last, images!!!

[KJHburg]

37 minutes ago, DMann said:

At last, images!!!

Unfortunately they were lost in the next high tide cycle.  

[KJHburg]

in the very corner of First Ward along 7th St the new mini warehouse storage building underway.  Today. 

[AuLukey]

Found down at the beach  the possible Levine plan for its extensive land holdings in First Ward. It seems to be a domed Capitol Towers like building surrounded by cylindrical condo or apartment towers.  Evidently the code name for this project is Project Roo.  Projected opening date 2075 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Mecklenburg  Declaration of Independence. The massive parking garage under construction now will open slightly sooner.  

Ugh. More Charlotte beige

[Dale]

No one putzes around like Levine. Lennar: “Here, hold my beer.”

 

[Desert Power]

21 hours ago, Dale said:

No one putzes around like Levine. Lennar: “Here, hold my beer.”

 

They're finally doing....something....on the 1st Ward garage monstrosity.  Can't tell what it is besides something needing another lane closed 

[NCMike1990]

21 hours ago, Dale said:

No one putzes around like Levine. Lennar: “Here, hold my beer.”

 

Sometimes I wonder if First Ward is just cursed.

[smitalb]

First post.  I have followed this thread I have stumbled upon awhile ago while searching for something First Ward related.  I live on E. 8th St between McDowell and N. Alexander.  I didn't even register for an account until today because I have never have anything to offer and you guys are great.

I heard some information last night and came here to see if you guys had any additional info as you guys/gals seem to be rather plugged in.  I was told by a neighbor who has some contacts in the developer world.  He said the parking garage can't get an engineer to sign off on the garage to open.  Allegedly, the building was not built correctly and there isn't the proper supports on the structure.   That is why its still a construction site wasteland and they have no idea how to remedy the situation.

Anybody heard anything like this?  If this is true it would be safe to say First Ward is in fact cursed. 

[KJHburg]

^^^ Hello @smitalb  can something like that happen?  absolutely!   for there has to be some reason this garage has not opened.  Even Mr Levine would want to make some money off offering monthly parking and there is the state contract to provide parking for UNCC uptown that surely by now he is in violation of.  I would say your neighbor is on to something and perhaps someone on this board who works with or closely with the city can confirm.  A hotel under construction at Harris Blvd and Old Statesville was torn down before completion due to construction defects and contractor dispute.  A new hotel rose from its ashes.  An engineering problem at a Crescent student community by UNCC had to be closed for months and tenants moved out due to an engineering problem.  

The best thing Levine can do at this point and sell as much of his property as possible and use the money in a 1031 tax free exchange to buy existing commercial property.   We could have accommodated the whole HQ2 not the split version the whole thing on his land holdings. 

[DH17]

This might be a dumb question, but why aren't things like that caught during the permitting process? How much of the technical design is considered beyond meeting zoning and ordinance requirements?

Or would something like this more likely be a failure during the construction process where the design wasn't followed properly?

[kermit]

^ Yea, I agree that there is likely much more to the story. I would have thought that Danny was smart enough (I know, I know... ) to have a clause in his construction contract that the deck was required to "pass all inspections."

Having said that , I could imagine a situation where the contract did not sufficiently outline that the deck needed to meet the requirements necessary for residential space wrapping the deck. More specifically,  I am surprised that there isn't a solid wall between the deck and the planned apartments -- I thought the lack of a solid firewall between parking and residential would be a violation of code (but I am certainly not an expert). So I can imagine a possibility where the deck might be fine from the perspective of the contractor, but the deck's design prevents the development of the next stage of the project due to the developer being inexperienced and/or hiring the wrong architects. 

Edited November 25, 2018 by kermit

[tozmervo]

Based on what @smitalb said, I interpreted the problem as being a construction issue. An "engineer sign-off" sounds like signing off on special inspections. Structural materials, like steel and concrete, are subject to special inspections by a third party that's not affiliated with the design team, construction team, or owners. Basically it's an unbiased inspector that focuses on things like correct concrete mix. If the design engineer is not satisfied with the results of the special inspection testing, they would not sign off on the SI report, thus making the professional declaration that the deck was built per their requirements. 

I'm drawing a hell of a lot of conclusion from scant information, but it would explain a lot. 

[KJHburg]

Was in the Savannah Westin Hotel today and thought I saw the new master plan for First Ward by Mr Levine.  It seems it will be lower density than we thought but also overheard that an army of gingerbread men from the south will be heading to Charlotte to start on the projects.  Some of the secret models I saw today.   From what I saw there was a model of a high rise hotel,  some large single family homes or apartments designed to look like that, a church or two,  somekind of artificial lake with buildings surrounding it,  some retail including an ice cream shop, and lastly another playground area for kids.   And boy will First Ward be a sweet success! 

I will take the Charlotte beige plain high rise if something will start on the vacant land.  

[pgsinger]

So...I will defer to someone more knowledgeable in the permitting process and more particularly the permit tracking websites, but I do not see any final passed inspections on the Levine's parking deck.   To make it easier for someone more knowledgeable to verify this, below are think relevant links and details.

http://polaris3g.mecklenburgcountync.gov/#mat=572138&pid=08004115&gisid=08004115

Parcel #08004115

Project Numbers for the parcel: NR0377182, 342503, 351475, and NR0439278

Permit Numbers: B2813420 and E2814807

https://webpermit.mecklenburgcountync.gov/Default.aspx?PossePresentation=Address&PosseObjectId=178458

 

[KJHburg]

^^^ Good find as another contributor said they heard through the rumor mill that it didnt pass all these inspections all this  makes sense to me.  I found an article that Ely did in the Observer that said the deck would open fall of 2017.   Of course that did not happen and here we are a year later and still waiting.  Even if there was an engineering problem you would think it could get worked out by now.  Of course I now wonder if this is something that can fixed at all?  

[Niner National]

Hopefully it cant be fixed, bankrupts Levine, and he has to sell his land to cover his losses.