First Ward Urban Village / North Tryon Vision Plan

[CLT>]

2 hours ago, Scribe said:

Not enough time or room in the budget, city fiscal year is from July 1st. So, really a year and a half.

It's actually a county project. City owns Discovery Place, County owns the library as well as the rest of the block, save Duckworth's.

[Scribe]

3 hours ago, CLT> said:

It's actually a county project. City owns Discovery Place, County owns the library as well as the rest of the block, save Duckworth's.

Meck County fiscal year starts July 1st as well.

The 2020 budget is published here, https://www.mecknc.gov/CountyManagersOffice/OMB/Documents/FY2020 Adopted Budget.pdf

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

I ran out of freebie views:

City considers demolishing main Discovery Place museum to revitalize aging site

Can anyone recap please.  Would love if they made a state of the art science museum not only geared towards kids but adults as well.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by CharlotteWkndBuzz

[tozmervo]

12 minutes ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

I ran out of freebie views:

City considers demolishing main Discovery Place museum to revitalize aging site

Can anyone recap please.  Would love if they made a state of the art science museum not only geared towards kids but adults as well.

Nothing substantial. Basically that both renovation and tear down-rebuild scenarios have been studied. No clear path to funding. 

[Dale]

A lead story for WSOC.

[Niner National]

i have a solution. We should move it to the nascar hall of fame building and rid ourselves of that money pit.

[DMann]

Seems to me that money pit is somewhat responsible for the growth of Stonewall Street, plus a new ballroom for the Convention Center.  Also, all those new buildings are contributing tax revenue for land that produced little to nothing just 10 years ago.

[Niner National]

6 minutes ago, DMann said:

Seems to me that money pit is somewhat responsible for the growth of Stonewall Street, plus a new ballroom for the Convention Center.  Also, all those new buildings are contributing tax revenue for land that produced little to nothing just 10 years ago.

You're right, we totally wouldn't have seen prime uptown real estate developed if not for the Nascar Hall of Fame . Most of the development along stonewall can be directly attributed to two things 1) the city reconfiguring the interchange, freeing up land that previously didn't exist 2) diminishing amounts of real estate to develop on elsewhere in uptown.

The Hall loses over a million dollars a year and it has never come anywhere close to its projections. Discovery Place is innovative and has a far broader reach, while also providing cultural and educational value to the city. It would thrive even more in a better setting. Nascar is dead and it's never coming back.

[j-man]

They should just rebuild one in another location uptown, demolish this one and rebuild something in its place. 

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

I don't follow Nascar that much, however, this museum is very cool inside.  The problem with ppl like me is, once you go, you don't go back for years and years probably.  Discovery Place / Science museums, I'd probably go multiple times a year.  Discovery Place also does a good job marketing to adults with their Science on the Rocks events every month (It's tonight btw).  Their exhibits change fairly frequently.  They do a good job attracting repeat customers.  Personally, I am looking forward to the renovation/expansion because I love science and I think this will further benefit the N Tryon vision. 

Edited January 17, 2020 by CharlotteWkndBuzz

[Blue_Devil]

1 hour ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

I don't follow Nascar that much, however, this museum is very cool inside.  The problem with ppl like me is, once you go, you don't go back for years and years probably.  Discovery Place / Science museums, I'd probably go multiple times a year.  Discovery Place also does a good job marketing to adults with their Science on the Rocks events every month (It's tonight btw).  Their exhibits change fairly frequently.  They do a good job attracting repeat customers.  Personally, I am looking forward to the renovation/expansion because I love science and I think this will further benefit the N Tryon vision. 

NASCAR has been far more important to the State of North Carolina than Science ever will be. 

[Dale]

22 minutes ago, Blue_Devil said:

NASCAR has been far more important to the State of North Carolina than Science ever will be. 

And pray tell, why not ?

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

2 hours ago, j-man said:

They should just rebuild one in another location uptown, demolish this one and rebuild something in its place. 

They should sell the land, use some of the money and put it on the empty block next to ImaginOn. I think connecting those two would be transformational to that area. Then the remaining blocks surrounding the Arena could be restaurants and hotels serving both.

[ertley]

2 hours ago, j-man said:

They should just rebuild one in another location uptown, demolish this one and rebuild something in its place. 

That is an excellent idea. Like so many of the best ones, it's deceptively simple. The county and city still own several blocks or portions thereof in the city center--ID one of those for the new Discovery Place, and then when it's complete you turn over the CORNER LOT ON TRYON STREET (and an entire adjacent block behind) that you've already sold to private developer(s), for redevelopment.  If nothing else, an easy option is to reformulate the library redevelopment, and put the new Discovery Place as a ground floor(s) anchor on the other block.

The Hal Marshall annex is an obvious choice, though, since the county already owns the land. It would put Discovery Place directly across the street from the McColl Center, which could hopefully lead to some interesting cross-programming between the two, and actually increase the McColl Center's prominence. When the Silver Line is completed, that would put the new Discovery Place one block from the transfer station of the Blue and Silver lines--a great location in terms of accessibility. 

Another option is, if you've got a cluster of art museums on the south end of Tryon, then why not try the same thing with children's/family-friendly venues on North Tryon? It would mean a land swap or deal with a private developer, but if it's the one of thinking of--He Who Shall Not Be Named--maybe the county/city could exert some leverage. That block bounded by 6th/7th/Brevard Caldwell directly across the street from ImaginOn and the Children's Theatre  is still a parking lot, with the notable exception of that (vacant) historic house at the corner of Brevard and 7th, which would make a terrific element--say, an entrance/welcome center?--to be incorporated in the new Discovery Place.  The advantage to putting it on that block is that it would then be directly across the street from First Ward Park.

Anyway, regardless of where a new location would be, I think the city/county needs to recognize the redevelopment potential--and money in their coffers, to potentially pay for a good portion of the new project--for the existing site.  

[Madison Parkitect]

24 minutes ago, ertley said:

That is an excellent idea. Like so many of the best ones, it's deceptively simple. The county and city still own several blocks or portions thereof in the city center--ID one of those for the new Discovery Place, and then when it's complete you turn over the CORNER LOT ON TRYON STREET (and an entire adjacent block behind) that you've already sold to private developer(s), for redevelopment.  If nothing else, an easy option is to reformulate the library redevelopment, and put the new Discovery Place as a ground floor(s) anchor on the other block.

The Hal Marshall annex is an obvious choice, though, since the county already owns the land. It would put Discovery Place directly across the street from the McColl Center, which could hopefully lead to some interesting cross-programming between the two, and actually increase the McColl Center's prominence. When the Silver Line is completed, that would put the new Discovery Place one block from the transfer station of the Blue and Silver lines--a great location in terms of accessibility. 

Another option is, if you've got a cluster of art museums on the south end of Tryon, then why not try the same thing with children's/family-friendly venues on North Tryon? It would mean a land swap or deal with a private developer, but if it's the one of thinking of--He Who Shall Not Be Named--maybe the county/city could exert some leverage. That block bounded by 6th/7th/Brevard Caldwell directly across the street from ImaginOn and the Children's Theatre  is still a parking lot, with the notable exception of that (vacant) historic house at the corner of Brevard and 7th, which would make a terrific element--say, an entrance/welcome center?--to be incorporated in the new Discovery Place.  The advantage to putting it on that block is that it would then be directly across the street from First Ward Park.

Anyway, regardless of where a new location would be, I think the city/county needs to recognize the redevelopment potential--and money in their coffers, to potentially pay for a good portion of the new project--for the existing site.  

I agree this seems like the best move. Build a new Discovery Place on city or county owned land where there are current vacancies, then sell the current DP land to a developer for a major development right in the smack-dab middle of the city. A new Discovery Place right near Imaginon would be my first choice, but I can see the perks of putting it on Hal Marshall too. I don't love the idea of doing a land swap with Levine because then that means we'd have a prime lot on Tryon sitting vacant for a decade.

[j-man]

33 minutes ago, ertley said:

That is an excellent idea. Like so many of the best ones, it's deceptively simple. The county and city still own several blocks or portions thereof in the city center--ID one of those for the new Discovery Place, and then when it's complete you turn over the CORNER LOT ON TRYON STREET (and an entire adjacent block behind) that you've already sold to private developer(s), for redevelopment.  If nothing else, an easy option is to reformulate the library redevelopment, and put the new Discovery Place as a ground floor(s) anchor on the other block.

The Hal Marshall annex is an obvious choice, though, since the county already owns the land. It would put Discovery Place directly across the street from the McColl Center, which could hopefully lead to some interesting cross-programming between the two, and actually increase the McColl Center's prominence. When the Silver Line is completed, that would put the new Discovery Place one block from the transfer station of the Blue and Silver lines--a great location in terms of accessibility. 

Another option is, if you've got a cluster of art museums on the south end of Tryon, then why not try the same thing with children's/family-friendly venues on North Tryon? It would mean a land swap or deal with a private developer, but if it's the one of thinking of--He Who Shall Not Be Named--maybe the county/city could exert some leverage. That block bounded by 6th/7th/Brevard Caldwell directly across the street from ImaginOn and the Children's Theatre  is still a parking lot, with the notable exception of that (vacant) historic house at the corner of Brevard and 7th, which would make a terrific element--say, an entrance/welcome center?--to be incorporated in the new Discovery Place.  The advantage to putting it on that block is that it would then be directly across the street from First Ward Park.

Anyway, regardless of where a new location would be, I think the city/county needs to recognize the redevelopment potential--and money in their coffers, to potentially pay for a good portion of the new project--for the existing site.  

That is a great breakdown on everything. I feel like people on this website have better ideas than the developers, and the city planners sometimes. 

[j-man]

41 minutes ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

They should sell the land, use some of the money and put it on the empty block next to ImaginOn. I think connecting those two would be transformational to that area. Then the remaining blocks surrounding the Arena could be restaurants and hotels serving both.

I think that would be nice but I feel as Charlotte is getting bigger with population and center city itself is growing that Charlotte needs for its developments to be a bit more spread out. I don’t like it when most museums and attractions are all in the same ward, or street. I’m not the biggest fan of that area next to ImagineOn because of the congestion and fast car traffic is in that area so close to the Spectrum Center, but I think the area next to the new Elliot apartments would be better on ether side of it, next to the light rail. I want the north side of uptown to grow but I think they would need to make DiscoveryPlace a lot more attractive and larger with more features because as it sits now it just seems so uninteresting. 

[kermit]

Fire alarm was going off in the Levine zombie deck tonight around 7:30.

The strobes created a nice shadow effect off the rusty rebar, sorry I didn't get a picture.

The white paint on the plywood blocking the entrance from 11th looks pretty good after dark.

Edited January 25, 2020 by kermit

[Urban Cowboy]

I'm not sure if this has been shared elsewhere - if so, apologies. Nichols is attempting to sell that sliver of land between 11th and 277, fronting Tryon. Zoning is UMUD and the geotechnical survey  allows for a 40 story building. They did a rough conceptual site plan to show buyers what could potentially be developed here. The concept shows a 14 story hotel + condo tower. The PDF's URL seems to indicate this is from January 2017? But I feel like the sign is new within the past couple of months. Anyway - just wanted to share out. 

https://thenicholscompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/North-Tryon-St-800_Updated.pdf

 

[KJHburg]

I think that site is great for a hotel not sure about condos though.   But as a far as visibility for a hotel it is a great site.    There was a big hotel proposed on that site either Chinese or Japanese investors if I remember. 

[Guest]

I think that site is great for a hotel not sure about condos though.   But as a far as visibility for a hotel it is a great site.    There was a big hotel proposed on that site either Chinese or Japanese investors if I remember. 

Japanese for a micro hotel concept. It’s been floating around for 3 years.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[DH17]

Wouldn't this be in the way of the new Silver Line alignment? Or am I mistaken in where this would fit in on the Central City Development google map?

[turbocraig]

47 minutes ago, DH17 said:

Wouldn't this be in the way of the new Silver Line alignment? Or am I mistaken in where this would fit in on the Central City Development google map?

Looks like the line goes right alongside the building. 
 

Edited February 8, 2020 by turbocraig

[j-man]

9 hours ago, Urban Cowboy said:

 

 

This would be a great infill project for Uptown for a lot that goes so unnoticed. But I would hate to drive out of that parking garage because people fly down that road like NASCAR drivers. Ugh

[j-man]

I’m still wishing that this lot becomes the next urban park. Every ward needs one. There’s already First Ward, & Romare Beardon (spelling might be off) I think this would be great for the new residents and Uptown visitors.