First Ward Urban Village / North Tryon Vision Plan

[dubone]

Yesterday or Thursday morning there was a GORGEOUS woman with a huge camera taking a photo of the construction. Was that anyone from Urban Planet?

I guess not .

[swh1972]

I seemed like construction had ceased, but now it appears to be going on again. They are installing the rounded corner of the building that faces 6th & Davidson.

I just noticed the same thing today. Most of the progress was being made on the 7th St side, which is not really visable from either 6th or 7th.

[graydog]

M St. is going much slower than expected. Our unit in the second to last section (N. McDowell) was scheduled for May, then June and now mid-July.

Any critics still not like it since the McDowell side has come into finished state?

What about the units for sale? I counted 6 either for rent or sale. That's 10% of total units and barely half the owners have closed, if that.

[dubone]

Why is Furman having trouble with making dates? Have construction materials risen, and he is stretching time lines to keep budgets? Or do his contractors just have trouble getting things done?

[monsoon]

I have noticed that a lot of projects around the area have slowed construction and I am not sure why. This seems to be something that has taken hold in the last few weeks. Maybe high fuel costs, higher interest rates, and outrageous prices for construction material and labor are finally having an effect on what can be done in X amount of time.

[MZT]

Some of the Latino workers also return home in the summer. There might also be a labor shortage. (Well, more like a "where-can-we-find-it-in-the-budget-to-pay-more" problem.)

I've noticed the light rail construction seems to be slowing down a bit too. There's usually a few backhoes running, but you don't see the activity you would on a NCDOT project.

Edited May 13, 2006 by MZT

[UrbanCharlotte]

How is the construction on Renwick going? I haven't made it out there in a long time. I keep forgetting about it.

[swh1972]

Digging a lot of dirt, but no actual construction as of yet. They had the Eastbound land of 7th closed off yesterday and they were doing some underground work.

[turbocraig]

Any critics still not like it since the McDowell side has come into finished state?

I was one of those, I'll admit it. But, it looks loads better now than when it was in it's ecru stage. It's amazing how a few shades of paint can make such a difference.

[mdadolfo]

M St. is going much slower than expected. Our unit in the second to last section (N. McDowell) was scheduled for May, then June and now mid-July.

Any critics still not like it since the McDowell side has come into finished state?

What about the units for sale? I counted 6 either for rent or sale. That's 10% of total units and barely half the owners have closed, if that.

Why are any units for sale or rent? Supponsingly all of the Boulevard Centro's projects have a waiting list and are reserved/sold out before public announcement. There should be many satisfied homeowners anxious to move into their new homes!

[swh1972]

Why are any units for sale or rent? Supponsingly all of the Boulevard Centro's projects have a waiting list and are reserved/sold out before public announcement. There should be many satisfied homeowners anxious to move into their new homes!

People are lined up to buy to move in or lined up to buy as an investment? I think it's safe to say that a meaningful percentage of individuals buying into these projects pre construction are doing so to make money, not necessarily to find a place to live.

[dubone]

Most people look for a place to live a few months before they are ready to move in. Many are willing to put money down pre construction and wait two years. But it is good to see that there is a small percentage of investors that are willing to underwrite the construction risks in order to sell to the people wanting to buy new from inventory after construction. Banks used to do that, but it was too risky, so they require pre-sales. It is bad if there are too many investors, as they might not be rational about the potential market after construction. But in cases where there are only a small minority that are flipped, I think that is great, as it helps projects gets built.

[dubone]

Finally Court6 has some siding and workers appear to be on the job and moving forward. Hopefully this project can finish soon so we can get some people living in them.

[atlrvr]

"The Quad" has now applied for building permits.

According to the review notes, the total project will contain 185 units and 21,000 sq. ft. of retail.

Edited May 31, 2006 by atlrvr

[Charlotte_native]

Am I the only one that feels the backside of Courtside seems to have been forgotten? I don't go out or in on Independence very often, but did yesterday and noticed for the first time that the back of the building really looks like the back, like it was not really designed, just formed up. I love the look of the rest, but this is really bland.

[turbocraig]

^Yeah, you should read through the Courtside thread for tons of editorial about that. It was actually improved upon shortly after it was completed, so it's even better now that it originally was.

[Rickydavisfan21]

Unfortunately the view ESPN, Foxsports ABC, NBC, CBS, american public and the city of charlotte are going to have from Bank of America Stadium of Trademark isn't going to be much better, at least courtside is 17 floors and not as visible, don't get me wrong I love Courtside, its one of my favourite additions to the skyline, I don't mean to discount it, but Trademark might be more embarassing we'll see.

Edited June 1, 2006 by Rickydavisfan21

[Charlotte_native]

Unfortunately the view ESPN, Foxsports ABC, NBC, CBS, american public and the city of charlotte are going to have from Bank of America Stadium of Trademark isn't going to be much better, at least courtside is 17 floors and not as visible, don't get me wrong I love Courtside, its one of my favourite additions to the skyline, I don't mean to discount it, but Trademark might be more embarassing we'll see.

Which view is that? I'm afraid the renderings look good to me, but so did courtside until I realized that all views were not represented, or at least I didn't notice, in earlier renderings or press.

[dubone]

They have renderings of the back of Trademark, and I think the key difference is that it has condos facing out the back for much of its height. In Courtside, no unit faces out the back, so there are no large glass panels or balconies or anything.

It still could turn out to be less than appealing. But my vote is that it will turn out much better than the back of Courtside.

[Charlotte_native]

They have renderings of the back of Trademark, and I think the key difference is that it has condos facing out the back for much of its height. In Courtside, no unit faces out the back, so there are no large glass panels or balconies or anything.

It still could turn out to be less than appealing. But my vote is that it will turn out much better than the back of Courtside.

I've always loved David Furman's work. I supposed they just didn't think about the back of Courtside? Either way I love the fact that he has done a few things: built buildings that are distinctively his as opposed to what else is being built in town and has done projects that are affordable to many (most notably Wilmore Walk) AND has a more humble attitude than most developer/architects locally (como se Jim Gross? Chris Branch?). David -- sculpture is in the round!

Oh yea, and he moved into someone elses project -- not so egotistical to only live in his own!

[Rickydavisfan21]

They have renderings of the back of Trademark, and I think the key difference is that it has condos facing out the back for much of its height. In Courtside, no unit faces out the back, so there are no large glass panels or balconies or anything.

It still could turn out to be less than appealing. But my vote is that it will turn out much better than the back of Courtside.

I know I have the renderings too, I also have the cad rendergings too, while there is definately glass on the back, it has no flow and I don't think many of us are going to be very happy with it.

[atlrvr]

Oh yea, and he moved into someone elses project -- not so egotistical to only live in his own!

Yeah....but his firm did design it

[keer5771]

I don't know if anyone noticed, but The Ledge loft condos went on sale today from Blvd Centro.

http://www.blvdcentro.com/ledge/ledge.htm

Anyone know anything about this project? They're targeting Spring 08 to close. Personally, I like the look of the building in the renderings and the loft concept, and the floor plans are decent as well.

Thoughts?

[cinco]

I don't know if anyone noticed, but The Ledge loft condos went on sale today from Blvd Centro.

http://www.blvdcentro.com/ledge/ledge.htm

Anyone know anything about this project? They're targeting Spring 08 to close. Personally, I like the look of the building in the renderings and the loft concept, and the floor plans are decent as well.

Thoughts?

i like the design, but i couldn't locate it on the previous QUARTERSIDE rendering. perhaps it has changed a little since then. also, it says that the exterior would consist of masonry and "hardcoat" stucco. is "hardcoat" any different than what we are used to?

[atlrvr]

Hardcoat stucco is what we are used to on most projects.....I do like this project. I think it takes the place of the 7 story building that was in the original rendering of Quarterside, but that's a guess.

This looks quite a bit different than anything else in the city, and that's a good things.