First Ward Urban Village / North Tryon Vision Plan

[HopHead]

This is exciting news... Glad to see some of these uptown apartment projects finally get off the ground (soon). I'm sure we'd all love for less parking, but at least the parking decks are concealed by the units themselves and it's not surface

[carolinagarnet]

They must be planning to add massive amounts of office space in the next few years if they are already putting in 1,250 standalone parking spaces. Those lots are surface lots now, so at the very least this will give the area some height. The parcel between UNCC and the tracks is so narrow though, I am amazed that they can fit anything in that space.

[Rufus]

The only issue I have with this, not to be a downer, is the footprint. The driveway off 10th st. is not very urban, and I'm not seeing retail. That's not necessarily a bad thing considering the number of units, but that area of first ward doesn't have much right now, so maybe they're planning more. Also the location is a block away from the UNCC building which will help it connect more with the central core of buildings.

[Guest]

Its really such a desolate area. A link between "The Garden District" of First Ward and the rest of downtown is vital. Its shameful how unfriendly that area is. Lets just hope that Levine gets this right sometime in his lifetime.

[Guest]

so this is basically where everything will be? god, still so desolate.

[kermit]

^ I think the apartments are on the other side of the BLE

[Prodev]

so this is basically where everything will be? god, still so desolate.

I think the apartments are on the other side of the future light rail extension.

[HopHead]

so this is basically where everything will be? god, still so desolate.

Part of the reason it looks so desolate is that map image is from several years ago... You don't even see the new BofA building or the Ritz Carlton.

[Guest]

crap, I didn't save it. You guys get the idea... lol

[kermit]

so this is basically where everything will be? god, still so desolate.

I have updated the CC development map with the two parking projects (and modified the boundaries of the apartments). The area east of the BLE is not bad looking when you include the two parks, there are only two vacant blocks remaining on that side. I am very excited about the hotel, that may change the area's perception as much as UNCC did.

On the other side of the tracks, the area between the BLE and college is nothing but a sea of concrete.

[kermit]

So here is the deal...these apartments along Brevard St between 10th and 11th are targeted to start construction during 2Q2013.

This parking deck will have 1,376 parking spaces and the Apartments will wrap the deck and be 4 story with loft stick built.

There will also be an above ground parking deck built on 9th between UNCC and the train tracks. This parking deck will have 350 spaces and is designed to support an office tower on top of it. Construction on this deck will start during December 2012 (yes, by the end of this year)

And then there will be a 3rd Deck on the block bounded by 7th, 8th, Brevard, and Caldwell. This deck will have 900 spaces and be wrapped by Residential and a Hotel. This deck is slated to start construction in 2014.

First Ward Park is now targeted to start construction Feb 2013 and be open in Spring 2014.

I have lost track over the years. Assuming all of the above happens, will that complete about 40% of the Levine Project?

[Guest]

I'd say 20%

[dubone]

I am so happy to see Levine participating in the apartment construction boom on his land. He is being very smart by starting on the block farthest from the action as it will provide a backstop allowing future development closer in to be more desireable and potentiall denser. Assuming this project is not a disengenuous attempt to build a parking deck but cancel the residential aspects later (I'm trying hard to get my trust back in him given all the failed promises of imminent work), it is a very good thing that he is thinking ahead by fortifying the decks to allow Phase II development above it. This is of course very long term, but is a smart way to retain long term development potential while still participating in the current market which only supports midrise.

I am very happy to see that he is fulfilling his end of the bargain to allow First Ward Park to move forward. That will be the single most important move forward to end the feeling of separation between the Garden District and the CBD. That column of blocks will be fairly contiguous development along the southeast edge of the BLE (Imaginon > Dixies > First Ward Park > UNCC > a block with old brick buildings housing Elevation Church and Enterprise RAC and an old house > this new apartment project).

Once these announced projects are in place, the concern of 'no mans land' will then apply more to the long time problem of the Hal Marshal county land that is now a concentration of homeless people around Phifer and College.

I should also mention that this project will extend 10th Street a block west to the BLE corridor leaving just the 2 block section missing on the Hal Marshall land itself.

[southslider]

At first I thought the hotel/parking deck was going on the block south of 6th, since I heard Breakfast Club is closing, but an earlier post places the hotel/deck on the block north of 7th. But if Breakfast Club is gone, then is there any development planned for its block?

[dubone]

Levine doesn't own anything south of 7th except for the Treloar house that he is doing demolition by neglect on. He does own all or most of the 7th-Brevard-8th-Caldwell block, so that seem like the place it is going. Again, his strategy seems to be to develop the blocks farthest away from the CBD first and then it theoretically makes his future developments closer in more valuable. This block is his farthest southeast block and the 11th and Brevard block is the farthest northeast.

I would like to see him succeed at building his long planned Market Street along the light rail line lined with retail, but I do suspect it is pie-in-the-sky like most other concepts of an urban shopping street in uptown.

The Breakfast Club block has lots of parcels owned by separate entities. It seems likely to continue just being a cashcow of parking money for the various land owners. However, it would be great if something can be developed that does not take up an entire block. The Breakfast Club block has 2 parcels that are larger than the parcel that Hotel Sierra/Hyatt [something] was built on, and would seem to be another good spot for a hotel, especially the peninsular lot at 5th and Caldwell, which could have a façade on 5th with a really good skyline view.

[DMann]

I don't know if the above ground deck referred to here is between Bevard and Caldwell, or Brevard and the rail line.

Levine Properties changes parking for $700M project

By Payton Guion, staff writer

Published: August 16, 2012

Time posted: 11:10 am

Tags: Charlotte, Levine Properties, Uptown

A 10-year, $700 million project that will transform eight blocks uptown had some changes approved by county commissioners on Tuesday night.

Levine Properties, the developer, requested an amendment to part of their agreement with the county that said they would build an underground parking deck with more than 1,000 parking spaces north of Eighth Street.

Commissioners granted that request and now, instead of the large underground deck, Levine will build an above-ground parking deck with 350 spaces near the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Uptown campus by the end of 2013. The developers will also build a 900-space deck on Brevard Street, between Seventh and Eighth streets, in 2014.

John Allen, Charlotte-Mecklenburg economic development director, said that Levine requested the change because building an underground parking deck of that size would be horribly expensive. He said, because there won’t be a net loss in parking spaces, the change isn’t massive in relation to the entire project.

“We’ve been working since 2008 or 2009 on this,” he said. “It’s a $700 million mixed-use redevelopment of eight city blocks. This is an extremely complex project.”

[Matthew.Brendan]

Ugh. Too bad. Would've been far better underground.

[ah59396]

Unfortunately it's more realistic. I'd prefer underground like everyone else, but if this gets the project moving, I can live with it. Plus, go to any large American city and you'll find plenty of above ground parking (parking decks). It's the nature of the beast I suppose.

Edited August 16, 2012 by ah59396

[dubone]

This will be at the corner of 9th and the Lynx tracks next door to the UNCC building. Of course, the underground deck was always a very expensive option, but he pushed it over and over. My guess is it was always just talk, but now that it is more about to be reality, he is going on-the-cheap. I suspect, too, that we'll end up with just a deck and no office tower, simply because office towers aren't really being built and rented lately.

[DMann]

This will be at the corner of 9th and the Lynx tracks next door to the UNCC building. Of course, the underground deck was always a very expensive option, but he pushed it over and over. My guess is it was always just talk, but now that it is more about to be reality, he is going on-the-cheap. I suspect, too, that we'll end up with just a deck and no office tower, simply because office towers aren't really being built and rented lately.

Actually, that article speaks of 2 decks, one on 9th and the LYNX line with 350 spaces,and another one on Brevard between 8th and 7th Streets. It does not identify that second deck as between Brevard and Caldwell or Brevard and the rail line. The First Ward Park was supposed to have an underground garage, as was the UNCC / Office Tower. The article was not clear on any of that.

[uptownliving]

This link does a good job of illustrating where the parking decks will go and how many spaces each will have. The size and scope of First Ward Park is not changing...just where and how large each parking deck will be and when they plan to build them.

If all goes to plan we should see dirt moving by the end of this year.

http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/CityClerk/CouncilRelated/Documents/Agenda%20Attachments/2012/08_27_2012/02%202012-08-27.pdf

[southslider]

^The revised amendment (2nd) slide shows the "Bond Bldg" at 7th and Brevard. Is there hope yet that Levine may actually save this historic structure?

[dubone]

I was curious about that too. The main benefit is that he doesn't own any other parcels on that block, so he isn't in a rush to tear it down to make plans for the whole block. But given that he has done a lot of changes that do not protect it from weather elements, it seems he is letting it deteriorate so that when the time comes he can claim it is too far gone to save for re-use.

Overall, if these projects happen, it will make a big difference to the disconnected feeling in the area.

[kermit]

The Business Journal had a good piece on the Levine project yesterday. http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/queen_city_agenda/2012/08/city-county-cut-6-million-from.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2012-08-27&page=all

Some 'highlights':

• Scrapping the underground deck will reduce public expenditures on the project by $6 million
  
• Levine has lengthened his completion timeline from 10 years (scheduled completion in 2019) to 15 years (meaning either 2021 or 2027, the article is ambiguous)
  
• Sounds like the apartment project will have "50 work-force" units
  

[dubone]

Levine is such a shyster. Longer terms mean longer time of inaction. He pushed like crazy for the underground deck, while promising an office tower to abutt the park, but now we will pretty much have a regular above ground parking deck, and not much likelihood it will get an office tower above it. I'm sure it will be a charming Church Street-style parking deck too. "The public-private plan we got approved was conjured under a much more robust economy" of course is A COMPLETE LIE, because the early planning was done AFTER the financial crash, and then approved in 2010 when it was clear that we were stuck in an real estate doldrum. The economy and real estate market is clearly better in 2012 than it was in 2010 and 2008. This clown even skipped the entire real estate bubble when capital and buyers were readily available. The current proposals are maybe the most specific and manageable that we have seen in a very long time, so it *feels* like he is finally moving forward, but he has clearly been disengenuous throughout the whole process. He is a land banker, not a city builder or developer. http://charmeck.org/.../FirstWard.aspx

http://www.bizjourna...1.html?page=all

It's unclear in the article, but I suspect that the $6m in public savings from the lack of underground deck would be that they no longer need to raise the grade of Brevard street and 8th street. Of course, that probably changes some of the design of the park itself, but I'm not totally clear on that.

I can't believe I even still watch this ridiculous soap opera. When I bought a condo in First Ward in 2001, I was all excited about the development plans for his land. 11 years later, the ONLY change is UNCC which I suspect happened because he could use some tax benefits from some sort of charitable giving by selling "below market". This agreement 2 years ago felt like finally he was on the hook to at least do something enough to give the public some tax revenue to build the park, but of course by asking for a longer horizon, he is pretty much saying he was never serious about the 10 year horizon in the first place. If he had rosy glasses about the economic conditions for development from 11/08-02/10 when the agreement was being planned and signed, then he is potentially insane and should seek treatment.