First Ward Urban Village / North Tryon Vision Plan

[dubone]

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zFzxexr7Xo7I.koDBzwXlUTh4

 

Cross-posting a link (that hopefully works) showing the Levine parcels on the map.  Maybe some of you haven't seen exactly which parcels of land Levine owns and the county Hal Marshall land.  

 

You can see why is a very big deal if he completes his promised block-large apartment building and oversized parking deck, as well as the First Ward park.  2.5 of the 8 blocks he controls.  

 

Further, the county is very unlikely to now be a leader in selling their land for parcels, as they will want to ride the wave of the deal they made for the First Ward Park and sell the Hal Marshall land for more toward the tail end of that development.    They also continue to need to provide the services because the new economy has left so many ultra-poor people and homeless.

 

This is why is a big deal if the currently announced projects all come about (First Ward Park, 10th&Brevard Apartments, Sky House).  

 

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/bocc/meetings/archives/agendasArchive/2009Agendas/2010/0420/april201020b.pdf

[uptownliving]

And in Non April Fools Day News the Meck County Commission approved $8M in funding for First Ward Park today. This is FY 2015 funding which begins in July 2014. Good to see this project is still moving forward....with or without Levine at this point.

[kermit]

at the risk of belaboring the obvious....

 

I have been working in the UNCC uptown building since January and I have a view of Levineville. There has (and is) ZERO indication of ANY activity in the parking lots  or the CFD site (which is still occupied by the CFD).

 

Last month the UNCC building director said that he heard they will start construction 'soon', but shrugged and understood that it was foolish to plan on it.

[Niner National]

Levine is just going to wait around until the market becomes too saturated and then say market conditions do not make moving forward with the project feasible right now.

[DMann]

Levine Properties seeking permits for 260-unit First Ward apartment project

By: Payton Guion, staff writer April 30, 2014

 

CHARLOTTE – Local developer Levine Properties plans to start work this summer on a 260-unit apartment project in Uptown’s First Ward.

Brian Nicholson, director of construction and development with Levine, said the company will apply for building permits in May and expects to receive them within two months. Construction will begin immediately after the permits are received and the project is expected to be finished by early 2016, he said.

The project, which is being called 10th Street Apartments on city documents, will be built on the block where College and Brevard streets intersect 11th Street, and will include a 1,400-space public parking deck that’s part of a much bigger mixed-use development that Levine Properties has been planning with the city and Mecklenburg County for years.

Levine has submitted engineering documents to the city, the city development services website shows. City engineering is one of the preliminary steps to starting a development and must be approved before Mecklenburg County can issue building permits for a project.

According to Mecklenburg County property records, a company called Ninth Street Investors LLC owns about 6 acres – across three parcels – in the same area the apartments are planned. A quick search on the N.C. Secretary of State’s website showed that Ninth Street Investors is a company owned by Daniel Levine, who owns Levine Properties.

Nicholson said the apartment community won’t be a part of the planned $700 million urban village in First Ward, but said it will be in the same area.

Levine announced in September 2012 that the company was launching the ambitious, 15-year public-private project to transform nine blocks – or 30 acres, 23 of which belong to him and his family – of First Ward, which is now largely a landscape of surface parking lots. Plans call for the urban village to include a park, 1,500 apartments, 1.5 million square feet of offices, 350 hotel rooms, 350,000 square feet of retail, three parking decks and a new set of streets and sidewalks.

When the plans were announced, Levine said he hoped to start construction on the first phase – the county park, roadwork paid for almost entirely by the city of Charlotte, two parking decks and 200 apartments –in December 2012 or January 2013. After those months came and went, Levine said last year that work was being held up by government red tape.

W. Lee Jones, capital planning division director for the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department, said the county is meeting with Levine on Thursday to discuss the parks portion of the redevelopment, which may mean that the urban village is getting closer to a start date.

[CLTProductions]

Levine Properties seeking permits for 260-unit First Ward apartment project

By: Payton Guion, staff writer April 30, 2014

 

CHARLOTTE – Local developer Levine Properties plans to start work this summer on a 260-unit apartment project in Uptown’s First Ward.

Brian Nicholson, director of construction and development with Levine, said the company will apply for building permits in May and expects to receive them within two months. Construction will begin immediately after the permits are received and the project is expected to be finished by early 2016, he said.

The project, which is being called 10th Street Apartments on city documents, will be built on the block where College and Brevard streets intersect 11th Street, and will include a 1,400-space public parking deck that’s part of a much bigger mixed-use development that Levine Properties has been planning with the city and Mecklenburg County for years.

Levine has submitted engineering documents to the city, the city development services website shows. City engineering is one of the preliminary steps to starting a development and must be approved before Mecklenburg County can issue building permits for a project.

According to Mecklenburg County property records, a company called Ninth Street Investors LLC owns about 6 acres – across three parcels – in the same area the apartments are planned. A quick search on the N.C. Secretary of State’s website showed that Ninth Street Investors is a company owned by Daniel Levine, who owns Levine Properties.

Nicholson said the apartment community won’t be a part of the planned $700 million urban village in First Ward, but said it will be in the same area.

Levine announced in September 2012 that the company was launching the ambitious, 15-year public-private project to transform nine blocks – or 30 acres, 23 of which belong to him and his family – of First Ward, which is now largely a landscape of surface parking lots. Plans call for the urban village to include a park, 1,500 apartments, 1.5 million square feet of offices, 350 hotel rooms, 350,000 square feet of retail, three parking decks and a new set of streets and sidewalks.

When the plans were announced, Levine said he hoped to start construction on the first phase – the county park, roadwork paid for almost entirely by the city of Charlotte, two parking decks and 200 apartments –in December 2012 or January 2013. After those months came and went, Levine said last year that work was being held up by government red tape.

W. Lee Jones, capital planning division director for the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department, said the county is meeting with Levine on Thursday to discuss the parks portion of the redevelopment, which may mean that the urban village is getting closer to a start date.

 

Dude, april fools day was at the beginning of the month, not the end.

[tozmervo]

Government red tape. Permitting in Mecklenburg isn't the fastest or cheapest thing in the world, but that's a big fat red herring. 

[orulz]

This is the first case where I've heard a news article being published for a developer planning to apply for building permits in the future. Generally the whole process of permitting goes completely under the radar.

[Miesian Corners]

Hey Ricky Davis, want to tell me again how this project is set to start immediately? ;-)

[Norm2]

This struck me as funny. "Nicholson said the apartment community won’t be a part of the planned $700 million urban village in First Ward, but said it will be in the same area."

[cltbwimob]

I had a great idea for an award for developers who are long on promises but short on delivery.  A fresh from Lowes shovel sitting in a pile of dirt encapsulated in a vacuum sealed plexiglass case.  The placard on the award will read "Herein lies a groundbreaking shovel along with the only ground it will ever break."  I can think of a few developers for whom this award would be appropriate...Anyone have a name for such an award???

 

If Levine successfully completes the First Ward Project and the Midtown Hotel I will gladly eat a large helping of crow.

[dubone]

The Daniel Levine 20/60 Vision Award

 

 

The Daniel Levine Steamroller Award - Paving Paradise 

(Ooh bop bop bop)

 

[15895]

So living in Huntersville now, I'm really annoyed, more than ever, that this crap is moving forward.

And building the run of the mill, SouthEnd type of apartments isn't exciting period.

I took a friend to Birkdale last night at 11pm, ate at Fox & Hound then walked around. Seen what movies were playing and even window shopped because some stuff in Pier One caught our eye.

In uptown period, does window shopping even exist? I've never was walking, the stopped and walked back to peer in a window.....

Nothing at all exciting is going on here with this project and building a midrise apartment is not exciting at all and doesn't live up to with my perception as a village.....

[dubone]

And in the 90s, the vision for the area was exactly a Birkdale style development centered around 10th Street.    Then the developer of Birkdale did his urban Birkdale, called Met Midtown, but the general scale of shopping is no where near it.

 

Obviously Metropolitan is significant for the area around uptown, but of course First Ward / "North Tryon" have consistently failed to happen.   The only thing that ends up are social services that draw homeless vagrants.   SkyHouse is a significant change, and EVEN IF Levine does get SouthEnd-like apartments, it will be a major change for the area.  

 

You want shopping, but at this point, they could put up a Bojangles drive through and it will be more urban than the parking lots there now.  

[southslider]

^And wouldn't be any less urban than the Wendy's at Metropolitan.

[dubone]

Clearly.   But bad vs worse is an odd way to build a city.  

[CLTProductions]

Every time I see a new post in this thread....there's about a half second I get excited, then realize what thread this is and there won't ever be any good news in it.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Jayvee

[dubone]

Of course, I had that eye-rolly feeling when clicking on this thread... just to read your joke that read my mind.   We all feel that way.   

 

It is a joke.  Obviously economics dictates that something will eventually happen, but for the foreseeable future, it is just one big joke of a district. 

[RVA2CLT]

How about building a Top Golf on some of that plentiful open land.

It's really a lot of fun, used to go to the one in Dallas a lot. The closest one is up in NoVA.

It would create another unique-activity attraction in uptown for all ages and incorporates one of Crown-town's favorite past times... drinking.... I mean golf.
 

[Madison Parkitect]

Something like that would be a lot of fun. Not to get too off-topic, but I may or may not have heard something about this kind of thing being put on the Coliseum Center land on Independence, until the new owner decided not to go with it. But that idea has been floated in this area at least...

[atlrvr]

I really like the idea...I played up on Chelsea Piers last week in NY (not Top Golf, but similar urban driving range) and it was a lot of fun, but I think this really needs to be on the edge of downtown to create a successful scene.  Would actually be a pretty cool interstate cap (though i somehow doubt those economics work)

[swh1972]

OK, it's not construction on an Urban Villiage, nor an Urban Park, nor the start of the Levine Apartments, but there has been some utility work going on this week at 8th and Brevard (adding additional utility poles, and relocating some of the power lines).    Anyone in the know have thoughts as to whether this might be the start of something bigger? 

[atlrvr]

^ This is the start of re-grading Brevard and 8th St, related to the park.  They are going to adjust the elevation pretty significantly.

[CLTProductions]

^ This is the start of re-grading Brevard and 8th St, related to the park.  They are going to adjust the elevation pretty significantly.

Wait what.................????????? Does that mean there is actually progress on some part of the project???

[tozmervo]

^ Shhh! You'll startle it and scare it off