500 West Trade (14 story apartments on site of former Polk Building)

[15895]

1 minute ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

RIP Handcrafted beauty not to be seen again. 

Until the new courthouse gets built... 

(not really but we can pretend)

Edited February 8, 2018 by AirNostrumMAD

[KJHburg]

Photos today from my drive by.

 

[Guest]

Heard from 3 separated sources this is officially stalled.


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[KJHburg]

I hope in the meantime a plan to save this building can be done.  Even just part of the front of it or something.  

on another note there seems to be an oversupply of high dollar high rise apartments and 550 Stonewall tower is barreling towards completion and Lennar's tower will start soon.  

[navigator319]

If this is stalled I don’t think it’s because of occupancy rates. Accent is what would be considered full occupancy with just regular turnover for a building of its size. This was achieved 1 year post first move in’s. I don’t think that is overly long to reach that milestone.

[cha]

Hallelujah... how this is not landmarked given the designs going up here recently is beyond me.

[KJHburg]

^^ In March of this year the apartment vacancy uptown was over 20% the highest by far in any Charlotte submarket.  The rental rates were also the highest.  I think that and tougher financing and higher construction costs is causing this to stall.  Lennar is well capitalized and they can pull a high rise tower off and the lease up period  until their property stabilizes.  High rise construction of any kind is not cheap and banks who finance these apartment complexes do look at vacancy rates and how long something takes to lease up and stabilize. 

[cltbwimob]

18 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Heard from 3 separated sources this is officially stalled.


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If this is true then praise God. 

Now is time to work on getting the building landmark status and saving it or at least saving the facades.

[deleted]

On 9/23/2018 at 8:17 PM, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Heard from 3 separated sources this is officially stalled.


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There is a lot of jubilation on the board because of the delay.  However, nothing is going to change on the existing building.  It's not financially feasible to restore it and it's not going to happen.  A delay simply means that we are going to have to look at this deteriorated and unused building for longer.  Meanwhile, the proposed tower is pretty nice and could really impact the neighborhood.

My comment isn't directed at anyone in particular but I don't view this as good news...

[Matthew.Brendan]

You’d think Levine owned this one too. Another example of demolition by neglect. Fact is it has terriffic brick work and detailing, sorry I don’t know the proper architectural terms. Fact is that level of intricate detailed masonry will not be replaced and once gone it’s gone forever. 

“It’s not feasible to save it” is true only in the context of spending the absolute least money possible. Of course it is perfectly feasible to restore it, either as is, or as the basis of an expanded structure. 

[deleted]

12 minutes ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

“It’s not feasible to save it” is true only in the context of spending the absolute least money possible. Of course it is perfectly feasible to restore it, either as is, or as the basis of an expanded structure. 

I believe NWR when they said they seriously explored restoration and couldn't make it work.  There is a big difference between spending the least money possible and a project like this that would require significant public contribution to restore.  As I'm sure you know, NWR is in it to make money and that haven't always owned this property.  I don't think you can blame them for what happened to the building previously.  Remember, the Intercontinental/Carolina Theater needed $50+ million from a non-profit foundation and the city (and still almost didn't happen).  And I believe the theater/property was purchased for $1.    If NWR was given the land and $50 million, they might yet make the restoration work here...

[Matthew.Brendan]

R. I. P. 

[KJHburg]

Lets go back to summer of 2016 with this article from Clayton Sealey on the Polk building.  

https://www.charlottefive.com/shame-james-k-polk-building-wasting-away-uptown-heres-become/

[cltbwimob]

51 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Lets go back to summer of 2016 with this article from Clayton Sealey on the Polk building.  

https://www.charlottefive.com/shame-james-k-polk-building-wasting-away-uptown-heres-become/

This!!!

I'd rather look at Polk until my dying day in its current state than to have to look at what will replace it which looks almost like a carbon copy of Stonewall Station minus the abundance of retail square footage.  To me NWR replacement design has only slightly more appeal than a Soviet housing project.

Edited September 26, 2018 by cltbwimob

[DMann]

I hate to get emotional about stuff.  If you want to save this building, buy it and do something with it.  No on has in the 21 years I have lived downtown because they cannot make a profit with it.   If you want the government to save it, how much money should they invest in it, why, and where do they take that money from?  The time to save that building was probably 25 years ago.  If you want to save it, buy it!

[tarwater]

The sad thing is that profitability seems to be the only consideration some of you have. Not all of us want to live on a monopoly board. There is no unshakeable law of the universe that says if it doesn't make money, it can't be saved.

[Nick2]

1 hour ago, tarwater said:

The sad thing is that profitability seems to be the only consideration some of you have. Not all of us want to live on a monopoly board. There is no unshakeable law of the universe that says if it doesn't make money, it can't be saved.

I really really wish it could be saved but who pays for it? Should a company take a loss on renovations? That's not a good business model. Should tax dollars go to a net loss project? Dollars that could go to much better uses that I don't need list.

Profitability isn't the only consideration but it's the driver of development. That's why historic mills and houses are saved and renovated because they can make money.

If someone or a company can find a way to develope the lot into a functional multipurpose project including an expensive reno, that'd be great but so far it hasn't been found.

[cltbwimob]

Funny that everyone keeps mentioning lack of profitability/financial feasibility in renovating Polk.  I think we are on NWR's third proposal for the all tear downs  and rebuilds...If it is true that this project has stalled again, it looks as if NWR is having just as tough a time finding a way to make any of the raze and replace proposals financially feasible as he did finding a financially feasible way of renovating the building-perhaps even tougher.

I just can't believe for the life of me that it can't be saved profitably despite the nominal bit of hand-wringing that David Ravin did in the Charlotte Observer article when he said he couldn't make the numbers work.  All over the country there are derelict buildings like this one that get saved and turned into profitable enterprise-in places where the land costs are significantly higher than downtown Charlotte.  At the very least NWR could save the facades along Graham and Trade streets.   That is well within the realm of financial possibilities.

Rest assured if/when the Polk building is demolished, we as a community will be collectively made poorer.  We may not feel it in our wallets but we will be poorer as we give a little more of our soul away, as we continue to tear down buildings that have some semblance of historical importance, and a great deal of [potential] architectural appeal.  We will give people yet another reason to say that Charlotte tears down its history, that our city is boring, that it's bland, that it lacks character, that it's sold out to developers. 

Architecture like painting and sculpture is art-art whose exhibit space is the common spaces we all share and art we encounter everyday.  Like all art, there is good and there is bad. There are museum worthy pieces and there are pieces that you find in the home decor section of Target.  Replacing a 1-of-1 Albert Kahn with the 14-story monolith that NWR has proposed is something like removing a piece in the Met and replacing it with a $39.99 piece from Target.   

 

[cltbwimob]

5 hours ago, DMann said:

I hate to get emotional about stuff.  If you want to save this building, buy it and do something with it.  No on has in the 21 years I have lived downtown because they cannot make a profit with it.   If you want the government to save it, how much money should they invest in it, why, and where do they take that money from?  The time to save that building was probably 25 years ago.  If you want to save it, buy it!

This line of thinking is not too far removed from the line that might argue for the  virtues and merit in plutocracy.  

Edited September 27, 2018 by cltbwimob

[deleted]

12 hours ago, tarwater said:

The sad thing is that profitability seems to be the only consideration some of you have. Not all of us want to live on a monopoly board. There is no unshakeable law of the universe that says if it doesn't make money, it can't be saved.

That's quite a leap.  I am all for saving historic buildings.  Also for more light rail and streetcar lines, better education, more income equity, expanded greenways, a stadium for MLS, etc.  As I've said all along, I'd love to see the building restored.  Unfortunately, I think this one is too far gone and that there are other issues (proximity to Graham and damage to the building, for instance) that make this a poor prospect for restoration.  Ultimately, you have to pick your battles.  This building is not going to be restored so the choice is to leave it as is and let it decay (and then demolish it later) or move on now.  That said, if you start a fund and put up some money toward restoration, I'll donate.  

8 hours ago, cltbwimob said:

Funny that everyone keeps mentioning lack of profitability/financial feasibility in renovating Polk.  I think we are on NWR's third proposal for the all tear downs  and rebuilds...If it is true that this project has stalled again, it looks as if NWR is having just as tough a time finding a way to make any of the raze and replace proposals financially feasible as he did finding a financially feasible way of renovating the building-perhaps even tougher.

That's the wrong conclusion unfortunately.  In reality, if they are having difficulty making the numbers work as proposed, it would be exponentially more difficult with a massively expensive restoration.

[navigator319]

I don't get what people see in the building, never have.  It's a bland rectangle with some simple stone mill work on the top.  It's an eyesore.   Absolutely no city money to an already boondoggle of 20+years.

[Matthew.Brendan]

lol. To each their own. Bring on the EIFS!

[deleted]

3 hours ago, navigator319 said:

I don't get what people see in the building, never have.  It's a bland rectangle with some simple stone mill work on the top.  It's an eyesore.   Absolutely no city money to an already boondoggle of 20+years.

In it's current state, you are absolutely correct.  In a restored state (with the granite, add-ons removed, period windows, etc.), I don't doubt that this would be an impressive building.

[KJHburg]

The Polk building today.  I sure wish Northwood Ravin would come up a plan to incorporate this building or saves the facades or something.  Also what is going on if anything with the Professional Building on the block with the 1st Presbyterian parking lot anything?  do you @ricky_davis_fan_21

That building the Professional would be a great little boutique hotel. 

Edited November 21, 2018 by KJHburg

[Guest]

The Polk building today.  I sure wish Northwood Ravin would come up a plan to incorporate this building or saves the facades or something.  Also what is going on if anything with the Professional Building on the block with the 1st Presbyterian parking lot anything?  do you [mention=17104]ricky_davis_fan_21[/mention]
That building the Professional would be a great little boutique hotel. 

Was actually approved today. Not sure that means it’s happening. Heard it was stalled.



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