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

[dubone]

If they are still planning to tear out a concrete structured 6-story building with some vintage charm to build a run of the mill 6-story stick built building, I will be sick about it every time I pass it.   But to read it is going to likely be an empty lot for a while is so frustrating. 

 

[Hushpuppy321]

13 hours ago, dubone said:

If they are still planning to tear out a concrete structured 6-story building with some vintage charm to build a run of the mill 6-story stick built building, I will be sick about it every time I pass it.   But to read it is going to likely be an empty lot for a while is so frustrating. 

 

The High-Rise Portion of the planned building will be Steel or Concrete but not sure about the low Rise portion.  That probably will be Lumber.

[j-man]

I think there should be some street level parking in the front of the building. that would be nice. 

[Jasons0013]

Looks like the inside is getting demoed.  There is a large construction dumpster on the West side that is almost full.  Many workers seen going in and out this morning.

[j-man]

I literally just saw these plans on the table at my job. Who knew. lmap

[navigator319]

Work is definitely underway here. About half the windows have been removed.

Say what you will about the varying opinions on merit/desire to rehabilitate vs. tear down progress on an eye sore in this section of uptown is fabulous and very impactful.

[Matthew.Brendan]

[SgtCampsalot]

These details... This is literally the articulation that Legacy Union was going for but of which they chose to do a sand-castle version.

[Guest]

There was a nifty wooden detail over the front-door I wanted to grab. Don't know what they would call it. Probably removed by now.

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

Unbelievable no one could turn this into condos at the least. 

[KJHburg]

I think this is terrible and I know in other cities it could have incorporated into a new structure.  

[Merthecat]

So forgive me for not knowing, but which was the biggest obstruction to preserving and renovating this building:  its poor condition or its location within NCDOT's right-of-way?

[Dale]

While other sectors are becoming increasingly dense, I suppose that stretch of Trade is going to look barren the next few years.

[nicholas]

7 minutes ago, Merthecat said:

So forgive me for not knowing, but which was the biggest obstruction to preserving and renovating this building:  its poor condition or its location within NCDOT's right-of-way?

I think it's a combination of both? Pretty sure it was reported on here a while back that the developer couldn't make the numbers work because it was going to be so expensive to renovate.  The DOT having a fit about the ROW didn't help either.

[Guest]

56 minutes ago, Merthecat said:

So forgive me for not knowing, but which was the biggest obstruction to preserving and renovating this building:  its poor condition or its location within NCDOT's right-of-way?

From what I've heard, NOW its storm damage because of the state of neglect that the building was already in.

[Matthew.Brendan]

Purposeful neglect is infuriating. 

[SgtCampsalot]

I am confused about the CDOT/ROW issue because the Camden Cotton Mills, etc, and every other existing property on N Graham keeps Graham to the same exact width. Was this just an opportunistic thing on CDOT's part to lobby to get at least ONE block with wider ROW? smdh

[Spartan]

I think that building pre-dates Graham St being 4 lanes wide, so I don't think the ROW is an issue associated with it's current condition. We have lots of historic buildings in uptown that don't meet the current streetscape standards, but unless the building is torn down there is no expectation that the building would need to be modified or razed to accommodate it.

 

[Urban Cowboy]

[DMann]

Appropo picture, sunset!

[KJHburg]

Still sad about this.  Photo today.  Could have been very cool apartments or a boutique hotel. 

[JoshuaDrown]

Windows are all out on the lowest floor and coming out on the top floor. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

Would love to have the piece with the date on the top.

94 years. RIP

[Desert Power]

Bummer 

[Nick2]

Anyone know of they're planning on saving any of the facade? It would be great if they could and use it as a design element somewhere on whatever project ends up here.