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

[elrodvt]

Someone with more skill than I needs to photo shop Negan and a couple Z in there.

[TheOneRJ]

So anyways, is this thread going to have a title change or will the new development be in a new thread

[DeleteMe]

"The Charlotte skyline will be redefined by 500 West Trade, an unmatched lifestyle destination to create the ultimate living experience."  -- Redefined skyline?  That's the overstatement of the 21st century...

 

[Guest]

"The Charlotte skyline will be redefined by 500 West Trade, an unmatched lifestyle destination to create the ultimate living experience."  -- Redefined skyline?  That's the overstatement of the 21st century...
 

I didn’t write that did I? Lol


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Synopsis101]

On 2/2/2018 at 8:04 AM, Jayvee said:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article197911994.html

 

Here we go. Basically Stonewall 550's little brother. 14 stories, 354 units, 8400 SF of retail. The retail seems WAY too low, but we will see. I like the look of it

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Synopsis101

[Guest]

 
 

 

David has a lot of great points but I still just disagree. Shouldn’t have been removed from this earth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TheOneRJ]

Is it 14 or 15 stories? Northwood says it's 15. 

https://nwrliving.com/portfolio/500-west-trade/

[Guest]

Is it 14 or 15 stories? Northwood says it's 15. 
https://nwrliving.com/portfolio/500-west-trade/

When u don’t count 13 yes it’s 15


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[KJHburg]

I still like the Sealey plan a WHOLE lot better.  I can't even drive by this site now because it makes me mad and sad.

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

[Dale]

So, I surmise that they delayed demolition until they were certain they were ready to build ? 

I suppose that’s something.

[SydneyCarton]

It's very nice.  It reminds me of something that would rise in Seattle.

[Matthew.Brendan]

Any chance our photoshop wizards could take a crack at presenting those renderings with the Polk Building facade intergrated? 

 

[Guest]

45 minutes ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

Any chance our photoshop wizards could take a crack at presenting those renderings with the Polk Building facade intergrated? 

 

Well speaking that the facade will be sitting literally 12 feet closer to the street than the current building, might look a little strange haha.

[Matthew.Brendan]

Just a conceptual piece of what mighta coulda shoulda woulda been  

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

Just a conceptual piece of what mighta coulda shoulda woulda been  

I'll see if I can work it in with photoshopping this duke tower into the skyline haha.

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

I would have preferred a Polk Hotel & Residences (Ivey Hotel type renovation), then scrap the mid-rise portion of the this new project and just double the height of the proposed tower to 30 stories. It's a double edged sword...hate that Polk building is being torn down, however, I'm glad to see some action along Trade/streetcar/Gatway corridor. If the streetcar is legit, coupled with the potential of gateway station, trade st is a sleeping giant. 

[Spartan]

 

On 3/10/2019 at 8:54 PM, SgtCampsalot said:

I fear unless we have a grassroots effort to force Levine's hand, ^this will eventually be the red Treolar house in First Ward. 

 

On 3/11/2019 at 8:46 AM, CLT2014 said:

We lack a champion with enough passion to organize people for a grassroots movement. This forum has some of the most passionate people about urban development in the city, yet none of us (myself included) tried to organize anything other than talking about it online [which a developer could care less about]. Unfortunately until somebody comes forward to organize a grassroots movement (like NYC had with Amazon), developers will do as they please in Charlotte without public backlash. 

 

On 3/11/2019 at 9:24 AM, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

I wrote an article that got 20,000 views about Polk and trying to save it.  That said, it's a little hard to save something from 600 miles away. There actually was someone trying to buy it for a veterans museum and rehabilitation center.

 

Seems like there's enough interest on UP to lead one. Probably wouldn't take much leadership to get the community at large on board since everyone complains about this stuff all the time.

[kermit]

From 30 mins ago. This thing seriously does not want to go

 

[King of the Queen City]

I went by there yesterday. Didn’t even bother to take a picture. It’s a sad sight.

[KJHburg]

You won't see any demo pictures from me either I hate this 10x more than some of you hate on Legacy 1.  

[Desert Power]

The renderings don't look bad.  I wish we could have had the whole development at 14 stories instead of just a slice of it though.

[King of the Queen City]

25 minutes ago, Desert Power said:

The renderings don't look bad.  I wish we could have had the whole development at 14 stories instead of just a slice of it though.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it was being built in a surface lot somewhere. What’s bad is that they tore down one of the 7 remaining pre-Depression era buildings in Uptown for it. I guess that number is officially 6 now. I am a pretty forward looking person myself and I think Charlotte shares that spirit, but I also have a strong appreciation for the past and if we are not careful there will be no sign that Charlotte even existed before the ‘80s.

[Desert Power]

6 minutes ago, King of the Queen City said:

It wouldn’t be so bad if it was being built in a surface lot somewhere. What’s bad is that they tore down one of the 7 remaining pre-Depression era buildings in Uptown for it. I guess that number is officially 6 now. I am a pretty forward looking person myself and I think Charlotte shares that spirit, but I also have a strong appreciation for the past and if we are not careful there will be no sign that Charlotte even existed before the ‘80s.

I agree.  It is a shame

[j-man]

Unpopular Opinion: this I do wish the building was saved. This new apartment will  look nice in this spot.

[Guest]

I will leave my eulogy here, since I can’t get anyone to print it as is.

 

James K Polk Building 1925 to 2019 A Eulogy

 

Friends, family, readers I've come here today to pay my last respects to one of the largest, oldest and most mistreated buildings in all of Uptown Charlotte.

 

While we watch the James K Polk building be removed, bit by bit, brick by brick, I wanted to tell the story of a handsome, and stalwart building that did not deserve this fate. A building that should have earned a historic designation by the city and the state.

 

What we now call the Polk Building today, started its life out as the Coddington Building, a flagship Buick Dealership for local auto dealer C.C Coddington.

 

Built in the neoclassical revival style, by renowned industrial architect Albert Kahn, the building towered stoically over the corner of East Trade & Graham for the past 94 years.

 

Within the confines of the Coddington building was quite the operation. The first floor held a showroom for retail sales, and a grand lobby built to impress, with marble, gumwood and gilt accents. The second floor held executive offices, and a parts center where you could find most everything you needed. The third and fourth, storage for cars. The fifth served as a repair shop, with the type of equipment necessary to handle any repair task.

 

Every single floor was built to structurally handle dozens of two-ton automobiles, even the roof was used for test drives. Which leads me to ask why. Why is it that a building that was built to structurally support massive weights deemed too damaged to save and restore?

 

Think about it this way, London was nearly leveled in World War 2, Charleston was burned down in the Civil War, both were rebuilt. The fact that we let a 94-year-old building, in perfectly acceptable condition get demolished because of water damage, and falling bricks is insane.

 

If it was indeed in such a state of disrepair, it’s because of neglect nothing more. It should have been the obligation of every landowner since CC Coddington, to give this 1920s architectural gem its due diligence.

 

I've sat idly by while people celebrate the removal of an "old and decrepit eye sore," and I just want to remind people that some of the most prized and cherished spaces in Charlotte, for instance Atherton, Highland Mill, and the soon to open Optimist Hall, that we shop, work, and live in today were once old and decrepit eye sores too.

 

The city of Charlotte is constantly derided for its lack of history, and the fact that one of the last large pieces of architectural history is being torn down is completely unacceptable and we should be ashamed.

 

It’s time we take a long look at who we are as a city, and who we want to be. In a city devoid of historic properties, every single one deserves a chance to be redeveloped. Whether the end product be co-working, apartments, condos, a boutique hotel, artist lofts, every building with history and architectural integrity should be saved. Instead we will have another copy-paste residential tower that has no chance to weather time quite as well as the Polk building did the last 94 years.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk