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


UrbanCharlotte

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I am so extremely disappointed in this project. I was really looking forward to those midrise towers. They were awesome and would have looked amazing in that location. Oh well, I guess the rental demand doesn't really constitute that type of development right now. I feel so let down. :(

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I am so extremely disappointed in this project. I was really looking forward to those midrise towers. They were awesome and would have looked amazing in that location. Oh well, I guess the rental demand doesn't really constitute that type of development right now. I feel so let down. :(

Its 400 units and is a midrise by definition, and there is a very large demand for rentals, it just seems rentals don't go highrise in charlotte for whatever reason. I'm happy with more density, although a true mixed use project with a nice office building or hotel would be better. I am actually quite happy with the scale of the project, especially from a pedestrian point of view. Not to mention this has more of a chance of getting of the ground than a highrise, and thats what matters in this market, keeping ur head above water in the flood.

Edited by Guest
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I did a little more digging around:

  • 1/2 acre Courtyard and salt water pool; 2 story gym with rock climbing wall; large screen in court yard for movie watching with outdoor seating; 2nd pool on roof.
  • Leasing center and retail parcels will front Trade.
  • 600 to 1300 sq ft and rent at $900 to $2000/mon
  • 7-story parking deck = 560 parking spaces
  • Architect: The Housing Studio

Edited by Andyc545
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Okay, I am absolutely not happy about this project. So they plan to tear down a very strong 80 year structure that has likelihood of eventually being an historic building in the city to build a new project at the same scale!? Are you kidding me? Why not just keep the structure and do like put a glass curtain wall just outside of it to give these residences both their glass and their rights to say they live in a historic building.

It is one thing to tear down a building like this because you need to build something of such grand density that it becomes an impossible economic equation to keep the old building. But this is practically the exact same scale expanded out to the rest of the block. There is no question that a builder could build this design on the other 3/4 of the block and fitting it around the structure of the existing Cottington/Polk building.

It is late and I am cranky, but frankly, this is a case in point that Charlotte has no soul. You know all those buildings that we tore down that we wished we still had? Well, this is one of them, and it is still standing and just needs some amigos to put up the bricks again with some new mortar. Give me a break.

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You know all those buildings that we tore down that we wished we still had? Well, this is one of them, and it is still standing and just needs some amigos to put up the bricks again with some new mortar. Give me a break.

Perhaps I am unaware, but what historical significance does this building carry? I generally prefer to save buildings with historical events tied to them. However, I wouldn't want to save it simply because it is old.

Edited by hueion39
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Perhaps I am unaware, but what historical significance does this builing carry? I generally prefer to save buildings with historical events tied to them. However, I wouldn't want to save it simply because it is old.

Thank you, I've said it before and this is exactly the philosophy half of the city of Buffalo, NY has. If you want to save a brick building cause its old move to Buffalo. Founder's Cemetary will never go anywhere for example and it should never be destroyed that has actual historical significance.

But as the example in Buffalo they wanted to save Grain Silos because they were old and have been there for many years instead of building a casino, now thats dumb not worth saving rusted up silos unless you can do something with them.

In Charlotte, old building no real historical significance lets build something new...I like it. :thumbsup:

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Perhaps I am unaware, but what historical significance does this builing carry? I generally prefer to save buildings with historical events tied to them. However, I wouldn't want to save it simply because it is old.

The fact that its old makes it unique in Charlotte. There are so vary few historic midrises in this city, the precious few we have left should be saved. At the very least, the facade should be saved and incorporated into the new building. IMO, that would be preferable to a plaza that nobody uses.

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Disappointed. This is supposed to be one of our main streets, I would've thought they could do more density or a better design. The retail will be good and needed, especially once the transit station goes in across the street, but the original rendering and project idea was much better in my opinion.

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I guess I'm in the minority here, but I don't mind this too much. The two tower proposal would have been nice from a skyline aesthetics standpoint, but it really had poor street presence, and a useless plaza at the corner of Trade and Graham....exactly the location were the building should be engaging the street with a retail presence.

I do lament that they couldn't at least do a facadectomy, but that's the economic realities of building in Charlotte, and especially apartments. Really, the only way for the building/facade to be saved, would be for local historic regulations to increase, and for economic/market conditions improve to a point that a developer could afford to incorporate it into a condo or office project.

I'm not sure what the gripe about density is...sure, it's not a highrise, but 400 units/2.5 acres is still about 150k people/sq. mi, or about 75 times the existing density of Charlotte. Also, as far as this replacing a similar size building, the proposed building is 4 times larger than the Polk building.

I can't comment too much on the architecture (other than I like the wavy roof) simply because the rendering doesn't provide enough detail. I do think they will persue LEED certification, or at least incorporate more green features than the typical multi-family project, as that is a major initiative for Crosland right now.

Now, if this turns out to be 2 levels of brick topped by 6 levels of EIFS, then I'll join the negative camp.

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Disappointed. This is supposed to be one of our main streets, I would've thought they could do more density or a better design. The retail will be good and needed, especially once the transit station goes in across the street, but the original rendering and project idea was much better in my opinion.

Not that I favor building anything anywhere, but that existing building is falling apart. And it is only 4 stories This new one is eight. Plus, if they could have built the first proposal, wouldn't they have? Especially in better economic times. Having 400 units on a surface parking lot seems like a good thing.

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It's not the worst looking proposed building in the world. It's a whole lot better than seeing the Polk in its dilapidated state. It would have been nice if they could have transformed the 400 units into a tower to stretch out the skyline, but replacing the eyesore is always good thing. Yes, it would have also been nice if they could somehow have incorporated the old facade, but as John Fox would say "it is what it is."

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Only the brick facade is falling apart due to demolishion by neglect. The structure is sound from what I have heard.

This building has historic value in this city because it is one of the last early 20th century commercial buildings left downtown. The point of saving some buildings is to represent some level of the past for that city. In Europe, you might find some old buildings from the medieval era, and it isn't that some treaty or assassination took place there, but it represents what the city had in that time frame. In Charlotte, there are hardly any remaining commercial buildings from a period of time in which this city really became something.

Beyond just the generic representation of a time period in this city, this building does have local historic merit. The Carolina's first radio station WBT was operated out of this building during its first decade of existence. Also, at a time when cars were growing a central part of American culture, C.C. Coddington sold Buicks from this building. Those are two very important aspects of 20th century culture in which this building played an important role locally. Then add that this was designed by an important architect of the era, Albert Kahn, whose architectural firm is still in business.

http://www.albertkahn.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Kahn_%28architect%29

The importance of C.C. Coddington in Charlotte is recognized to the point where his home is on the historic register (it is now the Morehead Inn in Dilworth). Meanwhile, this building from the 1920s is where much of his local impact happened, rather than in his home.

http://www.cmhpf.org/surveys&rcoddington.htm

I'm am absolutely not for saving every old building, but when a building has survived for 85 years, and is one of the last representations of a time period in a city, while playing a role in the cultural history of the city, it is worth saving. Then consider the fact that its scale and structure is versatile enough to be able to support the uses that are being planned here. This is a 5 story building with tall ceilings, large floorplates, and plenty of windows in the facade. Meanwhile it has a concrete structure, where I'm sure that Crosland plans a wood frame for this little number. They plan only 7 stories at that corner, but if they kept the current building, that amount of space seems like it would fairly easily be made up else where with an extra floor.

H_2000_01_294_26.jpg

H_2000_01_293_25.jpg

So, there were no treaties signed here, and Roosevelt didn't stop in to pee here, but as representation of Charlotte's history, this building very much should be saved, especially over an apartment project sprawling the same mediocre design across the entire city block.

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I appreciate the history info DubOne. However, I do not believe the history related to WBT or the car dealership rise to the level needed to impose limits on someone else's property rights. Regarding the architects' work and era related impact, I believe documenting the building through photos would be important.

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At this point I don't think it really matters that much. That entire part of Trade was stripped of any character long ago and the destruction of a building such as this won't change things. If they put something there that people will actually use then it's probably a better use of the land. On the other hand, I fully expect another bland stone and EIFS structure which will blend in well with the multitudes of others that make up downtown these days. bleh. The only good news here is these new buildings won't last as long as the Polk building and the next generation will tear them down in 20-25 years. Maybe they will get it right the next go around.

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