Big Boxes Of Independence & More

[Third Strike]

Some updates on retail along Independence Blvd., since January...

JCPenney at Windsor Square is slated to open this October. Looks the exterior is almost done, and I'm assuming they're far along inside as well. They're currently hiring.

A new Sears Appliance store has opened in Matthews. I'm not sure how long that's been there, but I'm guessing it opened not too long ago.

Red Lobster in Matthews opened in June, and it is still packed. I wonder if Red Lobster's parent company would consider moving an Olive Garden next door, in the old Bob Evan's location. I think it would do well in that area.

A Walmart Neighborhood Market store is moving into the old Best Buy. I *think* they might have started on work on the building, since I noticed the old Best Buy sign's cover was taken off recently (or it could have been the wind). This will make the second WNM store in NC, after the Cary location. The Cary store is opening in October, so I'm assuming a possible Spring opening for this location.

Office Depot has moved from their current location to the intersection of Sharon Amity and Albermarle Road.

Apparently, there's been interest from other businesses on moving near the new Walmart on Independence Blvd. This would be a perfect time to renovate the old Charlotte Coliseum Shopping Center.

http://www.wsoctv.co...-other-b/nMbmg/

Nice to see some positive activity in this corridor, especially in Matthews. It will be interesting to see, however, when construction on Independence starts later this year. I somewhat expect several more businesses to move once it begins.

[Matthew.Brendan]

As my daily commute is from Indian Trail to west Charlotte I can't wait for the construction on Independence to begin. It's miserable at peak traffic times. Though the stretch from Harris to 485 isn't any better. Specifically, you have 3 traffic lights within 0.3 of a mile, at WT Harris, Margaret Wallace, and Village Lake. Ugh.

[Niner National]

As my daily commute is from Indian Trail to west Charlotte I can't wait for the construction on Independence to begin. It's miserable at peak traffic times. Though the stretch from Harris to 485 isn't any better. Specifically, you have 3 traffic lights within 0.3 of a mile, at WT Harris, Margaret Wallace, and Village Lake. Ugh.

I commuted from Wesley Chapel to W. Morehead for about a month. I didn't think it was that bad.

I moved back here after spending 2 years in DC though, so maybe I just had better tolerance for traffic.

[Third Strike]

The Tilted Kilt is moving into Bob Evan's old location, in Matthews. It seems to be a Scottish influenced style pub, with a dash of Hooters thrown in.

[carolinagarnet]

There is a tilted kilt at the intersection of Tryon and Carowinds, but the chain seems to be expanding.

[Third Strike]

This is somewhat related to the topic at hand, so I'll post it here instead of making a new thread.

But Matthews, Mint Hill, Indian Trail, and Stallings are in negotiations to form a business pact with one another. Instead of competing against each other for businesses, they'll instead work together to attract new businesses to the southeast region, and jointly boost their economic growth as one entity. One of their prime concerns was how the Monroe Bypass could affect the region, and probably by extension, how the transformation of Independence Blvd could affect the adjacent areas. They also have looked to the three northern Mecklenburg towns on how they cooperate with each, and how they were able to bring an industrial park to that region.

If they pull this off, and it's a success, I wonder what this could mean for future relations to each other. Not that I expect it, nor want it, but I wonder if this could lead to some or all of the towns consolidating into each other, making one "super town". If that did happen, this hypothetical town could have a population of around 100k, making it the Charlotte equivalent of Cary. None the less, it'll be great to see what these towns can do together, and how this can (hopefully) affect the Independence Blvd corridor in a positive way.

http://www.charlotte...iness-pact.html

[tozmervo]

Huh, I didn't even realize Stallings was a town. Whoops.

[Urbanity]

I don't think it's a bad idea in general for the three towns to get themselves organized together as long as their goal is cooperation and not so that it's part of the Bill James plan to form an anti-Charlotte kingdom in the hood.

[Third Strike]

Some more updates on IB:

A Genghis Grill, a Mongolian style restaurant, is being built in Matthews, at the corner of Independence and Windsor Square. I'm not sure when it'll finish, but my guess is sometime in Spring. The store is being built from the ground up.

The Walmart Neighborhood store is coming along nicely. Looks like they're at least 60% finished inside, but with some more work to do on the exterior. I'm also guessing this will finish out in Spring.

A second major accident has happened near the new Walmart in the Amity Gardens shopping center, on Independence, while trying to cross it to access Albemarle Road. Because of this, it looks like officials at NCDOT are considering some road changes around that area, or even the possibility of lowering the speed limit on Independence to help prevent accidents from happening. Honestly, I think once the new interchange at Sharon Amity is built, they should bar off access to Independence from that shopping center. They should also consider connecting Pierson Drive to Monroe Road on the other end.

The city has approved a purchase of some blighted property near the Bojangles Coliseum, to convert to a park. This is the former hotel and iHOP that used in be in that parcel. It also talks about how the $20 million that was suppose to be used on the coliseum in the previously proposed capital plan could instead be used to buy up some of the abandoned property in that area, to prevent blight. Short of building parks, the only think they can really do with some of that property is turn it into empty green space, or convert it for residential use, but facing the opposing neighborhood streets, and with no access to Independence. Like the areas on IB in Plaza Midwood.

Lastly, I got a chance to speak to the project manager of the MUMPO, and he stated work on Independence won't happen until early spring of next year, with construction bidding happening this winter. He went on to say that it could take up to three years, and that the next section of Independence Blvd to be constructed could get funded in 2018, with work happening soon after (and this section could extend down to either Conference Drive or as far down to Sardis Road). He also said that for the time being, some parts of Independence that is currently only two lanes in each direction, could have another lane added to help ease traffic bottlenecks, from the Monroe Bypass on one end, and the newly built expressway on the other end. It will be interesting to see what businesses will be affected by this (slow) transition

[cltbwimob]

With respect to accidents on Independence Boulevard in the vicinity of large shopping centers, I think it is a natural consequence of the roadway design itself.  Trying to combine a high speed freeway with a boulevard and turn it into this hybrid expressway will be naturally prone to these things, especially if the goal is to orient automotive-oriented retail on such a road.  The NCDOT should at a minimum turn the road into a full-fledged freeway with access roads at least to Albemarle Rd where the expressway ends, and then either design the rest as a freeway with access roads or revisit the super street concept for the remaining sections of the boulevard.  Otherwise, these types of accidents will become more widespread as other retailers potentially begin filling in the blighted areas.

[Matthew.Brendan]

Where is the Walmart Neighborhood store located? Is it just a smaller-scale Walmart?

 

Unless I'm mistaken, there's an underpass that connects the Walmart @ Amity Gardens parking lot to Albemarle rd, so NO ONE should be trying to cut across 4 lanes of traffic to enter the street that way.

 

The work on Independence can't happen soon enough. As my daily commute all the way from Indian Trail outside 485 it is downright miserable.

[Third Strike]

Where is the Walmart Neighborhood store located? Is it just a smaller-scale Walmart?

 

The Walmart Neighborhood store is located in the old Best Buy location, near Village Lake.

 

Also, I forgot one thing to add: Matthews has just started breaking land near I-485 and Independence Blvd, for a large professional sports complex. I'm not sure, but I think this will be the largest, or one of the largest, sports complexes in North Carolina. Here's some renderings:

 

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/ParkandRec/Parks/ParkPlanning/Documents/FINAL%20RENDERED%20PLAN-%20080508.pdf