queensguy06

Riverside's Denver development 1900 Lawrence is struggling to find tenants. Built as 700,000 sqft office spec, as of February 1st it was only 4.4% pre-leased and is scheduled to be completed in the next month or so. I know there was an anchor tenant mentioned to lease space in the Charlotte office tower and it's not an apples to apples comparison with 1900 Lawrence, but the overall office market is still really soft. I could see the Queensbridge office component being delayed for some time and might even get scaled back in size. I also wonder if the residential tower does well if they may alter the site plan to include an additional residential tower as opposed to office? EDIT: It looks like the 4.4% pre-leased for 1900 Lawrence is one law firm that acquired 31,000 sqft back at the end of 2022 when construction on the building had started.

I don't disagree with a lot of your sentiments, but the demise of the streetcar was due to multiple factors all culminating at the same time and not an orchestrated "kill off" like a lot of transit enthusiasts believe. Here is an article that kind of sums up the main driving factors: https://www.vox.com/2015/5/7/8562007/streetcar-history-demise Additionally, I wanted to highlight your before/after photo of downtown Denver as I think that only paints part of the picture up to say the late 80s/early 90s. Below is a current picture of downtown Denver - the blue arrow points to where Lonnie's Clock Tower still is today, behind that large building on the 16th Street Mall (the mall is currently getting a giant face lift and renovations). The clock tower is currently home to a vaudeville style burlesque show that is rather entertaining https://www.clocktowercabaret.com/ Tucked behind the buildings in the forefront between the red arrows is where Union Station is located. Sprinkled heavily throughout LoDo are vintage buildings from the era of your first picture of Denver. I've included pictures of the station and Denver's RTD rail map, which is a mix of mostly light rail with some heavy rail and a BRT line. My point being is that cities, to me, can be equated to living entities that cycle through death and rebirth many times over mirroring generational trends good, bad, or indifferent. And with each iteration they grow and adapt, as seen between your photos of Denver and the one posted below. Even cities that we commonly think of as completely auto-centric like Los Angeles, continue to grow and evolve. And for all its faults, I frickin love LA. Transit adds to a city, it doesn't define or make a city. There are very, very few cities I wouldn't visit or live solely based on lack of mass transit.

Any word on an updated construction timeline? I'm curious if the residential or commercial building is scheduled to start first after foundation/below grade work or if they plan a full buildout simultaneously with financing/tenant secured. 1900 Lawrence here in Denver is coming along nicely; I'll try and snag some pictures this evening.

I just can’t imagine the office portion gets built anytime soon with a looming years long recession. Add in the current office climate of remote work, things could get dire in the office market in Charlotte for several years. Uptown Vacancies on the Rise “Nearly 2.5 million square feet of buildings are deserted and almost 5 million square feet are at risk of going vacant.” And I don’t see any company making major/large moves in securing new office space, meaning even if Queensbridge had interest from an anchor tenant at one point, I’d imagine that well dried up pretty quick. With each cycle Charlotte has seen major projects get announced right before a downturn either to never materialize or be drastically reduced in scope - that was my fear when a nearly $1 billion, 3 tower development was announced. Which was altered to two buildings not long after. Now I think we’re down to one. Four First Union - cancelled 2001, Trump Towers - cancelled 2008, Queensbridge ?

I think I was completely wrong!! Full disclosure - even as a commercial roofing contractor myself I can only guess at what they are doing from these photos. With that said, I think they are building a patio/deck! Or installing HVAC units but that doesn't really make a ton of sense with the location and how this is getting built out. I personally don't have a ton of experience with installing rooftop decks, we deal mostly with HVAC/mechanical units, skylights, traditional cricket/taper systems, etc. My assumption is the patio would extend to that mini parapet wall/curb they are building that runs along the roof drains and will be used to anchor a railing/fence of some sort. In the red box below you can see an overflow scupper right at the drain to allow water to flow into the drains. They could build a deck system like Trex or Duradek, but I would assume they would use whatever system they have in place that currently exists in the yellow box - could be roof paver tiles? The blue box below highlights one of the new curbs they built which are all pretty equidistant apart - these are meant for something to sit on top of them; possibly planters of some sort to add some greenery or seating/tables? @BJKM you certainly have piqued not only my interest but a few people on my team! Keep the photos coming, I'm excited to see the progress and how this gets built out!

Last news article I remember from December quoted Riverside saying groundbreaking "early 2023." Riverside's new Class A building in Denver broke ground in April last year purely on spec. 30 stories/710,000 sqft office/10,000 sqft of retail. So far all I've seen is one tenant sign on for the top floor at 31,000 sqft and that happened in November. I don't know what any of this means - could mean they are bullish on spec; could mean they are having trouble finding tenants - maybe both? I do know that construction on 1900 Lawrence was delayed slightly with an original plan to deliver Q4 2023, and now is pushed back to 2024, most likely Q2 or Q3, and 1900 Lawrence isn't nearly as involved as the QB project. A lot goes into putting a project like this together and a delay of 1-3 months or longer is not uncommon by any means.

Looks to me like they are doing some roof repairs due to possible water intrusion. If you notice in the blue box below that is roofing material. The reason it is all the way to that side is that it would have been roof loaded with a boom lift/crane from the street and then they built temporary walk pads to the area that requires the repairs. In the red box below when you zoom in it looks like they possibly took two core samples to check something - water intrusion, bad ISO board, etc. My guess is water intrusion due to the location. That roof is tapered like a W so that water runs down to the roof drains that you see in pairs running vertical. The work is located in the trough of the taper where water would pool and/or drain. Also could be unrelated, but it looks like the workers on the right are not laborers but probably project manager, etc. and they appear to be standing around a an area that was patched at some point. If they were to make this an amenity deck ideally you would build a deck structure over the roof to allow proper drainage over the taper system and to provide a level amenities surface; or tear the entire roof system out down to the roof deck and build to suit.

OFF TOPIC: That little Enterprise office I always thought was a double wide on stilts was actually a pretty cool mid century Modernist building back in the day with offices on top and parking underneath - apparently it was designed by the same architect that designed Marshall Park.

Saw a local (Denver) news article on the almost completed park cap over a small portion of I-70 as part of the Central 70 project here in town - thought it pertinent to this thread: News Article on Park CDOT Central 70 Project

I believe they occupied two floors before closing the office within the last month. The initial plan in 2021 was to create 400 jobs between 2021 and 2025 - at that time they had 7 full time workers in North Carolina working remotely. Sounds like they had hired 82 full time employees up to this point and moved into Deloitte, and then decided to lay off 23% of the workforce across the company (after already cutting 9%) which included the entire Charlotte office.

I think there are a lot of good points both for and against the proposal of the redevelopment in this discussion. And while I am for the redevelopment in principal, I do still have a lot of questions about the planning/implementation of the project to ensure that it is a success to meet the needs of the city and isn't another CATS boondoggle. It looks like several public meetings are scheduled around this discussion and I encourage everyone here to attend and make our UP voices heard - https://charlottenc.gov/newsroom/releases/Pages/CATS-Announces-Public-Meetings-for-Charlotte-Transportation-Center-Update.aspx The need for the transit terminal in center city is still there and necessary for a functioning broader system - this isn't "if we build it, they will come" development. The current facility is nearing the end of it's lifespan at nearly 25 years old and the question is what is the best approach to continue to provide the current services offered by CTC. Here are a few of the benefits that I see in moving the terminal underground: Area Connectivity - moving the terminal underground allows for new development and better street interaction creating a more vibrant arena neighborhood while still providing the needed terminal Uptown for commuters/bus riders. The terminal is literally across the street from the arena and that land is underutilized as solely an open air bus hub. It also helps to reduce traffic load/congestion at the street level. Noise/Bus Pollution - reduction in noise pollution and ventilation moves exhaust above street level. Security - With an underground terminal there will only be 2-4 points of entry/exit as opposed to the completely open nature of the current terminal. By limiting entry points it is easier to implement security protocols such as requiring a ticket to enter the facility and utilize CCTV system in a more focused setting. The questions that I still have about planning/implementation start with if this is truly necessary or if it is short sighted. Would this be better served as part of the multi modal station at Gateway providing a true transit hub as opposed to fracturing that connectivity by having a local bus terminal at a different location in the city? Will it become under utilized if/when Gateway Station is completed?

The Port Authority Terminal is not an apples to apples comparison. Originally opened in the '50s I believe, it has had several additions over the decades and has become a monstrosity and outlier of underground/bus transit hubs with 223 individual bus bays/islands. We're talking about a 15+ bus bay in Charlotte. I can certainly agree that some underground bus stations/terminals have been less than useful or even outright poorly designed. Those tend to be standalone stations built without any consideration or implementation as part of a greater planned project or area. For every poorly designed terminal I could point to one that is properly designed and incorporated to the surrounding grid/neighborhood. I think the greater Seoul metropolitan area is an example with new, under construction, and proposed underground bus terminals such as Gwanggyo, Jamsil, and Gangnam stations as examples. And I would most certainly point to Denver as good example when taking the 10,000ft perspective of it's entire lifespan and not the recent issues mentioned in my post above. The entire LoDo area has been revitalized and seen an enormous amount of new construction since 2014 and it was all based around the core construction of a multi-modal facility at Union Station that included the underground bus terminal which is a key component of the project. According to RTD, during peak rush hour a bus leaves the Union Station terminal every 48 seconds with minimal/no impact to traffic congestion or street level pedestrian connectivity that I have ever seen or encountered. Just like any form of transit/transit station/TOD, there will be examples of those that have been planned and implemented as successes and those that failed to hit the mark/meet the needs of the area. I would contend that most poor examples are ones that have been in service for 15+ years. And by following the blueprints of newer stations/projects that have worked, Charlotte can implement that into a new development with similar positive results.

The issue that arose here in Denver with the bus terminal downtown and vagrancy/homelessness/drug use was directly a result of economic issues stemming from the pandemic. Union Station and the revitalized underground bus terminal was completed in 2014. None of the issues people have heard about over the past 6-12 months existed until we were deep into the pandemic and work from home was the main economic driver. It was a matter of circumstance - remove the vast majority of commuting (ALL commuting at one point as Denver/Colorado had a more stringent and lengthy city wide shut down than most cities/states), an increase in homelessness due to the pandemic, and the homeless and addiction affected populace moved in as there was little need for security since no one was utilizing mass transit. It doesn't matter where you are in the U.S.; if a large public urban space becomes abandoned (for all intents and purposes) and unused, the homeless population will take advantage of that. Just in the last 1-3 months policies including ticketed only passengers being allowed access to the bus terminal and increase in security have drastically reduced the issues that were present before. Additionally increased security on the RTD light rail system coupled with free system wide access for the month of August has increased ridership drastically compared to where we in December 2021. And with the return of commuters a lot of these issues are starting to resolve themselves. I have no doubt Union Station and the bus terminal will be back to the pre-pandemic atmosphere going into the holidays. Anecdotally, I was just at Union Station for dinner last Thursday and it was rather vibrant with no menacing element that I saw. I would imagine a single bus terminal is not the long term plan, but I could be wrong. Using Denver as an example, there are multiple bus transfer stations/terminals across the city and surrounding suburbs. There are two downtown alone that are only about a mile apart. The underground terminal at Union Station just happens to be the largest and is also the O&D hub for bus rapid transit to places like Boulder. I for one still support the underground terminal in Charlotte - the benefits to places like Denver have far outweighed any negative issues/appearances that were completely situational due to an unprecedented event like a global pandemic. And the cities response to these issues, while overdue, have been appropriate and have mitigated any lingering doubt that Union Station is an unsafe place to be.

Also looks like the office tower was rotated 180 degrees. While the water table may have been a factor, I do think it has more to do with overall project costs - above ground parking is much cheaper, axe a whole building, and shorten the office component. I don't recall seeing the Morehead Square street level in the original renderings so not sure if it had the same garage access only frontage. Still an overall great project, but I will second whomever said the architects drew a Ferrari on a Lexus budget - it proved to be a bit too grand for Charlotte and the current economic trends.

Don’t you tempt me with a good time!

I wouldn't say nothing...the trolley is extended and the hook block is lowered to street level in those photos which means it's in some form of operation. Now whether or not a tower crane is necessary for the work it is doing is a whole other question

I’m still holding out hope that this is closer to 1 million sqft. That webpage hasn’t been updated since it went live back on December 27th and the actual 1111 S Tryon site is still under construction. I’ve also been keeping an eye on when they add a Charlotte office to their main page - currently have Chicago and Denver.

About what? SoFi is headquartered in San Fran and heavily invested throughout CA. Hell, the new rams/chargers multi-billion dollar stadium is SoFi Stadium, which I’m sure cost a pretty penny for naming rights. Golden Pacific is HQ in Sacramento. If the insinuation is offices in Charlotte I don’t see any connection whatsoever. EDIT: I was curious and looked up the naming rights agreement with SoFi and the stadium - 20 year naming rights term worth $625 million.

Off Topic: Having left Charlotte several years ago I forget the ever present plume of the nuclear plant during winter. I grew up in Tega Cay on the lake pretty much right across from the nuclear plant. Every year we got a package from Duke/Catawba Nuclear Plant with contingency plans/evacuation routes in the event of a leak. They would include potassium iodide pills for each member in the household

The website is actively being worked on and at Riverside's main website this project has moved from solely being in the "News" tab to their "Portfolio" tab; definitely looks like they are actively updating the portfolio description and renderings. All of this has happened in the last 24 hours: https://riversideid.com/portfolio/150-north-riverside-n7pwr Keep an eye on that site!

I would imagine now that the land deal has closed (on schedule) and with a tentative groundbreaking in less than a year, that an updated website and renderings will follow shortly - even in a matter of weeks. Maybe @TheRealClayton has some more insight on a scheduled release date. I don't know if this has been discussed, but in the rendering below it looks like the office tower is on the right/further south with the residential building closer into downtown on the left. Most images I've seen of this project are a more cropped in version of the one below. Lastly, this is being labeled as a three tower project; I'd assume the 650 residential units are split between two towers; I haven't seen anything mentioned but could there potentially be a hotel component included in the final buildout?

Paging @Conformity if he even still lurks on these forums - it's been a few years. Also, Conformity Corp. website is outdated by 2+ years with the latest project in their portfolio completing in 2017 - around the same time as Conformity's last post on this board. Are there tea leaves to be read by this?

There's more going on in the reflection of the glass than inside It's what I picture an art gallery to be....without any art.

We are talking about two completely different things here; my viewpoint is that of the developer building for current and anticipated needs of their clients/customers. Ain't no developer going to build a 10 mile light rail line so they can build less parking spaces. I do not disagree with your sentiment about mass transit - but that falls solely on government funding and planning. If Charlotte had a mass transit system on par with those you mentioned, there is no doubt that developers would build adapting to that system to accommodate their client needs. But that is not the system we have, so developers adapt accordingly. Again, I am not disagreeing with anyone here about the issues relating to an auto-centric/car dependent urban core. But the wheels set in motion to get us to this point started decades ago. Charlotte is still over a decade away from seeing a second light rail line. And two light rail lines isn't going to change the need for the automobile outside of small TOD nodes along the lines. This sentiment that developers should just build less parking spaces to spur a more walkable/pedestrian friendly neighborhood is a red herring. At this juncture, what Charlotte really needs to reverse the current trends is something on par with Denver's FasTracks Program. "FasTracks is RTD's voter-approved transit expansion program - the largest in the nation - that is transforming transportation through the Denver metro region. Since 2004, we've built 25.1 miles of light rail track and 53 miles of commuter rail track, launched the Flatiron Flyer bus rapid transit service, and opened an intermodal hub at Union Station right in downtown Denver."

An eye for tomorrow would be akin to installing more EV charging stations as that's where we are headed in the next 10 years; what you are talking about is a full revolution of the transportation sector based on unknown needs 30 years from now. I get it and I agree - having stroll districts and walkability in neighborhoods is very appealing. Who doesn't want that? But I'm also realistic about a number of things. As I mentioned, development is reactionary. The reason podium office building is all the rage in Charlotte is because at this current moment there just is no other way to get to the office. That Lowes tower in South End most likely will have employees coming in from Fort Mill to Matthews and everywhere in between. The one train line in the entire metro isn't a substitute. And this is not going to change in the next 10-15 years. And because of the aforementioned, parking becomes an amenity and stokes competition of the similar in other spec office buildings. If I'm a business looking to hire/retain employees and I have two options for office space - one with on site covered parking and the other with shared space in a deck 4 blocks away - it's going to be a tougher sell to say, "hey, I want you to commute 25 minutes and then park in a deck and walk four blocks." I do believe that city planning should be putting resources into development of strategies that put Charlotte in a position to cultivate environments around new modes of transit (I do question the ineptitude of the local government and political will power to do this, as seen in the current transit debacles plaguing the city). But realistically I just don't think we are quite there yet. These office towers being built in the heart of South End aren't prefab big box stores/dealerships sitting on undesirable land along Independence and any correlation between the two is disingenuous; the idea that a 20 story office building in South End would become obsolete to the point of "urban decay" even in 30 years because they have podium parking is laughable. If the prefab buildings were anything but just that they would most likely have been renovated at some point in the same way that the Varnadore is currently. I have more faith in human ingenuity and capital as drivers of change than bureaucracy.