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Perhaps I have poor architectural taste, but I'm a sucker for pyramids on top of buildings. IMO it's more interesting than a flat topped glass box, which seems to be where designs are trending these days.

Wow, that image of the expanded South End skyline is impressive. Does anyone have approximate breakouts between multifamily vs. office vs. hotel?

Apologies if I missed it, but is anyone tracking the proposed/under construction apartments on a map?

Blue-grays are popular right now - would have been much more aesthetically pleasing than the color scheme they chose on that building.

What about for apartment investing? What makes this area exciting/desirable?

What does everyone think of FreeMore West? What kind of gentrification "ceiling" do you think this area has, and what's the crime situation like now? Growing up in Charlotte, this area always felt a bit dangerous/undesirable, but seems like things are starting to change a bit. Any really cool developments or new restaurants in the area?

I think my point is that in order for South End to remain an interesting neighborhood for the long run, the human-scale, semi-historical buildings that do exist (old mills, brick warehouses, etc) should be maintained as much as is humanly possible. Giant buildings with huge parking decks/parking podiums detract from the character of the neighborhood - from what has made it appealing in the first place. Architecture and design is critical in "place-making" and there needs to be a focus on quality and street activation in South End in order to ensure that it remains an interesting neighborhood. Just because the new development is exciting doesn't mean we should throw preservation and good design out the window.

One thing we need to be cautious about is preventing a degradation of South End's character. The destruction of old buildings along with the construction of too many out-of-character buildings will ruin what makes South End currently special. I hope developers will be design-conscious in their approach to redeveloping parcels...but some of the recent proposals give me little hope.

I think it's interesting to hear the different perspectives. I think it's appropriately placed in the Coffee House.

This building looks so much better when you can see what's happening on the bottom half.

That park looks like an awesome addition to the area. On a separate note, HOLY POWER LINES!

So, it sounds like the "big news" this week was the Red Bull announcement?

Thanks - yeah, they definitely look like they have barely gotten started. Hopefully it doesn't fall through...

@Desert Power, nice - looking good! Do you know anything about what's going on with the Lintmen's Food Hall?

Has anyone heard about Lintmen's Food Hall, tenants, opening date, etc? Their website says it will open in 2021 but I haven't really heard anything or seen anything regarding tenants or renovation progress. I think that's really going to make this south NoDa/north Optimist Park area really blow up along with the Seoul Food that's opening behind Lintmen's. Also, what's going on with the 25th Street Living Bridge? I think that's going to help tremendously with connectivity to the light rail, but I haven't really seen or heard much about how close they are to opening. Their website also says a 2021 opening.

What do you guys think of this area of NoDa? Seems a little too far south to be "true NoDa" but all of the new apartment complexes being built have "NoDa" in their branding. Do you think this area is getting oversupplied with apartments?

My only issue with this tower is how architecturally similar it is to DEC. Would love this tower on North Tryon - here it just blends it with the neighbors. Would love to see curves or a different color of glass to really help it stand out in this location.

Do you guys think there will ever be meaningful office construction in NoDa? I never thought we'd see the scale of office construction in South End, but here we are with about 2 million SF under construction or in the pipeline. NoDa to me seems like it would be well-positioned for office one day, but not sure what you guys think.

I think one thing I've realized I hate the most about this building is the lack of screening of the elevator shaft. They didn't even try to make it blend in with the rest of the building or otherwise screen it.

Here's what I'm thinking: Day 1: land late afternoon, do a quick drive through South End, staying in a hotel Uptown Day 2: Midtown, Myers Park down Providence Road to south Charlotte, over to Matthews, back along 485 to Providence Road, over to Ballantyne, South Park, Quail Hollow (my colleague is a big golf guy), Montford, LoSo, South End, Dilworth, Morehead Day 3: Plaza Midwood, Optimist Park, NoDa, north line up to University City, back down to Wesley Heights, airport Do you think I'm missing any areas worth visiting?

Going to Charlotte next week for some business meetings with a colleague who has never before been to the Queen City. What are the "must take an out-of-towner to" restaurants in town, restaurants that really define Charlotte?

I'm heading to Charlotte in June with a colleague who has never been before. We're in the multifamily investment industry, and the purpose of our visit is to cultivate relationships with local real estate brokers with the goal of eventually acquiring several large apartment properties (150+ units) in the area. We'll be in town for just a couple of days, and I want to really show off the potential of the area. I think the obvious location for apartment acquisitions is South End, but my guess is that the purchase price may be a little outside of our range. I'm looking for the "next frontier" submarket in the Charlotte area, where growth be channeled next. We're open to urban or suburban. I want to make sure we're not buying in a oversupplied part of the market but also want to make sure the submarkets we're looking in are also in high demand. Any ideas where we should focus our time and which submarkets have the most demand/growth upside?

Some of my ancestors also immigrated from Switzerland in the early 1700's to the Lexington, SC area. Some of them ended up joining some crazy religious cult, the Weber Heresy. Luckily, my ancestors were just the henchmen and were banished to Georgia, but the Webers weren't so lucky. https://patch.com/south-carolina/lexington-sc/lexington-religious-cult-murders-prominent-pardoned-by-governor

FWIW, here in Seattle (obviously tech biased) RDU has greater name recognition than Charlotte, primarily because Raleigh is viewed as a mini-Austin of sorts. I'm in the multifamily industry and Austin is probably the biggest "up and coming" market in the country right now (largely due to California tech opening big offices in Austin). Any market that is viewed as "the next Austin" will get tons of attention. Charlotte sort of falls under the radar - one of the reasons why I think Charlotte is such a great opportunity for us to buy right now. I think it unfairly doesn't get as much attention as Raleigh, Austin, and Nashville, especially considering the growth percentages are basically on par and the long-term market fundamentals are equally as favorable. Charlotte just isn't as sexy, mostly due to perceived lack of culture or a cool vibe. I think a lot of these big shops are dead wrong and multifamily buyers in Charlotte are going to see greater upside as a result. I'm pushing hard for my firm to buy in Charlotte (I'm a homer, for sure, but there are many logical reasons to buy as previously mentioned). I'm hopeful that Charlotte will see greater tech relocations/growth as I think that will help change the perception.

Is it accurate that Lowe's is moving their corporate HQ to this tower?