Conformity
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Posts posted by Conformity
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On 3/11/2024 at 10:20 AM, CLT Development said:
They manage and distribute a couple billion dollars worth of philanthropic giving throughout the entire Charlotte region, so saying "practically nothing for 10 years" is a wild assertion.
The reality is this was a very challenging project, and they have restored a falling-down theatre into an immaculate work of art, that will open at the end of this year. As far as the hotel goes, There were 3 full years where the chosen financing for the hotel was pretty much locked down by the federal government. Now there is a massive backlog of EB-5 Visas, the investment of which will fund the hotel itself.
An unbelievable project which viability must be informed by no cost basis and capital from every conceivable source. An uncharacteristic move in Charlotte to see so many individuals and organizations working for so long to preserve an historic resource like this. I remember when "CityView" connected to theater. Fat Tuesday's anyone?
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Both detention ponds are in. Happy with the velocity of both the site works and the demolition. Credit two of the best:
-Blythe Development
- DH Griffin
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So basically, there's still nothing to suggest that Peebles, perhaps in conjunction with a local partner, can't build BV. I think that it all depends on a strong local developer working with him.
Couldn't agree more. Recall also that role awarded was "master developer". Many others developers will be involved in Brooklyn Village, along with BK Partners, inherently ensuring variety.
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On 12/24/2021 at 10:35 AM, go_vertical said:
I absolutely agree that they should do something like this if an extention is requested but sadly I don't think the city council has the guts. At least they should use that as an opportunity to strengthen the requirements for the project but I'm sure they'll just rubber stamp whatever is asked for with little to no discussion.
The BK Partners relationship is with Mecklenburg County, not the City of Charlotte. No extension has been requested. After winning the RFP, it took until 2018 to negotiate the Agreement with the County. Despite having a signed agreement, BK Partners was still "owed" a few follow on documents related to a deal Spectrum decided not to do on the same property many years back. Residue from the Spectrum deal affected BK Partners path to clean title. Getting that cleaned up involved appearing before City Council and working some things out with other government agencies. That work was all completed near Christmas 2019 (all as reflected on the "Timeline" on the Brooklyn Village website). The BK Partners clock only started ticking then. As an aside, City Council has voted to rename Stonewall "Brooklyn Village Avenue".
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On 4/21/2017 at 7:08 AM, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:
You know what. The developer reads and posts on urban planet.@Conformity you have a comment?
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkWe've considered both. Both demo and gut to structure.
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This shot RDF posted is taken from McDowell and looks westward into our newly constructed "Second Street". While "newly constructed", all we've done here is place Second Street as it was configured in the 1920's (and as it remained until the '60's when demoed). Today's sweeping curve in MLK Blvd (previously named Second Street) near the NASCAR HOF is a by-product of urban renewal. It is one of the horizontal planning moves that led to the superblock that supports the Ed center and Marshall Park. Our Second Street placement runs directly into the back of the First Baptist. Prior to urban renewal, Second Street continued on a path that would split today's church in half.
First Street was also eliminated. Standing on McDowell at MLK Blvd and looking uptown, the First Street intersection was about 75 feet to the left (south). Running through the Aquatic Center parking lot, then closely flanking the Second Ward HS Gymnasium, it ran into uptown parallel to the original Second Street, behind the clock tower hotels, through NASCAR HOF and the Convention Center.
Myer's Street is reflected in our Myers Passage (in red on our plan). The gymnasium was pocketed into that hard corner...1st and Myers. You can walk Myers in your mind's eye and perhaps should in the real world. It's ghosts are everywhere. I will post on its importance separately when I am able.
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On 5/11/2016 at 10:09 AM, atlrvr said:
The Crescent images definitely have the "livable" feeling, but it's a bit disingenuous (or perhaps, genius if they win), to render townhouses with concrete cornices with 100-years worth of weathering pock-marks.
The overall density of Crescent is lower, but probably the clearest/least-risky build out over a realistic time horizon. They would need to pay the least for land, or get some sort of subsidy.
The Conformity plan is nice in the mix of uses, but I'm a bit confused by the office tower being furthest point from the core....I would think closer to Tryon along Stonewall is more logical there....
>>>>>>The tower at this location is a planning gesture. At this corner of Stonewall and McDowell, the world asks pedestrians coming from the Greenway, Metropolitan and Dilworth/Morehead to pass under I-277. The tower says to the pedestrian (and others), "The world continues over here and it's pretty cool....just make the trip under I-277". The tower is the gravity. It's also a gate post, has phenomenal visibility, protected solar corridors and ease of access. It's the closest Class A building of its size to Myer's Park, Eastover, both hospitals, Elizabeth, etc. and has great proximity to the Greenway and Metropolitan (not to mention the services in Brooklyn Village North by way of Myer's Passage).
I guess the idea was the Hotel would be better located, but personally think the marketability of office space vs hotel rooms is more proximity dependent.
>>>>>>>I suppose we'll find out. ;-) The hotel you reference is the shortest distance of any from a freeway exit to the parking entrance in uptown Charlotte. And again superb signage visibility.
There is a nice neighborhood feel of NoHo for the few block of the Brooklyn Village core....actually, reminds me a lot of what is being built in German and Dutch in-fill redevelopments of previous industrial sites. Hamburg port is a good example.
>>>>>>>Every inch must be superbly planned but Stonewall (Brooklyn Village South), is necessarily unlike our Brooklyn Village North site and thank you for noticing.
Don't like the Citisculpt proposal at all, because its just a modern, denser version of the Urban Renewal vision of the 1960s.
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12 hours ago, Prodev said:
The difference between Crescent and the other two is that Crescent is actually going to be the developer, whereas the other two are essentially land brokers (or "Master developers" as they'd prefer) taking a piece of the action and spinning off parcels to individual developers. With Crescent, they're actually going to execute on that plan themselves, and have capital in hand to do so. The other two, they have a vision but no capital, and it'll ultimately be the developer they flip the dirt to that decides what's built.
Where Conformity Corp is concerned, Prodev is incorrect in every instance. Anyone following our work for an extended period of time knows this.
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12 hours ago, Prodev said:
The difference between Crescent and the other two is that Crescent is actually going to be the developer, whereas the other two are essentially land brokers (or "Master developers" as they'd prefer) taking a piece of the action and spinning off parcels to individual developers. With Crescent, they're actually going to execute on that plan themselves, and have capital in hand to do so. The other two, they have a vision but no capital, and it'll ultimately be the developer they flip the dirt to that decides what's built.
Where Conformity Corp is concerned, Prodev is incorrect in every instance. Anyone following our work for an extended period of time knows this.
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When the backhoe bucket was sinking into the alter of one 13 churches, most built by the African Americans who attended them, what version of urban planning was that?
Sure hindsight is 20/20, but planning or no planning, these were bad choices.
One of the many challenges today is how do we "solve" for that history.
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Above is an assembly of Sanborn maps reflecting all 5 phases of the Urban Renewal project in Brooklyn. Over 220 acres.
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The scope of the Brooklyn taking:
..........Or so I thought. Working to get images to "take".
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On 12/18/2015 at 1:46 PM, mfowler12 said:
Couldn't the Brooklyn Village plan be pushed with this type of idea in mind..outdoor retail component built from scratch.. I would think there's more than enough land for it and it might be the last frontier of what's needed inside the 277 loop.
Conformity??
One would think so.
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I am puzzled why Charlotte Pipe would do this. They have a huge facility out near the Monroe Airport. I haven't been there in a few years, but there seemed to be plenty of room for expansion. Maybe I am thinking of a different company.
Anyhow, once again I find everyones attitude somewhat puzzling. Developement cheerleaders, as long as it's pretty and doesn't smell or have big trucks roaring by. I have stated before y'all want lots of development as long as it is the kind you want. Would this create jobs? Is it a factory? I've scanned back thru this thread & couldn't tell. So, blue collar workers, who make the things that make it possible for inner cities to exist must work far out in the country side. Companies do not build there facilities near up/down town because of the cost of land. Mass transit offers nothing for them. The inner cities will be full of well off urbanites living and working there. But the blue collar be damned. Go find your hovel in those hideous housing developments you all despise.
I am admittedly late on this. With partners, I only the only piece of land not controlled by Charlotte Pipe as you move toward 77 on Morehead. The Dowd Family has owned and operated a melting smelting and casting complex on the back side of 277 (as viewed from Morehead) for over one hundred years. I don't recall anyone working to force them or the 500 so jobs off that land. I can tell that from my perspective the issue is one of planning. In the late 90's and early 2000 the West Morehead Plan was just coming to fruition. I speculated millions there and so have others based on the promise of that plan. Nearly every adjacent property had been converted to MUDD zoning. Investment was happening. The streetscape was completed west of I-77 and more investment came. Now everyone has money in it...public money.
Crescent then
Frank Martin and George Shield
then Beazer
Then I think Lane and others got cozy with it for a while,
but ultimately CP&F bought it.
My investment will ultimately be surrounded by ductile iron pipe storage....so I speculated...and things didn't go my way. I don't fault the Dowd Family for doing what is right for them. I fault the City for caving on this crucial piece of frontage. From the Stadium to 77, the South Side of Morehead will never be developed. Once again the City, while at once claiming to value the intriguing areas that make up that first ring (West Morehead, Dilworth, Elizabeth, Plaza Midwood, Central, etc), makes decisions that shut off any prospects for pedestrian activity along the key connectors leading from uptown to Charlotte's bastions of the real.
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Over the Holidays and through February 1st the Old Midwood Alternative High School at 1817 Central Avenue will reopen as the "Midwood International and Cultural Center". The 42,000 SF historic school has attracted many tenants including:
International House
The English Language Academy
The Ethiopian Community
The Bosnian Herzegovinian Cultural Organization
GRAMEEN BANK
The Japanese Association
The Asian/East Indian Coalition
The League of Women Voters
and several others....
Additionally, the original gymnasium has been re-purposed as a venue, with new bathrooms and supports 200 plus seated and 300 or so standing. The stage is nicely elevated and its original hardwoods are intact.
90 plus parking spaces will be available after hours. The school is directly across from the new Teeter, and the parking should have a meaningful impact for at least the businesses on the Plaza and hopefully Thomas and Pecan as well.
International House, working with Conformity Corp, was awarded the Master lease in July of 2011. We've since raised over $250,000 to improve the school and grounds and today the building is 85% leased with lease up expected in 3-4 months. Watch for happenings there and swing by. Naturally, the neighborhood has been phenomenally supportive, both businesses and residents and I can't think of a better place to be with this concept.
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Do you ever follow Charlotte's City Council?
Just a little....
I understand how it is likely to behave. Just getting it out there for discussion. In the spirit of full disclosure, I own with partners the piece at Elliot and Morehead which is entirely surrounded by the parcels we are discussing.
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If they're using it as a storage yard, that will set it aside for eventual future redevelopment. Buying this land, which is already cleared and already next to their existing facility, certainly costs a whole lot less for them than relocating their entire facility or buying up other, already developed land nearby.
Agreed that it may make good sense for CP&F as a business owner. I don't fault them for doing it and congratulations on having the financial prowess. What's shocking is the $21.6M buy BEFORE the rezoning is in hand. How does a Buyer conclude that they can safely spend more than $21M on land that must be rezoned from a district which supports all suggested future land uses in every current plan (MUDD) to I-1 and 1-2, industrial districts abandoned over 10 years ago when planning efforts for the area first launched in earnest.
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Non-illogical, the sidewalk improvements only occur if a building permit is sought at some point. CP&F seeks the "Optional" MUDD district in an effort to avoid the cost of sidewalks, etc today. Only at such time as a permit is pulled for construction on the MUDD-O parcels will the sidewalks be required. I'd suggest a permit will not be pulled there during my lifetime. The approval of this petition would reflect a conscious decision by City Council to ignore EVERY plan affecting the area and to orphan the balance of West Morehead and the public money well spent there over the past several years. If this property is rezoned as outlined, 20 years from now you will still be able to count on one hand the number of pedestrians that make the trip from Cedar Street/Third Ward to West Morehead (as you can today).
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You likely know that they did close on the property. I was by there a few weeks ago and given the complement of trucks in the parking lot, it would seem things are a "GO" (engineers of one sort or another). My guess is they will some time understanding the "as built" conditions given the preservation commitments that were made.
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^Didn't Elizabeth residents kill a proposal to replace Roy White's Flowers with a mixed-use project that actually hid its parking deck behind street-level retail? Now that's setting an example.
Every proposal has to be analyzed on it's own merits or lack thereof, as the case may be. I was disappointed that I couldn't get a proposal through at Roy White and I agree that the neighborhood was unrealistic as to their expectations (or perhaps I was). Boulevard tried as well. Both approaches hid the related parking.
This deck on the other hand is built WITHIN the city's oldest park, Independence Park. Not even a related issue. Designed by John Nolen in 1904, Independence Park has never had vertical improvements constructed within it's bounds except those that are in keeping with it's founders wishes, that it be used for recreational purposes only. Both Memorial Stadium and Grady Cole qualify as recreational uses.
The land was donated by private individuals and their heirs have reversion rights according to the suit. Should it ever stop being used as a park, the land goes back to the donors heirs. In this case, descendants of E.B Springs and H. Brevard.
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So does this mean that they already own all of that property? That would be some serious gentrification tearing down those old properties.
They do and have for some time...approaching 2 years, if not longer.
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I noticed on a trip to Lowe's this past weekend that the corner space, which used to have an "Outdoor Living Center" sign on it had that sign replaced with a generic "Lowe's" sign. You could see the outline of the old sign on the building, even though it never got used. Also, the windows were plastered with Lowe's signs (similar to the way the windows at the Metropolitan's unoccupied spaced are).
This is probably a question for Conformity - Is Lowe's still planning on using this space or did they decide to keep everything in the main store? Will it be for lease as a separate retail store?
They are still kicking around ideas. After designing the building as one of the parking "screening" tools, their operations and inventory control folks decided they weren't happy with the idea of having a cash register and product out there. Their entitlements allow them to lease it to a 3rd party, but they are not terribly anxious to do that either. Biding their time. The store is doing better all the time. The lot is more and more full all the time. At Southborough, we've sold 5 units in the last 8 weeks and continue to show regularly and enjoy great traffic.
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The is a thread for positive economic development news for Charlotte.
#1. GMAC has excercised the option for taking an additional floor (an extra 25k sq. ft.) at 440 S. Church. This will allow them room for approximately an additional 75-100 employees.
What a great idea.....
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I know I asked this question a few months ago, but I have noticed that someone bought the property the Charlotte Auto Spa on Central Ave is on in August. Does anyone know if there are any intentions with actually doing something with this or are they just going to leave it as is for the time being.
Also does anyone know what they are doing with the building at 5 points between Intermezzo and the White Rabbit.? I see they built a cinder block retaining wall and i saw people working on the roof a few weeks ago.
The point lot is owned by an entity controlled by Carrie Gault, a principal in Laughing Dog Studios Architecture. I would guess their offices end up there.
Brooklyn Village Redevelopment in 2nd Ward
in Charlotte
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Hope to. Took cap off on our side and stairs are still there (filled with granite chips). Looking closely, you'll note a period decorative light pole which lit that stair originally. Unfortunately, MeckCo removed stair on the other side of street when expanding SWIM MAC pool seating.