Conformity

Thanks for doing that.

The Party Reflections site will be developed as apartments....over 250 units.....this is a good thing for the local retailers who need the "rooftops" and it puts more feet in boots on the north side of the Independence bridge. The foot traffic glues Elizabeth on the North side to Elizabeth on the South side. The Conformity Corporation is not the developer.

"place" is tricky. But, as I suspect you know, it is certainly real. We will soon start on a Thomas Avenue district project that will not threaten any of the outstanding fabric already on the ground. I can go into this more in November. Charlotte lacks for "places" and as such people are crying out for "Thomas Streets". We are fortunate to work there.

Okay. I am guessing there is some protocol thing here I am screwing up by responding to posts individually. I suppose I should respond more generally in the string? I don't know. I'm sure you will kindly bust me where required. For clarity....I do not own that parcel. I control it. As to incremental development, Elizabeth Village at Hawthorne and Independence is a combination of 5 different new buildings, 2 historic quadraplexes and a 1928 single family house. 41 units on 1.4 acres between 110K and 280K (3 years ago). It avoids 90 and 180 degree organizations of buildings and spaces (layering and deflection ala Europe). That feaure combined with the historic fabric grounds the development in things that are real to all of us....the historic centers us and well designed spaces engage us and make us acutely aware of all that we are capable of as humans. Sound weighty....walk a crappy development and then walk a great one....if you're talking about development in a web forum, you are someone who will feel these things.....feel the difference. There are other examples, but truth be told........time is a very difficult thing to replicate (incremental development). The incremental development of great urban centers of the industrial revolution and earlier is very difficult to achieve today for a variety of reasons. That however is not reason not to strive.

Had the honey turkey wrap today with granny smith apples and some chippers. I missed the Bayou Kitchen and the chicken fried chicken desperately for some time and frankly shunned Philosopher's Stone. I am over that and its a good thing.

I have contacted the folks at Beazer and offered to solve their PR nightmare although I don't really expect to hear from them. I also let the folks at Historic Charlotte, Inc. know that we were up to the challenge. It is simply amazing to me that Beazer can't see the opportunity in doing the right thing. We are not asking for anyone to give us anything. We would pay for the site. We have the skills to integrate a Coffee Cup solution into Beazer's overall master plan. All they need do is release 3/4 of an acre at a market price and we will take care of the rest. Know someone at Beazer? Know our work and believe in it? Believe in the Coffee Cup? Please knock out a few emails or calls.

I have found folks here to be remarkably well versed....makes me wonder who might be behind the curtain. ....you know....what are the day jobs? I am reassured by the fact that so many people find these types of issues to be of interest that a content rich web forum can be created to support them.

It will be excellent and worthy of praise or we won't do it. Feel free to hold me to that. I take this to mean that I should reply here and in the other thread. Is there a way to do that in one step or do I have to post to each individually?

Conformity is operating on the other side of the street. Boulevard is active on the side you are referring to.l

I did read the rules. Thanks. My company controls the Roy White Flowers Building, the related vacant land and Arrow Laundry, which, believe it or not was under separate ownership. Were we to move forward, we would not touch the historically significant corner..... Elizabeth's original commercial district. For now, though, the corner is a non-issue given that there are two other owners in the center between here and there. The Conformity Corporation has more preservation tax credit certified ventures under its belt than anyone in Charlotte. We can be relied upon when it comes to preservation. www.therutzler.com (sold out....so not a pitch....just a cool project) I should mention that as an Elizabeth resident, I frequent Visart. In fact the 2 disc special edition ET is downstairs waiting for its turn in the DVD player. In many ways, national credit retail (as opposed to mom and pop) is one of the great challenges for the urban practioner. Mom and pops keep the development crunchy, but national credit boosts the economics and can make the difference between a development that works or doesn't work. There are many other fascinating differences as well. We are not involved with that part of the center which houses VisArt I mean "practitioner".....dead without spellcheck.

This is my first post ever to an urbanplanet forum, although I have been a voyeur for several months now. I would be happy to shed some light on a few of the "goings on" along 7th, but want to be careful not to get booted. Given that I am a developer, I will look to others to catch me before I cross any lines; although I don't think that will be a problem. I am not out to sell units in this environment, but rather to understand more deeply how different people view the built environment....how people want to live....how to create the feeling of incremental execution...even on larger lots...what are we doing right and more importantly, what are we doing wrong. I've just registered and am not terribly capable as relates to the blog world....so I hope you will bear with me. For instance, I'm not entirely sure this is a blog. At any rate, I am anxious to discuss to my plans (with the understanding that I will have to be guarded with some information). May I jump in?