ngp

My understanding of Area 15 is that it is not a co-op. That facility is privately owned and the studios are rented out for reasonable rates to artists and other groups who need cheap space and like the idea of contributing to a struggling neighborhood. Area 15 is gentrification.

Best news I've heard all week! Have you heard any names? I would assume it would have to be a chain grocer to afford the new spot. Maybe another HT Express like the one along Providence? How is business for Home Economist lately? NoDa would be a great spot for a third HE spot. Wish in one hand, I suppose...

WSOC reported that on their broadcast last night. Coincidentally, "rubes" is exactly how I described them when I heard that.

For fudge's sake, I was just making a crack at the Vue and their dubious excuse for not releasing sales stats. UrbanPlanet.org: Serious Business.

Stupid of them to release that info. Now they've gone and scared off all potential buyers by making them think they've missed all the good deals. [/vue sales team]

Wow. Where did that come from? How is cutting out redundancy a bad thing?

Uniformity is overrated. It's so 1789. UNCC, thanks for the tour! Aussie Luke wasn't lying when he said there have been lots of changes in the past five years.

Gah! Those frickin' overhead power lines! Otherwise, very nice.

How soft is it? I heard once that high heels can damage it. Does it insulate against noise well?

Ohhh, okay, Little Italy would make much more sense.

Village Pizza near Eastway? Sort of behind the soon to be vacated Walmart?

Is there a silver-lining that I'm overlooking? Why would the city forfeit so much money from the land and waste $4 million dollars for parking spaces along a transit corridor?

It'll be sort of sad when all of this comes to an end. It has been quite a rollercoaster! And if the NASCAR HQ ever relocates to Charlotte, I've got my fingers crossed for an MLK Jr. Blvd address.

Are you just pondering hypotheticals or are you hinting at something? http://www.newsobserver.com/122/story/412345.html

That's what I'm nervous about. This is getting pathetic. Richmond and Kansas City are probably loving this. I'm rooting for you, Atlanta!

Seconded! Chapel Hill has a place sort of like that. Not the same chain, and smaller maybe, but same idea. It's great to just stroll in and grab some sushi without all the pomp that has to be tolerated at the typical American sushi bar. But your comment about the HOF clientale makes me wonder what kind of retail would be attracted to the area. I definitely think downtown could use a little more diversity, but I'd hate to see a Second Ward dominated by Quaker Steak style restaurants and Hooters.

Well I didn't really even mean in terms of popularity (although F1 is still claims larger viewership). I just mean that as far as racing cities in America go, Indianapolis has a much stronger racing legacy. Not that the Indy 500 matters anymore, but it used to, and more people have heard of that than something like the Coca Cola 600 or whatever.

Well, NASCAR capital of the world. Certainly not the racing capital. It's great that we're getting the building, but I don't think this HOF makes Charlotte anymore relevant in the scheme of things. We already host two (three?) NASCAR weekends per year, so I don't see this attraction increasing awareness. It's more or less capitalizing on the existing fanbase.

Speed is in Charlotte, but you'd never know it. I passed by their HQ twice a day for at least six months without ever realizing it.

Why is that?

Is that true? I saw Parks on the news and he seemed pretty dismissive of this whole MLB thing. Maybe he's not a Marlins fan. Or maybe Beaver walked into the room right as they started taping.

What? Ugh. Whitehall should be their model of what not to do when planning his project.

Welcome to UP, Scotter. Nice to see some more interest in the OP/Belmont area. I'm not sure about the 15th & N. Davidson store, but I'm guessing the store and barber shop that share a building right beside Piedmont Courts on Siegle is taking a serious hit. Opt12 and DG should probably be done by Spring. I think someone originally said February, but that is looking unlikely. As for additional projects, we speculated a couple pages back about a mid-rise on the same block as Opt12 and Urban Stash. Of course that's nothing more than wishful thinking at this point. The church is still being used, so hopefully it will be left alone.

Hmm. Let's hope she's right about the strong sales and that she (or her husband, rather) didn't just fall into the Vue Girls' trap.

Hopefully that convenience store at Davidson and 16th will have the good sense to clean itself up enough to attract all of those new residents. Something about that place looks very uninviting.