uptownliving

For some reason I am just now seeing that the glass on Deloitte is an exact match with the glass on BofA.

The purple top of Ally was looking good at sunset today.

Both projects in the same photo.

I recently heard about the city's plans for an Urban Arboretum Trail and they are already starting to spend money on construction to make it a reality. They will be making improvements to Elmwood cemetery to make it easier for bicycles to traverse from Gateway Village to the music factory through Elmwood Cemetery. They will be putting in bike ramps (to replace staircases) and wayfinding signage. Construction is approved and funded, starting soon. More details here on this trail that will connect Brightwalk/Greenville/JCSU area with Uptown. https://charlottenc.gov/GS/EngineeringServices/RealEstate/TCPP/Pages/UAT.aspx

Alternative View

It definitely has smaller transponders on it than when it was a tower for ATT and had the big conical long distance transmitters

City Council approved the $19M construction contract on Monday for the South Blvd Water Main expansion. This project runs from Worthington near the Dowd YMCA all the way down to Scaleybark Rd. Construction starts in about a month. Expect South Blvd to be a big ole mess for the next year during construction. Obviously this is needed to support all the new offices and residents.

Since NCDOT is projecting $300M decrease in their budget due to less driving, they are cutting projects left and right. One of the projects on the chopping block is the Wye at Charlotte Junction which is needed to turn the passenger trains around at the new Charlotte Gateway Station. IF this is not funded soon we could end up with a new train station that has no trains.

Making its impact on the skyline.

CLT Airport got $135 Million from the CARES Act...this should allow it to continue to finance the current construction contracts. Currently the airport has 3 main revenue sources Parking Fees, Concession Profit Sharing, and Passenger Ticket Fees. With traffic down some 90% those funding sources have become nearly non-existent. The model they are going with now is projecting a slow gradual return in flights and passenger numbers starting sometime this summer, and then taking over a year for a full recovery in passenger traffic. Of course that is all subject to change with reality. So I would expect all future Capital projects that don't already have an approved contract to be put on hold. (Concourse A Phase 2 expansion)

Crane on the low-rise section coming down today. I would say that the lack of balconies will be a drawback on this project.

I posted about this a while back but the Federal Inspection Area on the ground floor of Concourse D had its $4.3M renovation contract approved by City Council. Every interior wall in the FIS area will be torn down and the area will be reconfigured to be more efficient. Of course this will remain an active FIS area while the renovation project is ongoing. Will take 3 years to complete this project, so until 2023 expect a mess for your next International arrival at CLT. Also another little tidbit is that the West Ramp (New Concourse A) design project came back with a 50% budget increase due to a redesign of the new Concourse A Phase II expansion. My reading of the tea leaves is that this "re-design" means they are moving ahead with building new ticketing and baggage claim areas over there as part of Phase 2 of A expansion. These would be a used by all airlines except American and Lufthansa. Just a hunch on my part...nothing official.

Even more important than how the building looks, that new Hunt library is heavily used. When I was student the old Hill library would be a ghost town on most weekends. I'm hopeful that the new library will once again become a very active space for learning and collaboration.

I just still find it astounding that it took an architectural firm 2 years to come up with this design. I mean really?!? 2 years, for this?

Skaleybark Skyline

I'm not seeing any building permit activity for this project since February. I would put this project in the Stalled category.

A little perspective of The Hawk rising.

The lower level of the elevated roadway will be open by the end of this year and then the upper level will be complete when the new ticketing Hall is done, in about 3 years. Phase 2 of Concourse A North will go out to bid in about 6 months. The new 10 gate expansion should be open in 2022.

Well we have a final design on the airport entrance at Wilkinson and Josh Birmingham Parkway. Going with a big crown motif that will glow blue at night. In addition they will be putting in large CLT markers on Wilkinson and some other spots close to the airport. And also some really nice landscaping to go along with all the new signage. Cost is roughly $8M and should be complete next summer. Additional images...

So Levine repeats what he said to the Charlotte Observer 2 years ago and that is considered news? I think the fact that he was unable to give The Ledger a timeframe tells us that he is not doing a damn thing to move this project forward.

Allstate might take issue with Lowe's CEO claim to being the first major corporation to stake it's flag in Southend. Especially considering that Allstate is ranked higher on the Forbes 500 than Lowes. #doYourResearch This new skyscraper looks to be like a stretched version of Railyard. Here is to hoping that the ground floor retail is just as good.

Earth is now moving on this site! Full steam power ahead!

So glad the airport has decided to transition their diesel bus fleet to an all electric bus fleet. This will cut back on the fumes while you wait on the lower level for the bus to come pick you up. The transition begins later this year and will be 100% electric by 2025. You can read more about the buses here: https://www.proterra.com/ Also as a sign that the future Honeywell and BBT HQ are really happening: both companies have signed contracts with the airport to build/lease hangers at the airport for their corporate jet fleet.

Well I could certainly see where that would be confusing considering how otherwise similar the trains are. But that also seems like something that could be remedied with training and extra signage on the dashboard. When you add it up this extra 5 sec wait adds almost 2 minutes the travel time.

Trust me the 5 second wait time is not normal for any rapid transit line. I've ridden subways and rails on 4 continents of this Earth and none of them have had a 5 second delay. Also trust me it doesn't prevent crowding as it allows more time for more people to walk up to the door and wait for it to open. A 1 second delay is normal. 5 second delay is obnoxious.