ChesterCopperPot

The Charlotte Housing Authority is revisiting master plan discussions on redevelopment of the Strawn Apartments site near South Blvd and Caldwell. Good to know that the CHA is looking to move forward on the 17 or so acres. Below is the link to The Urban Land Institute's position paper from back in June 2008 containing recommendations for density, splitting the area into 5 different zones. The CHA is interested in getting a "wish list" from Dilworth, Pritchard Memorial, and the YMCA on the type of development that should ultimately take place. Any suggestions? http://www.detroit.uli.org/ResearchAndPubl...ize]

Actually, Phoenix did miss their initial cost estimates by more than $100 million, and their initial completion date was set for 2006...yikes!

They can purchase their own land, but it wont change the cost of building the stadium (for the most part). If that is really the problem, then they won't move. With the current plan, there is no land cost. If they build the stadium outside of Uptown, their gate revenue won't be as large (Uptown has more parking, public transportation options, is more dense, is more centrally located for the population than any other location in the city). If they build something in SC or stay at the same location in Fort Mill, Charlotte sees zero tax revenue from the Knights. It would be in Charlotte's best interest to offer some incentives for the team to move to the city of Charlotte simply for the tax revenue. I think the leaders of Charlotte want this deal to happen and I think it is very popular with the residents of Charlotte. Here is my "yea" vote.

If the Reese lawsuits were dropped, couldn't the stadium start today with the Knight's money? How separate are the parcels, or in other words, is the land swap final? The stadium requires zero capital investment from the city. There won't be a park until the city can raise capital.

Weather is responsible for a portion of the drop. There are other factors involved like those mentioned in the article.

The article doesn't mention it, but weather certainly is responsible for a portion of the drop in ridership. The economy is not improving in the first half of 2009 (unemployment always lags), and I have no idea where gas prices are going, but watch ridership creep back up in the warmer months.

^A Charlotte rail line involving UNCC certainly was envisioned in the 80's. An area rail plan was studied, initiated during Myrick's term, and deemed too cost prohibitive, so they did not include it in the Vision of the future plan in 2005. But it definitely was investigated.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle1706432.ece Not positive, but I think US Airways ditched the A350 deal due to delays... And if anyone thinks Boeing won't offer deals for any airline to drop Airbus, or vice-versa, you're kidding yourself.

In Charlotte, I'll take wasted space (parking) below ground or several stories up over wasted space at the street level any day. This project does not bother me at all.

I still don't understand your shock. The Arlington had the zoning altered to build to the height it currently stands in order to provide your views. Should that not have occured? Because it did, it seems very plausible that development to the height of at least the Arlington is reasonable to city planning. A better argument would be to state the adverse effects that the Arlington development had in the immediate area so as not to allow future varainces and changes.

Seattle has SafeCo field for the Mariners, which I believe was mostly paid for by the city, and happens to be the most expensive "built for 1 team" stadium in North America. They also recently built Qwest field, which I believe was completely publicly financed. I don't blame them for not wanting to pay for an NBA arena, but that's not their track record. I think the stadium will be highly popular in 3rd Ward. In addition to minor league baseball and a couple of concert events, maybe the city will use it for other events. Hopefully they will allow local High School baseball/Softball tournaments as well.

This thread reminds me of the Bill Gates email that keeps circulating where Microsoft is doing Beta testing and you will get $1000 if the email is forwarded to enough people. Once a month somebody injects a little bit of life into the possibility of this project happening.

Not to mention, over half the dwellings in the existing apartment building are currently uninhabitable. Furman made concessions to keep the structures intact of two of the four existing parcels AND renovate them, among other things. It's painful to watch progress being halted...

While there are some philanthropists out there, real estate development is a business where return on investment drives action. Until somebody shows me that Levine's decision to buy up land in a limited supply environment, letting the parking revenue pay for property tax as well as almost all (if not all and then some) the cost of tying up that large capital sum (or mortgage), and letting the yearly double digit increases of inner loop land increase his net wealth are not giving him a better ROI than developing and releasing the land immediately, I will save judgement on his decision to do so. I'm guessing his forecast of the land value defeats the prospect of developing this land. As soon as parking revenue falls with respect to the value of land enough to deter sitting on this land, then it will begin to change hands/be developed. Right now, I have to respect his decision to make a slow dime rather than a quick nickel. When the land does turn, the higher land values will likely demand larger, denser projects than we have seen thus far in 1st Ward, so this is not necessarily a negative for you skyscraper junkies out there. I personally don't believe Levine has acquired so much land that he is driving the development outside the loop prematurely. The South Blvd and Southpark projects aren't dense enough yet to convince me of that.

Could you draw it for us?