pazzo83

I wouldn't think so, because the parking garage is going to be above ground. If we can even see like 70-80% of the speed we are seeing with Novare's project (Catalyst, etc), we should see some upward motion soon.

The second crane looks to be complete as of tonight (I was out in the French Quarter area). The top horizontal part is positioned over Church St righ now, but it looks completed. Pretty amazing seeing as how around 130pm this afternoon the base was only about 60-70% completed.

That is not true at all. In the winter months when dark comes much earlier, there is traffic well past sunset. Charlotte is the only major city that I have EVER been to, period, that has this type of problem in its CENTER. Arguments regarding light pollution are ridiculous. It is the center of a metropolitan area with 2 million people. If you want to see the stars at night, don't live in the middle of the city. It is absolutely reprehensible that the freeways near and in uptown are lacking lights. Trying to get from 77 to 277 at night is pretty dangerous. Not to mention you can't see ANY of the overhead signs because they aren't lit up either. PlazaMidwood, I put my high beams on on that ramp from 77 S to 277/Brookshire too. You can barely see the road otherwise, and it is a very sharp turn. You shouldn't have to use your high beams in the downtown of any major city, period.

The rate at which this project has moved along is just absolutely unreal. We went from basically nothing to starting to go vertical in what, like 2 months or so? Unbelievable.

I actually was in the sales center today and this is what I was told: Groundbreaking should be within the next two weeks. The sales guy fed me some line about the supply of those tower cranes and other materials being limited, so I don't know how to take that. Studios are starting in the low $300s (and I'm assuming this is at the bottom floor), which is RIDICULOUS. I completely agree, there is NO way in this market they sell all those remaining units at these prices. You can get studio apartments in Downtown DC for less than $200K. Although the guy said there were still some 3 bedrooms available for like $660K or something, which I guess is slightly more reasonable (although not much). I really hope they get some sense and set the prices at a level more in tune with the market. The building would really be a nice addition to 4th Ward, so we'll see.

They just tore one down literally right in front of the balcony of my condo on the corner of 11th and Church. It was a pretty decent sized tree, too.

Saw some workers on the site today, it looked like they were drilling into the ground to me. Perhaps this is the start of some groundwork there.

OK, last post I'll make about this so as to not throw the thread off topic, but if its not busy enough to warrant 4 lanes of traffic during non-rush hour travel (I disagree with this, 77 north of uptown during the day time, non-rush hour, is pretty busy), how is it busy enough to warrant that one lane be closed to non-HOV traffic?

During the middle of the day its a lot busier, but not busy enough to merit completely sealing off that lane to HOVs. I've honestly never seen a 24hr HOV lane before.

OK this is something that really ticks me off about NCDOT, who on EARTH makes the HOV restriction 24 hours? I've driven in HOV lanes in dozens of cities, and not ONCE have I seen a 24 hour restriction. The very idea of it is maddening. WHY did they make it restricted permanently?

I seriously doubt Trump would want to be overshadowed by the BOA building. After all, this is the same guy whom the City of Chicago had to tell to tone down the building height for his new project there.

Yea, but I think the Charlotte market really never got inflated like other markets did, and that is what is helping it stay strong (and grow!). I mean, look at how house prices just SKYROCKETED in areas like DC and the northeast, among other areas. Houses that were $150,000 in say 1995 were selling for close to $750,000 last year! And this was normal! Things were getting completely out of control, and the market is correcting itself in those areas. I really don't think the market in Charlotte even needed correrction, housing here is still dirt cheap when compared to other areas. I mean finding a 1-2 bedroom condo for $250,000 in a city center the size of Charlotte's is almost unheard of in many other parts of the country.

I believe that is the tower portion.

That's funny, I noticed that today too when I was running down Elizabeth...

Piles of rubble on the property are FINALLY gone (there is some cleanup left, but the giant piles are gone) as of yesterday (6/11). Can I get an "it's about **** time"?

I actually heard that rumor a while back in the Charlotte forum on the city-data boards. Someone mentioned it was going in 2Q or 3Q of 2008. I think it would be a perfect location, TJs is a hit with the 20 & 30 somethings. In DC they opened one up right in Foggy Bottom and you cannot move around it is so packed in there. I think the center part of the city needs more of these types of shops, as the people who are moving there are the type that would demand them.

Hahah, I can just invision the Donald shopping at Target...

Now that would be nice. If we could get a strip in uptown like a mini 5th Ave or Georgetown or Michigan Ave in Chicago, that would be great. You'd need a couple anchor dept stores, and then the smaller trendy shops in between. I think with someone like Trump on board, this would be a real possibility. Plus, by the time this building is completed, we're talking by what, 2010, 2011, uptown's population will (hopefully) be significantly greater (and likewise the demand for specialty high-end retail).

Sorry if this has already been posted, but has anyone noticed the listing on the Center City Partners website of the 'Trump Development' in their list of projects for the 2nd Ward? This is the section of the site where they have all the pdfs of different projects in uptown and vicinity. The one referring to Trump is not a link yet, but I'm assuming listing it there means a pdf with some information is forthcoming...

I agree, if you look at some of the supports at the top of what is there now, they seemed to be angled in such a way that it looks like the first floor of the tower part is imminent.

Did anyone check out the meeting tonight?

Regarding Albemarle Place, I thought that was odd on the rendering as well. I'm pretty sure the county is limiting them to 10 floors, but we'll see. Wintergreen is growing very rapidly, it is quickly becoming a true mid-atlantic destination. I'd like to see it continue to grow, its great for Neslon County. Staunton currently has one Shakespeare playhouse open (the Blackfriar's), and they plan on building a replica of the Globe theatre, which will be significantly larger. There is another downtown theater, the Dixie, which will be rebranded the Staunton Performing Arts Center once completed. It is (and has been) a second-tier movie theatre, it was great for cheap movies growing up. However, they plan on it becoming a large single theatre with ample seating and a place for everything from theatre to concerts to films. The outdoor museum you speak of is the Frontier Culture Museum, which is undergoing a pretty decent expansion right now. They want to recreate a model of an 18th-early 19th century frontier town. They had some outparcels that they were going to lease to a shopping center to pay for some of this expansion, but the only deal they could solidify was a Ruby Tuesdays (and I think maybe another restaurant). All in all I feel Staunton is moving in a good direction. They have had a sudden population/housing stock increase, with something like 2000 new residential building permits in 2004 and 2005. There are currently about 18 new subdivisions (everything from multifamily subsidized housing to larger single family homes) under construction in the city, which is really without precident in its history. Since the mid 1990s the population seemed to have been trailing off. School enrollment dropped significantly, but in 2006 it actually increased. The next 10 years in Staunton and the entire area will be a fairly exciting time.

I ran by the entire complex yesterday, and it does look like the beginnings of the tower portion are taking shape. In the model the tower is angled some what with respect to the larger curved base, and if you look at some of the new pillars they have constructed, it seems to be going in that direction. Also the front of epicenter is looking really good.

The police need to work on the security of the area though. Wasn't there a murder in the cemetary this past weekend?

Now we will start to see the effect these towers will have on the skyline. I mean it was nice to see the Trademark and Avenue go up, but these 50+ story towers will truly add a whole new dimension to uptown.