Andyc545

I'm sure this has been answered and discussed before, but is there a reason why this project isn't on contract and that the contractors aren't fined for every day going past the contract end date? Often, if a project is finished early, then they get awarded some money in return. It's amazing, but when $ is flashed in front of peoples eyes, things begin to abruptly move. Why it seems to have not worked on 485 at all, I don't know...

I don't doubt that they may come down some, but do you really think they will come down significantly? A lot of cheap apartments up here along W.T. Harris are still in the 700-900 dollar range for a one bedroom. A few hundred more to have a higher end, urban environment, car free, no commute, and walking distance to food and shops? Without crunching numbers, I would think that the premium on these brand new apartments at a few hundred more a month is on line with the premium to have a 300k condo that you could get for half the price out in the 'burbs. I am purely going on a viewpoint analysis, though, and am not utilizing any data, so you may be right .

Most of the apartments are in this range in S. End. I posted figues a while back on the prices of all of the projects in S. End. Ashton is even more than those of the Millenium. Is there demand... obviously else these wouldn't be built. I think S. End is a hot area for young professionals that are just beginning to work, have nice new salaries, but don't have the credit to get a first home, nor a desire, or possibly aren't sure if they will stay in the area yet. Versus uptown, I think S. End caters to a different demographic. Seems to be some that desire having a little more room and lower to the ground but have immediate access to uptowns big city feel. Just my thoughts though.

It's a grandslam for many reasons... We now have a good art center in Charlotte that will likely over time become well recognized globally, we have a globally recognized architect doing the design, the structure is something you don't see in Charlotte and would stand out in even well developed cities like NYC or Chicago, the material choices are original and nothing we really have in this city, and the design and outcome so far are above expectations, very diverse, very striking, and has a huge impact for a small building being surrounded by skyscrappers. Whether you hate its design or not, modern architecture or not, or art or not, I think everyone in Charlotte will have something good to say about this strucuture and it will become a major draw from the outside and those paying admission to view the galleries.

Wow.... so.... unexpected. Looks a lot better than the schematics.

I read something about this building being owned by Bank of America and them applying for historical stature. What ever happened to that, and why would BofA possibly want to sell off very valuable land with a very small but powerful historic building. I don't really know how much business the museum actually had, so I don't know if that will be missed much, but certainly that structure will and needs to remain. Can't really complain about ground floor retail though. A shame something more isn't done with the lot that takes up the other half of the parcel... I'd imagine once the Vue goes up and the land becomes more valuable that eventually they will have to do something more with it.

Indeed. It's only a few more months, however, that this admin is put in the past and two candidates (one more than the other) is recognizing the changed times and the need to put more money where it belongs. There's many issues right now (just see the charts of American's top concerns, which places gas prices and the economy at top) in the US but a new administration will be good at recognizing and reorganizing where money goes. I know you posted that figure about the funding/hour in the war, and it truly raises eyebrows. I don't want to get too political in this, but hopefully much of that money can start flowing through all of the veins of the US Economy and not being so strongly located in something that has been dropped down in the list of American Issues by the majority population.

Like these?

The one thing to remember, though, is how much more will the street be used once Levine's master plan is completed? I think its connectivity will be more needed in 10 years than it is now. I'd really hate to split the park into 2, but if they can go with some unique material on the road- brick, even stamped concrete, then that will slow traffic and provide a pedestrian atmosphere in the mind connecting the two sides of the park as one.

May I ask what difference it makes when MCL is funding the project, not taxpayers, and they have the adequate funding as well as are making sales? We should be thankful we have development going on in a city that was barely on the map 20 years ago when other major cities are struggling all together right now. Sure, we don't need every tower to be 50 stories, but it's great when we have a few that can be recognized on a grand scale. Charlotte has similar demographics as many southern sunbelt cities- where there is so much adequate land and don't have limitations like NYC does and coastal cities do. Atlanta is building large towers, Dallas is... One would think that it would learn from others mistakes and build upward, preserve our surrounding lands, and keep our center city contained, dense, and vertical. I know the response- there's plentiful surface lots and more space where there will be TOD, but I don't see how this project is a negative thing. Obviously there is a demand, although I agree that many more 20 story midrises would suit a vast majority of people to bring in and live in close to the city and improve our skyline and city altogether.

The CBJ is reporting that Cabarrus County / Concord is being looked at as a site for a large mixed-use development modeled after Birkdale Village. The project is titled Concord Gateway and would be developed by Trinity Capital Investors. The site, which recently passed zoning, would include 2 hotels, 200 residential units with ground floor retail and 200k sqft of office space, some of which is much needed Class A. The site is located at Poplar Tent Rd off of I-85. This project is to act as a "Gateway" into Concord. Link Here

Awesome shot Mo! I just found this; I took it last week of a Ferrari going South on 77 but was able, due to the contours of the treeline, capture our two banking corporate headquarters together and alone. Not bad for a cell phone full on digital zoom while driving.

If there was a lack of power getting to the overhead lines in this section of track, that would have caused it. It could have happened b/c of a transformer or something along the lines getting hit by lighting or having power disabled somewhere nearby. The trains are equipped with systems that act as generators. That means that there doesn't necessarily have to be power touching the arms connected to the train at all times but instead when the arm touches the power line, it is charging the system inside the train. If there was no power on the lines in this stretch, likely the train was running on power reserves or CATs was trying to run the train slowly (to use less power) in order to get it from this stretch to a stretch that did have adequate power to recharge the system. This is all speculation, of course. If you'd like to see information on how the power system works there's information on the Experience LYNX website. Oh... Thanks for the info. I just pressed it and no water came out. Since I'd like to think that I'm a little more educated on these issues than the general public, I'd hope that they would make this situation a little more acceptable for the average person. I think it's unacceptable that someone would have to hold down a water fountain button for 5-10 seconds to overcome a antifreeze valve in the middle of SUMMER in CHARLOTTE, where we don't see much freeze as it is. I'll put in a comment to CATs about this...

Looks like they are all done with the big crane on the parking deck. It came down tonight. Hopefully they finish off the work they did on the roof of the deck because it looks a little fishy right now.

Haha- yeah I know, you like that!? Nibble, as unproportional as that picture depicts, the view from East/West Blvd, the light rail station, and anywhere towards uptown looking south is amazing. It makes a perfect ending to Camden Rd and really interacts with the buildings along Camden, aside the proportions. Also Spectrum is being built south not too far away which will help to blend the dimensions. From Atherton Mill, it's definitly a totally new view that is shadowing the complex but is a healthy addition long term.

More Ashton 07/17:

A quick rant: I was walking a lot yesterday in the heat and eventually became very thirsty. When I made it to the East/West Blvd station I went to sip a drink at one of the public water fountains on the stations (which would have been a great addition) however to find no water to came out of any of the ones at the station leaving me in disrepair and angered. Does anyone know if these water fountains are off due to drought conditions. I couldn't believe that they would be allowed to not have water running at public fountains. Also they installed the trees at a few more of the stations. They are quite small and weak, contrary to the nice large shaded trees that were always showed in renderings. If they just installed something that would grow to provide shade, it would have helped with the summer heat and mitigate the lack of protection from the station coverings, but no, they opted to install trees that do next to nothing but provide some greenery. End of rant...

New signs up along S. Blvd (stupid bus):

Here's a another from today...

Hopefully they come up with a consistent conclusion so that they can set a true height limitation set in stone that incorporates in TOD zoning with no option for height increase rezoning. I'd rather see towers built to a max down the line (sort of how it looks along the Myrtle Beach coast due the the airport limitations) to remain consistency and not lead to disasters and angry neighbors that could retaliate on your building. Just what we would need, a battle among high rise residents (like in Lucky Number Slevin)... I like the recommendations that increase the height limit along the LRT line in order to increase density at stations but still have a limit to not allow things to get out of hand or aesthetically unpleasing to neighbors and Charlotte residents on whole.

Photoshop > unfocus layer. Both Look good, btw. While you had the train selected you could have also multiplied the layer and drained the color to black and white to set the train back in the days of the original trolley, or just set the mood...

Zach, thanks for clearing up any confusion. I love the artwork as well, and if you didn't get a chance I did post some pictures a few pages back of it. Congratulations on having your art work chosen, it's well deserving.

I was thinking about this, and since the main argument and only concern to Arlington residents is loosing the view, put this into scenario... Since TOD zoning here has limiting to 120 feet say a developer decided to build an even more massive structure in land where they wouldn't even have to go through rezoning and completely eliminate the "paid" view for uptown. For example, land zoned UMUD on the edge of 277 here in S. End or say just the other side of 277, say a developer bought out several parcels, build a structure 800 feet in the air, and went 6 parcels across completely obscuring any view aside from its building itself. Then make that building puke green with highly reflective glass that reflects any sun from 3PM-8PM back into the Arlington... If they met all requirements for UMUD, who is to say that it can't be built. The point I'm trying to get across is that there is a lot more that can "block a view, obstruct a view, tamper with a view, or pose another annoyance to your home." Like others have said, you can't guarentee a view- this goes for any city. If you want a guarenteed view, move to Chicago on the waterfront or the Avenue overlooking a 300 year cemetary...

So I guess per the newest rendering and descriptions in the Observer, it looks to be 3 towers instead of 2. I thought the rezoning application had 2 on the site plan. I wonder if the three buildings that are depicted in the observer article are a backup plan if the two large towers in the rezoning application falls through.

Driving home Thurs night all but a few were out, particularly on the big bend about a mile south of I-85, all the way up to 85. Don't remember anything past 85 or anything in the I-77/Uptown immediate area but I think those were on.