RVA2CLT

^^All good, I must say that CLT news travels fast In NYC. The mines intrigue me as they were the first 'historical' aspect of CLT I discovered when moving here. Being from RVA, I love discovering the layers of history that can be peeled back in a city.. and for CLT this is about as historically intriguing as it's going to get I think..

Looks like local business finally want to publicly address Charlotte's gold mining history by carving out a 'Gold District' in that part of South End. CBJ Article here Thoughts and opinions?

Gaaah that's absolutely disgusting! Let's take it to them and let them know what a POS design this development is becoming. Blast em here folks: http://www.nwrliving.com/contact-us/ This shall NOT pass!!

I just wanted to share this to illustrate how fast a 'first phase' of Gateway could be built if NCDOT & local support got fully behind it. Norfolk VA, - Amtrak began service from downtown Norfolk last December 2012; this marked the return of intercity passenger rail service to the city for the first time since 1977. At a cost of $3M, a newly built Amtrak station will open today; it began construction in February 2013 and includes the following features: 3,500 square foot station. The building includes a ticket counter, a waiting room & bathrooms. The platform will be 725 feet long and partially covered with canopies. The station, just near Harbor Park, will be looked at as a potential multi-modal station in the future to include rail, light rail, bus, cab, and ferry services. This is a great model to the beginning development of the Multi-modal station Norfolk is looking towards building-out in the future. I feel it would a great way for Gateway's Multimodal station to get off the ground by develop in phases, so we could actually see Intercity rail service in the heart of Crowntown by mid-decade. Just get the trains arriving/departing in center city with a station that is comfortable but will be expanded and built-on as rail services and ridership increases. I know it's not a fair comparison.. and there is a lot of physical rail work to do here as well as NS ROW schedule/usage requirements ... but.. it's just look what can be done in less than a year with a single new train service being added! and here we are... just waiting, with no real plans to move forward... only more 'studies' ahead.. and still with a slight metallic taste in our mouths from the NS/CSX grade separation that will not happen partially thanks for the leadership and planning capabilities of NCDOT.

Regarding Publix, I found this advertisement for available retail space for the 'Shops At Southline' with 3 retail spaces available, the 2 largest fronting South Blvd. I thought there would have been at least 4 spaces available; no doubt Marsh is seeing near-term opportunity with their Sedgefield property right down the street. Side thought, I wonder if this is how the Scaleybark project will eventually come to fruition as organic-development eventually creeps that far down South Blvd.

Nice, spos'd to be low 60s and sunny at least. What's funny to me though is that the brewery, and possibly the taproom, is not completely operational so they have been brewing beers at Five Seasons Brewing Company in Atlanta to prepare for the grand opening! HA!! Sooooo.. it's really not even a grand opening of the Brewery/Taproom.. .More like a party to check out their beers and meet the neighbors I'm sure it will be dog friendly though, this town is K9 Krazy

All I want to know is... Who's coming with me man??

I wanted to mention that the Gateway Homes 36 unit apartment project on Catherine Street (between Tryon & Winnifred) mentioned here is actually going up between the lighting store and the cell tower, not on the lot with the car wash. The steel framing for the first floor of parking is already up. I believe this is the first true 'infill' development for SouthEnd and what a great use of a small parcel that I personally would have never expected to be more than parking.

I believe the 'niche' spots are on the way to fill up the nooks and crannies the large 'block buster' developments left behind. Take a look at some of the more recent rezoning petitions for South End, especially the size of the lots: TOD-M 0.2402 acres, east side of South Boulevard near the intersection of Rensselaer Avenue and South Boulevard. TOD-M 0.214 acres, west side of South Tryon Street between West Catherine Street and West Bland Street. TOD-M 0.60 acres, southeast corner at the intersection of South Tryon Street and East Carson Boulevard. TOD-M 8,371 square feet, west corner at the intersection of South Church Street and West Palmer Street. TOD-R(CD) SPA 1.15 acres, west corner at the intersection of East Worthington Avenue and Cleveland Avenue. MUDD(CD) 0.45 acres located on the west side of South Boulevard between East Kingston Avenue and East Boulevard. Also, construction of the 36 Unit Gateway Homes Project on Catherine Street, discussed here, is actually between the Cell Tower and Lighting store, not on the lot of the Car Wash. I was very surprised to see them utilizing such an 'infill' plot for these and am looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Alright all, I finally got a detailed, definitive response from NCDOT on the status of the grade seperation at ADM, Gateway Station and what NC DOT is working on to move things forward: The Federal Railroad Administration and the North Carolina Department of Transportation have determined that the Charlotte CSXT/Norfolk Southern Railroads Mainline Grade Separation project will not go forward at this time. This decision has been made based on budget and time constraints that would not allow NCDOT to complete the project prior to the federally mandated completion deadline of September 30, 2017. More information about the discontinuance of this project will be made public in the next 30 days. With regard to the separate Charlotte Gateway Station project it is not dependent on completion of the Mainline Grade Separation project. However NCDOT has been directed by the North Carolina General Assembly to put the project on hold until such time that special legislation is crafted and approved by the NCGA that would allow the Department to seek private participation in the station project, a Public Private Partnership (3P). At this time State Law does not allow the Department of Transportation to enter into a 3P for a transit oriented multimodal station projects. NCDOT is working with the NCGA to address this matter. In the meantime NCDOT, along with the City of Charlotte and CATS, will be working with Norfolk Southern to perform train capacity modeling studies to determine the necessary level of track and signal infrastructure improvements that will be required to accommodate the new passenger train service in this area. From those studies designs for the station tracks, platforms and canopies will emerge which will determine those footprints and thus how much of NCDOT's property remains to build the actual station facility and any TOD opportunities. Thank you for your inquiry. Please let me know if you have any further questions. Allan Paul Deputy Director NCDOT Rail Division

So great to have a place across the street to kick the ball around before/after watching matches at Hooligans. BTDubs: USA v. Costa Rica World Cup Qualifying tonight at 10pm!!

Nice, how long did you let this run? There were 3 NS trains that passed within 4-6 seconds between each and I was just curious as to what that frequency was in real-time.

you mean substitute to light rail and street cars (trams) as there is no way in hell Richmond will come up with money of it's own nor take the time and due-diligence to apply for Federal TIGER funds to get any 'rail transit' solutions for Richmond. Additionally, there is still no way in hell Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield will form a regional transit coalition/authority with Richmond to get anything done on a regional transit scale. The most we can hope for in the next decade is improved intercity rail capacity/speeds at Main Street station, maybe a single BRT line up Broad St to Willow Lawn and possibly a bike share program. It will take philanthropic interest, planning & creative funding from the private sector to really move Richmond forward in 21st century transit within any reasonable near-term time table.

I hope this is not delayed, the website says constructions starts in the fall of 2013. http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/charlottemainline/ Everyone contact the Development Engineer 'Ryan L. White' and bug him for updates! If Gateway isn't built within the next few years then I'm afraid I will have to give up my goal of buying one of the few remaining19th century homes in Salisbury and taking rail to Charlotte and back during the week for work.. . sigh.. never thought I would miss NJ Transit and the PATH.

I recently had my radiator replaced at the Good Year currently on this lot. I had a conversation with the manager and asked if he had been told how long they have left. He said they were guaranteed at least 2 years, possibly 3, at that location. Although, I have no idea how reliable his information or his source's information is. Also, I imagine if a major tenant became interested then the lubrication of enough $$ could get it started sooner.

When I was growing up my grand parents and other adults would refer to it as 'Old Manchester' and considered it as an area/neighborhood of Richmond. However, Manchester originally was an independent town in the mid-late 18th century; then an independent, major-port, city in the mid-late 19th century, but would eventually consolidate with Richmond in 1910 upon two conditions: 1) a free bridge across the river was to be built and 2) Manchester would maintain a separate courthouse than Richmond (which still stands today).

The one new location I know for sure (from an inside source) will be at New Bern Station, which I have been personally lobbying for so I can B-cycle down to Triple C and back.

Being that retail is now generally over-built in America, especially with e-commerce reshaping the way products/service are purchased, any new retail development, especially on a larger, concentrated scale (vs. boutiques and cafes) needs to be developed in highly trafficked areas. In my mind the area of biggest potential for this development is at Gateway Station & potential surrounding developments on Trade Street, Graham and adjacent to the railway. This area will be the perfect nexus of regional & local traffic, along with the increase in pedestrian activity due to the '3rd Ward Renaissance' catalysts of Bearden Park & the Ballpark. Not to mention Lynx Gold Line running through there as well as future SEHSR. I think there is no other place in the city with this type of development potential. It seriously could be the 'Grand Central Station of the South' if it was developed properly.

Portions of the fence were removed yesterday. Read all about it along with some before/after shots here According to the artlicle: 'the section of the fence nearest the road was removed because of a city code violation.' Also, 'a portion of the fence in front of the rear exit was removed, and a gate is currently in the installation process'

Thanks man, wish I could take the credit but, this was all Mother Natures & Queen City's doing; I was just a witness with an iPhone. If you want the original Full Quality 6MB image to play with, just message me with your email address and I will send it over to you. I'm looking forward to some more of your work especially with the over-dubbed music, makes a great trip!

I took this panoramic pic from the top of my apts last Thursday as the storms were rolling in. Accompanying comment when I posted to FB: "all good, it was just a storm and not Independence Day starring Bill Pullman as I was fearing"

Shhhhhh you weren't supposed to see that next to Taco Bell.... I'm being optimistic though that aesthetically we at least get something like this:

Indubitably! If they need a reminder of the Industrial wasteland that is now Southend show this picture of Camden @ West Blvd in the 1990s. Especially after Camden Gallery is built..

Yards @ NoDa broke ground on Wednesday. Not much to read but, WCNC has a blurb about it here.

Doh! I neglected to do a Sub-Directory search in 'Charlotte Coffee House'. Sorry for the duplicate post all. Touche' ricky_davis_fan_21, thou hast bested me to the forum yet again!