49er

It officially grew by 2 floors so you can expect 33 occupied floors and around +/- 630' to the tip of the pyramid. Pretty sure that it won't grow any further.

Here's the site plan. There is a mix of alley load and front load which is the only saving grace I see here. http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Subdivision/Approvals/2016/OakhurstTownhomes(MF).pdf

Another new nugget from permitting: "Relocation of Hill Street and expanded podium Removed level 4 office and terraces above parking Added two levels into the mid rise portion of the tower Relocated level 27 terraces to level 28 Rotated level 33 terraces 90 degrees" So it's confirmed 2 floors taller but I'm not sure if that is 31-33, 32-34 or 33-35.

Union County commuters were not the primary reason for the conversion. Charlotte lacks an east/west interstate and 74 is envision as limited access throughout most of the state and is even designated as an Interstate in some areas. It is Charlotte's connection to the port at Wilmington as well.

Honestly, it is kind of silly. Replace strip malls with....new strip malls.

This is a new rendering and angle I haven't seen yet. They keep tweaking the building and it is finally growing on me.

I think it is fair to say that the people dining at those restaurants are not visiting because this is a beautifully designed destination development. They just want the food. You could have opened Chuy's or Ted's in just about any building with 4 walls and a roof and people would still flock to them.

You were so close!!!! 187'-6" to be exact. The building is a new construction, Type I-A, 254-key hotel of over 268,000 square feet including 1 basement/service level, 2 podium parking levels, 13 patron building levels, and structured amenity deck and roof terraces. The main structure of the building is post-tension concrete with the addition of a composite metal deck above the ballroom. The building is 187'-6" tall with 15 levels and a basement.

I like towers that have a crown with no obvious warts. BoA, Interstate, the jukebox building that is now Wells Fargo, and mostly the Hearst tower (ok you can see the chillers from an airplane) accomplish this. 300 turned out great. That balcony will be cool when the tower is converted to residential in a few decades. I'd give it a B+ as there are some interesting angles and it is unique in Charlotte.

There are plenty of city-data threads out there if you want to get into a city vs. city pissing contest. Can we just talk about this project?

The permit app shows 15 levels with a rooftop bar and lounge.

I've been through Waverly and originally had high hopes for it. They really missed the boat on the "main street" feel that every lifestyle center is trying to create. The one story strip buildings are pretty bland and they really sold out by not having any residential over the shops. Maybe the little plaza will turn out nice and be a cool hangout spot. It just seems like everything is in pods & there's no mixing of the uses on the site. Will the office building or hotel have first floor retail? I think the Kingsley project in Fort Mill is doing 10x better if you look at the architectural themes. They are doing some true mixed use that is closer to Birkdale in design and the architecture is pretty interesting to look at.

The "Project Riverboat" reference was on the early plans for the office tower. I don't think residential was ever mentioned. It was probably just a silly name to keep the development under wraps for a while.

Wow, it looks like they are already working on the elevator core foundation!

The Church St deck across the street is in permitting now. 12 levels (quite a few underground) with support for 2 additional levels. 2,700 spaces and 1,000,000 total square feet of space. That is a big parking deck! Must be some crazy plans for additional uses and density because that parking can't just be for football games. Edit: There's also talk of a ped bridge over Church Street

Whole Foods must have demanded a lot of parking to commit to the project. I'm not sure they care about the rail line at the end of the day.

They're saving a ton by only going one level below grade so the foundation work is going to be so much less than 300.

Some of the old docs back in the fall called it "Project Riverboat" fwiw. I'm sure that was just a secret working name.

I chalk this up to 3 basic problems none of which really has anything to do with a loss of the can do spirit that Charlotte has always embodied. 1.The speed with which local governments were forced into discussion and relatively little time to figure out the details 2. The fact that Smith is a total slimeball. Just look at what he has done to Concord with threats to move the track and other nonsense. People still remember George Shinn around here and this guy is even worse. 3. The still lagging universal popularity of the sport. It is growing quickly but still not seen as a must have sports venue like MLB, NFL and NBA.

Looks to me like the tunnel is part of their plan. Perhaps instead of crossing church at grade people will have the option to use the tunnel.

Glad the plans are finally public. I've seen a basement level floor plan somewhere that references the tunnel. I'll see if I can dig up and post.

There are some aspects of this project that are pretty cool but I am so far underwhelmed by the architecture on the "main street". There's value engineering as far as the eye can see. Hopefully the finished product turns out better.

The pyramid isn't gold anymore either fwiw. That kinda throws water on Goldman Sachs rumors or maybe gold paint is just expensive . It's more of a metallic silver color now.

This project continues to advance through permitting and its amazing no announcement yet. It seems to be doing the Tryon Place height dance. Currently, it looks like a drop to 31 stories and about 610' with about 80' of that being the pyramid.

This is from the LandMarks Commission website. It wasn't as grand as some of the mills but could have been a cool adaptive reuse. I always thought it was a shame to tear it down. http://www.cmhpf.org/educationphoto34textile1940.htm.