CoffeeSamurai

Construction is under way, they've dug a pretty big hole

Slight detour from the current discussion: I noticed today that Cuisine Malaya is gone and they are tearing down that building. I remember when the coffee bar was closed. City bagel also looks closed; did that close? Ive been on the road that last few weeks and must have missed this. I actually liked city deli and Cuisine Malaya looked good for a quick Chinese food craving. Is that whole strip destined for redevelopment?

I tried the new app. Is it really GPS based? Or is there some kind of delay between the bus signal and the app? I wanted to see how it worked and was watching for a bus that goes by and it did not seem like it was "live" GPS.

Grodney's post reminded me that I have a couple pictures of Essex construction.

Yesterday as well. No heads up though, unless it was continued downtime from Wednesday.

There was a good segment, on Charlotte Talks but I haven't found it online, about the decline of corporate campus style headquarters. I know we've been talking about campuses in some other threads. Thought it might be relevant. Did anyone hear the whole segment?

According to Charlotte Agenda the restaurant will be called Desano Pizza Bakery. Exciting! https://www.instagram.com/p/BGaAv8hjkNA/

I noticed the lot next to Theater Charlotte on Queens road had some contractors cleaning it up. I recall its been for sale and then fenced up the last couple of years. Are we finally going to see some construction?

The lack of communication about delays is frustrating. Can you share where you find this information so I can look for myself going forward? Once I called and asked what was going on and I actually spoke to someone! She informed that the trolley was operating normally and that I should be patient. I concluded there has to be a disconnect between their communications and operations. How else do you not know a car is down? Anyway, the lack of communication is going to hurt ridership from the office commuters like my wife and I. I need to be able to, within reason, get to the office reliably. Communications help us plan around delays (Uber, B-cycle), instead of waiting 30 minutes to learn a car is down. It's something I want to bring up at their next Gold Line community forum. Is this a realistic expectation or do all cities face the same issue?

I just noticed a sign opposite corner of Romare Bearden, across from mellow mushroom that says development coming soon. Is there a thread/info on this already?

Ridership has been growing each week as far as I can tell. When I started riding at the beginning, I was the only person at the stop (Elizabeth). Now I there are sometimes up to 10 of us. Hopefully making the case for Earls to open up a touch earlier for coffee service.

Huzzah a fellow banker! I am glad to see something being developed there but I did enjoy the view up Elizabeth.

I too have excellent sight lines

That's another developer I feel like is dragging their feet. I thought the construction would be well under way by now. Part of the reason I think so much subsidized housing is getting built is because it's easy to push it into Belmont since nothing is happening yet and no one is willing to fight for their property value.

This is great but will it really do much for a neighborhood that is going to be sitting at only 50% market rate? I mentioned this earlier, I am excited about the neighborhood and would buy a lot if there were any available. But I feel like I am willing to take on more risk than the average home buyer. So I has me wondering if this will really do much to spur development, even if it is single family homes. Are people really going to be willing to drop 400k for a new house in a neighborhood knowing there is government housing surrounding them? Another thought: This should be a catalyst for development. But it seems like, based on land records I mentioned above, that firms have bought lots around that area and are holding it. Will something like this spark the development or will firms holding onto lots waiting for the "next big thing" end up snuffing the spark? Even an elementary look through Zillow shows a few "new construction" homes for sale that have been on there for quite some time. (e.g., Dialect Design homes, those 2 lots that are selling a home starting at 185k). In Cherry the developer held on for a while and it seemed overnight the houses popped up. That would be best case scenario for Belmont/Louise Ave, but the more I look into Belmont the less I feel like it will happen.

I am always amazed at the "coordinated chaos" of the subway when I am in NYC or Chicago. It can be overwhelming or odd from an outsider perspective (like me!). It's just amazing to see the social contract or code that people simply follow. For example, it blows my mind how efficiently a chaotic mass of people can enter/exit a subway car in like 30 seconds. I don't think I've ever seen anyone get left behind or stuck in.

Ah thanks for pointing it out, I didn't connect the blue line on the map as the streetcar. Much more clear.

I am trying to make sense of all the discussion. I sketched out the streetcar if it were to connect straight into Hawthorne. The streetcar would be very close to the CSX mentioned above, so as it goes under they will have to modify the bridge somehow to allow power cables right? I didn't realize that there were buildings in the way of Clement extension. Would CATS be buying that whole Barnhardt parcel (facility/warehouse) or just some of it to connect Clement? There is a driveway around where the Clement extension could be connecting to Hawthorne.

Hi, I would be interested in joining and meeting some members of the forum. I'll keep an eye out for the next planned meeting.

Oh right! I completely forgot about phase 2. Looking at the map, it appears the street car will swing around behind the Mill at Hawthorne and Barnhardt (though I can't find any street nearby called Barnhardt). I think there are a couple of retail businesses over there (yoga studio) already. Nice opportunity for that Mill developer.

Thanks. I saw a lot for sale on Pamlico Street (Zillow) and decided to check it out. I saw a couple of new homes being built on that street so I just assumed they were building in anticipation of that Mill property being redeveloped. As for the lot for sale, drove up and couldn't find any signage. Combing through local records, looks like that lot and a bunch of lots around there have been scooped up in the last 6 months by real estate investment groups (about $70k/lot per the few records I could decipher). Guess I am out of luck!! Anyway seems like a neighborhood that appears to be on the rise as I found quite a few other random lots with really nice houses on them. It looks like the neighborhood is mostly residential, a lot like Cherry. That neighborhood seemingly blew up overnight and I don't recall any kind of ground breaking retail project kick all that off. Hard to tell which way Belmont will go, but being so close to uptown you would think it is a safe bet for revitalization. The light rail isn't too far either, but I wonder how far light rail revitalization impacts typically radiate outwards. So a bunch of random thoughts that may have already been covered. A bit new to this forum (despite creating an account a while ago) and look forward to being a part of the urban planet community.

I snapped this last week. Corner of 4th and Hawthorn/Queens. They put up that construction style/temp fencing around the lot. I don't recall there being any trespassing issues, so maybe some work is about to begin?

Drove through Louise Ave to check out whats happening in Belmont last week. I noticed a few people inside that historic mill, looked like contractors cleaning up/moving stuff around. Any updates on that development? Is construction finally starting?

I noticed the BofA branding has been removed from the street level of the BofA Plaza Building. You may recall there was a huge BofA logo on the side facing Chima. I remember reading there was to be some retail/restaurant development at the street level, but I can't remember if that was referring to the current construction or some potential future development (possibly this?). Also, still a bit new to this forum so if I posted in the wrong thread I apologize!

I live right around the corner and drive through Torrence or Baxter often. From our first days in the neighborhood, I had this feeling that Cherry was going to blow up. Maybe not like NoDa or anything, but being so close to Uptown and the Met... I look forward to hearing more on this. I'll snap some pictures of development as it progresses and share whenever I can.