NYtoCLT

A hotel in this location will do great. At the risk of being nitpicky, this is technically Belmont, not Plaza.

It did feel like the 2010s was the decade of the South End whereas the 2020s could be for the neighborhoods Northeast of Uptown -- Optimist, Villa, Noda, Belmont, Plaza. Granted, I am biased because I live and go out here.

So (1) no one will want (be clamoring for) these houses and yet (2) they are going for 3x the going rate for homes nearby. You do realize that these statements are in direct conflict, right? This seems like pretty basic supply and demand. As far as demolishing NOAH, most of the homes that are being demoed are well beyond their useful life. These were not top quality houses when built, let alone after 60 years. Maybe you think they should only be replaced with homes of similar square footage to keep prices low, but again, that is what YOU think should happen, not what the market wants. It is so arrogant to think you should be able to impose your views/values on everyone. Clearly people are willing to buy these houses. The market is there for a reason. I will never understand why people think they should be able to control what their neighbors do with their property. I may not like it, but it isn't my property. Also, this is a development blog. I hope you realize that these attitudes/ideas are the exact reasoning for most of the opposition to all development (not just large single family homes). Is building townhomes against the historic character of the neighborhood? Apartments? Let's just keep the neighborhood etched in stone exactly as it currently is.

Yes, I think people likely will like the juxtaposition. I like it now and I think it will age well (frankly the house on the right looks like it could use a bit of a facelift). You may not like the house on the left, but other people clearly do since it is currently occupied. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I just personally don't feel that my opinion should be forced onto others. You clearly do. And there are definitely some new builds that leave something to be desired, but that is obviously true of some of the historic housing stock as well (some of which is dilapidated and crumbling). No developer is in the market to lose money and if the new build isn't great, it is a safe bet that the previous home there was worse (since buying that house, plus demo, plus construction costs, would need to be worth more than the previous home for them to make money).

I think this seems fine. A lot of people (and families in particular) want larger homes. I left Elizabeth for Plaza-Belmont partially because I had a few kids and needed more space. The larger house doesn't hurt the neighboring homes (even the house next door). Contrasting styles/sizes makes an area interesting and I think it is likely that in 20 years people will love the juxtaposition.

It is hard to evaluate Polk Park's current features without taking into account for the homeless people sleeping and going to the bathroom there. It's location obviously has potential but if the City doesn't address the homeless problem there then no non-homeless people will ever feel comfortable there -- regardless of what renovations look like.

I don't know about the dynamics of council but my hope is that if the ECA opposes it that will carry some weight with council. Maybe not though. If it does go before council I hope they do take into consideration how this will negatively impact affordability. Braxton seems to be pretty YIMBY at this point and aware of the impact limiting supply has on price so hopefully he would help get the point across. And there would DEFINITELY be some neighbors who actively look for infractions. That was one of the points the ECA president raised. If you read the articles in the Newsletter by the proponents of historic district designation, they basically say as much. My hope is that since at this point the neighborhood has evolved where the old bungalows make up less than half of the neighborhood it won't be that popular. It would be odd to be in one of the (many) new builds and support historic district designation.

I agree. Considering how much it impacts people, I would be really upset if half my neighbors had the ability to force my property into being a historic district. That said, I think the 51% is just to get the issue before city council. So City Council would then need to approve it.

The Elizabeth Community Association president wrote an article in the Quarterly Newsletter very clearly in opposition to historic district status (you can get to the newsletter here: https://elizabethcommunity.com/). It is a good article that clearly highlights the red flags and doesn't pull punches. This caused a lot of drama because the Historic Elizabeth Neighborhood Foundation (separate and very much not part of the ECA) wanted support from the ECA or in the very least not be in opposition. The president (and a few other board members) being against historic district designation comes close to killing the HENF's efforts. They need 51% of homeowners to sign a petition in support and then would need city council approval. Without the ECA, both of those feel extremely unlikely. The HENF meeting last night (I didn't attend but a friend did and gave updates) basically outlined that they need 51% and my friend (who supports HENF, full disclosure, I very much do not) said they wouldn't have been able to get 51% of the people attending their own event to sign off on a historic district. The meeting was apparently civil but started to get heated at the end when the President of the ECA said he was there on behalf of the community and one person yelled "you're here on behalf of yourself" and someone else walked out. This has been brewing for a while. Almost every newsletter has some article about historic district designation (for and/or against). There is a particularly great article in opposition to it in the Winter 2019 issue (in my very humble opinion).

I hope they are prepared for a fight. The ECA is going to hate anything they propose and will almost certainly take them to court. Especially if it includes *gasp* apartments, I can't even imagine how they will react. That said, apartments with ground floor retail in this area could help to really connect the area from Sabor to Crunkleton.

Saw someone post demo pics on the parcel on 7th between Clement and Lamar. Have any plans been filed? That is a large plot in a prime location.

Culture Shop is on Hawthorne and Kennon so a Deli would face natural competition that would be hard to compete with. Coffee/breakfast could work better. I heard that the owners of Fig Tree planned to do a second restaurant there but then the pandemic made those plans crash to a halt. Not sure if that is true though. Regardless, random neighborhood corner stores are good for neighborhood vitality regardless of use -- as long as they are used. Right now the vacant space is a blight. This is a positive for the neighborhood.

Old corner store at the corner of Pegram and Kennon is becoming a dog salon. Has been vacant for a while but saw the tenant working on the TI inside and talked to her -- hopes to be open by March.

This is huge for this stretch of 7th. It's a full block of primary real estate that is currently filled with abandoned buildings and broken sidewalks. Hopefully the ECA doesn't fight them against putting apartments there. It should be a well developed stretch from the streetcar to the Crunkleton.

There's construction/foundation going down on the corner lot of Kennon and Pegram. It is across from the abandoned corner store. Anyone have any idea what is going up there?

The $18 feels like it is there just as a deterrent since if you are staying for over 3 hours you probably arent spending much money and just using it for parking or sitting on your laptop not buying anything.

I am withholding judgement on the apple deal. There will still be some games on national TV but it is true that if you want to watch just CLTFC you probably need Apple TV.

I had a feeling this was the case. Very disappointing. Flying it is. It's a shame too -- if it was fast and even remotely cost competitive with flying it would be popular. It's legitmately the perfect train distance (too far to drive, too close to fly).

I just looked into taking an amtrak to and from Atlanta and there is basically one train a day at a weird time making to totally impractical. Does anyone know when the Amtrak station is officially moving here and if there are any plans to increase service between here and Atlanta?

As far as the team moving, the practice facility is materially different than the stadium in both importance and cost. I can't imagine Tepper moving the team because of practice facility drama in south carolina. If the stadium became an issue in Meck that could be a different story.

I normally think Billionaires should build their own stadiums but Fort Mill agreed to a deal and then re-negged. Tepper is 100% in the right to stop construction. They pulled out of the deal for no reason even though they were contractually obligated. Just like I don't think billionaires should get special treatment, I also don't think they should get worse treatment. Honor the contract. On the bright side, I cant imagine there is any chance that any MLS practice facility goes anywhere except Mecklenburg county now. Disappointing one hasn't been announced yet but I imagine this unfortunate situation likely has been playing a role.

You're not wrong. 30+ is likely right -- I was being conservative. This is definitely a location that could use a grocery store. Something around this location would get used by Optimist Park/Belmont/Villa heights for sure and almost definitely some of Noda and Plaza as well. That is almost definitely enough people to sustain, especially with the number of apartments only increasing the density/number of people who would utilize it.

North Tryon Publix would be a far walk. That's like 25 minutes. Given that it is kind of a food desert a grocery store to service optimist park/villa heights/belmont along N Davidson or Parkwood would be great but not sure how realistic. As for how much retail there is, places aren't static. I would be shocked if Parkwood and North Davidson look the way they do in 10 years. Both will be mostly apartments with retail I imagine. Davidson is already largely there.

A buddy of mine went from not following soccer at all to having gone to every home game so far because of how good the atmosphere has been. We walked out of the Cincy game and he commented on how much more fun it was than the Panthers where everyone was singing/chanting having a blast outside the main gate after the game ended.

I hope this is successful and I think people mad about the rates arent looking at how expensive rent would have been if they did have parking. I also hope they add a few more no parking buildings in this area. 1 building is great but you add a few more and you have real workable density and hopefully a better pedestrian experience.