Muggsy01

Charlotte really does have the best skyline in the South. I know many will say Atlanta or Houston are better but ATL is too spread out & Houston’s buildings are too bland. Mostly 80s boxes (though improving). Charlotte really is king, or Queen, rather. Just imagine when Duke 2 is built.

Forget the convention, how about people be allowed to open businesses and go back to school?!?! Totally fine with protesters making the choice that protesting is worth the risk of COVID. But we should all have the right to make those choices regarding risks when it comes to commerce, education, just living life. Not to mention, the lockdowns absolutely have a role in this unrest.

Really a shame the Red Line to North Meck suburbs died. Though I realize that's not the city or county's fault. In an ideal world, there'd be commuter trains to Mooresville, Gastonia, Concord/Kannapolis and down to Rock Hill. Coming from the NYC area my only complaint about Charlotte is the lack of commuter transport, but that's a very small complaint compared to the immeasurable ways the Charlotte area is better than the NYC area. Also, to be fair, the commuter rail in NJ was a total disaster, overcrowded, understaffed and constantly broken. Still, commuter rail spidering out to those major suburbs and ending all at Gateway would be great as long as they can do it without putting people out of their homes to build it.

If Charlotte gets an MLB team, gotta keep the Knights name. Sharpest uni’s in the minors, better than many MLB teams. Plus the name is badass & works with the city

Charlotte Town FC is by far my favorite possibility. Real Charlotte would be as absurd as Real Salt Lake. Spanish clubs get “Real” after they get a royal decree from the Spanish King (or Queen). The US obv has no royals. Charlotte Town is the original name of Charlotte. It fits so well. Sounds “European,” enough but also has a real relevance for Charlotte. Also would’ve loved for Tepper to buy the Independence brand but I know that’s not happening .

I meant just for POTUS. Absolutely agree state & local mean way, way more. Your vote for President isn’t that important and for the vast majority of people most of the time, the POTUS isn’t really going to effect your life. I only mentioned that b/c I wanted to make the point that my opinion of holding the convention is really just about not endangering Uptown residents & businesses. Not about my personal political beliefs. Youve all seen what these things turn into in normal years. Now the anger & intolerance of differing opinions is so high. People literally (and delusionally) think they’re fighting Nazi’s or Communists (depending on your party). They think violence is justified. Imagine tons of people with that insane mindset descending on your neighborhood. It’s not right. Shut the conventions down. Both of them. This is all to say nothing of the pandemic but I felt this way even before COVID

I actually would oppose the convention and my reasoning has nothing to do with the pandemic. I’ll first lay out my cards, I’m a Republican who doesn’t support Trump or Biden (was gonna vote Amash but now won’t vote at all). My reasoning is simple, and it sucks, but it’s reality. People are going to riot. They’re going to become violent and they’re going to destroy property. Political discourse in this country is no longer rational on either side and violence was a concern even before this era. I know it sucks to give in to what are essentially terrorists (Antifa & Alt-Righy agitators). But business owners & Uptown residents don’t deserve to see their property destroyed & live in fear for 5 days. They shouldn’t be punished to prove a point. I’d say the same in Milwaukee though to be fair, I suspect less violence there. Argue all you want but I think it’s fair to expect more anti-Trump violence in this setting. I also would actually be in favor of getting rid of these archaic conventions all together.

I really don’t see Charlotte getting a team for several reasons. Mainly because if MLB does expand or Tampa Bay moves, Montreal & Portland in that order are far ahead of any other contenders. To throw a third city in with a realistic shot you’d need Tampa to move and a jump to 32 teams. Possible but need a lot of stars to align. Then of course you have BB&T Park which is still so new. Less of a reason to stop MLB but still a consideration.

Wouldn’t be so sure about finance. Alliance Bernstein moved to Nashville for example. You’re right about media though unfortunately. Would improve quality dramatically if they got out of the NYC/DC bubble and spread across the US. I digress though. I do think the trend of major companies moving to both the Southeast & Mountain West (think Denver, Salt Lake City) will only increase post-pandemic. Honeywell & AB are the canaries in the coal mine. It’ll slow once COL evens out but that’s going to take a very long time because from experience, what people in NC consider very expensive is still so cheap. I’m coming from NJ, looking for houses right now (though that’s slowed with the pandemic) and your prices and what you get still blows my mind. Ex: A 400k house in the CLT area is 1 million or more in the NYC area.

To be fair this was just one building in a campus. I used to live not too far from there, there are a lot of corporate campuses in that area. It was set back far from the road with its own private road to access. So it wasn’t just that building. Personally I’d rather work in an urban core than a suburban office campus. Ultimately the reason they moved is b/c NJ has the worst business climate (taxes & regulations) in the nation & NC is consistently in the top 3 best. You don’t have to be in/near NYC anymore, I think you’ll see many more companies relocate to the “New South.” Already happening

So I’m sure others have brought this up when discussing a new stadium but it just dawned on me. Roof, fixed or retractable, means Charlotte is going to inevitably host a Super Bowl. I’d imagine very late part of the 20s, maybe 28 or 29, or early 30s. That’ll be wild.

So if the stadium is built all or partially atop the same site it’s on now, that wouldn’t allow for BofA to remain standing during construction. Where do the Panthers play, do they go back to Clemson for a season maybe? I would imagine the MLS team would go to American Legion for a summer. Or am I misunderstanding how you’d align the new stadium?

I don’t think corporate offices will go away I just think they’ll require far less space. 25%-50% of what they do now.

I can’t imagine anyone will be investing in large amounts of office space any time soon. When this pandemic is over, I think the most prominent lasting effect will be far more remote working. Look for corporate commercial office real estate to plummet in the 20s. My guess would be ground floor retail & dining with residential above. How tall the residential will be? No guess. Unfortunately I think you’re right. It’s a shame too b/c even where the NFL/MLS combo “works,” (Atlanta, Seattle) I still think it looks off.

What about an MLS stadium on the BofA site with the new Panthers on P&F, then an entertainment district (ground level retail, bars, dining, residential above) connecting them? Also not knowing much about engineering and construction, would it be possible to just remove the upper deck of BofA, using the lower bowl as the foundation of an MLS stadium? Remove most of the stadium then build around the intact lower bowl?

Congrats CLT. Beat ATLUTD

Congrats Charlotte! Honestly, I've been looking for an excuse to get away from the Red Bulls. The club is a bit of a mess right now, they're perennial choke artists, and I'm frankly sick of people asking me if I work for Red Bull the drink company whenever I wear some RBNY gear. Think I'm gonna hop on this bandwagon while it's fresh.

What makes you all think new brand? Based on the way MLS has been bringing teams up from USL, I'd be really surprised if they didn't follow the pattern of keeping the USL brand. Started really back in 2009 with Sounders and been going ever since. I realize some brands have been more ingrained than others but like, Nashville SC was very new for example too.

If Charlotte gets an MLS team, which I'd put as an 80% chance, it will be Tepper buying Independence. That's been the MO now for a few seasons, bring up successful brands from USL. I would be shocked if they went with a totally new brand for MLS. I think ideal would be bring up Independence, and move Charlotte Eagles back to USL Championship as the development squad for the MLS side, put them in Memorial.

I think the pattern on the facade makes it look nice. Yes it's a box but it's not a plain, featureless box. I'm also personally just not a huge hater on box style skyscrapers as along as they aren't the only thing being built.

Where is this taken?

You'd be surprised how Don Garber operates. When he gets something in his mind in terms of expansion, he sticks to it. That's how we got NYCFC & Inter Miami which are total cluster fudges and didn't have to play by any of the same rules as any other city. Garber has a real bee in his bonnet for St. Louis & Detroit. Sacramento has just been ready to go for like 10 years now and keep getting skipped over. Maybe they do again, would be fudgeed up but we'll see.

I follow MLS closely and what I can tell you from what I read & know of the league and it's King Don Garber is this. I'm 90% certain Charlotte will get a team. I am 99.9% certain it will not be announced this summer. They're going to announce Sacramento Republic FC to join the league with Austin FC in 2021. They'll announce Saint Louis FC to join the league with team 30 in 2022. Now, team 30 could be Charlotte. I have a feeling that ultimately the league will expand to 32 before stopping. After SAC & STL join, Phoenix & Detroit are furthest along in discussions. Charlotte & Las Vegas are also to be in contention. I have a feeling of the 4 finalists I mentioned for 30-32, LV will be the odd one out. Every league is looking to Las Vegas right now and I get the impression MLS won't want to compete with that many new kids on the block. I think ultimately Detroit will be team 30 b/c Garber has a hard on for Detroit, with Phoenix Rising FC & Charlotte Independence rounding out the league by 2026 at the latest.

MLS will announce at the All Star Game which is July 30 . It’s not going to be Charlotte this time. It’s going to be Sacramento Republic FC to join with Austin FC, & Saint Louis FC to join later as team 29. Charlotte is certainly in there for 30 but that’s not coming yet. I also personally believe they’ll cap at 32 by 2026 & the final 3 will be some combo of Charlotte, Phoenix, Vegas & Detroit. One of those 4 won’t make it. If Tepper insists on an NFL/MLS combo stadium CLT is at a slight disadvantage but not really b/c DET is proposing that route & Vegas likely too. Only PHX is building a soccer stadium