MZT

I've met a few other folks who bought "hot" condos at Lake Wylie and now can't get them rented to cover cost. Gotta be careful listening to those salespeople...

Courtside is fighting the topography, to be an imposing height. IE the 2nd floor is at ground level to the arena. (It does loom up at you walking or biking along 7th, though.)

Sounds like they milked it for the easy profits.. and would rather let someone else do the heavy lifting of upgrading the facility and locating new tenants.

I'd rate Eastland a "C" overall. If they'd spruce up the facade and convert some of the vacant parking to another use, it would not look bad at all from Central Avenue. I suspect the majority of people that go there, drive east down Central to get to it. West from Albemarle looks tackier-- with the empty big boxes nearby, and weeds growing in their parking lots. People make such a big deal about Eastland, but those are people who have never had a job that required them to drive into true slums. Heck, I'm willing to visit the thrift stores on Freedom Blvd to find bargains. It kind of reminds me of Fresno there.

I walked by courtside Friday as the big storm was rolling in. Gave me the willies to be so near that big crane, with all the sky-to-ground lighting going on! Looks like they're beginning to roll the facade up the sides.

The weekday evenings aren't that bad either. I used to park there and take the Express bus into town when I lived on the east side. Nobody messed with my car, and the parking lots were deserted. Saturday night is a different thing.

If there's enough density you can have malls every 3-4 miles. Orange County has... (thinking)... at least 6 malls on I-5. Plus some others on I-405. Not all of them are doing great, but none were as dead as Freedom Mall, when I was there.

The long term trends in this area will be interesting to watch. A lot of the housing north of 85 and west of 77 is kinda chintzy. It's where the small builders are cranking out 95K vinyl starter homes. That stuff is creeping up north twards Huntersville, which has much stricter building codes. Just because it's near the lake doesn't mean it will become an affluent area.

Freedom Mall and all the vacant storefronts leading up to it, are a strong indication of how commercial investors view west Charlotte. Farther west, and you're under the northbound flight paths from the airport. That's a nonstarter. Farther west, then........? Belmont? Gastonia? Oh, wait... Gastonia already tried a mall. No, I'd say the next mall would more likely be in South Carolina, than west Charlotte.

Pluses for Target: No creepy "greeter" at the front. The aisles are wider and it just feels easier to move around. Minus: I don't see this as often in NC... but in California, Targets often have some charity soliciting in front of the door. Target fought some of them in court and it came to a draw... they could draw a border around the front door, and post a sign saying they're not affiliated with any of the organizations, but not chase them off. But I've been getting wise lately about chains. Most "common household items" are available at Dollar General and Family dollar. I mean seriously... why pay $5 for a paintbrush at Home Depot, when you can buy a *BAG* of them for a buck?

Once something happens here, maybe the mall security will chase away the homeless guys hanging around on Baxter street. No eye contact... And no, I will not hand out money from my car window...