MZT

> People move to Atlanta who know nothing about it other than it's vibe and energy. I think Charlotte has succeeding in reaching that point. People do move here without knowing what job they will find, or what part of town they'll live in. That's at least one "it" factor that most mid sized sities don't have.

I agree that the synergy between Trump and Ghazi at least begins to make it thinkable. Perhaps what could happen, is widening the Tryon or College bridges 40 feet or so. That's not such a daunting feat, and developers might be persuaded to foot a portion of that. Yeah, it's thinking small. But we did start with the trolley before building light rail. Stir up some support, and maybe in another generation a city leader will champion really doing the cap.

I have to wonder how this would appear to the rest of the city. There is already a lot of grumbling about how center city gets everything. People will be asking why all this money spent to build a park over 277 can't be used to improve Freedom Blvd or Eastland Mall.

The exterior is beginning to be fastened.

Walk into the transit center side, and you can see they're tearing out an opening for the walkways up to the platform.

Soooo... Hatcher is the "Levine" of Plaza-Midwood? Have to agree with atlrvr though. Heirs usually waste no time selling property. They have much less interest in being landlords.

In many ways, Huntersville is Mecklenburg's answer to Wake county's "Cary". The tighter zoning control, building permits, bedroom community atmosphere. But -- not in roadbuilding and traffic design. Cary was serious, and made sure to get it's roads to loop and arc through the city too, and not just into/outof.

NVQ did say about a year ago that VUE was 40% sold. If true, it sounds like sales have kinda topped out for now. The believers have bought in. The next wave of buyers will be the persuaded.

There is some precedent. Ghazi arranged some nice stonework and fountains at the Park Road project, in front of the restaurants there.

The current regulations were "effective" - getting me to just take the bus and quit parking for free in 1st ward. I didn't want to be bothered with keeping track of "Arena Days" and it's easier to just do the same thing every morning.

Kennethlin's post validates what I've always felt in my gut. The resale market is the "real" market. Yeah some pre-construction buyers made out great 5 years ago. But now the developers don't want to leave that profit on the table anymore, and everything is priced into the first sale. As long as you can buy something with payments close to the rental value, at least you can hold it as a back-up plan. This is part of the reason I think parts of central Charlotte have over-appreciated. (See my Wilmore posts) because you can't possibly rent those renovations and break even. The flippers have been taking riskier bets than I would, the last few years.

So, can we claim "Renwick" as a new verb, for what happened to those contracts?

Put it another way - if a small bank like FC feels the need for a Tryon presence, then SunTrust can't be far behind.

I'd be reluctant to call 1st Charter a regional... it's more of a large community bank.

I think I've read a few times that First Charter is open to purchase offers, so I don't see them making a big investment uptown. BB&T has a building. Suntrust makes more sense.

Ehh. Looks like a dormitory on one of Cal State's campuses.

The Burlington Coat Factory wing of the mall doesn't even have anything that would interest me. I have felt in the past, like the mall "ends" at the ice rink when entering from Belk.

From what's being said here lately, I'm wondering if Dillard's is worth the trip anymore. Although I might go by the Belk to buy a portable clothes rack, before it's gone.

Well now we can see that Cherry residents do have something in common with Dilworth... "no change anywhere for any reason" I could at least grasp the principle, behind being upset about luxury townhomes. But affordable senior housing? Come on.

I don't travel much, now. But a few years ago when I did, and was in an unfamiliar city, Day's Inn and Super 8 were the two I would look for. They're nationally known, budget rate brands - without sliding all the way down the scale to "trucker motels". I usually had no problem getting a room for $50-$65. So I suspect the Day's Inn will do brisk business, as long as it's there.

I've been thinking the same thing, but was reluctant to pile on as a naysayer. I don't think the building is out of scale. When there are a few others that size nearby it will change that impression, for people who get that feeling today. But I hate seeing buildings with no windows on the sides. Cheap apartments and cheap entry level housing looks like that. Another example are the south facing sides of 3030 South. You can tell where windows would have gone, and they actually bricked over the openings! Ugh! Yea, they just face a gas station and the CATS maintenance facility... But a crummy view and some natural light, beats none at all.

I can imagine shopping here occasionally, since it's on the way home (if I drive). I'll take it over the dead Midtown space, that's for sure. It's probably a bit too far to walk from work, though. I'm willing to walk to the government buildings for paying taxes and water bills, so I'd say further is feasible - but not very practical. Maybe we'll see the Gold Rush extended here.

I stopped by CP this afternoon. It seems to be well attended and I don't sense that "January slack".

It appears, sadly, that those who forecast an exodus of retailers after Jan 1 were correct. Does Eastland lose money right now? Or is Glimcher simply looking for better returns elsewhere? BTW, I agree that east side Charlotte is beginning to resemble the decaying outskirts of LA county. The area is suffering. I owned a house out there (for about 9 months) which I sold for $95000 in mid 2003. Here we are, 3.5 years later and homes in that neighborhood are going for about $110,000. That's 4.2% a year... barely keeping pace with inflation.... simultaneously in a city with trendy areas like PM about 6 miles away that have almost doubled in value. I also think the dilapidation of east side is spreading south along Independence. The wedge all the way down to the intersection of WT Harris and Independence is getting sketchy.

After walking by a huge hole every morning for a year, it's kind of impressive to see stuff accumulating and rising up at the site. There is a LOT of mass being installed.