skylinedrive

I think the reason that the VUE has been slower to sell than other projects is due to its high price point. It really is at the upper limits of what Charlotte can support.

The Charlotte Planning Staff has signed off on the VUEs rezoning request...UMUD to UMUD-O. Whatever problems the city may have had with the VUE have been resolved. Now it just needs a rubber stamp from the City Council. See item 16 on page 6 of this document: http://www.charmeck.org/NR/rdonlyres/eejgu...nda-06-2006.pdf

Expect to see movement soon on the Alpha Mill project on 12th St. They were just issued a demolition contract for part of the building. Don't worry, the Historic Landmark's Commision signed off on the demo. I guess they are getting rid of the crappy add-ons to the original building.

I took a self guided tour of Courtside last week. The views are just stunning. I really like the rooftop terrace which puts you right at the angled roof along the front of the building. It gives you a feeling of being in a boat or a space ship with the skyline in the background. I even liked the views from the units that don't face the skyline. Elericseven when are you hosting the urbanplanet party on the rooftop of Courtside?

I heard from a real estate frind of mine that the sales were not good on the townhome project Drakeford wanted to do. They said these homes will be in the Saussy Burbank style so they should match the 9th St homes pretty well, just smaller.

I saw the Vue model last night. It is very impressive all lit up at night.

It only seems feasible to me to have 2 seperate trains. One a people mover on 5 min intervals and then a seperate West rail line running on 15 min+ intervals. Since the airport doesn't want to build park and ride lots for CATS, then it doesn't make sense to terminate the line at the airport. It would be nice to have the West line go directly to the main terminal just like MARTA in Atlanta, METRO in DC, and BART in SFO. It looks like our arrangement will be just like Newark, where you have a free people mover running on 5 minute interals that takes you from the main terminal to the parking decks, rental car places, and then stops at the Commuter Rail line at the edge of the airport. Keep in mind that Amtrak plans on making the Airport a stop in the future for the Crescent and any future high speed rail just like at the Newark Airport.

I went out to Northlake Mall today. It turned out rather nice, especially the "main hall" They were really able to capture a "Charlotte" essecne with all the brick work and releif artwork of the trolley, Andrew Jackson, James K Polk, etc. I can't wait for them to build out the exterior "SouthPoint" part on the front side. The store selection will be nice and will get even better as the mall becomes fully leased in the coming months. I would rate the Mall#2 in the metro area behind SouthPark.

Not really. I was also at the streetcar meeting yesterday and the street car stops will basically look like our bus stops do today with the shelters. The only difference is that the stops are slightly elevated with a ramp to allow ADA compliance. However they did have a SWEET animation of both the Arena and Gateway stops. The Arena stop animation showed the street cars coming up to a stop right in front of the main entrace to the Arena on Trade St. It simultaniously showed the South LRT moving along the bridge over Trade St. The animations were a good crowd pleaser and showed just how URBAN that section of downtown will look in 3-4 years. It was very dramatic. In the breakout sessions they also had a nice 4ft blow up graphic of the Gateway Train station. The renderings they had showed the main train station, the large rail bridge, and the retail parcel buildouts. It looked really sweet. Of course it also showed the streetcar stops on Trade St.

One of the local channels had their helicopter out there and it showed every single space in their parking lot was filled.

The Avenue started construction a couple months ago. They already have the foundation poured. Should start coming out of the ground fairly soon.

What is the tallest condo tower in Myrtle Beach? Avenue on Church street will be complete before the Vue is and it will be 36 stories.

I read where the Charlotte City Council approved the contract to realign Independence and 277. This is Phase 1 of the Midtown redevelopment. I suspect we will see some graders and earth movers out there shortly. I also read somewhere that the Home Depot/ Target will get started in 4th Quarter 2005...just a couple weeks from now.

What ever happened to that Italian Restarant that was supposed to open in the space where the Vue Sales Center is now?

We had both been drinking when this coversation occured. So its very possible that I didn't hear him right or he didn't say what he meant. I could have it backwords. monsoon is right that this building will have some type of damping. When I go to the sales center I will be asking them about what they plan to use. I don't want to shell out a lot of money just to end up sliding off the potty. For anyone that cares this particular Civil Engineer I was talking with is a graduate of USC.

Oh, the 2nd Ward plan was the big announcment? I thought it was all a joke that someone was pulling over on us. Personally I don't think the 2nd Ward plan was a big announcement. It has been a work in progress for years now. Furman has been a part of it from the begining. The fact that he is ready to start building in 2nd Ward now didn't catch anyone by surprise. This other guy Jerry Reese: I put his plan in the same category as the one that proposed the sky needle some years back. Pie in the Sky and never going to happen. He is just trying to create publicity for himself. I know more about this guy, but I am not going to post it on here. Just trust me, you won't see anypart of his plan take shape.

I don't see many similarities between Courtside and this Best Western. Courtside has a lot more rounded surfaces and the fins on the side. The roof on Courtside is also a lot more pronounced and overhangs in places. This Best Western is just a box with a elevator shaft on the side topped with a fake bell tower.

My wife and I have set up an appointment as well. I was talking to a civil engineer and he said that one thing to investigate is how much steel will be going into this building. The Tunnel Form concrete structure is a lot stiffer and therefore will sway more. He said that if you were on the top floor in that building to expect it to sway back and forth about 6 ft on a normal day...even more on a windy day. If it were a steel strucuture it would sway much less as those have more give and take. So it sounds like you make a trade off: you get less noise from your neighbors...but if you are high up then you might get motion sickness all the time.

I was at Trade and Tryon when the bus passed by. I would say there were a couple hundred people there and they were going CRAZY jumping up and down and screaming. That was probably the most action those NASCAR suits had seen in a long time. After talking to people that were at all of the different rallies I would estimate about 1000 people showed up for it. That is pretty good considering that all you saw was 1 police car with flashing lights and a bus full of corporate types that you could barely see through the tinted windows. I get a better show from my church every Sunday...and 1000 people don't show up for that. I don't think people should be upset with the numbers of people that showed up today. It was a random day in August. I mean really if you had some free time would you want to spend it outside in downtown Charlotte on a hot August day....just to watch a bus drive by? The only reason I was there was because I work downtown...and I'm a NASCAR fan. When it really counts NASCAR knows that we can deliver the people...we deliver them to the 2 races out at the speedway and at speed week downtown. I think we have a really good chance of landing this thing...even if "fat guy" David Poole thinks its a shoe in for Kansas City. I am also glad that no public money will be going into this if we don't get the HOF. Thats right...if we don't get the HOF then the taxes will not be going up and it will not be built. All the renderings and hoopla you have seen surrounding the Charlotte HOF so far has been funded from Private sources. Yes this will be a profit maker for NASCAR..its a private company that is out to make a profit. Guess what...all that pubic money that is being invested in the HOF comes right back to Charlotte... as well as all the future tourist dollars. NASCAR gets to skim off the top...but Charlotte will get the lions share of the money generated by the HOF. I am excited about the future of Charlotte!

LOL...Cinco you even had the forumers up in Raleigh excited about this "Big Announcment" A2 probably even had to sneak in a few cigs to calm his anxiety:) News 14 showed a 3D animation of the Charlotte HOF that included the skyline...is that what you were talking about? Don't worry, Charlotte will have plenty of real Big Announcements in the future that will satisfy us all.

Anyone going to the Hall of Fame Rally downtown next week?

Most all the big name NASCAR shops that I have been to (Hendrick, DEI, etc) have all that stuff on their tours. This new Waltrip shop doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary to me as a race fan. I think they are just hyping it up to get attention. This will be a good plus for Huntersville.

Yeah this story has really gotten old. It seems to me that the Police have taken action and things are back under control again. I was downtown this weekend and thouroughly enjoyed it. Felt perfectly safe the whole time. The key when you drive down there is to avoid Tryon...its not designed to move cars, but rather people.