ElricSeven

Oh, it's for sure now. I'll be in as of this Wednesday. Yay!

RDU already has a big time attraction and that's its future as THE major technology hub of the South. As a patent attorney I see all of the high-risk capital that is thrown around up there and it is astonishing. It exceeds any other Southeastern city by a multiple of (conservatively) 10X. Keeps making me think I should move up there, but the lack of an urban core jumps into my mind each time I consider it.

Citing racism was pretty inevitable on that one. Favorite tactic for people with no real argument, because rebuttal of such an argument is almost impossible without immediate counteraccusations that the person rebutting is a racist. It's a shame, really, since overuse dilutes the effecitiveness of more facts based claims of discrimination. I guess it is easier to claim someone's misconception about your hometown is due to them being racist, than admitting you've got a serious PR problem.

I doubt they'd want to compete with themselves. Not to mention, what city would want to front such a cost to be second?

There are lots of them, they just require some elbow grease and a little courage. I would suggest going to some of the local RE agent websites and doing a search on the sub-areas (e.g., 2-1) that immediately border the inner beltway with a max dollar limit of $250K. You'd be surprised how many come up, many for much less than $250k.

I wonder if this will get us any closer to non-entertainment retail?

Difference here might be that this will be a national draw and bring money in from out of the state. I wonder what the breakdown is with respect to regional v. national visitors? I would think regional would be a high percentage at first, and then die down. National should remain pretty constant? I'm guessing here.

Sweet. Verified by four independent sources. Seems pretty credible to me. The proverbial fat lady just opened her mouth to belt one out... I'm pretty astonished. Not that I don't love Charlotte, I do, but I thought for sure the lure of maximum visitors would help the Atlanta bid. I have the feeling that the attacks by the AJC hurt the bid. NASCAR did mention a few times how much civic attitude helps.

That penthouse has one heck of a view. Did they happen to mention whether they passed their permitting inspection yet?

Before the opening of the Aquariam in Atlanta, I would agree. But that place has been insanely popular giving Atlanta a pretty strong argument that they can post those numbers. I think that if Atlanta can come up with the funding, they've got us beat. It appears to me that NASCAR had no other reason to 1) announce the cutdown to just Charlotte and Atlanta and 2) extend the timeline for the announcement, than to give Atlanta the incentive and time to come up with the extra cash and make it the perfect deal for the HOF. If they match our cash, we'll only be the sentimental favorite. NASCAR seems to be sponsor and money driven, and not sentiment driven. Every square inch of everything is emblazoned with one logo or another. Compare that to baseball where traditionalists fight commercialization of the sport, e.g., putting advertisements on the bases.

Closings have been delayed due to trouble getting the final permits.

Which makes me wonder why we would want it. Of course we've got more of a lack of identity problemm than Atlanta does.

Seems like its always empty though.

I'm sure they want the attendance that Atlanta will generate with the financial support offered by Charlotte. If they can get their cake and eat it too, why not? Barring unforeseen sentimentality by the Frances, I'm thinking we're toast. But, as I noted before, I hope that a rejection will lead to a new determination to complete our arts package.

It seems pretty logical to me that, given the importance of luring people to Charlotte for Bank of America's workforce availability, BOA would make itself heard on the subject while negotiating its sponsorships. I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any stretch of imagination, but the timing looks to be a bit too much for coincidence. The question is, how much does NASCAR care what BOA wants? On the flip side, if given signs that CLT is out of the running or not favored, would BOA pull their deal in disgust? In each scenario I can think of, this is a positive for Charlotte's chances.

Sounds like it will be Atlanta that gets the HOF, unless politics get in the way. I've reached a state of ambivalence about this. If we got it, great. If not, I think it would make the arts package much more palatable. When you think of the arts package we'd be getting so much more in the way of variety than the HOF.

Or we can start taking photos of you.

As of today the balconies are up and the metallic silver of the fin has been revealed. Looks like they're down to the last 1% before completion.

Can start the day of closing if you want.

Closing dates have been scheduled, starting in early February. It's official.

that helps greatly, although I'm not sure how one forgets a whole block like losing $5 million in the couch I guess

I can't for the life of me figure out how that rendering fits the land owned by Levine. Which part would butt up agains the arena, i.e., the block on which the Treolar house sits? Is there a way to point out the other buildings as a reference?

That's not him. Maybe it was Art Van Dalay the architect.

I hope they like subsidizing the rent, because rental rates around here won't cover half of that mortgage. I guess resale value might go up, but there's nothing to stop the next condo tower from grabbing that high end spot with something better. Seems pretty risky. I hope there aren't a lot of people planning this with the Vue. Or, maybe I do and then I can buy one at 50% off when the all go up for sale at once at the same time as interest rates.