UptownGrrl

You mean the guy grilling kabobs? Yeah, that's pretty sweet.

Noticed right away - that's a big no-no. Hopefully they bought the image and just made a mistake on a quick pdf. Their printed materials appear to be more in order - though a bit overboard on the stock photography. But, that's really all they have at this point - no floorplans will be out for a couple weeks. Seems they're testing the market now to see what people are willing to buy before they commit. It's smart, I think. Then you don't have to battle any negative press because you had to change everything to respond to the market.

Does anyone know who Nascar has existing retail and restaurant relationships with? In the presentation to council last night, it was said that their existing retail and restaurant partners would have the first right to come in and be the exclusive vendors in the HOF, and also for catering events associated with the HOF in the new ballroom.

The news interviews were funny last night - complete with retakes after they thought they said too much. "I'll be at the breakfast tomorrow... yada yada" take two: "no, there is no breakfast with Brian France scheduled for tomorrow". *wink* Or, "It's great that it will be in Charlotte"... umm, take two: "In my opinion, we have a great chance..." It may be that Charlotte thought a bit outside the box and offered a broader proposal - not just the hall of fame, but a new home for Nascar including office space and other ancillary projects to make it a more complete package. I could see why they'd go for that over being just one of many attractions on the Atlanta day pass. This way, they get to be the big fish. I've heard 10:00 am Monday and 4:00 pm Monday for announcements....

$102M is not their total bid - just their "public money" portion. Charlotte's public money portion is still higher, but Atlanta's latest bid, when you look at the public money and the private/corporate funds together; is higher.

Wouldn't it be funny if Nascar announced they wanted the HOF in Charlotte and then we said "Ya know...on second thought, no thanks. We've got a better idea."

State of GA also kicked in another $5.2M in the form of a tax break on construction materials.

I'm not so sure. "The original financial package proposed $30 million from the state ($25 million) and city ($5 million), another $30 million through conventional financing and the remainder of the then $92 million hall of fame price tag through corporate sponsorship." The City of Atlanta has raised their portion from $5M to $77M and the total bid is now at $169M, compared to Charlotte's $137.5M.

Ya think? It's got a bunch of Atlantans upset though - the extra $72M pledge from the city is drawing on funds already earmarked for other services and infill redevelopment programs.

Seriously cool - can't wait to see how that turns out. How original. Well, maybe more like 'original-revival'.

Where is Lulu's? Can't find an address on the web. I know its on Central - but what's the cross street? Thanks!

First trip to NorthLake yesterday -- Overall, it was okay, but nothing that impressive. Two disappointments -- the lower level (with the exception of maybe 2 stores) was all tween and teenager stores. I mean, how much of the same stuff do you need? It was AEO, then Abercrombie, then Hollister, then Aeropostale, then Charlotte Russe, then Delia's, then Limited TOO, then PacSun, then Claire's Boutique, then Libby Liu, then Hot Topic etc. etc. (it bugs me that they list these under women's apparel or men's apparel when its really just high-schoolers that wear that stuff). Second was the traffic pattern on exit. The cars were backed up trying to go left at the light in front of Belk for a good 20 minutes after mall closing time. It was just one lane. Good variety of shoe stores though.

Progress has been a long-time coming in P.G. Took a long time for retailers to connect that though it is a largely minority area, those that live there have some of the highest per-capita incomes in the nation. Residents would otherwise travel 20 miles into parts of DC or Annapolis to shop. They've been practically begging for local, reasonably upscale retail. I think it was that type of clamoring and available disposable income that led to the resurgence of PG Plaza. The parallel is that several years ago it was a scary place to go; but the economic demographics have increased and so, it gradually got better. Retailers realized that if they invested, there were people there who would shop and spend. Hopefully Eastland and the whole east part of Charlotte can hope for a similar renaissance. The problem here is that east Charlotte residents can just very easily opt for other nearby shopping venues.

Prices of the penthouse units have been released: Charlotte Observer