Plaza-Midwood Projects (Central, Commonwealth, The Plaza)

[SgtCampsalot]

for all the usual reasons,

Go on?...

[Yulupa76]

Does anyone have any knowledge of what Northwood Ravin may build here?  This parcel is not included in the larger plans on the development map...

The plan I saw was for two single-family homes believe it or not.  I was hoping they would make into public space (a little park with a fountain, benches, rose garden or something, where people could sit while walking their dogs, but there's no profit in that I guess and parks, art, architecture, and general aesthetics have no real economic value - otherwise how do you explain the Family Dollar shopping center on Central, which btw is about to add a Five Guys to the list of tenants? 

I am very disappointed with Northwood Ravin.  They represented at the community meetings that the buildings would be architecturally distinct from one another such that they would not look like they were all part of a single develpment and that there would be ample public space incorporated into the development (with landscaping done by LandDesign).  Nice goal/sentiment, but an unfulfilled promise imo.  Walking my dog through the area I see virtually no public space unless you count the parking lots behind the buildings.  There is one miserable looking fire pit between two of the buildings on McClintock but other than that nothing from what I can see.  As far as architecturally distinct, if you consider alternating siding type, color and roof angle, then yeah, mission accomplished.  The end result falls far short of the Morningside Village envisioned by the defunct predecessor-in-interest Graham Development in the heady days of 2006.  At the end of the day, just another pseudo-urban, car-centric, traffic congestion nightmare.  The token retail component of phase 2 can't absolve NRW of the sin (especially since they had no part in making it a requirement).  But, as everyone always says (especially apartment developers, who are keen to remind complaining neighbors) - it could have been worse (i.e. "we could have made it uglier and cheaper") so shut up and enjoy your future 40 minute 3 mile commute to uptown and enjoy the insane social experiment (think Mad Max at 0.2 mph) that the Harris Teeter parking lot will become in just a few more months.  They (the developers) of course will live nowhere near the mess, but since this is NC the big developers, now with the aid of their hand puppets in the Republican-controlled legislature, rule and therefore write the rules.   Having said that, I will be somewhat gratified if NRW keeps to their promise to not flip the property (not to be a "drive-by" development, just a must-drive a short distance, and very slowly, development).  

My insomnia-inspired rant is now over (I guess I should not have waited so long to post again -too much pent up disgust/cynicism.)  

P.S.;  In my next installment, in the interest of fairness I might take a shot at the Democrats who imo are in other ways just as much responsible for undermining urban progress.  Logic does not dictate that if one side is wrong, the other must be right.  

Now let's see if there are any old Twilight Zone reruns on at 2:00 a.m.

[Niner National]

Just got confirmation that a crosswalk would definitely be coming to Plaza Midwood at Clement and Central.

Also, the two spaces on the bottom of the Lunchbox records building is likely to be combined into one large space.

[IrishCLT]

Does anyone know what's going on with the Joe Hoopers property?

 

[Guest]

I'll give you one wild, fudging, guess.

[archiham04]

good news is... this property is pretty constrained by RR ROW.  Chances of an ugly honkin TXdonut are low.  I'm starting to wonder if all these apts by the tracks are the result of a vast conspiracy of fb posters working to build a sound wall to buffer the train noise.

[archiham04]

the facebooks are saying that it will be a new restaurant concept.

[Guest]

the facebooks are saying that it will be a new restaurant concept.

I talked to a developer who had been planning on putting 100 apartments on this lot and the one behind it. Guess thats not happening anymore.

[archiham04]

^I have heard that these parcels have had a problem getting clear title to the land due to poorly documented RR ROW

Can the rendering for this project please fall off the back of a truck? hint hint. 

Still hoping with you...

Edited November 3, 2015 by archiham04
clarity

[archiham04]

This was posted on fb a while back: the Cramer Estate site plan

[Guest]

This was posted on fb a while back: the Cramer Estate site plan

And I now know there is a huge house with a huge plot of land there... I did not know that. Crazy.

[archiham04]

This project will bring much needed diversity to the the housing stock in PM. Currently our 800k-999k sector is drastically under-represented.

[GeauxCLT]

The Cramer Estate plan looks great to me. Considering the flood of apartment construction, this is a welcome addition. I don't know why any existing property owner wouldn't want 38 comps at 800k-1M going in. I particularly like the street connections. They don't seem to be designing an exclusive segregated area, rather adding a few new blocks to an existing neighborhood. 

[Midwoodian]

Updates form the 'hood:

Yesterday morning I saw a construction worker walking around the art deco brick building to the left of the old Todd's Flowers location.  There is also a construction dumpster now at the back of the lot.  Construction/building update may be imminent?

This morning there were workers performing some sort of electrical testing on the lines in front of the old church at Hawthorne and Central, where the planned apartments will be going in. 

[SgtCampsalot]

[Guest]

Damn, just throw in some modern windows, and make this retail :-(

[Spartan]

Was the stained glass smashed out, or was there an effort to save and relocate them? 

[GeauxCLT]

Was the stained glass smashed out, or was there an effort to save and relocate them? 

 

It wasn't smashed. I saw it being carefully removed. Heard it was sold. 

[asthasr]

Damn, just throw in some modern windows, and make this retail :-(

I suspect it was not structurally sound.

[archiham04]

The architects had been working on strategies for incorporating the stained glass windows into the project... might have been sold, but don't be surprised if you see them adorning the walls that will tower over the Beaver ... or something similar.

[archiham04]

Welcome to UP GeauxCLT !

^^^^^^On Cramer Estate... while it could have been worse... I disagree that it integrates into the neighborhood.  Fort and Country Club are both very nice streets in the neighborhood with sturdy land values, but this developer is turning backyards to Fort and Country Club.  This reeks of exclusion.  I have heard that the street connection made to Fort was a requirement of the city, and I suspect (based on the rest of the site plan) that the developer would have preferred to seclude the development and cul-de-sac it all the way.

I would probably go so far as to say that this is a great example of a development that does as little as possible to integrate into the neighborhood.

Edited November 5, 2015 by archiham04
Added the welcome... forgot my manners for a moment

[GeauxCLT]

Thanks Archiham. Been reeding for a while and decided to enter the conversation. Love the insight this group brings.

 

I guess I hadn't thought about the inward facing houses that way, I was just excited to see the street connections and not a gated exclusive compound. I don't know the dimensions of the property, but the layout seems to fit as many lots as possible given the space. If I was a builder I'd want the pretty front of the house to face the other houses I'm building across the street and if I was an existing neighbor I'd prefer to look at some trees and green space (as is there now) rather than the front or back of a new house. So I thought it the best of both worlds, but I do see your point. Perhaps not perfect, but this plan is a lot better than what I feared would happen. 

Any idea if these renderings are something official or is this all just proposal at this point? Has a developer been selected or is this marketing material to support a sale? To stay R3 there wouldn't need to be a re-zoning, so I guess the city's leverage is that CDOT would be building and maintaining the roads? 

[archiham04]

I don't think the city builds the roads... The developer usually is required to build to city standards and then deed it over to the city.  The leverage i think is a reg that requires all parcels to abut a city right of way... if you want to subdivide , and have legal parcels after the division, you have to build city streets and dedicate ROW to the city.

[Crown]

Legion Brewing looks pretty damn close to being done, but no announcement yet for grand opening. 

 

[CLTProductions]

12 minutes ago, Crown said:

Legion Brewing looks pretty damn close to being done, but no announcement yet for grand opening. 

 

Can't wait for this. 

Also, new restaurant/bar to take place of Joe Hoopers. Theyre using a "no condos" type marketing strategy to draw interest. Smart. They say early 2016 but haven't started permitting process yet. Good luck with early 2016

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/whats-in-store/article45470610.html