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

[archiham04]

They all have garages on the front, but there are only three of the 19 townhomes that have garages facing the street...   Along thurmond 3 face the street with garages, and a 6 face a motor court.  The remaining 10 face a new alley between VLE and the Church.

[pgsinger]

Has anyone been to that Midwood Country Club place across the street from Veteran's Park?  I think it is relatively new. 

[Miesian Corners]

I have to think that the lead guitarist of Spinal Tap would fit in at CM quite well

"It goes to 11."

[sleightofhand]

Renderings of the proposed VanLandingham Estate townhomes.

 

Where are these going?

[southslider]

^Back NE corner of the property

[CMBX 4]

Oooh, this one is even cooler: http://www.census.gov/censusexplorer/censusexplorer.html

 

P-M is mostly tract 10 I think, but if you count the south side of Central then also tract 11 (which also has good stats).  Some of tract 12 should be included, but 12's stats aren't good, so we'll ignore.  10 and 11 are actually almost identical in stats, so it doesn't matter if you include 11 or not.

 

Tract 10 and 11 average 86K income, 97% high school grads, 66% college grads, and 26% masters degrees.

 

Ballantyne is tracts 58.37, 58.40, and 58.41.  Those average 104K, 98%, 69%, and 21%.

 

I couldn't find any EIFS per capita stats.

 

 

This is one of the best ZIP information websites out there:

 

http://www.esri.com/data/esri_data/ziptapestry

Edited January 28, 2015 by CMBX 4

[archiham04]

This is one of the best ZIP information websites out there:

 

http://www.esri.com/data/esri_data/ziptapestry

Thanks for putting that out there.  As I think grodney was pointing out though... looking at the 28205 ZIP doesn't really tell you much about PM.  There are a lot of other neighborhoods lumped in there.

[pgsinger]

Below are some pics showing progress on a few projects in PM.  Sorry for the blurry pics but the iPhone (5S) is pathetically slow to focus.

 

Pollack Shores @ Central/10th/Louise

 

 

Commonwealth Apts (I think)

 

 

I forget the name, but the one where the pawn shop used to be next to Fern. A little distant, but basically everything is ripped down and it looks like debris is still being removed.

 

 

Morningside Village.  There hasn't been much talk about this one on the board the past few months, so I really wanted to get these up.  Living in MONA, I am most excited about this one right now.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2015 by pgsinger

[archiham04]

^Thanks for posting... I have been getting glimpses of Morningside from central and been worried that the red color was brick... Not that brick is bad, but that shade of red is awful.  Glad to see it is just the sheathing!

[archiham04]

 

Actually, I had that wrong.  The Garden Center building will remain.  I'm not sure about the Jackson Hewitt right at the corner.  Fern will be gone.

 

It is now 250 units, and I think only a single phase.  It does include the warehouse buildings behind the retail centers, but none of the Barnhardt plant.

 

I believe the developer is different from Faison (who originally had the site under contract)  Tribridge out of Atlanta I think is the developer, unless they are partnering with Faison.

Garden Center building has been purchased too.  The whole block is toast.

[nonillogical]

Garden Center building has been purchased too.  The whole block is toast.

So...replacing 4-5 retail frontages on Central with 0? Wonderful. 

[Guest]

So...replacing 4-5 retail frontages on Central with 0? Wonderful. 

I thought this one was going to have a couple spaces of Retail, unlike the others.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Guest

[nonillogical]

I thought this one was going to have a couple spaces of Retail, unlike the others.

I know that was the original plan but seems like reports have gone back and forth in this thread, and I could have sworn that the latest was no retail. 

[Prodev]

The 250 units being built there does not have any new retail. Tribridge bought the existing retail adjacent, but the approved plans do not include demo of that space, so that retail will remain for now. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

You can tap-to-focus btw... /off-topic

[rjp212]

Wasn't sure if this was mentioned already but the LuLu space is supposedly going to become a Pure Pizza.  I think there is one Uptown?  There is a lot of pizza places already on Central with House of Pizza, Pizza Peel, Fuel and Intermezzo.  I did look and it seems like it has good reviews.

 

Rendering from the CBJ. http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2015/02/03/pure-pizza-plans-second-location-in-charlotte.html

 

Edited February 3, 2015 by rjp212

[archiham04]

The 250 units being built there does not have any new retail. Tribridge bought the existing retail adjacent, but the approved plans do not include demo of that space, so that retail will remain for now. 

The retail buildings may be remaining, but the tenants are apparently going elsewhere.

[LoLo]

The tools building yet more less-than-thrilling apartments there know there's a train track 5 feet away, right? And that train is loud and that its horn is shockingly loud. And, traffic on Central has steadily been getting worse and worse and adding to that nightmare is going to make getting around even more difficult and dangerous. It's like building a car without brakes: not smart, yo. Fat-cats' wallets: 1. Standard of living: 0.

[Niner National]

The tools building yet more less-than-thrilling apartments there know there's a train track 5 feet away, right? And that train is loud and that its horn is shockingly loud. And, traffic on Central has steadily been getting worse and worse and adding to that nightmare is going to make getting around even more difficult and dangerous. It's like building a car without brakes: not smart, yo. Fat-cats' wallets: 1. Standard of living: 0.

 

This is how you sound:

 

 

Anyone that thought Plaza Midwood wouldn't grow is a fool. This apartment, while not ideal and not somewhere that I would want to live due to location by the tracks, is a huge upgrade over those terrible warehouses.

 

Let's face it, there is a lot of great things about P-M, but there are also some really terrible things that I will not be sad at all to see go away. This shopping center/warehouse center was one. The parking lot across the street is another. The area between Hawthorne and the tracks could also be much improved (although I'd love to see the church remain and repurposed). The long (mostly) empty warehouse next to the apartments that are being built up by Central Coffee is another blight on the area. These aren't remarkable structures and the offer no positive value to the P-M community.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Niner National

[archiham04]

PM is not a tourist destination.  Crap hole or not, PM has basic neighborhood services that create a robust and vibrant community.  Is there room for aethetic improvement, absolutely.  Is there room for apartments... absolutely.  Should we be be okay with losing these properties and not gaining quality retail in its place... NO WAY.  On this block there are places for people to work, and things for people to buy.  I endorse development and apartments to a point, but once we start losing economic diversity we start losing our neighborhood.  Those "ugly" buildings employed people (roughtly 50!) in a diverse manner.... a pawn shop, a flooring installer, a garden store, a tax services firm.... just to name a few.  Those might not look as sexy as a restaurant, a bar, or an apartment, but guess what... are are a hell of a lot more useful to everyday people.  Many neighborhoods ...across the country... would give their left nut to have the diversity that we have.

http://www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/gov-retail-gentrification-series.html

ps: I am "evolving" on this topic.  When I heard that the front retail businesses were being forced out, and heard about all the other businesses on the block that I never knew about, it really struck a cord.

[Niner National]

PM is not a tourist destination.  Crap hole or not, PM has basic neighborhood services that create a robust and vibrant community.  Is there room for aethetic improvement, absolutely.  Is there room for apartments... absolutely.  Should we be be okay with losing these properties and not gaining quality retail in its place... NO WAY.  On this block there are places for people to work, and things for people to buy.  I endorse development and apartments to a point, but once we start losing economic diversity we start losing our neighborhood.  Those "ugly" buildings employed people (roughtly 50!) in a diverse manner.... a pawn shop, a flooring installer, a garden store, a tax services firm.... just to name a few.  Those might not look as sexy as a restaurant, a bar, or an apartment, but guess what... are are a hell of a lot more useful to everyday people.  Many neighborhoods ...across the country... would give their left nut to have the diversity that we have.

http://www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/gov-retail-gentrification-series.html

ps: I am "evolving" on this topic.  When I heard that the front retail businesses were being forced out, and heard about all the other businesses on the block that I never knew about, it really struck a cord.

Most of those businesses are not things people use everyday. The restaurants yes, the others, not so much, especially not a tax preparation company that doesn't have a car in the parking lot for 3/4 of the year.

 

A flooring installation company is the kind of place that can be anywhere and thrive. That business is done online and in the home unless you are a Lumber Liquidators sized company with a multi million dollar marketing budget to funnel people to your storefront. I work with flooring companies (and other home service contractors) and almost all of their business comes from leads from their website. More feet in P-M will lead to more retail in the long run and there is limited space to build in Plaza Midwood.

 

I want to see Plaza Midwood get an office building, but I'm not sure how likely that is.

 

My company is on the second floor of the Midwood Smokehouse building and we've quietly been consistently adding employees to the area. The company on the other side of the hallway from us has probably doubled in size in the last year. By 2016, my company and their's will probably house almost 40 employees on the second floor of this building (and there are other companies up here too), so while we lose some employees in the neighborhood for improvements, we gain some in other areas.

 

Would I like to see retail in these projects? Sure, but retail is going to follow people and for retail to thrive, there have to be people and those people have to have somewhere to live. It's not like there isn't real retail in the neighborhood anyway. PM is in far better shape in that regard than virtually any other neighborhood in Charlotte and nothing lost is something I would consider vital to the retail health of the neighborhood.

[LoLo]

This is how you sound:

 

 

Anyone that thought Plaza Midwood wouldn't grow is a fool. This apartment, while not ideal and not somewhere that I would want to live due to location by the tracks, is a huge upgrade over those terrible warehouses.

 

Let's face it, there is a lot of great things about P-M, but there are also some really terrible things that I will not be sad at all to see go away. This shopping center/warehouse center was one. The parking lot across the street is another. The area between Hawthorne and the tracks could also be much improved (although I'd love to see the church remain and repurposed). The long (mostly) empty warehouse next to the apartments that are being built up by Central Coffee is another blight on the area. These aren't remarkable structures and the offer no positive value to the P-M community.

 

When the president of my company visited, he liked the neighborhood, but thought the main stretch of P-M, except the portion between Thomas and Pecan, looked like a crap hole.

 

Thanks for firing a personal shot across my bow, "Burg," on a message board no less. I'm sorry you disagree and I could have done without the vitriol. Unlike you, I don't like the idea of endless apartments with no additional single-family housing nor retail. Can't I voice that without you taking personal shots? And, would you say that to my face? If not, I suggest you apologize.

[Niner National]

You were the one that called developers tools to begin with.  Then called them fat cats. Then complained about traffic. You didn't really lodge valid complaints, you just came off as a whiner. So no, I don't apologize.

[LoLo]

You were the one that called developers tools to begin with.  Then called them fat cats. Then complained about traffic. You didn't really lodge valid complaints, you just came off as a whiner. So no, I don't apologize.

 

OK, slapdash construction and horrendous traffic aren't "valid complaints." I offered you an easy out; you chose not to take it — had to be a message board "big shot."

[Miesian Corners]

I have to agree with archiham.  And I'll add that in the end, these new apartment buildings that are void of retail and office space will end up being cancers on Central Avenue.  It's a commercial corridor--plopping rooftops on it while robbing it of its soul is a terrible decision by the developers, planners, and banks that loaned the money to build them. For goodness sakes, right now it looks as if SouthPark will end up having a more vibrant urban landscape than Plaza Midwood or South End. And that's just sad.