Optimist Park / Belmont Projects

[southslider]

The potential of Ott St is just another reason I wish CSX would sell their line between Monroe junction (CSX split) and Charlotte diamond (NCRR/NS crossing) for Silver Line.

[CoffeeSamurai]

On 12/18/2015 at 9:38 AM, Niner National said:

Great new for Belmont!

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/31156/the-old-kellogg-plant-in-the-belmont-neighborhood-may-soon-house-a-brewery-restaurant-and-coffee-roaster/

 

 

 

This is like a 5 minute walk from my house, so I hope it all comes together. It could really be a nice catalyst for the neighborhood. If this project knocks it out of the park and someone puts a quality project on the land at 10th and Seigle, you could have a nice little cluster of entertainment that is walking distance to Belmont, PM, and First Ward residents.

This is great but will it really do much for a neighborhood that is going to be sitting at only 50% market rate? I mentioned this earlier, I am excited about the neighborhood and would buy a lot if there were any available. But I feel like I am willing to take on more risk than the average home buyer. So I has me wondering if this will really do much to spur development, even if it is single family homes. Are people really going to be willing to drop 400k for a new house in a neighborhood knowing there is government housing surrounding them? 

Another thought: This should be a catalyst for development. But it seems like, based on land records I mentioned above, that firms have bought lots around that area and are holding it. Will something like this spark the development or will firms holding onto lots waiting for the "next big thing" end up snuffing the spark? Even an elementary look through Zillow shows a few "new construction" homes for sale that have been on there for quite some time. (e.g., Dialect Design homes, those 2 lots that are selling a home starting at 185k). In Cherry the developer held on for a while and it seemed overnight the houses popped up. That would be best case scenario for Belmont/Louise Ave, but the more I look into Belmont the less I feel like it will happen. 

 

[SgtCampsalot]

1 hour ago, CoffeeSamurai said:

Will something like this spark the development or will firms holding onto lots waiting for the "next big thing" end up snuffing the spark?

I honestly believe it is the Hawthorne Mill that will do it. With this, and the Highland Park Mill at 16th St, it is getting flanked.

I do feel that, even though Belmont will have a massive percentage of subsidized housing, it will be counter-pointed by how desirable the location is. It's just TOO close to Uptown and other gentrifying neighborhoods to not.

Edited December 19, 2015 by SgtCampsalot

[CoffeeSamurai]

15 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

I honestly believe it is the Hawthorne Mill that will do it. With this, and the Highland Park Mill at 16th St, it is getting flanked.
 

That's another developer I feel like is dragging their feet. I thought the construction would be well under way by now. Part of the reason I think so much subsidized housing is getting built is because it's easy to push it into Belmont since nothing is happening yet and no one is willing to fight for their property value. 

 

[SgtCampsalot]

On 12/19/2015 at 4:56 PM, CoffeeSamurai said:

That's another developer I feel like is dragging their feet. I thought the construction would be well under way by now. Part of the reason I think so much subsidized housing is getting built is because it's easy to push it into Belmont since nothing is happening yet and no one is willing to fight for their property value. 

 

Meanwhile, Villa Heights/OP have been begging market-rate developers to include affordable units, with no luck at all.

Edited December 21, 2015 by SgtCampsalot

[SgtCampsalot]

So, I need your help, UP. Regarding this "Parkwood Residences" development at the corner of Parkwood and Brevard (on the corner, right across from the BLE station): Rezoning Petition 2015-126. It will be ~341 units. The renderings they showed us this past week at a community meeting were... interesting. They said they will email them to me Monday since they had to finish some touches on them to have to the city by Friday, so Monday I will be asking for advice on the finer points. But suffice to say they're definitely TRYING to have unique architecture, and trying to not make the whole block seem like one building (which is wonderful, but such a goal has backfired in the past, so I'm withholding judgement). 

There are many things the neighborhood groups are trying to figure out, but we're trying to prioritize. Right now, I have a few questions for insight:

-Do you see any possibility, based on this most recent rendering of the block, of them breaking up the block at all? Given the economy of scale they are basing their entire project on (they went out of their way to buy out the whole block), I'm convinced that's the one thing it's too late for.

-21st St and Caldwell St: Why the 6 ft sidewalks? Also, they say there is no parking allowed on Caldwell St (supposedly because of the light industrial business across the street from the project, the one that's fenced off). Anyone know anything about that? As a result, they've made the Caldwell side of the property blank, with only the dumpster and second parking deck entrance, as well as no parking spots.

-I'm convinced they won't get rid of their inset private courtyards on Parkwood, so I'm thinking of proposing dual benches to flank the gate entrances to those courtyards. Anything to make it more public. 

-Their front parking deck entrance (with the leasing office at the corner): They are attempting to make that seem like less of a deck entrance, and feel more like an "actual street" by streetscaping it for about ~50 ft, and even adding residential stoops on the inside of the recess, actually facing the leasing office. Good? Bad? It'll be easier to give you an idea with their 3D renderings on Monday, but, food for thought. Kind of looks like the Metropolitan to me. (Note: They said there's no way to move, let alone nix, that Brevard deck entrance.

- The plaza they hope to put at the main corner (which actually has a steep grade) will need to discussed later, but we are trying to push for Flex retail-residential space at that corner. They don't want to. I understand retail being risky upfront, but they seem resistant to actually making it flex space (slightly different architecturally) to leave it open in the future. It's been frustrating. They had actually proposed "Live-Work Units" at the corner, but the neighborhood groups got paranoid that it would never end up being retail, so they were scrapped altogether.

In summation: This is a crucial development, and I worry this will be a struggle of a rezoning process.

Edited January 16, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[SgtCampsalot]

I still haven't gotten the 3D renderings from this project (Rezoning Petition 2015-126), but I have two blurry photos of the presentation they gave last week...

This is the main corner at Parkwood Ave and Brevard. Notes: There will be a traffic light installed at that intersection. There is also a ~10 ft grade difference from Parkwood up to Brevard, which is the reason for the stairs:

This is the "motor court" entrance to the parking deck on Brevard St. Note the leasing office being there, along with parking for it:

Thoughts?

Edited January 19, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[southslider]

^How kind of the developer to build a kiss-and-ride area for the Parkwood Station.

[Spartan]

On 1/16/2016 at 0:47 PM, SgtCampsalot said:

So, I need your help, UP. Regarding this "Parkwood Residences" development at the corner of Parkwood and Brevard (on the corner, right across from the BLE station): Rezoning Petition 2015-126. It will be ~341 units. The renderings they showed us this past week at a community meeting were... interesting. They said they will email them to me Monday since they had to finish some touches on them to have to the city by Friday, so Monday I will be asking for advice on the finer points. But suffice to say they're definitely TRYING to have unique architecture, and trying to not make the whole block seem like one building (which is wonderful, but such a goal has backfired in the past, so I'm withholding judgement). 

There are many things the neighborhood groups are trying to figure out, but we're trying to prioritize. Right now, I have a few questions for insight:

-Do you see any possibility, based on this most recent rendering of the block, of them breaking up the block at all? Given the economy of scale they are basing their entire project on (they went out of their way to buy out the whole block), I'm convinced that's the one thing it's too late for.

-21st St and Caldwell St: Why the 6 ft sidewalks? Also, they say there is no parking allowed on Caldwell St (supposedly because of the light industrial business across the street from the project, the one that's fenced off). Anyone know anything about that? As a result, they've made the Caldwell side of the property blank, with only the dumpster and second parking deck entrance, as well as no parking spots.

-I'm convinced they won't get rid of their inset private courtyards on Parkwood, so I'm thinking of proposing dual benches to flank the gate entrances to those courtyards. Anything to make it more public. 

-Their front parking deck entrance (with the leasing office at the corner): They are attempting to make that seem like less of a deck entrance, and feel more like an "actual street" by streetscaping it for about ~50 ft, and even adding residential stoops on the inside of the recess, actually facing the leasing office. Good? Bad? It'll be easier to give you an idea with their 3D renderings on Monday, but, food for thought. Kind of looks like the Metropolitan to me. (Note: They said there's no way to move, let alone nix, that Brevard deck entrance.

- The plaza they hope to put at the main corner (which actually has a steep grade) will need to discussed later, but we are trying to push for Flex retail-residential space at that corner. They don't want to. I understand retail being risky upfront, but they seem resistant to actually making it flex space (slightly different architecturally) to leave it open in the future. It's been frustrating. They had actually proposed "Live-Work Units" at the corner, but the neighborhood groups got paranoid that it would never end up being retail, so they were scrapped altogether.

In summation: This is a crucial development, and I worry this will be a struggle of a rezoning process.

Generally speaking, I doubt breaking it up is possible. The economics of a texas-donut style development are too good - and you have to put parking somewhere. I'd rather it be in the middle than in a stand alone deck somewhere else. The "back door" has to be somewhere, so it's really a matter of which street you'd rather it go on. I do think more could and should be done to minimize the impact of the rear entrances in all of these apartment buildings but it is what it is. Articulation is the term used to make the building footprint and façades irregularly shaped so the building doesn't appear as bulky as it is.

The sidewalk width will probably be 8ft all around. Zoning requirements for TOD are 8ft, regardless of what the site plan says - and the building permitting process should catch that.

I agree that some retail space would be nice at the station. It seems to me that it will develop over time. It's hard to image retail there now without a critical mass of people.

[SgtCampsalot]

So, here are the Hi-Res 3D renderings of the "Parkwood Residences" parcel (Petition 2015-126): 

Parkwood_Property_Presentation_01.15.16.pdf

And here are embedded JPEGs for your viewing ease:

The Brevard St portion to the left of the main Parkwood/Brevard corner. Plaza on the right, deck entrance/motor court on the left:

The Brevard St parking deck entrance/motor court, and parking spots for the leasing office on the left:

The corner plaza of Parkwood Ave and Brevard St, facing north east (right across from Parkwood Station):

The same plaza, facing north up Brevard. Notice the grade elevation:

Parkwood Ave, facing west (the trees on the horizon are supposed to be Parkwood Station). This portion will be an extension of the CATS 15 ft. multi-use path. I'm not sure why the street looks different than it will:

Here's the most recent site plan for reference:
RZ2.0 1-15-16.pdf

Thoughts? 

 

Edited January 21, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[SgtCampsalot]

I think the courtyards (whether they kept them gated or not) would function better along Brevard, and then Parkwood should have the consistent wall of ground floor units (that could be eventually be converted to retail).

22 hours ago, Spartan said:

The "back door" has to be somewhere, so it's really a matter of which street you'd rather it go on. I do think more could and should be done to minimize the impact of the rear entrances in all of these apartment buildings but it is what it is. Articulation is the term used to make the building footprint and façades irregularly shaped so the building doesn't appear as bulky as it is.

Good point. I suppose there is a certain level of inevitability with the economics of a project like this.

Edited January 21, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[SgtCampsalot]

On 1/21/2016 at 0:12 PM, SgtCampsalot said:

So, here are the Hi-Res 3D renderings of the "Parkwood Residences" parcel (Petition 2015-126): 

Parkwood_Property_Presentation_01.15.16.pdf

And here are embedded JPEGs for your viewing ease:

The Brevard St portion to the left of the main Parkwood/Brevard corner. Plaza on the right, deck entrance/motor court on the left:

The Brevard St parking deck entrance/motor court, and parking spots for the leasing office on the left:

The corner plaza of Parkwood Ave and Brevard St, facing north east (right across from Parkwood Station):

The same plaza, facing north up Brevard. Notice the grade elevation:

Parkwood Ave, facing west (the trees on the horizon are supposed to be Parkwood Station). This portion will be an extension of the CATS 15 ft. multi-use path. I'm not sure why the street looks different than it will:

Here's the most recent site plan for reference:
RZ2.0 1-15-16.pdf

Thoughts? 

 

I know this isn't the most high-profile location and not many may live around it, but it's truly the only development that will shape the Parkwood Station. It's on track for a February 15th meeting. I'm noticing a lot of city staff don't like the plans, however many in the old guard think it's just fine. I'd like them to move the main deck entrance to 21st and move the courtyards to Brevard.

If anyone wants to lend their voice about this, please let it be known to the city, or come to the public hearing on Feb 15th at 6pm. This project has transformation potential, or it can hinder that area for years to come.

Edited January 30, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[Desert Power]

This doesn't look like a big enough development for such an important parcel of land.  A mile from uptown and right across from a train station, let's get 5+ stories out of this thing.

[dubone]

I'm glad the city will work to evolve the designs forward, as it will set the tone for this area between Parkwood and 30th/Matheson.  

 

As for scale, it has some sections that are 5 stories.  I suspect density is not too bad.  Often these block-filling midrise buildings have more units than you'd expect.  

[archiham04]

I like about 1/3 of the architecture.  The corner of Parkwood and Brevard looks good.  the massing, restrained material variation and scale of the couryards is good.  I do not like the Parkwood elevation.  it is very repetitive, and plain.  I suspect that the rest of the building (which is not shown) that faces N Caldwell and 21st street will be similarly banal... A well articulated building WITH FOUR SIDES should be a baseline for a conditional rezoning.  Don't let them cheapen the backside the way they did with the Levine apartments on Commonwealth.

[rjp212]

Perhaps someone can shed some light on what this is.  There is a rezoning petition for the old convenience store at 10th and Seigle.  Looks like two new buildings called "Belmont Mills".  Looks to have some street retail, but the building is pretty ugly.

http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Rezoning/2016/042-055/2016-045%20site%20plan.pdf

Also, it seems a 5 story storage facility is going in the parking lot behind Kickstand/La Unica.  It has street level retail facing Hawthorne though.

http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Rezoning/2016/042-055/2016-046%20site%20plan.pdf

Edited February 4, 2016 by rjp212

[SgtCampsalot]

1 hour ago, rjp212 said:

Perhaps someone can shed some light on what this is.  There is a rezoning petition for the old convenience store at 10th and Seigle.  Looks like two new buildings called "Belmont Mills".  Looks to have some street retail, but the building is pretty ugly.

http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Rezoning/2016/042-055/2016-045%20site%20plan.pdf

Saw them at the Belmont Neighborhood meeting last night. Their current name is "Belmont Mills". They are entirely non-residential. The topography is crazy steep. It's the whole block (other than a bit of Mecklenburg land against the Independence wall, including a cell phone tower. Currently it's just the Midwood Goods building and two abandoned houses:

 

 

Edited February 4, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[Niner National]

so two self storage projects?

At least both look like they'll have retail space, but two self storage projects within a half mile or so of each other is pretty lame.

[Prodev]

The "Belmont Mills" name is hilarious. It's a self storage project, just call it what it is. The city has been taking a hard stance lately on where these are located and I don't know that both of these get through successfully. I think this one is more feasible than the other, considering the other has to build two levels of concrete podium parking, but I hope neither get approved. 

Generally speaking, all these self storage rezonings and site plan submittals are a little scary. Self storage is a lot like land - It's the last thing to get hot and it's the first thing to crash. Storage is white hot right now and the fact that a lot of these urban sites are getting bought at really high prices for storage use makes me think this cycle is closer to the end than I was hoping. 

[southslider]

Build a ton of apartments, and the storage units follow.

[DMann]

What a waste of sight lines.  This site for a 20+ story residential building would have killer skyline views.

 

[SgtCampsalot]

Are self storage facilities worth while if they can be converted to residential later? And more importantly,  is that even possible?

This seems like the WEIRDEST thing to build in an urban environment. I didn't say anything though at the mtg because I was so confused. 

The developers didn't get any real pressure at this mtg, mostly I think because this site is basically abandoned, and the Midwood Good store has two gasoline tanks underground (remediation...)

Edited February 4, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[kermit]

1 hour ago, SgtCampsalot said:

Are self storage facilities worth while if they can be converted to residential later? And more importantly,  is that even possible?

This seems like the WEIRDEST thing to build in an urban environment. I didn't say anything though at the mtg because I was so confused. 

The developers didn't get any real pressure at this mtg, mostly I think because this site is basically abandoned, and the Midwood Good store has two gasoline tanks underground (remediation...)

My limited understanding of the 'traditional' self storage industry (meaning 10 years ago) was that the facilities were the equivalent of parking lots in the RE development spectrum -- in essence the buildings existed solely to generate some income from land that was being held for a couple of cycles before it was turned into a strip center. The new, more urban versions of self-storage have puzzled me since they appear to be much more capital intensive and thus less likely to see some future scraping and conversion. Perhaps somebody with better knowledge of the industry can chime in?

A better solution here might be to force people to drive to the burbs to visit their crap. There are an awful lot of empty big boxes out there that would make fine storage facilities.

[Niner National]

1 hour ago, SgtCampsalot said:

Are self storage facilities worth while if they can be converted to residential later? And more importantly,  is that even possible?

This seems like the WEIRDEST thing to build in an urban environment. I didn't say anything though at the mtg because I was so confused. 

The developers didn't get any real pressure at this mtg, mostly I think because this site is basically abandoned, and the Midwood Good store has two gasoline tanks underground (remediation...)

I seriously doubt they can ever be converted to residential. I've always thought that places like this could make for interesting office space for start ups though.

[SgtCampsalot]

So... is this bad for the neighborhood? Or just neutral? It seems generally good that a vacant collection of parcels is being turned into SOMETHING (they intend for this site to also have office and restaurant space), especially an area that's far away from both transit lines, but the self storage thing is so... strange. I swear the developer pitching it at this meeting was using the most glossary-level explanations ever: "Provides valuable service for residents and helps small businesses" and other dry phrasing, etc

Edited February 4, 2016 by SgtCampsalot