Wachovia South Tryon Projects

[guy4charlotte]

I see the next regular meeting of the County commissioners is not til August 15th...then the one after that is September 6th--anyone out there familiar with local politics know how this will go down? Will they wait for the regular meetings or schedule a special session?

[atlrvr]

I think the County Announced that they will wait until the August meeting to discuss this. It is possible for them to open a public hearing, hold the public hearing, close the public hearing, and then vote on an issue in one night.....though I don't know if that will be the case here. I don't see this failing in any sort of way, but it might look bad for the County Commissions to vote right after the public hearing in which there will likely be a very vocal opposition to the tax increase.

[AuLukey]

So I came across a bit of information I wasn't aware of while reading about Wachovia online. There is a 55 story (764 ft) Wachovia tower in Miami, FL. If they have a 55 story tower which is currently the tallest commercial tower in Florida and they wanted to build an iconic HQ tower in Charlotte, why only build 46 stories? I know that having LEED certified size floors will help the tower's image, but why not increase the floor count to something a little more impressive than what you already have elsewhere?

[atlrvr]

BofA has taller buildings than their HQ in Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, and soon NYC.

There is a two part answer to this question....1. Ken Thompson probably is not a skyscraper junky, otherwise he would probably post on UP. 2. With the rash of CEO's getting sentenced to federal prision, I think most CEO's are concerned about following the law rather than building icons....remember, the CEO of a publically traded company is LEGALLY obligated to maximize investor returns.

[ChiefJoJo]

I love dubones post summing eveything up a couple of weeks back. $800M is a truly rediculous amount of money to be spending on a single project--especially in a 6-7 acre area!!! Charlotte certainly has a tremendous "get things done" attitude that is unmatched in the state. Some (conservatives in the burbs--haha) might disagree with the actions, but you have to admire the ability of business and political leaders to join together to make this and other big projects a reality.

I'm sure someone will post the renderings ASAP right???

[Neo]

Construction shots (07/15/2006) from the 6th floor of the Westin:

[Charlotteman]

Thanks for the pics.

I must ask what's up with that enormous parking lot on Tryon across from the soon-to-be tower? Who owns it????

[atlrvr]

It is owned by the former owners of Eastern Federal Theatres......this same ownership group is working with Grubb Properties on the Manor House project on Selwyn.

My gut is that either they will partner with Grubb to do a residential tower at this site in the future, or will sell it within the next 5 years.....my thought is that it's a perfect spot for a Four Seasons with residences like the GLG Grand in Atlanta. After all, they need their answer to BofA's Ritz.

[Skyscrapergeek]

What's up guys. Just dropping by from the Nashville forum. Congrats on Wachovia. Should be very, very nice. These latest pictures of the construction site got me thinking. What kind of natural foundation do you guys have there in Charlotte and how deep is the top soil? Nashville is built on a huge piece of limestone which requires a lot of blasting and takes a very long time especially with underground parking. It's been said the hole for Signature will take six months to dig 100ft and part of that is infill from a previous structure's foundation.

Anyway, just curious. Love Charlotte btw.

[ScottCLT]

I am just curious...does anyone have an idea on what is to go on that narrow parcel of land under construction along Stonewall in between Tryon and College? The one in Neo's first picture. It doesn't look like much could be don on that strip of dirt in between the parking lot and Stonewall.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

That the new African American Cultural Center.

[AuLukey]

What's up guys. Just dropping by from the Nashville forum. Congrats on Wachovia. Should be very, very nice. These latest pictures of the construction site got me thinking. What kind of natural foundation do you guys have there in Charlotte and how deep is the top soil? Nashville is built on a huge piece of limestone which requires a lot of blasting and takes a very long time especially with underground parking. It's been said the hole for Signature will take six months to dig 100ft and part of that is infill from a previous structure's foundation.

Anyway, just curious. Love Charlotte btw.

I read somewhere recently that Center City Charlotte is built over old gold mines and bedrock, whether this is true I don't know but Wikipedia has it listed as well: "Uptown Charlotte was literally and figuratively built on gold mines."

They've been blasting for the Wachovia Project for months now and they still haven't even come close.

[appatone]

Uptown is literally built on goldmines. Rudsill and St. Catherine goldmines specifically.

[Charlotteman]

I just recently realized the similarity in pricetags of WB's Tryon project and the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge!

Very close price tags.

btw, if ya remember the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge was the famous "galloping gertie" which twisted in the Puget Sound winds on film, and crashed into the Sound!

The new one under construction will be the third one built there. (Of course the first one is an underwater wreckage site.) The second one will remain, and the two adjacent bridges will be one-way, and each will have wonderful pedestrian and bicycle flourishes. It will also have a hefty toll:(

But I thought that was an interesting thing to share---that an enormous bridge going over some of the most dramatic landscape imaginable is costing about what a 46 story tower is costing in Charlotte.

Damn, that's gotta be some tower!!!!

[monsoon]

Indeed. However keep in mind this isn't the most expensive building that exists in the county.

[AuLukey]

Indeed. However keep in mind this isn't the most expensive building that exists in the county.

Dare I ask what it is?

[dubone]

I'm guessing McGuire is the most expensive building in the county.

[monsoon]

Dare I ask what it is?

Oh that would easily be the McGuire nuclear complex. It was somewhere around $2.5B in 1980s money if I remember correctly.

Edit: opps Dubone beat me to it.

[King_of_queen]

That's what I like to hear....80 stories, bring it on!!!

Where do you get 80 stories from !!!

{WOW!!! I hope your Right!!!}

Please explain

[King_of_queen]

you go to college and miss out on alot!

Where do you get 80 stories from !!!

{WOW!!! I hope your Right!!!}

Please explain

[dubone]

you go to college and miss out on alot!

You didn't miss anything. No one knows why he said that. Maybe he was reading posts from a few months ago where people were speculating that it was going to be 80 stories.

There is confirmation from all over the place that this will not even be 50 stories, let alone 80.

However, you might get to 80 if you add the office tower stories with the condo tower.

[dubone]

Here is a photo update of this project. They appear to be starting to dig for the tunnel under Tryon.

Also, just for some context, here are some other parts of the Wachovia campus.

The Green:

Wachovia Plaza:

[cinco]

thanks for the pics, dubone. did you hear they were begining to dig under tryon or can you actually see where they are starting? i love your shot of the watering fish sculptures.

[AuLukey]

thanks for the pics, dubone. did you hear they were begining to dig under tryon or can you actually see where they are starting? i love your shot of the watering fish sculptures.

Really? I hadn't read about this, we're not going to see an underground city are we?

Another thing I thought about just now, this project gives WB two more towers in Charlotte taking their total to 6 high rises. Bank of America right now only has 3 high rises in their HQ city. Sure BoA is bringing in the 15 story Ritz and has the Omni at 19 stories, but I hardly consider those two highrises. I miss the days of Hugh when a retaliation would have been certain.

[monsoon]

I miss the days of Hugh when a retaliation would have been certain.

I am not sure I do. Every tower built for that bank took the destruction of the streetscape to a new level and one that persists today. The first thing I notice about Dubone's great photos above is the complete lack of any pedestrian activity. It's like the a sci fi movie where the population has been eliminated. I realize it was hot, but given what I see above there is no reason for pedestrians to be out there because there isn't anything there that would attract pedestrians to the street. This is what I mean by "dead areas".