EpiCentre Retail

[voyager12]

I guess I did use "music" too broadly when describing R&R. As already described above they don't sell music but accoutrements instead. A fun store still and I don't doubt the new edition will be a cool place to wander around in. Which is what we need more of Uptown. Not more dry cleaners and corner stores.

[nonillogical]

^That was downtown of the 1970s when you could find head shops, record stores like Shazada Records, clothes stores like TJ's High Style, Woolworths, Sears, etc. I don't think any of those places could exist downtown now.

i think they could and would if someone would just try it. while i love the excitement of living uptown, i am a little distraught at how big the emphasis on luxury is (had a week to find a place here, didn't know what i was getting into ). more than anything i want some medium-cost apartments and low/mid-rise retail to bring a more diverse element to uptown...i'm wondering if the economic situation makes this possiblility any more palatable to charlotte?

[Charlotte_native]

i think they could and would if someone would just try it. while i love the excitement of living uptown, i am a little distraught at how big the emphasis on luxury is (had a week to find a place here, didn't know what i was getting into ). more than anything i want some medium-cost apartments and low/mid-rise retail to bring a more diverse element to uptown...i'm wondering if the economic situation makes this possiblility any more palatable to charlotte?

It already has, actually. Large plans for a new project along Graham have been shelved or canned and 3 blocks of inexpensive apartments now remain. The retail element is sorely lacking, but there are actually inexpensive rentals uptown if you look in 4th Ward along Graham, in parts of 3rd Ward, and all over the neighborhoods just outside the loop.

[SmellyCat]

i think they could and would if someone would just try it. while i love the excitement of living uptown, i am a little distraught at how big the emphasis on luxury is (had a week to find a place here, didn't know what i was getting into ). more than anything i want some medium-cost apartments and low/mid-rise retail to bring a more diverse element to uptown...i'm wondering if the economic situation makes this possiblility any more palatable to charlotte?

What about M Street, Quarterside, Court 6, and The Ledge in First Ward...those are all low/mid rise medium cost range condos. As far as apartments go, you have Alpha Mills, The Enclave, Cotton Mills - all fairly reasonable priced and not big on luxury extras.

[voyager12]

I guess "affordable" is different for everyone depending on their perspective. I like older walkable neighborhoods so I did not look in Uptown when I had to move. To me affordable has to stay under $700. I lucked out and found and older not too rundown 1 bdr in a quad and was able to stay in Dilworth. The apts in Uptown are much more than that I believe. To try to end on topic....this has been mentioned before but I think a an art deco funky style 24/hr diner would do well in Uptown. A good place to hang out after late night. I know HOM stays open late but we need more casual and less trendy places too.

[SmellyCat]

I guess "affordable" is different for everyone depending on their perspective. I like older walkable neighborhoods so I did not look in Uptown when I had to move. To me affordable has to stay under $700. I lucked out and found and older not too rundown 1 bdr in a quad and was able to stay in Dilworth. The apts in Uptown are much more than that I believe. To try to end on topic....this has been mentioned before but I think a an art deco funky style 24/hr diner would do well in Uptown. A good place to hang out after late night. I know HOM stays open late but we need more casual and less trendy places too.

I think an apartment under $700 would be difficult to find in just about any livable part of Charlotte. But I agree with you that "affordable" is a pretty vague term. The poster was looking for something "medium priced" and to me that implies something slightly more than "affordable". My perspective of affordable is something between very cheap and medium priced. I have heard anecdotally that some of the smaller condos in M Street have been rented not too far from the $700 stip you have.

Sorry I know I've gone off topic so let me redirect.... I recall there being talk of a Five Guys burgers also opening in EpiCenter, is that still happening now that Five Guys opened another location on South Blvd?

[Charlotte_native]

There are quite a few rentals in center city, Dilworth, Wilmore, NoDa, etc that are under $1000/month (as a medium priced unit) and quite a few still in the $700 range or less -- above I mention a few along Graham just to name on complex. In First Ward there are a number of 1 and 2 bedroom condos in the Garden District that are under $1000/month.

[monsoon]

........i'm wondering if the economic situation makes this possiblility any more palatable to charlotte?

You are correct that most of the recent construction was focused on luxury. Almost every advert for every condo built since 2004 in downtown emphasizes that word as one of the reasons to buy a place. New apartments too. The problem is made worse by the fact that almost all of the legacy buildings downtown have been torn down.

Now it appears this luxury was also an illusion as much of it was highly leveraged, and we all know what is happening to that now. The very building this topic is about has a partially built 50 story condo on top of it that may never be finished. As this problem continues to get worse, we may very well see prices start to come down on these places, but I don't think it will be for a while. The federal government is still trying to address this problem by making futile attempts to preserve the system that got us here in the first place. We had the $160B stimulus checks, about a 1/2 a trillion in various bailouts, the $700B bailout package last week, and so forth and none of it is working, despite the promises. What it is doing is shifting the whole mess onto the national debt so this burden ends up in the laps of future generations.

This is also the reason that you see little in downtown in the way of medium priced retail. This is a highly competitive market that is faced to deal with the numbers and it just doesn't work. The closest thing is the Met near downtown of course, but that only happened because of significant taxpayer assistance.

[nonillogical]

yeah i know they're out there...but i also hear those places often referred to with disdain. i live in one of the cheapest available places uptown (dare not speak its name, haha) but as a recent college graduate with a very solid entry-level job, i still feel out of my element economically here. there's not much that i can walk to that's cheap (and open on weekends). but i think the tenants of my building inject some flavor into uptown, and it would be much easier to establish the urban fabric that people want by aiming at this demographic than purely cosmopolitan high-end development.

[Charlotte_native]

^That was downtown of the 1970s when you could find head shops, record stores like Shazada Records, clothes stores like TJ's High Style, Woolworths, Sears, etc. I don't think any of those places could exist downtown now.

I remembered another last night -- loved their shoes and loved the name...PushPa's!

[New Name]

Does anyone "in the know" have anything more specific than 'before October 31' regarding PJ's anticipated opening date? I'm looking forward to this one.

I walked by PJs tonight. Is it open to the public now? I couldn't tell. We almost walked in, but we assumed they were just working on their Point of Sale systems. It's stocked, lit, furnished and the door was open.

[Guest]

I walked by PJs tonight. Is it open to the public now? I couldn't tell. We almost walked in, but we assumed they were just working on their Point of Sale systems. It's stocked, lit, furnished and the door was open.

How'd it look? What was the general feel like?

[Charlotte_native]

We hit Jason's Deli Sunday night - almost didn't think about it, glad we did. Nice to have inexpensive food and especially a salad bar option around!!

[Guest]

We hit Jason's Deli Sunday night - almost didn't think about it, glad we did. Nice to have inexpensive food and especially a salad bar option around!!

Looks like they have started putting up awnings around epicentre. At least from what I can see from the webcam. They look like they are pretty nice looking, and the color schemes follow that of the businesses they are attached to.

[Guest]

PJs had its Pre-opening party last night and is getting rave reviews from people I know who were there. It looks like its going to be a great place morning noon and night.

In the morning it serves as a breakfast bar, serving coffee, pastries and breakfast sandwiches. Lunchtime it's sandwiches and salads. After-work, the coffee bar goes dark and the signature martinis are served, along with a few small plates like quesadillas, hummus and assorted cheeses.

Apparently there is only one problem with the place, the NYC Prices. 12 dollars for a martini, and 15 dollars for signature drinks. U might catch me in there for one drink, but a whole night!? I think not. Also, when did this place go from wine bar to ultralounge, I'm kind of disappointed, I was looking forward to a chill wine bar.

[Commoner]

PJs had its Pre-opening party last night and is getting rave reviews from people I know who were there. It looks like its going to be a great place morning noon and night.

Apparently there is only one problem with the place, the NYC Prices. 12 dollars for a martini, and 15 dollars for signature drinks. U might catch me in there for one drink, but a whole night!? I think not. Also, when did this place go from wine bar to ultralounge, I'm kind of disappointed, I was looking forward to a chill wine bar.

I just got back from a mid-afternoon trip to PJ's. I'm thrilled to have the coffee - especially after 9pm when Starbucks is closed - but I'm also surprised by the drink prices. I didn't catch the wine prices. The prepared coffee is consistent with other locations (and varies day-to-day) but I was a little disappointed by their roasted selection. It's probably too much to ask for a true New Orleans niche though.

If you like iced coffee, PJ's version is great.

Also - if you're going over there, it's on the first floor, under Jason's Deli. No street frontage.

[New Name]

I found the quoted date for the opening of the theater being Nov 14th. Wasn't there a quoted date for the opening of the bowling alley to be almost exactly a month later? Does anyone know about that?

[nonillogical]

PJs was pretty cool, my coffee was excellent (I'm no connoisseur though), and their sandwiches are very good too at a reasonable price. But yeah, don't even think about the martinis there...beer selection is small and somewhat overpriced too. I asked about the times for their breakfast food, and was told that they'd really make it anytime I wanted. A weekend breakfast option is fantastic news for me!

It is still trying a little too hard for 'upscale' in my opinion with the downtempo club music and plush seating, but of course it makes sense there.

[New Name]

I found the quoted date for the opening of the theater being Nov 14th. Wasn't there a quoted date for the opening of the bowling alley to be almost exactly a month later? Does anyone know about that?

www.strikecitycharlotte.com

but no date...

[HopHead]

I see they removed the AT&T billboard... Wonder if they are going to replace with something static? Or god forbid they actually make it one of those dynamic electronic ones?

[New Name]

^But they did put an A T & T Billboard on the back corner of the theater building above the light rail tracks at 4th.

[HopHead]

Looking at the 210 Trade web cam it appears some AT&T signage is going up on the Trade Street side. Hopefully they will be adding more of this to fill in those blank walls... whether it's billboards or signs for the venues there. I'm still curious as to what they are doing with the billboard that's inbetween aLoft and the Ritz Carlton...

[Guest]

Looking at the 210 Trade web cam it appears some AT&T signage is going up on the Trade Street side. Hopefully they will be adding more of this to fill in those blank walls... whether it's billboards or signs for the venues there. I'm still curious as to what they are doing with the billboard that's inbetween aLoft and the Ritz Carlton...

Correction: The AT&T Signage going up is on the 4th st. side. Also it appears they have put up an ever so tiny Aloft sign at the top of the 4th and college part of the hotel. Its woefully inadequate if thats indeed what the sign says. I originally thought visual clutter would make or break this project as far as aesthetics. This was its last chance to make up for its crappy materials an poor design, and unfortunately I, the constant optimist, is starting to get negative about this project. However, I still think once this place is 100% open it'll be very popular.

[swh1972]

Correction: The AT&T Signage going up is on the 4th st. side. Also it appears they have put up an ever so tiny Aloft sign at the top of the 4th and college part of the hotel. Its woefully inadequate if thats indeed what the sign says. I originally thought visual clutter would make or break this project as far as aesthetics. This was its last chance to make up for its crappy materials an poor design, and unfortunately I, the constant optimist, is starting to get negative about this project. However, I still think once this place is 100% open it'll be very popular.

Ugh, another cell phone add going up in place of the AT&T sign. Same plastic material as before.

[nonillogical]

I went back to PJ's (I decided I really love having this place near me) and got to talking to the employees. Evidently Sundays are going to be "Reggae Night" and an outside vendor will be coming in and renting out hookahs! Hooray! I love hookah bars (and reggae for that matter) and as far as I know there are only 2 other places doing it in Charlotte, Lava Lounge and some place on Independence.

also, I must say that while some elements of the Epicentre are pretty hokey finishing-wise, every time I go back it looks a little better to me. I never expected it to be more than a nice mall really, and I think it will look exponentially better when all the spaces are filled.