Brooklyn Village Redevelopment in 2nd Ward

[dubone]

I'm honestly a bit surprised that even though the Brooklyn Village deal with  fell through why it completely fell off the radar to still rebuild the street grid.   Just selling some of the public land in this district, would pay for the expansion, reconfiguration of Marshall Park (2nd Ward Park) and erase some of the bad memories of Brooklyn being decimated by racially motivated neighborhood destruction.

 

It unfortunately does take a lot of work to get the county and city to make a movement to sell land uptown.  So now that the momentum is gone, I wonder if it will happen any time soon. 

 

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/OpenMecklenburg/notice/Pages/BrooklynVillage.aspx 

[ScottCLT]

Though the Le Meridien building didn't get a fresh coat of paint, the presence of the building at street level is stunning. Great job at least remodeling the exterior of the first couple floors to make it look like a true 4 to 5* hotel. I'll try to take a picture next time I drive by. Also, some news on the transformation, and a picture of the view from the rooftop:

 

http://www.charlottecitycenterhotel.com/LM-transformation

Edited December 5, 2014 by ScottCLT

[dubone]

I had a friend visiting that stayed at Le Meridien and he has quite a high bar for hotels (often he stays at Ritz's) and he was very happy with the interior improvements.   I went into the Lobby and was quite impressed, as well as the ground level façade as Scott mentioned.   

 

 

I thought I had taken a photo of the exterior, but I guess it didn't click properly.

 

 

They're still in soft opening, I guess, so it is not listed properly on starwood's website, but here is the hotel website:

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/gx/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=4001

[Niner National]

Anyone know if they have plans to paint the rest of the building? You can never make a big rectangular box look good, but it can certainly look better than it does now with fresh paint.

[CltFlyer]

The Le Meridien officially opened on December 19 and it is officially in the hotel locations list on the website.  Hopefully it gets better reviews than those of the Sheraton.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/12/19/5395079/le-meridien-hotel-opens-on-south.html#.VJekpF4BaA

 

300 hotel rooms is great!  Now if we could just get a W Hotel, Twelve Hotel, and or a full service Hyatt/Hyatt Regency downtown.

[ah59396]

Fountains update!

 

 

 

[Guest]

Fountains update!

 

 

 

3.jpg

getting ginormous. 

[Niner National]

getting ginormous. 

It really does look much bigger than I was expecting.

[CLTProductions]

getting ginormous. 

I don't mind this one being huge and large enough to really stand out, Crescent Dilworth on the other hand...no no no. 

[nonillogical]

I don't mind this one being huge and large enough to really stand out, Crescent Dilworth on the other hand...no no no. 

?

 

I think Crescent Dilworth is easily the nicest low-rise apartment project under construction right now (aside from maybe Camden Gallery mostly b/c of the retail element). Is it just the size you have issue with? 

Edited December 22, 2014 by nonillogical

[CLTProductions]

?

 

I think Crescent Dilworth is easily the nicest low-rise apartment project under construction right now (aside from maybe Camden Gallery mostly b/c of the retail element). Is it just the size you have issue with? 

I changed my mind haha.

[CLTProductions]

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2015/01/05/behind-the-scenes-of-le-m-ridiens-multimillion.html

 

Here are some photos and details of the Le Meredian, looks nice....just wish they did something with that exterior color. No pics of the rooftop bar as it seems to not be completed yet.   If the popularity of Fahrenheit is any indication, I would imagine this rooftop bar becomes quite popular with the rebrand.

Edited January 5, 2015 by Jayvee

[navigator319]

What a great upgrade for the city.  The previous hotel was borderline condemable.  Bet the city wishes they had this for the DNC.  Cant imagine the CLT experience those 605 folks left with was a good one.

[CLTProductions]

What a great upgrade for the city.  The previous hotel was borderline condemable.  Bet the city wishes they had this for the DNC.  Cant imagine the CLT experience those 605 folks left with was a good one.

Yeah it is a shame, but I think the DNC is what spurred this renovation.

[Niner National]

Surely they will eventually repaint the entire building. Can't imagine they'd spend all that money renovating the building only to leave the exterior looking terrible.

 

It will never look good because it is just a plain rectangular building, but a fresh coat of paint would make it look much better.

[dcharlotte]

Despite the need for Uptown hotels, I'm surprised this complex hasn't been converted to apartments or another use at this point. It is just a long list of failed hotels in this location dating back years.

[Niner National]

Despite the need for Uptown hotels, I'm surprised this complex hasn't been converted to apartments or another use at this point. It is just a long list of failed hotels in this location dating back years.

I don't really know the history of the property, but why is it a failed hotel?

 

Living there would be terrible IMO. No balconies at all. I lived in an apartment in Silver Spring, MD without balconies. The lack of any outdoor space at all was absolutely terrible.

[atlrvr]

^  For what it's worth, I wouldn't describe the location as series of failed hotels.

 

It opened as a Sheraton in the 1970's, and was acquired by the parent company of Adam's Mark Hotels back in the 1980's, not because it was doing poorly, but because it was actually quite profitable, and fit the Adam's Mark criteria of large hotel with ballroom meeting space in secondary markets.  Adam's Mark is different from most hotel chains in that they didn't franchise, and all hotels were owned by the same parents company.

 

They got is serious financial trouble as a chain (not Charlotte specific issue) and sold off assets in the early 2000's as real estate values began to take off.  Chetrit overpaid for the complex with massive amounts of leverage because everything was going up, and they planned at least 3 condo towers on the property behind the hotel, so they were paying a premium for development.

 

There was a lawsuit between Chetrit and his other partners regaind buy-out options, proposed property improvemetns and fair value of the property as values were in free-fall.  It essentially left the Blake without any capital to upgrade during the start of the recession.

 

I believe some of the original partners are still involved now with new investors.

 

It never really failed in the way the the Fairfield/Charlotte Plaza/Crowne Plaza/Best Western/Four Points/(Ramada maybe?) across from the courthouse has.

[videtur quam contuor]

I have always felt that the Le Méridian property was the ugliest so-called architecture within the inner loop. It was built as an addition to the Adams Mark (or whatever name) and it was/is singularly ugly. Look at that exterior. Dryvit or whatever, flat featureless surfaces, repetitive windows punched into the exterior, almost literally, not a single visual break or interest on any of the four exterior sides. If residents inside had to look at the outside of the building they might fling themselves out those cheapest possible option windows. In its prior incarnation of The Blake I called it The Bleak.

[dcharlotte]

 

It never really failed in the way the the Fairfield/Charlotte Plaza/Crowne Plaza/Best Western/Four Points/(Ramada maybe?) across from the courthouse has.

 

I think I got the hotels confused. I thought this property became a different hotel somewhere between. Great to have the history nonetheless. 

[dubone]

Surely they will eventually repaint the entire building. Can't imagine they'd spend all that money renovating the building only to leave the exterior looking terrible.

 

It will never look good because it is just a plain rectangular building, but a fresh coat of paint would make it look much better.

Of course they would.  Hotel guests care about the rooms and amenities.  Never once have I skipped a hotel because the exterior architecture was bland.   I have been in a few rooms at Le Meridien and both the lobby and the room renovations are really great, especially when combined with the relatively low rates my friends are getting and free and plentiful parking.

 

Obviously I hate the exterior as much as the rest, but exterior renovations are definitely a luxury for them.   I would assume that there would be some schedule to repaint the exterior, and it seems that just as when the Blake did the diagonal rectangle, they could opt to use paint to give the building more interest.   There are many things they could do with paint alone that would help the appearance.  

[Niner National]

Of course they would.  Hotel guests care about the rooms and amenities.  Never once has I skipped a hotel because the exterior architecture was bland.   I have been in a few rooms at Le Meridien and both the lobby and the room renovations are really great, especially when combined with the relatively low rates my friends are getting and free and plentiful parking.

 

Obviously I hate the exterior as much as the rest, but exterior renovations are definitely a luxury for them.   I would assume that there would be some schedule to repaint the exterior, and it seems that just as when the Blake did the diagonal rectangle, they could opt to use paint to give the building more interest.   There are many things they could do with paint alone that would help the appearance.  

I don't know. Personally, if I saw a picture of the building on a hotel booking website, I would probably skip it. It looks run down.

[dubone]

Hotel guests are INSIDE the hotel.  If the experience and interior design is an A-, and the exterior architecture is a C- is a vastly better experience than a A+ exterior and a C- interior.  

 

Ok, so now your rate is $99, your parking is $0.  You look at the photos they provide which are newly renovated rooms and lobby that look amazing:

 

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/photos/index.html?propertyID=4001&language=en_US&ES=LPS_4001_EN__PHOTOS_SOUTH_NAD

 

They neither show you the upper exterior nor does that affect you as a guest in the slightest bit.   The hotel is not run down, it is just a boring.  

 

On the flip side, I have stayed in numerous gorgeous historic hotels that look great from an architectural perspective but are noisy, uncomfortable and outdated on the inside.   When I used to stay in SF, I refused to stay The Palace, which looks amazing outside.   I was so miserable I cut my stay short after one night and found an alternative.  It slept almost nil after hearing every breath and fart of the people in the rooms next door.

 

 

I could not even begin to tell you what the exterior of my preferred hotel looked like, but I know what the interior looked like and I know how well I slept.   So I gave The Palace 1 night stay, and Le Meridien maybe 50 nights stay.

 

It turns out, from a search, it was pretty ugly and bland:

 

 

 

 

 

But everyone has their own values for these things.   If you guys all chose hotels primarily on exterior architecture, and less the quality of the rooms themselves, more power to you.  

[Niner National]

All I'm saying is if I see a picture of Le Meridian online, I'm going to judge it poorly. Not because it is boring, but because it looks like it has not been well kept.

 

The hotels you linked looked boring, but they don't look like run down C rate hotels. Le Meridian looks like a dump.

[dubone]

Are you saying this with seeing the updated ground floor façade?  

 

 

Anyway, I'll leave the topic alone.   But luckily for them, it is just Charlotte, so their competitors are equally bland and run down.

 

 

 

 

All this said, I do want them to upgrade their whole façade, but I still think it makes perfect business sense on why they focused their investments on areas that actually affect the guest rather than on areas that only affect 277 drivers.