110 East: 23 story Tower by Stiles/Shorenstein

[15895]

It is about as terrible as it could be IMO based on renderings and what is built so far. 
 

At least it’s the lone exception & not the trend in SouthEnd though. A fake brick on the parking deck would at least aesthetically look better to me. But. They can’t all be nice. 

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

It is about as terrible as it could be IMO based on renderings and what is built so far. 
 

At least it’s the lone exception & not the trend in SouthEnd though. A fake brick on the parking deck would at least aesthetically look better to me. But. They can’t all be nice. 

This design is pretty bad, but the Lowe’s across the street, with its more exposed garage poking out from the rear of the main tower along Hawkins, isn’t great either.  To Lowe’s credit, it does appear to keep the ground floor retail much more flush with the design of the rest of tower.  As egregious podiums go, however, I can’t seem to think of a more egregious recently-built podium than the one for The Line.  The experience with the Line from Hawkins is downright hideous.  

The ground experience is somewhat better on the rail trail side of that building, but why these podiums are so prominent when they could be hidden by requiring the “skin” of the building in its occupied parts to be maintained over the garage parts with just enough aeration to support moving vehicles, is beyond me and incredibly frustrating.

Recent high-rise announcements and renderings in South End appear to improve on these podium designs so I’m not sure whether it’s market evolution or something in the UDO requiring it, but hopefully we get improved outcomes in the next wave of development once lenders have a bit of risk appetite once again.  South End is a hot area but does anyone know if it has any formal civic advocacy apart from development interests? 

Edited November 6, 2023 by RANYC

[CLT2014]

19 minutes ago, RANYC said:

 South End is a hot area but does anyone know if it has any formal civic advocacy apart from development interests? 

There is the South End Board Committee: https://southendclt.org/about/who-we-are

Only  3 of the 25 members on the committee are just a "resident." Most represent business or commercial interests. Given South End has a high ratio of renters in corporate owned apartments, that probably impacts advocacy to an extent. Most residents don't feel like their own property values are at stake, et. (which is why I think Dilworth and Wilmore are often louder about things) and South End residents were OK signing leases in these behemoth corporate apartments / like all the amenities those new apartments provide. People that want less of a corporate apartment vibe seem to rent in other neighborhoods from what I've seen and self select into which types of neighborhoods they like. 

Edited November 6, 2023 by CLT2014

[Synopsis101]

Please no more all glass buildings in South End. Keep its aesthetic red/brown brick.

[Reverie39]

Very much love the brown brick buildings there

[KJHburg]

110 East today.  

[kermit]

Nearly all of the fake wood is done.

Lovely blank wall on rail trail (it’s roughly the 25% of the rail trail frontage)

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by kermit

[DJ8hep]

Crane coming down!

Edited November 17, 2023 by DJ8hep

[CTiger]

Aesthetically, this building is a downgrade from the run-down parking lot it replaced.  The retail better be good because this thing looks like someone accidentally dropped an office building on top of a giant air conditioner.

[Synopsis101]

I’m guessing that corner of the parking deck won’t be screened. I hate when developers do this. I’m looking at you Ascent.

[KJHburg]

I think this office building is fine is it my favorite no but it is not even complete yet.  I will wait until it is complete.  And people constantly say on here how is the street level view and aspect and until the retail is in we wont know.  So lets give it some time.  

But don't worry in the next 36 months there will be a lot less buildings to nit pick since the office starts are really slowing down.  Even high rise apartment towers are going to be less in numbers.   But what do I know but I do like the Bank of America Tower when 75% of you on this board hate it.  

Edited November 18, 2023 by KJHburg

[RANYC]

11 hours ago, Synopsis101 said:

I’m guessing that corner of the parking deck won’t be screened. I hate when developers do this. I’m looking at you Ascent.

Ascent is worse.   I wish Ascent would at least consider this metal cladding below given it's in a high-profile spot in Uptown. 

As for 110 East, is this podium look one of the consequences of a mass rezoning perhaps?  Better design might have been encouraged had this gone through the traditional rezoning cycle.  Same goes for The Line.  I can't even go down that stretch of Hawkins any longer because of how awful The Line looks along hawkins.

Edited November 18, 2023 by RANYC

[RANYC]

Density without Design Excellence is unlivable and unbearable and frankly, unsustainable.  

[Genesis704]

 

How this get lights before duke…🫠

 

they look cool tho

[JorgiPorgi]

52 minutes ago, Genesis704 said:

 

How this get lights before duke…🫠

 

they look cool tho

Duke has tested lights several times now. I’m not sure why they won’t turn them on- I wish someone in the know on this site would say. They may have decided just to light up their sign. 

[15895]

On 11/18/2023 at 3:24 PM, RANYC said:

Density without Design Excellence is unlivable and unbearable and frankly, unsustainable.  

What really changed my perspective (from focusing mostly on height, skyscraper, skyline appearance and over time drifting to ground level, etc) was when I first stayed at Marriott Marquis in Atlanta. 

The inside just seemed so cool (I still think it’s amazing looking on the inside) 

I’ve been to Atlanta a lot (I have family in ATL too) so I’ve always enjoyed the city but when I started to be able to afford where I wanted to stay, I was excited to stay downtown. 

I won’t post clog up with thread with pics but it feels like College Street in uptown CLT. 

It literally felt like this (because it was?)  in all directions from the Marquis (even walking to the Aquarium was terrible. Which I’ve been before but I drove to the parking deck before so I never paid attention) :

 

It sort of felt intimidating walking around at night (and I’ve been to many cities at night around the world so it’s not like I’m sheltered). I also took MARTA but it again was intimidating walking to/from/around majority of the stations. That time in Atlanta took the top of the list of intimidating for me. So now I just stay in the suburbs, rent a car and enjoy Atlanta, Ponce City Market, drive to Midtown etc. MARTA itself has been nice when going to an event or getting picked up. 

All that to say is, I agree with you. It sounds overly dramatic to say  “unlivable, unbearable & unsustainable” but that’s sort of how I felt in Downtown Atlanta from my experience where I stayed downtown. It felt lonely & odd - a feeling I never got in Atlanta otherwise when staying elsewhere with vehicle. and for any Atlanta folks who say I stayed in the wrong part, etc. I’m just a visitor who researched a good place to stay, proximity to MARTA, etc. and well. I failed lol. ).

Luckily Charlotte has the grace of time on its side and started to mature more after  the 70’s & 80’s. So I don’t think it will get like that. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by AirNostrumMAD

[kermit]

'baby got back..."

Edited November 27, 2023 by kermit

[QCxpat]

Today 9:30 a.m.  -  110 East, 23-story office tower, height: 305 ft./92.9 m.

• 1st photo - see 110 East in the distance between the twin buildings of Vantage SouthEnd (Lending Tree)

Edited November 27, 2023 by QCxpat

[kermit]

I am a rendering realist, so I don’t generally expect completed projects to look much like early sketches. Having said that, in its current form this building is really giving me Suburban Office Park vibes (mostly the “flatness” of the façade). In its current condition it would be bland even in Ballantyne.  [I will concede the sidewalk level adjacent the rail trail is shaping up nicely). Its appearance from medium distance is really bumming me out given its location as the anchor of the Southend submarket. Lowes Tower is 1000% better (even if its stuck with that crappy fake brick).

 

Edited December 1, 2023 by kermit

[Guest]

3 hours ago, kermit said:

I am a rendering realist, so I don’t generally expect completed projects to look much like early sketches. Having said that, in its current form this building is really giving me Suburban Office Park vibes (mostly the “flatness” of the façade). In its current condition it would be bland even in Ballantyne.  [I will concede the sidewalk level adjacent the rail trail is shaping up nicely). Its appearance from medium distance is really bumming me out given its location as the anchor of the Southend submarket. Lowes Tower is 1000% better (even if its stuck with that crappy fake brick).

 

It doesn’t exactly help to use an outdated rendering

 

[DJ8hep]

Walk by today!

[RANYC]

3 hours ago, DJ8hep said:

Walk by today!

Hopefully, enough Willow Oaks can be planted to block out a meaningful share of this over-sized, window-less, big-box hunk of suburban development masquerading as urban because it's tall.  I mean, I'd take some 1950s brutalism over this tin can for cars.

[ertley]

I am not disagreeing with anything anyone has posted here in the last few days; I'm in essential agreement. Ultimately, though, what matters most is the experience of walking by it on the sidewalks, and not how it appears (from cars!) in the near- and mid-distance. It may just pass the streetfront impression and interaction test better than marginally. Although I'm certainly downgrading it for the less than stellar screening of the garage (that yes, is too large and at exactly the wrong place vis a vis a center city light rail stop), but on the whole I do think it's going to be a positive addition to the area--if they entice and keep decent tenants in the ground floor spaces. The increasing density around it will hopefully further diminish the prominence of the screening. 

The Pollyanna in me hopes that some of these buildings with mediocre screenings may one day feel the need, sooner than 50 years from now, to upgrade them, if newer neighborhood constructions make them look even worse, cheaper and shoddier, by comparison. I know it's probably not terribly likely to happen, but a man named Pollyanna can dream...

[15895]

One last thing on the parking deck (which as noted by another poster looks pretty much exactly like the rendering so my annoyance peaked a long time ago by it). I immediately thought of this building when I saw this meme

[Miesian Corners]

Just walked past it this afternoon. Sheesh, this is one fugly building at ground level. Distance is its friend.