Dilworth Projects (Kenilworth, Morehead, East)

[tozmervo]

Well, I did a little checking (I know someone that lives in the Tudor building in that image, which has 15-20 apartments), and it is indeed slated for demolition in December. That's really disappointing, it's a lot of decent, affordable apartments in a good location.

*well, I say decent but I think here has been no shortage of issues with the boiler, etc.

Edited May 28, 2012 by tozmervo

[Norm2]

it is a shame that the Tudor building is going to be demolished. You can definitely tell that it needs some upkeep done on it though. I would much rather have this Tudor house on the corner than a drive through pharmacy that isnt urban.

[dubone]

Slowly the charm of Morehead is being destroyed. Quite a shame if the tudor and that white manse get torn down for a flipping Walgreens POS.

[Miesian Corners]

DCDA gets all up in arms over the heights of buildings proposed for the Strawn Apartment site, yet sits idly by while these two little jewels get demolished for a f***ing Walgreen's. Some days, I really hate Charlotte.

[southslider]

^I think the difference between the Strawn site and this corner are how they relate to non-thoroughfare streets. Strawn had more objections raised over development closer to Euclid than South Blvd. Meanwhile the corner of Morehead and Kenilworth lacks any "neighborhood street" frontage.

And that's what bugs me about all Charlotte neighborhoods, not just Dilworth. And that is, the concept of "neighborhood" in Charlotte often doesn't include the thoroughfare edges, but just the internal residential streets.

Obviously, Dilworth should give just as much attention to its Morehead edge, as it does to its East Blvd. core. But they're not the only ones guilty of looking inward. Even NoDa, which is perhaps Charlotte's best area at getting how a "neighborhood" goes beyond just its residential blocks, it even ignores its Plaza edge.

Charlotte will never thrive as quality residential pockets just blocks from commercial crap. Take ownership of the edges, and instead turn them into the active seams.

Edited June 1, 2012 by southslider

[Prodev]

The other corner of Morehead and Kenilworth once had a Walgreens proposed but it was the ground floor of a medical office building. Supposedly the owner of that has a ridiculous price tag for that parcel which is probably why that building has sat vacant for years. As much as I like to see development activity, it's sad to see more of Dilworth's charm disappear. Both the tudor and the white colonial next door are worth saving. Has anyone seen a site plan? The two parcels combined are less than an acre. Wags usually takes 2ac alone, so I'm curious to see how the site lays out with an office building as well. Even if Wags is on the ground floor of the office building, it seems like it would be hard to get the necessary parking.

[Norm2]

Channel 9 news has a video online showing the rendering for both the Walgreens and the office building. Needless to say the renderings leaves much to be desired. It looks like your typical "upscale suburban" architecture, which I honestly feel looks terrible. With as busy as this intersection is, I feel that having retail on the corner is justified. the retail just needs to be more tastefully done. Then again.....how tasteful can a convenience store/pharmacy actually be? Here is a link to the channel 9 video.

http://www.wsoctv.com/videos/news/some-dilworth-residents-want-to-put-brakes-on/vcBcT/

[tozmervo]

Wow. It looks like a cartoon of a building. That's just appallingly bad.

[uptownliving]

This should be at Morrison at Southpark....not Dilworth....they missed the target on the architecture.

[dubone]

The city land use plans for this area were completed this year and definitely not listed for retail in this area. I hope it becomes another case like the asphalt plan in Optimist Park where the city council will be shamed into honoring the area plan because otherwise, why bother doing all that study and focus and attention if they're just going to ignore it a few months later. Although it will not have the same opposition because people will probably want the convenience of a drug store, it is still a shame.

The character of Morehead is really being systematically distroyed in this area by CMC and now this.

[49er]

According to today's paper, residents are finally up in arms over this. I hope it gets squashed.

[kermit]

The Observer has a short piece on The Cottages on Euclid. It will be 19 townhouse units (the very small rendering makes it look to be even lower desity). The project will be phased and prices range from $350,000 to $460,000 (seems kinda optimistic for neighborhood multi-family)

http://cltdevelopment.blogspot.com/2012/06/new-townhomes-cottages-on-euclid-coming.html

Edited June 20, 2012 by kermit

[nonillogical]

Here is the site plan (and larger versions of the renderings) http://www.thecottag.../site_plan.html

What a bland suburban design trying to charge high-end prices! I can't be too upset over it, I just hoped for something denser and more unique looking.

Edited June 20, 2012 by nonillogical

[kermit]

Its not really a new project but.....

rennovations are finally underway at the old Raycom office (Euclid and East) for the new Charlotte Housing Authority offices.

[nonillogical]

Has everyone seen this? The site plan and renderings for the proposed Walgreens and office building at Morehead & Kenilworth. http://ww.charmeck.org/Planning/Rezoning/2012/071-083/2012-071%20site%20plan.pdf

I'm still vehemently opposed to the project, although my cynical side had me expecting them to not even hide the parking or provide a pedestrian-oriented entrance, which they did. It's still an incredibly lackluster plan and I'm hoping it gets successfully struck down or improved. Maybe if they could lose the drive thru and stack the office building on top of the Walgreens...but we'd still lose the Tudor apartments.

[Norm2]

I think we all hate to lose that Tudor house. it is a very beautiful house. Unfortunately things do change though. As much as I like looking at the house driving into work every day, change is sometimes inevitable. I will only support this plan for this Walgreens and offices if it has a better design. with its current design it looks like it comes from Southpark. As nonillogical stated above, it would even be nice to see the office on top of the Walgreens in an even more urban design that it currently is now. With the offices and Walgreens incorporated into one building, the architecture of the building could be greatly improved, and it would save space with land use. I do not see the two buildings being combined though. did anyone suggest this at the neighborhood meeting with the developer?

[dubone]

Turning an aesthetically pretty area with trees and walkability into a drive-through auto-oriented land use is completely against the spirit of having historic neighborhood districts and zoning plans. The zoning plan was just done for this area and does not include crap suburban retail.

[nonillogical]

There is now fencing up at the Duke Endowment site near Morehead & McDowell, so it seems like demolition/construction is imminent.

I'm sad to see that strip of 3 retail spaces go, and really liked Frankies when it was still open, but we're getting a pretty cool building out of this with a better streetscape, and some potential of retail in phase 2 though I won't hold my breath.

Edited September 7, 2012 by nonillogical

[kermit]

in smaller news, it looks like repair work is FINALLY underway at 131 Main.

[Norm2]

So why exactly did 131 Main close?

[nonillogical]

So why exactly did 131 Main close?

A kitchen fire and a car plowing into the front entrance in the same week.

[dubone]

I rode by yesterday and thought it looked permanentally closed. Hopefully it will be fixed soon and sort itself out. They also need to add a bollard to prevent another car crash into the building. That is just ridiculous.

[nonillogical]

I know its been slow, but I pass by every day and there's definitely work going on and they're taking applications. I suspect that having to hire an entirely new staff is a big part of the delay.

[kermit]

a few minor observations:

1) lots of "No Walgreens" signs have recently sprouted on Dilworth rd east and west.

2) Curb, gutter, sidewalk are about half finished on McDonald ave

3) Teardowns and neo-mansion rebuilds are continuing on McDonald ave. I noticed two new teardowns today near Ideal Way, 4-5 others are in various stages of completion between South blvd and Magnolia.

4) Traffic on East blvd is _really_ bad at rush hour

[Norm2]

a few minor observations:

1) lots of "No Walgreens" signs have recently sprouted on Dilworth rd east and west.

2) Curb, gutter, sidewalk are about half finished on McDonald ave

3) Teardowns and neo-mansion rebuilds are continuing on McDonald ave. I noticed two new teardowns today near Ideal Way, 4-5 others are in various stages of completion between South blvd and Magnolia.

4) Traffic on East blvd is _really_ bad at rush hour

I have heard people complain that traffic is worse since they city reduced the number of lanes on East Blvd. I love the smaller road, but most people do not look at it from a pedestrian or a bicycler perspective, only from a car perspective. I do agree though.....traffic does get bad.