NoDa (N Davidson St Arts District) Projects

[uptownliving]

I was by there on Saturday and did not see any framing for 28th Ro.

[marriotthill]

I live 5 houses away from 28throw and no framing has started. I would like to say something to the developer of 28th, I didn't mean to get you so excited. Sometimes it seems certain neighborhoods seem to have the majority of say in how developments proceed though they aren't even in the same area. I was just trying to touch on that issue. I'm not blaming NoDa, but I've seen this in other sections of Charlotte as well as everywhere else that I have lived. As far as development is concerned, I think the land owners and developers shouldn't be given such a hard time when they try to develop property. I have kept up w/ our neighborhood newsletter and didn't see these meetings listed or I would have tried to at least get information concerning what happened at the particular meeting prior to next newsletter. Unfortunately, these meetings seem to always be at a bad time for me or I would attend them more often. For some reason, people assume if we don't attend these meetings that we don't care and shouldn't have a say. I think companies who really want to know what neighbors feel should actually survey the neighbors (via internet or mail in). One house, One survey would be the easiest way of getting ideas from those who are closest. I personally think the sketches of the development I've seen on the 28th row website are beautiful even though it will possibly block my view of uptown, but that's the price of progress. I just wish you could attract a large grocery store somewhere near the area for a more city within a city atmosphere in the Villa Heights/NoDa area. A Whole Foods would be awesome but probably impossible to attract. There are a couple of vacant lots/warehouses near the 28th/N. Davidson "intersection". I would love for a grocer to develop one of these lots. (Whole Foods, Lowes food, Harris Teeter) Again, sorry if I upset anyone.

[New Name]

I've been waiting for this one....This is the Abernathy Mill rezoning - which is just across the tracks from Davidson on Craighead. This is the third major Industrial rezoning proposal for the train yard areas of Noda. These, plus the city-organized North Tryon Redevelopment plan has now tagged most plots of land from Matheson to Craighead.

[f0xym0p]

The developer of 28th Row told us at the neighborhood meeting that they had major issues with the soil on that parcel but should have those issues resolved and should be going up soon. I am eager for these to be built and occupied!

marriotthill--The Villa Heights newsletter contains contact information for the board members. Feel free to use it if you have any questions or input regarding the neighborhood and you cannot attend the meeting.

[New Name]

CATS will be presenting the plan for sinking 36th St, and bridging the Lynx, freight, and Amtrak/HSR tracks tonight at the Noda neighborhood meeting- 630 at Evening Muse. Also, the City will be in to present the N. Tryon Redevelopment plan.

Interested parties should come on by.

[atlrvr]

Two NoDa tidbits.

There were a total of 3 people working at 28th Row today.....it is moving maddeningly slow, but foundations are flowly getting built.

Also, to my happiness, the rebuilt facade of the original Fat City building is getting repainted yellow. Looks much better already.

[dubone]

I haven't kept up, but did they rebuild a replica, or did they truly piece the puzzle together from the original bricks?

[voyager12]

Jack and Chill has been open for a few weeks now. Looks likes a great place. Just a shame that it's main selling point is not in great demand during these times.

Looks like Addies Jamaican has closed for good. I loved their food but they never did seem too busy.

[voyager12]

Noticed recently that Preserve Gallery in the heart of the neighbohood near Center of the Earth is going to close later this month. Any word on a replacement? I would hate to see vacant space take root there.

[New Name]

WOW! There is steel up for 28th Ro. It's all the way in the back, but it jumped from the ground to 3 stories today! I thought the crane was just for decoration.

[voyager12]

I like how The Davy Apts turned out. Have not see any ads with info or leasing rates yet. Anyone know? Trying to like Fat City as it evolves. Looks a little Miami Beach right now IMHO. And will Tuscan ever start rehabbing the mill?

[New Name]

The mill has had tons and tons of contaminant problems. And aside from that, when the City filed the papers to transfer ownership of the property to Tuscan, the city realized they didn't actually OWN the whole complex. So it became a paperwork snafu on top of it all.

[atlrvr]

There is also a very compressed market for Low Income Housing Tax Credits, especially of the 4% variety that Tuscan is applying for. Conisdereing the Bank of America CDC was the non-profit development partner, I had assumed they would buy the tax credits as well, but given the market (and BofA's lack of need for tax credits), they probably won't contribute enough equity to get it financed. This will probably be on the back-burner some time.

[voyager12]

Thanks for the info. Sad. The place just screams give me some TLC. A well done renovation could be such an awesome boost to the neighborhood. Hopefully it will get underway when things stabilize more.

[voyager12]

It's been mentioned on this thread before but I also think that Steel Gardens turned out quite well.

Nearby I recently noticed a fenced off area behind Spencer Park adverting "Spencer Park Terrace Custom Homes" but it does not look like much is going on. Royal Truss seems pretty empty. It's definitely a niche project. I don't know that the sliding door/outside deck combo goes over too well in this town. Central27 in PM was not a huge hit either and they pushed a similar concept.

[voyager12]

Niche MKT in NoDa is going out of business. Noticed it this afternoon. The signs are plastered on the windows. Another retail death along a block that is increasingly slowing down. Addies Jamaican is gone, The Preserve Art Gallery is gone. Niche MKT will soon be vacant. I love Niche's stuff but the concept behind their NoDa branch was all over the place. It was not a gallery but it was also not purely shirts and sneakers, the hybrid just did not seem to work. I picked up a cool shirt at Rat's Nest today. If you like vintage clothes with a western flair it's a great find. My favorite stores for vintage clothing in Charlotte are Century Vintage, Rats Nest, and Sleepy Poet. You find unique clothes with many under $20, compared to spending hundreds at SouthPark and you support locally owned places that add character to our fair city.

Back on topic, with the economy the way it is I don't anticipate replacements for these spaces soon but hopefully later this year things will rebound. I doubt future residents of Fat City Lofts want to look out across to a half dead block.

[voyager12]

I see I was prescient regarding my post about NoDa's struggles. An article in the Observer spells out the pain today. P. Meyer is also closing and the rest of the galleries that are open are struggling against the odds to make it. We are going to be hard pressed to call NoDa an "arts" district if we lose most of the galleries.

[monsoon]

Indeed. North Charlotte, the real name of that neighborhood, sat there for 80 years and slowly changed organically with the people who were actually from there. Then unfortunately, the Charlotte development "mindset" hit it, and it was gone. First they changed the name to NoDa which is a meaningless childish name that attempts to invoke something that never existed there. Then the big money moved in and in less than a period of 5 years, they leveled most of what had stood there for 80 years, to be replaced by generic bland architecture. Instead of urban "dives" to eat in and blue collar beer gardens, we got upscale wine bars and New Orleans cuisine. In other words, North Charlotte was gone to be replaced by another Disneyland like place. All fake and a bubble oblivious to its surroundings.

It's dying now not because of the economy but rather the bad decisions that made it something the real economy can't support. It a lot of ways it is a metaphor for much of new Charlotte in general. I discovered North Charlotte in 1979 and regularly went there over the years until about 2004. I see no reason to waste any time with it now.

[voyager12]

Yeah, I thought the article did a pretty good job of going over the different factors negatively impacting the neighborhood. Things could improve in a year or so when the economy picks up. But there just seems to be a consistent malaise preventing a good mix from coming together even in better times. Like the mill rehab being on the backburner. I think this project is a linchpin in preserving affordability.

I still enjoy NoDa, it has a warm and authentic and non-ostentatious vibe to me. I was not here for the "heyday" so I know it's subjective. It's sad to go lately though, each visit seems to bring another closing sign.

[New Name]

^^ I'm happy to report that NoDa is not nearly as dire as it's being made out to be. It's no where near Disneyworld - which would certainly be the reason we are dealing with store, gallery and restaurant closings. Without corporate backing, when times are tough, these things will happen. It has nothing to do with what the neighborhood has become - and more to do with what the neighborhood has NOT become. We are still a cohesive community, full of creativity and passion - we're proud of our neighborhood and wish the best for it. It's come a long way and our standards of living have vastly improved.

As the region began to recognize our appeal, people began to pay more and more to live here. That's how it works. It has nothing to do with who lives here, or how we have grown the community. There was no fat-cat with a bag of money. The whole city of Charlotte appreciated - and areas which had substance appreciated more. And believe me, everyone in this neighborhood knows what our substance is and will certainly fight for it.

One thing we spend a lot of time thinking about is how to balance inevitable progress with our identity. That is to say, how can an artist remain true and independent and still make a living? How can we increase the population and inclusiveness of our neighborhood without pricing out out core? How do you help to grow something that is intrinsically organic?

Believe me, NoDa is not full of uneducated and misguided suburbanites. We are a very active community with a clear vision of what we are, who we are, and what is coming.

One last thing - it is ignorant to propagate false opinion about anything based solely on newspaper articles and hearsay. If you want to build a case for NoDa based solely on the internet, I will post every positive development, every calculated move, every organic and independent stitch that make NoDa what is has been and still is today.

Since we are on the topic, I would like to invite everyone who has opinions about NoDa to contribute. I am the chair of the HNCNA Vision Committee. We are an inclusive committee sanctioned by the Board and Association that is tasked to build consensus and guide development in NoDa. In other words, we are neighbors of NoDa (some professional planners and architects, some not) who love our neighborhood, and would hate to see it become fake, Disneyworld-like, a bubble neighborhood. We will always hope to include wine bars, New Orleans cuisines, art galleries, music venues, neighborhood markets, mill homes, new construction homes, condos, apartments, conversions and otherwise. NoDa is a very inclusive place, where everyone is encouraged to exist in the neighborhood as they wish to, without judgment.

If you would like to know more about NoDa Vision, you can PM me or send an email to the committee - [email protected]

[voyager12]

I can completely respect what you have to say. I speak with people that live and work there as well and who are in trouble. No one here is attacking you or your neighborhood personally or calling you "uneducated" . Others that don't live there are entitled to their opinions. I mentioned in my post above that every one's perception of the ideal NoDa is different based on their likes or dislikes. Affordability is the same. Fat City Lofts and Mercury may not be at Uptown prices but that is not "affordable" for friends of mine that got kicked out of the mills through city negligence and have no hope of return in the near future.

I make a point of posting the positive news about the neighborhood that I see as well.

Edited January 11, 2009 by voyager12

[tozmervo]

Coincidentally (perhaps), all three businesses in question are about the only ones in Noda that I never went in. There are still plenty of excellent galleries, shops and restaurants there, and the empty spaces will find new tenants. There's already a tattoo shop slated for one of them. Now if Cabo was going under, I'd be worried about the area.

Escapist - one thing that I've always enjoyed about Noda that doesn't get many props (from what I can tell) is the street music. Be it on the corner by Cabo or in front of Salvador Deli, street music is something that Charlotte lacks in. M2C.

[Charlotte_native]

Considering NoDa to be corporate or bland is certainly something that some might think -- especially if they are comparing it to the mill oriented village it was 20 years ago. I would like to point out that it has no chain restaurants (not even local chains like Fuel Pizza), no corporate owned galleries or businesses, and is very much a mom and pop environment. It is similar to Thomas Street and Commonwealth, but with its own vibe and personality. From Rat's Nest to Smelly Cat, from Cabo to Dog Bar, it is littered with interesting and individually conceptualized shops and bars. It is being hit hard now by the economy, but I don't know many areas of town or businesses that aren't.

I remember when I first began hanging out in North Davidson (before it got its cutesy name) in the early 90's. KC at Fat City was a friend, the gallery crawls were a blast, and the overall feeling there was pretty free spirited. Our cars also got broken into if we weren't careful where we parked. We were always approached to buy drugs if we were on the back streets, many of the properties in the neighborhood were just one step away from needing to be demolished because they were too far gone. The past isn't all rosy and jolly, nor is the present. Without the influx of new residents, and yes the money many brought with them, many of the great old mill homes and many of the commercial structures would likely be gone right now.

I love going to Dog Bar, I still enjoy the galleries that are there (love the newer Lark & Key gallery -- locally owned), Solstice, Rat's Nest, Sunshine Daydreams hippie store, and really most of the shops and cafes that are there. The New Orleans restaurant (KC worked there for quite some time by the way), and the wine bar are also locally owned and pretty funky.

More than missing the old neighborhood I miss Fat City and all that came with it. It was truly a one-of-a-kind place but it was also the times that made it what it was. You can't preserve that and it was changing, not necessarily for the good, by the time it closed. I think North Davidson (which I still prefer to NoDa) is one of the most unique and interesting neighborhoods in Charlotte. I can't wait for warm weather to come back so I can drink PBR with my artsy friends and sit by a bon-fire and drum circle.

Edited January 12, 2009 by Charlotte_native

[JBGB]

Fat City was the heart of North Davidson. Now that it's gone there is no sole there anymore. KC is the mayor and the inventors of the NoDa realiestate boom need to get him back to make it real again. Without KC and Fat City it seems so depressing and lifeless to me. Although I do enjoy a good show at Smelly Cat but that is about the only reason I go there anymore.

[New Name]

^Not true dude!.... if you came with us to trivia at Revolution, and pool at Sanctuary....