NoDa (N Davidson St Arts District) Projects

[CLTProductions]

1 hour ago, DMann said:

I spoke with Adam Spears, owner of The Local Loaf and he indicated to me that I can pass the word that he has signed a letter of intent to take the space vacated by Bodega on 35 street.  Still some zoning issues to iron out, but Adam is on his way!

 

 

Wish it was a bit closer to the NoDa heart but thats amazing. I absolutely LOVE the local loaf

[IrishCLT]

On 3/5/2016 at 0:46 PM, DMann said:

I spoke with Adam Spears, owner of The Local Loaf and he indicated to me that I can pass the word that he has signed a letter of intent to take the space vacated by Bodega on 35 street.  Still some zoning issues to iron out, but Adam is on his way!

 

 

Is the Bodega going somewhere??

[SgtCampsalot]

1 minute ago, IrishCLT said:

Is the Bodega going somewhere??

They're going to this renovated corner strip

[SgtCampsalot]

30 New Townhomes Are Planned Around Heist Brewery/Highland Mill

While this makes perfect sense, and is awesome, I always imagined this would be done in the 2020s, when the public transit and bike infrastructure was more built out. Still, it's cool. 

Edited March 7, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[Desert Power]

Yeah, that is some crazy infill

On 3/7/2016 at 10:30 AM, SgtCampsalot said:

They're going to this renovated corner strip

Quite different from their current location and bummed about how much further it is to walk.  However, it is nice to see some nicer things moving to that end of the street.  The Plaza will take an interesting journey, but a lot of potential

[Spartan]

AC&W relocation study in the NoDa area is complete: http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/Transportation/PlansProjects/Pages/ACW%20RR-RelocationStudy-09-01-2015.aspx

If you read through the report, the key parts are that its going to cost $27m to relocate. The City will likely start the NEPA process and preliminary design and add the project to the next MTP (2045) so it can be eligible for federal funding at some point in the future. So, essentially this is going to be a long term project, but it's very realistic.

[orulz]

I think the idea of aligning Davidson-Anderson-Atmore into a single street with a grade separation over the RR is not a bad one, but the condo project Galleries at Noda, which is approved, essentially forecloses on that possibility, since its footprint follows the curve of Davidson. I suppose that's only if it meets sales targets and gets built.

[southslider]

And there goes all the TOD potential north of Anderson.  So much for building a ped bridge for the Sugar Creek station.

[SgtCampsalot]

So, I've spent a lot of time in that area over the years; what does the rail company have to gain from that change in alignment? A couple less intersections, sure, and it will be nice to get a greenway through that whole stretch up to Brevard St, but it seems like a TON of work for such a seemingly small benefit for the company. I guess they'll just feel more comfortable given all the future ped traffic in the area.

Edited March 11, 2016 by SgtCampsalot

[orulz]

1 minute ago, SgtCampsalot said:

So, I've spent a lot of time in that area over the years; what does the rail company have to gain from that change in alignment? A couple less intersections, sure, and it will be nice to get a greenway through that whole stretch up to Brevard St neighborhood, but it seems like a TON of work for such a seemingly small benefit for thr company.

Having a direct connection from NS rather than the corner of their yard may be big. And the potential liability from crossings and cost of upkeep is pretty significant. But the main winner here would be the city; acwr ns and ncrr are not likely to contribute much.

1 hour ago, southslider said:

And there goes all the TOD potential north of Anderson.  So much for building a ped bridge for the Sugar Creek station.

I think that is overstating the downside. Having tracks right they the center of NoDa certainly didn't kill the neighborhood.

[kermit]

This project is very similar to the 277 interchange realignment at South and Caldwell. It doesn't mean a big change for the railroad, but it is a huge change for the city.

[Spartan]

18 hours ago, orulz said:

I think the idea of aligning Davidson-Anderson-Atmore into a single street with a grade separation over the RR is not a bad one, but the condo project Galleries at Noda, which is approved, essentially forecloses on that possibility, since its footprint follows the curve of Davidson. I suppose that's only if it meets sales targets and gets built.

A direct connection to the main line provides them with better freight mobility and access to future Gateway Station (which would be useful for future passenger rail to the east). They would also gain safery benefits by reducing the number of grade crossings from 7 (8 you count Herrin Ave) to 1. That improves the safety of their operations, allows them to move trains a little faster, it disrupts the vehicular traffic a lot less, and reduces complaints about train horns. 

[SgtCampsalot]

40 minutes ago, Spartan said:

A direct connection to the main line provides them with better freight mobility and access to future Gateway Station (which would be useful for future passenger rail to the east). They would also gain safery benefits by reducing the number of grade crossings from 7 (8 you count Herrin Ave) to 1. That improves the safety of their operations, allows them to move trains a little faster, it disrupts the vehicular traffic a lot less, and reduces complaints about train horns. 

Great points, I'm sold now. However, with that current street re-alignment, that last stretch of N Davidson will forever suffer from the same "turn left to stay of [x] road" disease as many other infamous parts of Charlotte 

[orulz]

2 hours ago, SgtCampsalot said:

Great points, I'm sold now. However, with that current street re-alignment, that last stretch of N Davidson will forever suffer from the same "turn left to stay of [x] road" disease as many other infamous parts of Charlotte 

I don't think that realignment is going to happen, as I mentioned, unless the city takes action quickly. The Galleries at Noda, which is planned on that corner, will build on the parcel at the corner of Davidson & Anderson making it impossible to create a straight through Davidson-Anderson connection.

[Spartan]

I wouldn't get too hung up on the street alignment. That is just a proposal to show how it could be accomplished. The rail alignment is fixed, but the street network will likely not evolve exactly as shown. The main idea for a plan like this is to allow the public and developers to see how the street network might evolve. The streets themselves will be stitched together over time with development.

[Guest]

YES! I've been waiting for this one. I've been hearing rumblings about a new retail/entertainment development coming to Noda between Crescents spot and the evening Muse. Looks like they have scheduled a meeting with the Noda Community. Hope you guys can make it! 

https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/NoDa%20Idea%20Session%20Invitation_031616.pdf?token=AWwH-KH4YfOc0hwIyE2_Xryf8xzIPvroDqY_fwrmpv6N0yDTO6qAwipCHTtTaa4L8wrhVOK5HVafz-xXwEY7c9saHiqQxbI7tbr3HHanS6s70tyhWsRJ00CPl_qxuATrZ6A

 

Only worry I have is the developers. Elle Capital Partners, have almost 0 experience with Retail. So I'm scratching my head over here.

 

edit: in green they are referencing a lot of projects that haven't been announced 

Edited March 14, 2016 by Guest

[kermit]

does the green stuff on the other side of the tracks (in the flyer) refer to already announced projects? I didn't remember any discussion of The Factory (I and II), The Park or The Village.

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, kermit said:

does the green stuff on the other side of the tracks (in the flyer) refer to already announced projects? I didn't remember any discussion of The Factory (I and II), The Park or The Village.

The person calling the community meeting is primarily a residential developer, so it looks like we wil definitely be looking at our first major project on the west side of the tracks.

[Prodev]

The community meeting is for the tract labeled NoDa Station, which is Eller Capital, a multifamily investor. I'd expect nothing more than apartments for that site based in their line of business. I'm interested to see if their plans include the Rats Nest site, which is unknown by looking at the aerial. The stuff west of the tracks labeled The Exchange, The Villas & The Guild are all being marketed for sale, but I don't expect The Exchange to trade and the other two will likely be for sale product given that there's no access to 36th and to get to 36th you'll have to go north on Craighead, left down tryon and then left on to 36th and down into the core. Very disconnected. The ultimate plan is to have a public road through the site and through the Herrin Ice Co, but Herrin will need to sell, which I'm told they will not. The other stuff across the tracks from Crescent is mostly owned by the county and within the floodplain and greenway and not buildable. 

[SgtCampsalot]

13 minutes ago, Prodev said:

The stuff west of the tracks labeled The Exchange, The Villas & The Guild are all being marketed for sale, but I don't expect The Exchange to trade and the other two will likely be for sale product given that there's no access to 36th and to get to 36th you'll have to go north on Craighead, left down tryon and then left on to 36th and down into the core. Very disconnected. The ultimate plan is to have a public road through the site and through the Herrin Ice Co, but Herrin will need to sell, which I'm told they will not. 

So the city's plans for extending philemon are theoretical at this point? They sounded pretty certain, pending the bonds passing each cycle.

[kermit]

21 minutes ago, Prodev said:

The community meeting is for the tract labeled NoDa Station, which is Eller Capital, a multifamily investor. I'd expect nothing more than apartments for that site based in their line of business. I'm interested to see if their plans include the Rats Nest site, which is unknown by looking at the aerial. The stuff west of the tracks labeled The Exchange, The Villas & The Guild are all being marketed for sale, but I don't expect The Exchange to trade and the other two will likely be for sale product given that there's no access to 36th and to get to 36th you'll have to go north on Craighead, left down tryon and then left on to 36th and down into the core. Very disconnected. The ultimate plan is to have a public road through the site and through the Herrin Ice Co, but Herrin will need to sell, which I'm told they will not. The other stuff across the tracks from Crescent is mostly owned by the county and within the floodplain and greenway and not buildable. 

Thanks for your insight!

None of this is intended to be critical, I am just trying to remember what has happened here over the past year.

• I thought The Exchange site was announced as some type of multifamily already? (about 4-5 months ago?)
• You are right about the floodplain issue (The Factory, The Village, The Park, The Factory II). This does mean nothing can get built here, right? Its it still possible to retrofitting existing structures to new uses? (this might be good news)
• I had thought the city planned to extend Phelemon to 36th to provide some connectivity improvements after closing Craighead. But you are exactly right, Polaris shows this to be impossible without either Herrin selling (which I also heard would be never) or getting the NCRR to be generous with its ROW (which is equally unlikely). Bummer, that would really change the landscape at The Villas and The Guild. 

EDIT: the Phelemon extension might be possible though backyards of houses on Bernard (there is also a Duke power easement), but the road would still need to be built through a flood plain (meaning expensive). It might also be possible to connect it to Bernard (taking one house away), but this recently gentrified neighborhood would certainly raise hell about that. (having said that, improving the street grid on Bernard and Ritch would have big benefits to the neighborhood)

 

Edited March 15, 2016 by kermit

[Spartan]

It sounds like y'all are talking about two related, but still separate things. Part of the Philemon Ave extension is a done deal as long as the bonds continue to pass. The funded project will extend the street southwest to connect with Cullman. The proposal to send the street north and east of Craighead is in the plan but remains unfunded.

[Prodev]

My understanding is that Philemon will be stubbed at the back of the Herrin property and connected to 36th and aligned with Cullman if and when Herrin is redeveloped, but they aren't going to use eminent domain to make it happen sooner. 

[Prodev]

I got some more info on Eller's deal, "NoDa Station". It's a straight apartment deal and they are looking to do 200 units - five stories of wood frame over two of podium. They did hire a former Crescent guy to run their development side, but otherwise have focused on value-add garden apartments, so don't expect to be wow'd. 

[southslider]

Yep, Herrin Ice blocks Philemon from 36th.

On a happier note, at least the realignment of AC&W should allow for reconnecting a different Herrin.