Baseball in Charlotte, which will happen?

[dubone]

The current state is the result of the past generation's work. Most of uptown Charlotte are empty parking lots. A park, a baseball park, and significant housing and street retail developements in 2nd Ward and 3rd Ward will not have the same effect as those surface lots.

[monsoon]

The current state is the result of the past generation's work. Most of uptown Charlotte are empty parking lots. A park, a baseball park, and significant housing and street retail developements in 2nd Ward and 3rd Ward will not have the same effect as those surface lots.

[cityboi]

I think ballparks and parks can definately benefit downtowns if done the right way. But if they just want to plop a ballpark anywhere just to say its uptown, it doesnt neccisarily benifit uptown. It has to be built in strategic locations. Sometimes cities want to build stadiums downtown just to say they have a downtown stadiums but they pick sites (often due to lack of other available sites) that doesnt fit well for a stadium or does nothing for the immediate surrounding area. So cities are stuck with stadiums in the wrong location. Questions that should be asked is will the stadium site be large enough for an expansion to Major League Baseball?. if not, what happens if the ballpark is built today and 10 years from now Charlotte is ready and wants major league baseball? does that mean a major league park will be built elsewhere and that the new minor league ballpark will be demolished after 10 years? We've seen this happen with the Charlotte Coliseum. Im all for the ballpark though. I just hope they keep expansion in mind for major league baseball. I do think the proposed site is in the right area of uptown. But ballparks can greatly benefit uptown. In Greensboro, developer Roy Caroll who is converting the 17-story old Wachovia Building into condos, restaurant and some office space has said if it werent for the downtown ballpark and new center-city park, he wouldnt have even considered renovating the building which has stood vacant for more than 16 years.

[New Name]

Truth be told, a sports team needs to be embraced by it's home city (and in turn, embrace it's home city) in order for it to work. And having the stadium out in the middle of no where in South Carolina, does not do well for hometown interrest. I LOVE baseball. I am obsessive. But I have never, and will never go down to Rock Hill, even though I know I would have a lot of fun once I got there. And the reason is: once I am in Rock Hill, what else is there for me? I can't walk to a bar or for dinner afterward. I can't walk up to the Lynx and head into South End, or NoDa for a late night show. There is no "strolling district. in Rock Hill. There is no adventure out there to find. And I'm sure thousands of other people feel the same way. Wouldn't it be better if those thousand "fencesitters" got off the fence and got into uptown...even only for 60 nights a year...listen to that: SIXTY nights a year of 3000 more people in uptown. That sounds kind of like a more vibrant city.

[Justadude]

I think ballparks and parks can definately benefit downtowns if done the right way. But if they just want to plop a ballpark anywhere just to say its uptown, it doesnt neccisarily benifit uptown. It has to be built in strategic locations.

[queensguy06]

Going back a little here, I don't see how you can make the arguement that the stadium makes/made that side of town a dead zone. First off, what ward isn't a dead zone that far from the intersection of Trade and Tryon? Second, when the stadium was built, that side of town was largely industrial, and for the most part has remained such. The scarce housing you could find uptown was either in 1st or 4th Ward. Today I see quite the opposite effect on that side of town with the Warehouse District riding the current wave of residential construction downtown. And not to mention from the other direction you have downtown pushing toward the stadium with projects like Wachovia and Novare (which mind you is building around the baseball stadium and occompanied park).

The same is true about the arena - since it was built three condo towers, two hotels, and an entertainment complex have come to fruition. If you call that a dead zone I don't think we are on the same page.

[Justadude]

First off, what ward isn't a dead zone that far from the intersection of Trade and Tryon?

[dubone]

To add onto those points, it isn't like these sports stadiums create those projects, but they certainly seem to be hurting the areas.

We'll probably all go around and around on this issue forever, because it is impossible to resolve it. The proponents are comparing the urban life of a stadium to the current dead urban space that is 3rd Ward east of the tracks and the perceived potential development on the land. Opponents are comparing the urban life of a stadium to the most ideal state. The opponents generally don't care about the comparisons to the initial state and proponents don't care about the comparisons to the ideal state.

[New Name]

To add onto those points, it isn't like these sports stadiums create those projects, but they certainly seem to be hurting the areas.

We'll probably all go around and around on this issue forever, but it is impossible to resolve it. The proponents are comparing the urban life of a stadium to the current dead urban space that is 3rd Ward east of the tracks and the perceived potential development on the land. Opponents are comparing the urban life of a stadium to the most ideal state. The opponents generally don't care about the comparisons to the initial state and proponents don't care about the comparisons to the ideal state.

[Charlotte_native]

Nevertheless, BoA Stadium failed to deliver on promises that it would revitalize its surroundings. The current developments in the area have a lot more to do with the redevelopment of Morehead and Freedom, and the natural outward pressure of Tryon St., than with anything BoA ever did.

[monsoon]

Huh? BofA stadium has been there more than a decade and that is the most dead part of downtown. There were endless promises by boosters at the time before it was built that it would spur a big entertainment district, housing, condos, etc. Of course none of that came true because it is surrounded by mostly vacant lots and derelict warehouses. I think it's construction also held back third ward for a long time. Likewise I don't think a minor league ball stadium is going to have better success.

[Charlotte_native]

Huh? BofA stadium has been there more than a decade and that is the most dead part of downtown. There were endless promises by boosters at the time before it was built that it would spur a big entertainment district, housing, condos, etc.

[monsoon]

Is the stadium to blame or the owners who won't sell their derelict warehouses and parking lots? ....

[nyxmike]

I don't know - I don't think we have had anyone ambitious enough to develop the area around the stadium yet. Look at Dallas and the Victory Park development, which is right next to the American Airlines Arena.

http://www.victorypark.com/index_flash.html

[Charlotte_native]

Since you are asking, the stadium is to blame

[browngeo]

That victory park video is AMAZING !!! ....We need a condo development with an elaborate water feature...

[Charlotte_native]

That victory park video is AMAZING !!! ....We need a condo development with an elaborate water feature...

[krazeeboi]

Truth be told, a sports team needs to be embraced by it's home city (and in turn, embrace it's home city) in order for it to work. And having the stadium out in the middle of no where in South Carolina, does not do well for hometown interrest. I LOVE baseball. I am obsessive. But I have never, and will never go down to Rock Hill, even though I know I would have a lot of fun once I got there. And the reason is: once I am in Rock Hill, what else is there for me? I can't walk to a bar or for dinner afterward. I can't walk up to the Lynx and head into South End, or NoDa for a late night show. There is no "strolling district. in Rock Hill. There is no adventure out there to find. And I'm sure thousands of other people feel the same way. Wouldn't it be better if those thousand "fencesitters" got off the fence and got into uptown...even only for 60 nights a year...listen to that: SIXTY nights a year of 3000 more people in uptown. That sounds kind of like a more vibrant city.

[Charlotte_native]

I agree, but who was talking about putting the baseball stadium in Rock Hill???

[Delta_USAir]

I think baseball would be good, because it draws a pretty big crowd in Fort Mill. Now MLB, I will be at that stadium every night they play if we got a team!

Now if only we could get a soccer stadium!

[dubone]

I agree, C_N. There is no way to cite the stadium as causing a dead zone, when the same situation exists in three other wards that do not have a stadium. Regardless of the truthiness of the stadium-dead zone corelation, the dead zone in 2nd Ward and 1st Ward proves that it is actually a land-banking/surface parking lot - dead zone corelation.

[uptownliving]

The BofA stadium was definately one of the catalyst developments for downtown. What was on the BofA stadium land before it was built? Vacant buildings, that had been vacant for a while. The stadium brings 575,000 people downtown a year on a Sunday when they otherwise would not have been there. It has brought life to downtown. Its not the stadium's fault if the surrounding land owners havn't capitalized on all those people being downtown until now.

I don't blame the Carolina Panthers for things they don't have control over.

[monsoon]

So how does the stadium get hold out owners around it to sell?

.....

[cityboi]

Huh? BofA stadium has been there more than a decade and that is the most dead part of downtown. There were endless promises by boosters at the time before it was built that it would spur a big entertainment district, housing, condos, etc. Of course none of that came true because it is surrounded by mostly vacant lots and derelict warehouses. I think it's construction also held back third ward for a long time. Likewise I don't think a minor league ball stadium is going to have better success.

[nowensone]

I think the lots around the BoA stadium have not been (re)developed yet simply because it was built on the outskirts of the "urban cluster" based mainly up Tryon. Development is slowly headed it's way, Wachovia is obviously making a push closer to the stadium and I believe we'll see some development in a couple of years close by. Particularly I would hope for the vacant lots on the other side of 277 (no more cheap convenient game parking).

I don't think the promises made that the Stadium would be a catalyst were empty ones, just that CLT did not have the necessary mass at the time of the stadium being built, only barely being there now. I do think that the stadium has acted as a centralizing force for Charlotte, bringing many to it's core that otherwise would not have come, and therefore created the atmosphere of centralization (attention) necessary for more development in it's center.