Wachovia 48 Story Office Tower & 42 Story Condo Tower

[cha]

It'd be pretty cool to see all the buidling models for downtown collected together for one big model of downtown

[turbocraig]

I posted it in another thread a couple days ago, but the main library will have just such a display beginning in January.

[krazeeboi]

Hello to everyone! I am moving from NYC and trying to decide between several of the new condos being built. Any idea when floor plans for the Wachovia tower will be available? Thanks so much, this website has been so helpful!

[dubone]

Of all the projects, I'm probably least satisified with the Betchler building. It looks very plain. Perhaps the terra cotta treatment will add to the look of the building, but with a modern art building you could really make a architectual statment and step out on a limb or two.

[monsoon]

I could see a little bit about with the ground level critics are saying by seeing the model, but on the flipside, I also got the sense that they did what they could within the confines of a tall building. .

[dubone]

It is different from the College Street designs for the following reasons:

- All walls are glass with frequent entries into the building, as opposed to the concrete walls at the Omni.

- The building's ground level actually faces a sidewalk with a simple at-grade setback, as opposed to a those balcony type things with elevation changes, and a wall such as at BB&T and 2 Wachovia.

- Even though there is a plaza, you can enter the buildings directly from the sidewalk, too, unlike One Wachovia.

- There are front entryways facing all streets, unlike 3 Wachovia which doesn't have an entry to anything from South College Street.

The tax money covers the arts portions, which I didn't think were part of the design controversy.

I'm not saying the design of the base of this tower is ideal, but I see a clear difference between this and the South College Street projects. This has much more in common with Hearst and IJL and others on North Tryon than anything else.

[nowensone]

- All walls are glass with frequent entries into the building, as opposed to the concrete walls at the Omni.

[dubone]

Charlotte does allow street vendors, as there are many on Tryon whenever there are peaks of pedestrian activity, which isn't rare. I may not have gotten a clear shot of the doors, but the model included four or five sets of doors plus two openings connecting to the alley with sidewalks. That is a pretty decent number of entry points for one block face. I know there are negatives to the driveway entries, but I do think there are positives to seeing sunlight on the other side with open entry.

[nowensone]

Yes, admittedly I haven't been downtown during business hours, so have not seen the vendors you mention, know they must exist, it is just one of those things that the antiseptic feeling DT seems it wouldn't have. Do you see carts selling egg rolls/breakfast tacos on Tryon, or news stands and the larger more involved things (makeshift bazaars for example)?

[cooperdawg]

Yes, admittedly I haven't been downtown during business hours, so have not seen the vendors you mention, know they must exist, it is just one of those things that the antiseptic feeling DT seems it wouldn't have. Do you see carts selling egg rolls/breakfast tacos on Tryon, or news stands and the larger more involved things (makeshift bazaars for example)?

[nomadic_buffalo]

Great pics, dubone.

But I must say that I think the criticisms of this tower at street-level are pretty valid. Even worse, the glass appears to be reflective:

[nomadic_buffalo]

I take note their models have far more cars in them than people. This is about as bad as it gets from a streetscape perspective. At least it will be in keeping with the rest of their towers in south downtown.

[geauxvarsity]

Thanks for such detailed pics, though afraid they confirm to me that two whole blocks of Stonewall are going to be kind of dead, and the 1st street side along the peeled pink ediface. Maybe pictures aren't doing things justice, but... Also, is the surface lot just there for depection as it is really slated for future development?

[urban_avenger]

Either due to a camera setting, the nature of the mission, or the plexiglass, most of these turned out a little fuzzy. But I figured they would be fine for most of you who won't have a chance to go there to check it out yourself.

wow! thanks for the graet images

[monsoon]

local zoning codes do not allow glass on the ground floor that is reflective. i beleive the maximum amount of reflectivity is 36%. i don't believe the model is accurate in that regard.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Does anyone have any pics of office towers that have integrated good street level retail and business into the tower?

[monsoon]

..... not sure where all of your pessimism is coming from.

[cooperdawg]

Does anyone have any pics of office towers that have integrated good street level retail and business into the tower?

[nowensone]

Does anyone have any pics of office towers that have integrated good street level retail and business into the tower?

[nomadic_buffalo]

I have explained with my complaints above. If you read them and wish to address them individually then I will gladly discuss them with you. Else, I recommending re-reading them along with other posts in the Charlotte forum that I have made on this kind of development. Hopefully that will clear it up for you.

[geauxvarsity]

Ok.. let's start with the street retail and the cultural arts aspect of this development. Mint Museum, Bechtler Museum, Performing Art Theater, African American Cultural Arts facility, Wake Forest business school, street level retail on all sides of the development, a pedestrian plaza half the size of a football field, and a condo tower. Hmmm. Let not talk about any of that. Let's instead count the number of cars on the model and compare those to the number of people. Let's debate the visible light transmittance through a piece of plastic curtainwall used by a model builder. Thanks for the offer to re-read your posts but I'll pass.

[ilektronik]

The glass on the NCNB plaza and the adjoining hotel is reflective right at ground level.

[nomadic_buffalo]

It has not been called the NCNB plaza for quite some time as the bank has gone through a few name changes. The building you are referring to is the Bank of America Plaza. The BofA Plaza and the Omni Hotel only have reflective glass on the street level because they were grandfathered in. Street level reflective glass is no longer allowed. I'm sure Wachovia would have loved to make the street level offices not visible to the public via reflective glass on their revamped Wachovia Main building.

[elvigy]

I can't speak to how to achieve a lively, bustling uptown area, since it is not even close to a subject that I know anything about. However, I can say that things are getting much better.

I worked uptown, in what was then the brand new Omni Hotel, attached to the (at the time) First Union headquarters, from the day it opened (in 1990? my memory is failing, lol) for about 2 years.

Uptown was absolutely dead back then, even during the day. You'd see people during lunch, though most stayed in Overstreet Mall, and almost no one after 5:30pm. I could walk through Overstreet Mall all the way from the Omni to within a few blocks of where I lived in a cool, funky little apartment owned by the Gellman Corp. That building was demolished to make way for the 525 North Tryon building. Anyway, after 5:30 all the stores were closed, no food to be found, etc. either in Overstreet or on the street. It was desolate.

That route was not only easy to do, but preferable since the actual streets were overrun with, well, I don't know what a PC term would be, but let's just say people that I really had no desire to run into on my way to and from work.

Now, however, I am amazed at the change. Sometimes I'll drive through town just to gawk at all the activity on the streets. Even nights and weekends are interesting. Well, more interesting than they used to be.

I'd say the uptown area has gone from dead to somewher in the convalescent stages. There's work to be done, so I see monsoon's point, but I really do think the city is heading in the right direction. Which brings me to this specific project. The tower itself may not be perfect at it's base, but the project as a whole has great potential to increase the number of people walking around uptown and not just during lunch times. The museums and other cultural facilities will, I hope, be open on the weekends. This will bring people in and it's a fairly short walk to some of the great bars and restaurants in the uptown area.

[AuLukey]

.. but the ground level is not office. it is in fact mostly retail. and i'm quite sure the glass will be clear.