Elizabeth Projects (7th St, Elizabeth Ave, etc)

[ChantillyDave]

At the meeting Patsy basically repeated what we have been hearing anecdotally for a while, Winter doesn't really have financing in place at this time and they just renewed the rental agreements on many of the homes. Winter sees the approval of the rezoning as a way to procure the financing sooner than later though.

Saw that JLB Partners just closed on this site at the end of September. Anyone have any info as to what their construction timeline might be?

[ah59396]

http://www.foxcharlotte.com/news/local/Planned-Elizabeth-Apartments-To-Replace-Boardedup-Homes-138756294.html?m=y&smobile=y&clmob=y

Pretty good report on what's going on in Elizabeth. As a resident, I'm glad to see those eyesores go.

[nonillogical]

Does CPCC have new buildings going up on Elizabeth or are they just extensive renovations? I drove by on the way to a visulite show and did a bit of a double take, all I could see was that there's 2 fenced sites, one on each side of the street.

[tozmervo]

CPCC has been actively bulldozing all of their interesting buildings and putting up exceptionally mediocre buildings in their place.

[Guest]

What, you aren't a fan of the exceptionally unexceptional?

[nonillogical]

Trust me, the two buildings in question were awful brutalist, nearly windowless concrete structures that NEEDED the work, and if they're being completely replaced just about anything would be an improvement.

[Third Strike]

I haven't been to CPCC in awhile, but are the two buildings in question the Kratt and Van Every buildings? I recall those two being one of the oldest buildings on campus, and looking a lot worse, internally, than the other buildings on campus.

[DEnd]

^ Kratt and Van Every halls have been planned for replacement for 15+ years, they do not meet current or future needs. Creech Design has designs for replacements on their site. http://www.creech-design.com/highereducation5.html and http://www.creech-design.com/highereducation6.html At this time work is only being done on Taylor Hall and Van Every Hall Updates can be found here: http://www.cpcc.edu/facilitiesservices/hard-hat-updates

[Temeteron]

Trust me, the two buildings in question were awful brutalist, nearly windowless concrete structures that NEEDED the work, and if they're being completely replaced just about anything would be an improvement.

Indeed! That building (I can't remember the name of it) that was torn down was probably the ugliest most useless building in NC.....

[nonillogical]

New restaurant coming to Elizabeth Ave as noted in this review of Smalls (which IMO is excellent, btw, if a tad expensive). http://clclt.com/charlotte/big-flavors-at-smalls/Content?oid=2676029

Elizabeth Fish and Oyster House will open April 17 next door to Smalls and they will share a kitchen, similar to how Nofo and its Tex-Mex counterpart used to. They are replacing the front windows with garage doors. I am beyond excited about this. I am really big on raw or steamed oysters and fried seafood, and Vinnies is just a sad place to try and get that fix.

[southslider]

^Sounds like a good addition. Just a bit ironic that these new restaurants will flip the spaces they occupy, in terms of price points, compared with the two former restaurants.

A shared kitchen is a good way to manage overhead (also the case with Kickstand and Loco Lime). Plus, it provides some business plan flexibility to re-brand one side without completely closing (Kickstand was formerly Common House).

[Niner National]

I drive down this stretch of road occasionally and it seems that there are very rarely people in this area. Have I just gone by at the wrong time, or is this always the case?

[southslider]

^Like other single-use districts (government, education, theatres, sports and concert venues), it's either feast or famine.

[dubone]

Plus, so much of the land is now cleared for surface lots, so it isn't much for generating traffic. If the grocery store had been built as planned, it would be a different story at this point.

[Urbanity]

^Like other single-use districts (government, education, theatres, sports and concert venues), it's either feast or famine.

I never thought of Elizabeth Avenue as a single-use district.

Edited April 5, 2012 by Urbanity

[nonillogical]

I never thought of Elizabeth Avenue as a single-use district.

It seems to have 2 prime times when it is somewhat lively, during the day when CPCC classes are in session during the week, and wednesday-saturday evenings when you have Visulite shows and people hanging out at Crown Station, Loft, and (hopefully now) Smalls. In between those times it can be kind of dead, but there are several big gaps screaming for new storefronts, and the area could be destination-worthy pretty quickly if the right businesses moved in IMO.

[southslider]

I never thought of Elizabeth Avenue as a single-use district.

I was responding to a CPCC question. That section of Elizabeth Avenue between Kings Drive and Charlottetowne Avenue is indeed a single-use district. Thankfully, the "Elizabeth Village" section from Charlottetowne Avenue to Hawthorne Lane has more potential to become a mixed-use district. That is, if Grubb would ever add more density to the "restaurant row" already built.

Edited April 5, 2012 by southslider

[Prodev]

I was researching an architect and stumbled on this - http://www.humphreys.com/project.aspx?projectID=108

Does anyone know if this is new or something that was proposed as part of the overall Elizabeth Ave redevelopment when it was originally proposed? Note that it appears to be at the block bound by Elizabeth, Travis, 5th & Hawthorne.

[southslider]

^These apartments were intended to screen a parking deck shared with Presbyterian Hospital. Permits were originally sought back in 2008, but then the recession happened. I thought the land had been sold to Presby, but records show "Providence Road Partners LLC."

Still, I think the market for apartments within a mile of Uptown hasn't been fully tapped, especially outside of South End. Plus, this site is just one block off streetcar, so it's just as accessible to Uptown as South End.

Edited September 13, 2012 by southslider

[Prodev]

Given the job base at all the hospitals and office and the walkability to those, 350 units there would do very well. The walkability to employment would give them a huge advantage over anything existing or in the pipeline.

[atlrvr]

Agreed. Not sure why Grubb has been so slow in pulling the trigger on new aparments on the land holdings along Elizabeth. Most recent plans I believe have the site of the rendering linked to now be lower-rise wood-frame aparments taking up the full blocks between 5th and Park Dr., a high-rise apartment tower where the Whole Foods/Fresh Market proposal was, and smaller "urban infill" style apartment building with ground floor retail on Eliz next the the CPCC bookstore building.

The proximity to CPCC and the hospital combined with limited high-end rental options in the immediate area and the streetcar that will be finished before the apartments if they were to break ground today makes development there one of the strongest apartment sites in the city in my opinion.

It does look like Lennar will break ground by year end or early 2013 on their Midtown site next to the ABC store/Pancake House.

[nonillogical]

I liked that site plan and hope that whatever does happen in the Elizabeth Ave area can acknowledge some retail potential on Travis and Torrence, not just on Elizabeth. The area has really suffered due to accessibility issues during streetcar construction and now just doesn't seem to have the critical mass needed to keep people over there. I can see that changing very quickly though with just a few more store/bar openings and a building or two of new residents.

[dubone]

Ok, so with Chilly Willy's death, it is starting to be obvious that we have a serious pedestrian death issue on 7th Street through Elizabeth. I know it is a state road, but something needs to happen to correct the problems. I think it needs to be reduced in importance as a thoroughfare and get some East Blvd treatment, maybe with a slight widening, pedestrian medians, and some other effects to slow cars down through here. That, or maybe go extreme and put pedestrian fence up in front of the bars to direct all the nightlife patrons to the intersection to cross.

It is not ok to have so many pedestrian deaths on one block.

[jednc]

Ok, so with Chilly Willy's death, it is starting to be obvious that we have a serious pedestrian death issue on 7th Street through Elizabeth. I know it is a state road, but something needs to happen to correct the problems. I think it needs to be reduced in importance as a thoroughfare and get some East Blvd treatment, maybe with a slight widening, pedestrian medians, and some other effects to slow cars down through here. That, or maybe go extreme and put pedestrian fence up in front of the bars to direct all the nightlife patrons to the intersection to cross.

It is not ok to have so many pedestrian deaths on one block.

Could you remind me of the circumstances of these deaths?

Edit: I went ahead and checked on the details myself. The first two deaths were caused by people driving drunk. The actual road had nothing to do with the incidents. As for Mr. Major's death, while a tragedy, I'll wait on more details before seeing how it applies to changes to 7th St. So far though, I can't see how conditions on 7th St. are to blame.

I'm against spending money and resources to fix a street when clearly alcohol is to blame for the first two incidents (and a betting man would say the third as well).

Edited October 20, 2012 by jednc

[Niner National]

I think that stretch of road could definitely use more lighting. I've driven through there at night several times and it can be difficult to see jay-walkers. Other than that, I'm not sure other changes really need to be made.

Dark conditions + alcohol + jay walkers + traffic make for very dangerous conditions.