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

[Niner National]

I would love if someone could take a picture. I've been very curious about this project. And *SHUDDER* at the word "Complex"

[Guest]

It's not horrible, but it's better than the "ski chalet" it's renderings suggested.

[Niner National]

That is just a small portion of the project. It is huge.

 

This is also the backside and not the side that faces 7th street. The 7th street side is hard to get a shot of because the construction fencing has a screen on it.

[southslider]

The street to the right of the apartments in the picture is the future extension of Bascom to 7th.  No more awkward turns to get in and out of Chantilly.

[ah59396]

Drove by the JBL project on 7th yesterday and one word came to mind...MASSIVE.  This is a huge site (as suspected) and the street level architecture turned out pretty well.  It's definitely suitable for Elizabeth and is a far cry from the run down homes that were there before.  Should also be a nice boom for the bars and restaurants down at the corner of Pecan.

[southslider]

And to think when a project of similar scale and massing (plus ground-floor retail) was proposed for the Roy's Flowers / Viz Art / Dollar General strip, the neighborhood fought it.

[Guest]

Stupid Elizabeth neighborhood...

[rjp212]

Expansion of Presbyterian Hospital is planned at the corner of 5th and Hawthorne.  Currently there is a $60 million dollar campaign to build a 150,000 sf 6-story Heart and Cancer facility, in what is now a parking lot.  They mention a skybridge will connect the building to the rest of Presby.  I assume a skybridge will not affect the planned street car that would run under it.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2014/03/24/novant-kicks-off-60m-campaign-to-support-heart-and.html

[CLTProductions]

Expansion of Presbyterian Hospital is planned at the corner of 5th and Hawthorne.  Currently there is a $60 million dollar campaign to build a 150,000 sf 6-story Heart and Cancer facility, in what is now a parking lot.  They mention a skybridge will connect the building to the rest of Presby.  I assume a skybridge will not affect the planned street car that would run under it.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2014/03/24/novant-kicks-off-60m-campaign-to-support-heart-and.html

Well that would certainly be very cool, and a huge win for Novant.

[ChessieCat]

^Charlotte really needs a medical school.  I know UNC med school rotates people through CMC Main, but the fact Charlotte is one of the largest cities in the country without a Med School needs to come to an end... 

[15895]

^Charlotte really needs a medical school. I know UNC med school rotates people through CMC Main, but the fact Charlotte is one of the largest cities in the country without a Med School needs to come to an end...

It Would be Sweet to have one in "Brooklyn Village"

[birky]

^Charlotte really needs a medical school.  I know UNC med school rotates people through CMC Main, but the fact Charlotte is one of the largest cities in the country without a Med School needs to come to an end... 

 

UNCC has discussed this with the BOG and been shot down. In simplest terms, UNC-Chapel Hill won't let it happen.

[kermit]

UNC-CH is ramping up a 'satellite' medical school attached to CMC.

 

http://www.med.unc.edu/md/charlotte/the-charlotte-campus

 

Its quite small and, at the moment, it consists of little more than rotating third year students through. However, it is generally seen as a foot in the door for scaling up slowly and deliberately when the UNC System budget permits it (meaning after Art Pope is overthrown). I do think folks see a need for another medical (and dental) school in the state as population growth continues, Charlotte is really the only place that has the appropriate infrastructure available and is far enough from Chapel Hill to justify the investment. Unfortunately I don't see a scenario where UNC Charlotte would operate the Charlotte medical school.   (Asheville might have better clinical / hospital facilities but lacks the research capacity necessary to support a full medical school campus IMO).

 

IMO two decade's worth of uncertainty about US healthcare has caused under-investment in medical training -- South Carolina, Georgia and SW Tennessee (Knoxville, Chattanooga and surroundings) are also undeserved in terms of medical school capacity.

 

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, this is just speculation on my part.

[Niner National]

^Charlotte really needs a medical school.  I know UNC med school rotates people through CMC Main, but the fact Charlotte is one of the largest cities in the country without a Med School needs to come to an end... 

Presby proposed partnering with CMC and UNC Charlotte to open and fund a med school. CMC (run by a Chapel Hill graduate) and the UNC system board (run mostly by Chapel Hill grads) did not want to do that. They wanted CMC to have a Chapel Hill satellite campus.

[ChessieCat]

^If I were running the JM Belk trust I would have donated the $10 MM with the caveat that a Med School be opened in Charlotte.  If the UNC Governors want UNC-CH to have a monopoly, then the $$ could have gone to Davidson to open a Med School in Elizabeth.  JM Belk was an alum of Davidson anyway (the arena is named after him ).

 

Even Campbell University in Buies Creek (population: 2,215) has a D.O. medical school!!!

Edited March 25, 2014 by ChessieCat

[cltbwimob]

^If I were running the JM Belk trust I would have donated the $10 MM with the caveat that a Med School be opened in Charlotte.  If the UNC Governors want UNC-CH to have a monopoly, then the $$ could have gone to Davidson to open a Med School in Elizabeth.  JM Belk was an alum of Davidson anyway (the arena is named after him ).

 

Even Campbell University in Buies Creek (population: 2,215) has a D.O. medical school!!!

This frustrates me to no end. We are actually not just one of the largest, but THE LARGEST metro area in the US without a full four year medical school, MD or DO. In addition, the only law school we have is in the lowest of tiers and is "for profit" (coincidentally, the cost is roughly equivalent to WF School of Law, a top tier institution). The only pharmacy school is in Wingate on the very fringes of the metro area, and we have no veterinary teaching schools.

Compare our higher education opportunities to the Triangle CSA which has three medical schools, four schools of law that are not "for profit"', three schools of pharmacy, and one school of veterinary medicine. Furthermore, Triangle schools offer a litany of other "non-professional" degree programs which are not offered in Charlotte. And the high concentration of educated professionals in the Triangle is one reason the average annual income in that area, depending on the estimate, is 5-10% higher than Charlotte area incomes. We as a community are undermining our own ability to be economically successful by not investing much in higher education. Sorry, rant over.

Streetcar, Sugar Creek Greenway, Memorial Stadium, Novant Health, etc, etc, etc....There, back on topic.

[ChessieCat]

This frustrates me to no end. We are actually not just one of the largest, but THE LARGEST metro area in the US without a full four year medical school, MD or DO. In addition, the only law school we have is in the lowest of tiers and is "for profit" (coincidentally, the cost is roughly equivalent to WF School of Law, a top tier institution). The only pharmacy school is in Wingate on the very fringes of the metro area, and we have no veterinary teaching schools.

Compare our higher education opportunities to the Triangle CSA which has three medical schools, four schools of law that are not "for profit"', three schools of pharmacy, and one school of veterinary medicine. Furthermore, Triangle schools offer a litany of other "non-professional" degree programs which are not offered in Charlotte. And the high concentration of educated professionals in the Triangle is one reason the average annual income in that area, depending on the estimate, is 5-10% higher than Charlotte area incomes. We as a community are undermining our own ability to be economically successful by not investing much in higher education. Sorry, rant over.

Streetcar, Sugar Creek Greenway, Memorial Stadium, Novant Health, etc, etc, etc....There, back on topic.

 

^You make a very valid point.  Rather than doling out millions to Chiquita/Fyffes and Good Sports to bring in questionable "headquarters" and supposed tourism, the City should be focused on attracting the things Charlotte REALLY needs over the long term like the professional schools and research institutes you mentioned...

[DEnd]

^You make a very valid point.  Rather than doling out millions to Chiquita/Fyffes and Good Sports to bring in questionable "headquarters" and supposed tourism, the City should be focused on attracting the things Charlotte REALLY needs over the long term like the professional schools and research institutes you mentioned...

I completely agree that Charlotte needs research institutions. But Charlotte does not need a medical school, at least in the strictest sense of the word. The majority of medical training is not done in medical school but rather the Residency programs of Hospitals. Generally Doctors do not do residency where they went to medical school. Generally regional desirability is a major factor in where a doctor decides to practice, and practices associated with research institutes will do more than having a medical school. The one advantage a medical school will have is that it will provide a limited number of research assistants to the research institutes, however those roles are easily filled by other students (chemistry, biology, etc...) and by other professionals.

[ChessieCat]

^Valid points.  Was just making the argument that I'd rather see the City give $$$ to start a Med School cause it's here for the long run unlike Chiquita's "headquarters"...

[cltbwimob]

I completely agree that Charlotte needs research institutions. But Charlotte does not need a medical school, at least in the strictest sense of the word. The majority of medical training is not done in medical school but rather the Residency programs of Hospitals. Generally Doctors do not do residency where they went to medical school. Generally regional desirability is a major factor in where a doctor decides to practice, and practices associated with research institutes will do more than having a medical school. The one advantage a medical school will have is that it will provide a limited number of research assistants to the research institutes, however those roles are easily filled by other students (chemistry, biology, etc...) and by other professionals.

The consensus opinion of everything I have read regarding this matter is that Med School placement has a lot to do with where a doctor eventually chooses to practice. Even if it doesn't, having a medical school carries with it prestige.

At any rate something may be afoot in regards to a medical school in Charlotte. This is just speculative, but when Campbell University opened their college of medicine, I found a post on one of the school's blogs by a former administrator at Presbyterian who also happens to be the person who tried to form a joint venture between Presbyterian and CMC. The message was for the school's dean and it was a message requesting a meeting on how to start such a school. Given a recent rash of hospitals forming their own schools in cities both great and small (one just formed in Dothan, AL) I would not be surprised if Presbyterian did one day open their own medical school without CMC. Perhaps a joint venture with Queens University-the nursing program is already affiliated with Presbyterian.

Edited March 28, 2014 by cltbwimob

[DEnd]

Don't get me wrong I would love to see a med school in Charlotte, and it should be something our leaders should work towards. I just don't think that ultimately one will result in better doctors in our area.

I would think Presby would first open some medical residency programs. As it is they basically have no institutional experience training doctors. I think if Novant were to institute a medical Residency program it would be at Forsyth Medical Center (it's a larger hospital, they could probably demonstrate an area need, etc...)

[InitialD]

I haven't kept up with what is going on here. Some renovations or something to Memorial Stadium (I hope not just haven't to tear more of it down for being unsafe).

 

[RVA2CLT]

I haven't kept up with what is going on here. Some renovations or something to Memorial Stadium (I hope not just haven't to tear more of it down for being unsafe).

 

Great to see progress is stating on this!

There is a thread already started about this american-legion-memorial-stadium-renovation where you can read more about what's going on and with the Hounds and the new NASL team replacing the Eagles.

 

[atlrvr]

Intersting note, the CPCC parking  deck at 7th and Charlottetown now has For Lease Retail Space signs up along the Charlottetown frontage.  I believe when it was built there was (or was planned) a property management office in that space.  Hopefully they attract something interesting.  Seems like a decent spot for a fast-casual restaurant.

[Miesian Corners]

I completely agree that Charlotte needs research institutions. But Charlotte does not need a medical school, at least in the strictest sense of the word. The majority of medical training is not done in medical school but rather the Residency programs of Hospitals. Generally Doctors do not do residency where they went to medical school. Generally regional desirability is a major factor in where a doctor decides to practice, and practices associated with research institutes will do more than having a medical school. The one advantage a medical school will have is that it will provide a limited number of research assistants to the research institutes, however those roles are easily filled by other students (chemistry, biology, etc...) and by other professionals.

Tell that to Birmingham, AL, whose formerly dead downtown is now awash with hospitals/R&D and employment due to UAB's medical school.