Ally Charlotte Center (f/k/a Tryon Place) - 26 floors - 427'

[ah59396]

40 story statue of Ron Trazinski, of "The Orignial Matress Factory" fame. Inside, shopping, said hotel and office space. Known colloquially (and regionally) as "The Ron".

People from around the world would come to see that. And we could have an observation deck near the glasses on his face.

[Guest]

Actually there is nothing rational about a 1,000 room hotel on this site.  The space is neither the right size nor does it make any sense logistically at that corner versus a commercial building with retail attraction.

 

If the city wanted a 1,000 room hotel and wanted to invest taxpayer money I could appreciate the idea of expanding the Westin with a second tower over their parking deck thereby providing the 1k room benchmark while being adjacent to the convention center.

 

The Crescent spot as anything less than a signature corp building would in my opinion be a waste.   It need not be the largest tower nor the prettiest  but a building of urban merit and not a friggin hotel which outside the Westin has no architectural record of merit in Charlotte as a building type.  

 

And that's all I got to say on that... (until I have another glass of wine!)

From what I know this project is a Office project first and a residential, hotel and retail second. The biggest use for this land WILL undeniably by Office. Office around 500k+, Hotel space would be in the boutique size, Residential around 150-200 units and retail between 20-50k.

DISCLAIMER: These are not concrete numbers, the masterplan is not finished. This is very educated speculation. 

Edited February 13, 2013 by Guest

[nowensone]

^ Any idea how many buildings, or, are they going up or out?  

[ssh214]

Honestly the best site for a new 1k hotel site should be at the EpiCenter not the Crescent block, the infrastructure is already there... 

[HopHead]

From what I know this project is a Office project first and a residential, hotel and retail second. The biggest use for this land WILL undeniably by Office. Office around 500k+, Hotel space would be in the boutique size, Residential around 150-200 units and retail between 20-50k.

DISCLAIMER: These are not concrete numbers, the masterplan is not finished. This is very educated speculation. 

 

So is this one big building or multiple? I guess it may be hard to say if the plan is not finalized. If the office building is 500k+ sqft, then I'm assuming that would translate into about a 25 story building (at least for office space). If it's one building and it's a boutique hotel and residential you could probably double the stories then. 

[ah59396]

I think I'd rather have a 25-30 story office tower along side a 15-25 residential/hotel building than one larger 50 story building. Unless it was just something unbelievable.

Though for the sake of aesthetics, I feel like putting another big guy down there would really throw off the balance of our skyline. If we were ever to get another duke energy/boa sized tower (or larger) the best possible location would be 300 south tryon.

[Missmylab4]

The only thing on this site that could be construed to be "transformative" and these are a stretch;

1. Public/Private partnership to cap 277 or build a pedestrian bridge to South End.

2. At least a 100k of retail

3. Or this is controversial but in my opinion transformative, the public/private giant hotel.

Anything that is just a mixed use project to me is nothing groundbreaking whatsoever. One of those three elements need to be included for me to consider it "transformative."

[Guest]

The only thing on this site that could be construed to be "transformative" and these are a stretch;

1. Public/Private partnership to cap 277 or build a pedestrian bridge to South End.

2. At least a 100k of retail

3. Or this is controversial but in my opinion transformative, the public/private giant hotel.

Anything that is just a mixed use project to me is nothing groundbreaking whatsoever. One of those three elements need to be included for me to consider it "transformative."

Its not the size that will be transformative, its the usability, sustainability and architecture that will be.

It might be only 2 towers at a max of 35-40 floors but they are shooting to lead the way for environmental design in the south. Think New York/LA instead of Charlotte/Atlanta. And there is still a good chance this could be over 50-75k retail, we just don't know. 

[ah59396]

^ That is super encouraging.  I would be perfectly fine with a modest sized structure if it really pioneered environmental design or was truly a work of art.  I'd rather have one, state of the art "New York/Shanghai/you name it global city" type trend-setting building, than 10 more 50-60 story box or pinnacle towers.

[HopHead]

Two 35-40 story towers would be nice, especially in that location because it will fill in the skyline (viewing from the east or west of town). I'm not really a fan of something overshadowing the BofA or Duke Energy towers. They are both unique and signature. And it's good that (potentially) it will be among other things, architecturally transformative. Last thing we want to see is to too bland box towers. I'm now getting more curious by day about this project ...

[15895]

I think I'd rather have a 25-30 story office tower along side a 15-25 residential/hotel building than one larger 50 story building. Unless it was just something unbelievable.

Though for the sake of aesthetics, I feel like putting another big guy down there would really throw off the balance of our skyline. If we were ever to get another duke energy/boa sized tower (or larger) the best possible location would be 300 south tryon.

 

 

I'd rather have a 50 story tower than 2 smaller towers. A Signature tower of this Decade. We're going to get plenty of infill so I feel like it wouldn't throw off the balance (especially from the untraditional Northern/Southern/Wilkinson Blvd. views.

 

 

I'd be very intrigued to see a skyscraper slightly taller or slightly smaller than Duke. Hearst and BOA Corp. have never taken away from eachother astheatically.I actually think their respective heights compliment eachother very well.

 

 

I would love to see a design in style of Trump Charlotte next to Duke. I can't wait to see a master plan. Whether it's 2 buildings or 1, I'm more than happy   

[atlrvr]

That's a great picture, plus will be a really attractive angle for this new project.

[Guest]

That's a great picture, plus will be a really attractive angle for this new project.

Agreed, great picture. It shows how deceptively large our skyline really is. 

Some of our shortest buildlings would be giants in the rest of NC's skylines. Some great underappreciated density in there. 

[Urbanity]

^^^Agreed!  

 

Looking at that great picture btw and using the UNC Charlotte building as a placemarker - It makes me hope that If we get another signature 50+ story building I it is more on the North Tryon side to anchor the other side of the Business district with the infill buildings around it.

[15895]

^^^Agreed!

Looking at that great picture btw and using the UNC Charlotte building as a placemarker - It makes me hope that If we get another signature 50+ story building I it is more on the North Tryon side to anchor the other side of the Business district with the infill buildings around it.

Do you think if this were a signature tower, that it would make us look more dense or no?

[nonillogical]

I am in the camp of being way more excited for this to be a series of mid-rise buildings as ricky_davis_fan is alluding to, rather than have another signature tower. I think we already have a great skyline, what I really want is to have more architectural variety and street-level interest to be proud of.

Edited February 14, 2013 by nonillogical

[Urbanity]

Do you think if this were a signature tower, that it would make us look more dense or no?

No.  I don't think a signature tower alone would. 

 

The main thing Charlotte needs is more infill development of 25-40 something story buildings built in 2nd and 3rd ward. 

[ah59396]

^agreed, agreed, agreed, AGREED.

[Spartan]

While height does translate to density, one of the key aspects of "feeling" more dense is street activity. Buildings must include retail space on the ground floor on key streets and the architecture must be scaled for people at the ground level. See the Hearst Tower and Post Uptown Place for examples of quality architecture and scale at the ground level. If Charlotte cannot achieve density with good urban form then we will never truly "feel" larger even though we may look the part.

[southslider]

^Agreed, DC and Paris have little skyline (well, of multi-story buildings), but I'd definitely take their street life.  Horizontal density is where it's at!

[Urbanity]

^Actually La Defense is a major skyline part of Paris that people like to forget is part of the city - though I get and agree with your point!

[southslider]

^Right, I have seen La Defense from afar in Paris.  Though I've been to Paris three separate times, the closest I ever ventured to La Defense is Arc de Triomphe.  Granted, I've also never been out of my car in Ballantyne either.  Honestly, some places just look more impressive from afar than on the ground.

 

For Charlotte, I love the street life of South End, NoDa and Plaza-Midwood, much more so than Uptown.  And much like Paris in its relationship to La Defense, you have Charlotte's pretty skyline on the horizon in these districts, while you enjoy some street-level density.

[15895]

I don't remember where I heard it, but I remember watching that La Defense was a district based on American cities from the 1990's which is big prominent skyscrapers with grand plazas that usually stay empty outside of office hours and was actually referred to as being similar to 1990's Charlotte....

I guess we'll find out soon enough what this thing is. I have no idea what to expect at all. I'm stuck in "lets tear down an old building, throw up a building and put a steak house in the bottom and call it a day" Charlotte mode. Ha ha, not really but still. No idea what to expect.

Edited February 16, 2013 by AirNostrumMAD

[HiddenValley N]

New Embassy Suites hotel coming to uptown.

[15895]

And we can officially put he 1,000 room hotel to rest (at least for the coming years) as officials have said hotels will come organically. Specifically mentioning embassy suites and crescent.

http://m.charlotteobserver.com/charlotte/db_97740/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=SR807mwa

Edited February 16, 2013 by AirNostrumMAD