Metropolitan, Midtown Redevelopment

[Mobuchu]

Met Midtown site

8-10-06

Expo site, garage going up

8-10-06

[jednc]

Those pix look good. It's nice to see some progress. Thanks for posting!

[abbitt]

im surprised by how quick the parking garage went up. this project is going to do wonders in stretching uptown beyond 277.

[habarr]

Are the MetLofts sold out?

Anyone know how many units are left?

Did many people back out?

In case you haven't seen this article...

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte...ml?surround=lfn

Looks like Charlotte real estate continues to buck the national trend.

When housing prices nationally start to rise again... LOOK OUT!

We are sitting on some prime real estate here in Charlotte.

I just checked out some floor to ceiling windows at Courtside. They are sweet!

I can't wait to see them from MetLofts.

Also, what are chances that the city view will be blocked by another construction project?

[dubone]

Also, what are chances that the city view will be blocked by another construction project?

None.

However, if the Chetrit group eventually redoes the Adam's Mark land as the seem to be planning long term, then it may have a slightly different skyline view.

[DigitalSky]

Thanks for the pics, Mo!

[dubone]

As U/L mentioned in the Trader Joe's thread, Trader Joe's is reported to be eyeing the Met Midtown project.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/15409143.htm

[uptownliving]

Well this is just my picky self reading that article...I think they used the term "midtown" to mean somewhere near downtown. I certainly think that Met Midtown is a definate possibility though.

[dubone]

Ah, true. Although we know that Metropolitan Midtown has hinted that they are working on a fancy grocer, and they probably will want to be in the mix of a Target, Expo, Best Buy, etc. So, even though the wording is easy to parse, realistically, it'd gotta by Met Midtown.

[atlrvr]

I would say that even though this hasn't been announced, Met Midtown is going to be the destination. I'm just wondering how strong of a following do they have in Charlotte? Are there people lined up to shop there, or are Earth Fare and Whole Foods going to dilute the demand?

[DigitalSky]

Is Whole Foods still on for Elizabeth?

edit: nevermind.

Edited September 1, 2006 by cantnot

[otherstream]

Are there people lined up to shop there, or are Earth Fare and Whole Foods going to dilute the demand?

I haven't been in any of the new Trader Joe's stores that are opening outside California, but back there, Whole Foods and TJ's are two entirely different species, even though they attract some of the same demographic.

TJ's stores tend to be relatively small and to focus on pre-packaged items, unusual frozen goods, and wine. Their roots are in imports rather than organics. They have a small selection of produce and fresh meat too, but it's nothing at all like Whole Foods. TJ"s is also focused on low prices, which is most decidedly not a concern of Whole Foods.

TJ's in California also tends to locate in older, less pricey and trendy centers, often in spaces vacated by other grocers. I've seen one or two in upscale centers, but their average loaction was quite unremarkable. Again, though, they may be changing their MO as the expand eastward.

[reverbandwhiskey]

I have been waiting for a TJ's here for years! I will be there on day one. It is, BY FAR, my favorite grocery store.

[monsoon]

I would say that even though this hasn't been announced, Met Midtown is going to be the destination. I'm just wondering how strong of a following do they have in Charlotte? Are there people lined up to shop there, or are Earth Fare and Whole Foods going to dilute the demand?

Since there is no mass transit going there, I would say that beyond local traffic generated by nearby residents, it will be about as much a destination as any strip mall off of an interstate in the Charlotte area. The only two true shopping destinations in this area that people will go out of their way to visit are SouthPark and Concord Mills.

[otherstream]

I have been waiting for a TJ's here for years! I will be there on day one. It is, BY FAR, my favorite grocery store.

Agreed. They're great stores. They're just somehwat different from what a lot of people here seem to be expecting.

[monsoon]

Since there is no mass transit to the Metropolitan, is it going to end up like this, which I call a strip mall in disguise? I have to wonder how all of the people going to Target and Home Depot, are going to make it to the place. Even BV doesn't suffer from those big box retailers and is see huge amounts of cars all over the place if it is successful, just like BV.

And BTW, before peeps jump on me again, the developer that is doing the Met, also did BV. In fact BV got him the name recognition to pull together the Met proposal.

[Mobuchu]

Actually, I think the Met is going to be on one of the streetcar spurs that will run up Kenilworth and Scott. But even if it was never going to be on a transit line, should this space be left as a dead mall and parking lot? It at least will add density and the big boxes stop everyone from running out to the burbs to shop at these stores. Certainly better then what is there now.

Your link is to a Dallas transit thread (a mistake i guess) but im guessing BV is Ballantyne Village? And the reason people "jump on you" is because of the constant negativity you seem to have for everything Charlotte. There is nothing wrong with being a critic, but when you never have anything positive to say and constantly look for something negative to say it will get under peoples skin.

edit: im an idiot, Birkdale Village, not Ballantyne Village...

Edited September 4, 2006 by Mobuchu

[monsoon]

The link is fixed (dropped a digit) but here it is again. There is no streetcar spur to this place in 2025 plan, so it won't be built until sometime after then if at all. The point is that BV generates huge amounts of traffic given its design and this place would seem to have exactly the same issues except on a larger scale given that it is anchored by two big box retailers.

I think the Met would have been more exciting if they had managed to put it on the transit line, especially if it were North of Charlotte on the proposed Blue Line North and integrated a light rail transit station with it.

[dubone]

The blue line doesn't stop within the urban core, other than Gateway.

The idea of Met Midtown is to serve as the big box destination for people within central Charlotte. They needed it to be near the interstate, near uptown, and on or near the thoroughfares to South Charlotte, where there is a lot of disposable income.

I would frankly say that this IS near a transit line. There is a streetcar stop at Elizabeth and King's. The Target/Home Depot Expo building is 2.5 block from this stop, roughly 1/4 mile. 1/4 mile is considered to be directly served by a station. The farthest part of this project is roughly 1/2 a mile from that transit line, which is very walkable, and is considered to be indirectly served by a station. I walk 1/2 a mile a lot to go places downtown. I'm sure there will be quite a few people who either walk to the transit line, or the less than a mile to go to downtown. I'm sure others will find it very practical to bike or walk the 3/4 mile to get to the LRT line.

Also, the Kenilworth spur is one of the lines that CATS is proposing to replace the circular streetcar around downtown. That was part of the 2025 plan, although at the end of it. It may be postposed with funding crunches for the rest of the line, but at least it is on a proposed transit corridor. But also, there are quite a few bus routes that go through that area, too.

[monsoon]

Honestly I can't imagine that anyone who is going to shop at Home Depot and Target is going to walk 1/4 to 1/2 mile with their purchases. I don't think anyone realizes how much traffic this place is going to generate along with the resulting gridlock that comes from it. They didn't realize it with BV and it has been a wake up call for that area not to allow something like that again. (those photos were taken 2 years ago and if anything the traffic at Exit 25 is worse now because of it)

One of the stops on the blue line would have been a much better location for this project. The purpose of the blue line is to increase density along the stops, they don't have to all be inside the loop, and this is exactly the type of development that would do that. The city should have used the tax incentives that made the Met possible, to place the development along one of the future transit stations which would have made this much more unique. As it is, and given the experience with BV its a big traffic generator which that area would not seem to need or want. It's in what is basically a surburban locale and kind of project is going to tend to make it worse. Density for density's sake is not good when there is no way to get to it except by the automobile.

[dubone]

Likewise, Expo and Target shoppers aren't going to be much for using transit if it were running through the project. But it is still officially within the 1/4 mi and 1/2 mi radii. There are a lot of condos going in there, and they would be very likely to walk 1/3 mi to the streetcar to go to work at Gateway or N Tryon.

This isn't density for density sake. It is dense housing, major high-volume national retail, within a mile of the CBD. We have bee counting projects 1/2 mile from the LRT line as transit-supportive, and I'm sure much of Bryton is > 1/4 mi from the North line station.

[uptownliving]

From an urban design standpoint I do think there are a lot of similarties between Met Midtown and Birkdale...basically they are new urbanist developments that have a predestrian focus on an interior drive/roadway and don't have a pedestrian focus on the existing roads.

The one big difference between Birkdale and Met Midtown is that Midtown is surrounded by a pretty decent grid system that doesn't exist at Birkdale. Birkdale and everything around it is bascially served by 1 road...So the traffic mess that surrounds Birkdale I don't think you will see at Met Midtown.

[monsoon]

^Maybe. It's been my experience that more roads mean more traffic. Looking at the map of the area, it really doesn't seem to be that gridded in that area. Too many multilaned highways cut them off. It's mostly an island.

[lptk]

One way that this development will reduce automobile usage is by diverting many central Charlotte residents from their normal haul to the outer burbs for their big box shopping.

For better or worse Target, WM and the like are fixtures around here. Everyone who lives within Rt4 but drives down to Pineville or up to UC to shop at Target, please raise your hand.

For me this will mean many fewer miles traveled by Auto for the same shopping. Yes, more traffic to midtown, but it should also reduce the traffic headed out to the burbs. And the connectivity should really be pretty good for the auto traffic -

To Plaza Midwood via Kings/Indy

To Elizabeth/Eastover and points south via Indy/7th/Randolph/Providence

To Myers Park via Providence/Kings

To Dilworth via Kings/Kenilworth

To Wilmore and the Westside through uptown and on Morehead/Stonewall

And to uptown via all of the above.

And bus

And (maybe) streetcar someday

Really, comparing this to a development with only one or two connecting streets serving a wide area doesn't seem fair. Even a dense develoment like this that just shortens car trips seems like an improvement to me...

[monsoon]

Really, comparing this to a development with only one or two connecting streets serving a wide area doesn't seem fair. Even a dense develoment like this that just shortens car trips seems like an improvement to me...

Actually there are numerous streets that surround BV and are generally appropriate for the area. But it has the same problem that Met will have in that except for the 2000 residents in the Greens @ Birkdale there really isn't any way to get to it except by the car.