First Ward Urban Village / North Tryon Vision Plan

[NCN8ive]

Wow....the front page article in next week's CBJ is about North Tryon and its failure to see the same development activity as S. Tryon. The article morphs into an all out assault on Levine. Some developers and uptown players have some pretty strong words regarding him. It's probably my favorite CBJ article in a while, and certainly from Spanberg, who typically panders to the Don Lochman types.

Is there a link to that article? I couldn't find it online, but I'm not a subscriber and wonder if that's why.

[atlrvr]

The online edition comes out on Monday, but unless you are a subscriber, you won't be able to read more than the first two paragraphs. Of course you can but the paper copy today for $1.50.

[uptownliving]

I thought that was a very well written article and really hits home to the dilema of N Tryon. For the past decade it has been the same story with Levine "we are almost there with these grand plans"...and he has said that for 10 years now. Personally I thought it a miracle that UNC Charlotte will be locating on his land...at least that is definate and in the works.

[monsoon]

I don't see how they can chastise Levine for just holding onto to his property especially when you consider all of the really bad development that does exist on S. Tryon. I say let Levine develop it when he is ready rather than to give us yet another mediocre development because he was pressured into it. My guess is that he is reading the economic tea leaves right now in that it is not a good time to be taking on a massive new development.

[cltheel.sdl]

All of these South Tryon announcements have totally shifted the momentum away from North Tryon. It wasn't too long ago that North Tryon was the place to be, and currently still is, but in 2-3 years South Tryon will be the hotspot. Hopefully both parts of the street can work together and fuse in order to create a long strip of urban excitement.

[atlrvr]

Well his tea leaves lied to him the past 6-years or so since he has been saying development is imminent. He's faltered, and others have been raking in the cash, and those developers have a much higher land basis I might add.

Not that I disagree that Uptown may be slightly overheated at this point (assuming all announced projects get built) but he certainly is taking the safe route. I think the concern is if he afraid to pull the trigger 3-years ago, then under what economic climate would he feel comfortable?

Slowly, development will creep that way parcel by parcel, and he will either sell for a significant profit, or he will decide that his legacy shouldn't involve 20 acres of blacktop.

[tiblerbrit]

He could have been receptive to providing Trump with a plot of land for his new project (I'm not sure there is any reason to believe this will be low quality), but for whatever reason he is notoriously hard to work with. He also blew the deal with Novare becuase they couldn't resolve some issues. He should take a hint from the development draw from the 3rd ward park and maybe lay some concrete plans for a park on his own land. That said I think he's missed the boat for this boom so I don't think we should expect anything else for a while.

Edited April 6, 2007 by tiblerbrit

[dubone]

Be sure to smile at them carefully the full time you are there, or they will capture you and eat you alive in the back room.

ParkIt is ruthless.

[monsoon]

Well his tea leaves lied to him the past 6-years or so since he has been saying development is imminent. He's faltered, and others have been raking in the cash, and those developers have a much higher land basis I might add.

He is sitting on some of the most valuable land in North Carolina and may have the last say in how downtown eventually turns out. I would not go as far to say that he has "faltered" in his downtown affairs.

[28202]

A tip I learned is that if you catch them grabbing your car for the tow, you can call the police, and "protest the tow" and they are required to leave your vehicle. They have to take you to court to collect the fee in such a situation. They didn't do it in any of the cases I have done such.

You have to be quick, they grab cars and run them a few blocks away and hide them as they go back for more. Some of the tow trucks in the area eventually haul the autos to SC.

Hunter is often present in the First Ward harvest. I have watched them back across landscaping in order to snatch a car while the jerk in the cushman ticket buggy was declaring there is no such thing as protesting a tow...

[28202]

dissappointed perhaps.

[Miesian Corners]

He is holding an entire neighborhood hostage. I can only hope that the city raises his tax rates so he's forced to pay a boat-load of money for surface parking lots. For a decade, Levine has done nothing but give First Ward empty promises. When I moved there in 1998, he was tell all of us about the great vision he had for the neighborhood. Nine years have passed with nothing. Maybe some bad press will help light a fire under his a$$.

[charlotte49ersuptown]

I hope you are right Miesian Corners. You can go all the way back to the early 1990's and see plan after plan has never come to fruition. I gotta believe that there were many other developers and civic leaders that would have wrote what Jim Palermo did today. Palermo is a made man, so he doesn't have to worry about any backlash, plus he has given so much to the city and is so respected that his opinion carries weight in the city. I'll tell you one thing, I am sick and tired of walking though Levine wasteland everyday.

[dubone]

Palermo absolutely said what we have all been thinking. At the First Ward meeting, Levine was all full of statements that we all wanted to hear, but we all know that they are false. Where is the 'Just Fresh' he was promising was imminent for the Treloar, or the project he promised for the Treloar a couple years ago and got Dougie to write about? Where is the TWELVE? Where is the park? where is anything really?

How f'n hard it is to develop an acre or two? He has so much land, yet they remain nothing but surface parking lots.

In fact, his park is so long coming because he is convinced that he must have an equivalent number of parking spaces underneath. Meaning, it is more important to stall the park but keep the parking spaces than to push the park along and reduce the parking spaces.

It is really important that Levine not get his hands on any Hal Marshall land. First Ward is pretty much stalled indefinitely if he does.

[UrbanCharlotte]

Looks like they've started all 3 quarterside buildings, as the footing has been poured for the third. Still haven't seen any renderings for it though? Also, the facade for enclave is going up.

COURT 6

[carolina_fan]

It is really important that Levine not get his hands on any Hal Marshall land. First Ward is pretty much stalled indefinitely if he does.

I've heard that he's got the Hal Marshall land in a similar deal with BofA as the land between 9th and 11th on Brevard. Don't know if this is reliable. Does anyone know if the city still owes BofA for arena funds?

Edited April 8, 2007 by bja

[atlrvr]

^ I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying that the city might sell the Hal Marshall Center to BofA who would then in turn sell it to Levine?

BTW, the article about Levine and N. Tryon is free for today on the Business Journals site. Here is a link to the article.

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte...6091200^1442936

[carolina_fan]

^ I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying that the city might sell the Hal Marshall Center to BofA who would then in turn sell it to Levine?

Yes. That's what I was told. I know there is a bidding process going on, though, that would seem to refute this.

[uptownliving]

Yes. That's what I was told. I know there is a bidding process going on, though, that would seem to refute this.

One minor detail is that it is the County that owns the Hal Marshall site...not the city. Another minor detail is that the County was not part of the Bobcats Arena funding deal.

[carolina_fan]

^ Excellent point, UL! I didn't think of that at the time...must be false.

What happens, if no one bids the minimum for Hal Marshal?

[uptownJim]

^ Excellent point, UL! I didn't think of that at the time...must be false.

What happens, if no one bids the minimum for Hal Marshal?

I don't think it should be much of a worry that someone meets the minimum bid for the Hal Marshall land ... it's such prime land that unquestionably it will get scooped up. But I, like others posting here, am absolutely worried that Levine will get his hands on this land ... the bldg will probably just get boarded up and sit there --- WAIT, it will get demolished to make more space for parking, I'm certain, then just sit there.....

on ANOTHER note (and I will look to see if there is a thread on this topic, so for slightly digressing from the topic, I apologize) what about the land that BoA owns ACROSS from Marshall, at 701 North Tryon? I heard NC Dance Theater?? That is one entire block next to the McColl Center that additionally needs something done to it to improve connectivity by foot to the Ninth Street LRT station, etc., and to help develop that entire swath of land ...

[rockhilljames]

I thought NC Dance Theater was going in the Novare project?

[atlrvr]

It was going to the Twelve on Levine's land, but now I guess they are in need of a different home. I believe Hugh McColl is really behind getting them a spot.

[rockhilljames]

Are you sure it didn't move? When Novare had their page for the new Twelve tower up, it contained the NC Dance Theatre listing as well as the updated information. It would put them close to the Wachovia cultural block.

[atlrvr]

Not positive, but pretty sure. I think some of that info carried over without being proofread by Novare. My guess is that since Hugh McColl is on Faison's board, that he convinced them to find room for NCDT, without Faison's involvement, I doubt that they will be included. I'm fairly certain that they are still shopping for a new home.