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Eastland Mall Redevelopment

DigitalSky

By DigitalSky
in Charlotte

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KJHburg
KJHburg

I just reread the article about these tennis and swim center proposals and the Target.  I say don't do either the swimming or tennis and sell part of the land for a Target and use that land sale money

JRCLT
JRCLT

Kayman, I understand your advocacy, but I don’t like your tone toward KJ with how you’re trying to convey those valid important sentiments and issues with the black and brown community in that area.

lit
lit

At this rate, I feel like we're eventually going to circle back around and someone with a bunch of money will be like "this would be the perfect spot for a Mall"

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Norm2 Burg

Norm2

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Posted

Maybe they felt there was not enough support? Another possibility would be the lack of financing the project? I would be really interested in knowing why their proposal was pulled. I didn't like their plan anyway so I am kind of glad they pulled it.

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Urbanity Burg

Urbanity

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Posted (edited)

I just read the observer article and I call bullcrap.    They never had as realized plans as the Studio Charlotte group, and they never even attempted to make their case as hard as the Studio Charlotte Group.

 

The fact that they pulled out without doing more than submitting their bid tells me their proposal was a pie in the sky idea to begin with.

 

I agree with a lot of the board sentiment that the idea of tax incentives for the film industry weighs heavily on the success of the studio Charlotte bid, but damn I'm tired of any argument against it particularly on this  board where we are supposed to be urbanist dreamers.  And for the record - any idiot who talked against it because of perceptions of "city money" going into it spent about toilet paper on a dirty hole time reading squat on the proposals as all of them requested city money in one way or form. 

 

We talk of caps over freeways that already have multiple redesigned walkways and bike ways as IMPORTANT,but godamned if we dream a dream of reaching for something more than a ski slope or mall.

 

Studio Charlotte may not happen as envision - but at least they didn't give up in advance, and at least they told Charlotte to dream.  Remember Dreaming?  It's what made you the 17th largest city in the country.  It's what got you an NFL and NBA team (twice) and it's what landed you a national political convention.

 

But go ahead - claim "it" whatever the it may be can't happen.  I will believe and just clasp you on the back to join when we as a city move forward beyond your nitpicking and cautions...

Edited by Urbanity
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Norm2 Burg

Norm2

Posted
Posted

I just read the observer article and I call bullcrap.    They never had as realized plans as the Studio Charlotte group, and they never even attempted to make their case as hard as the Studio Charlotte Group.

 

The fact that they pulled out without doing more than submitting their bid tells me their proposal was a pie in the sky idea to begin with.

 

I agree with a lot of the board sentiment that the idea of tax incentives for the film industry weighs heavily on the success of the studio Charlotte bid, but damn I'm tired of any argument against it particularly on this  board where we are supposed to be urbanist dreamers.  And for the record - any idiot who talked against it because of perceptions of "city money" going into it spent about toilet paper on a dirty hole time reading squat on the proposals as all of them requested city money in one way or form. 

 

We talk of caps over freeways that already have multiple redesigned walkways and bike ways as IMPORTANT,but godamned if we dream a dream of reaching for something more than a ski slope or mall.

 

Studio Charlotte may not happen as envision - but at least they didn't give up in advance, and at least they told Charlotte to dream.  Remember Dreaming?  It's what made you the 17th largest city in the country.  It's what got you an NFL and NBA team (twice) and it's what landed you a national political convention.

 

But go ahead - claim "it" whatever the it may be can't happen.  I will believe and just clasp you on the back to join when we as a city move forward beyond your nitpicking and cautions...

I read the Observer article as well. ARK seemed to pull out their proposal because they felt the process was being "too political". They were referring to the Studio Charlotte team holding a community meeting to drum up local support for their proposal. I feel that this is a BS answer. I don't think they were very serious to begin with.

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ah59396 Town

ah59396

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I'll admit, I'm uncomfortable with the fact that the city will spend $14 million buying and demolishing the site.  Then on top of that, likely finance/subsidize this project heavily.  IF Studio Charlotte can pull if off with property tax subsidies only in the same way the Knights have done with BB&T, I'll be much MORE comfortable.  But quite simply, I'm not in the club of "throw away" money being the answer to every development of any scale in this city.  It's frankly an unsustainable mentality to have.

 

From a pure competition standpoint, having only one legitimate developer (I'm reserving judgement, but I'm using "developer" loosely at this point) for a site with this size and scale genuinely concerns me.  The city can no longer weigh out the options between one developer or another, using each as a negotiating tool to leverage for value against other bidders.  Additionally, the lack of interest in the site leads me to believe research has proven it highly undesirable.  Now, maybe that's an argument for why the city MUST be involved.  But to Urbanity's point, we are the 17th largest city in the United States.  The problem is, we have a HUGE, consolidated plot of land that we are having difficulty virtually GIVING away...

 

 

All that said, I also don't like the fact that the city continues to seemingly dismiss ARK Group, who have proven success in developing a large scale project when everyone told them "that won't work".  I wasn't a huge fan of their proposal, but I do like them as developers.  I hope they don't give up on the city and continue to pitch in on upcoming proposals at different locations.

 

Ramble over.

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mallguy Town

mallguy

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Posted

The city should spend its money improving the lot of the people in the area.  If Eastland were surrounded by slews of middle-class families, then retailers and others would be dying to go there, but instead it's surrounded by scads of poor people.  Spend millions on education, worker retraining, parenting classes, etc., and the residents of the area would do better in life and have more disposable income to spend, attracting retailers.

 

Also, I am sure that Glimcher, the prior owner of Eastland, lost its shirt on this deal, but why didn't it (or the trustee that administered the property after Glimcher walked away) have to pay for upkeep and demolition?  The city should have forced those parties to incur costs related the property, rather than blowing taxpayer money on it.

 

This is Big Government at work, screwing up things.

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15895 City

15895

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Posted (edited)

After reading about the Catawbas wanting to open a casino in KM, it'd be awesome if Eastland became a gambling resort.

I'm not too thrilled that as soon as ARK backs out, Studio Charlotte starts yanking our chains. I'd rather us sit on the land than to givers our chains yanked.

Edited by AirNostrumMAD
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Norm2 Burg

Norm2

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Posted

After reading about the Catawbas wanting to open a casino in KM, it'd be awesome if Eastland became a gambling resort.

I'm not too thrilled that as soon as ARK backs out, Studio Charlotte starts yanking our chains. I'd rather us sit on the land than to givers our chains yanked.

Something fishy is going on. ARK drops out and then Studio Charlotte threatens to drop out if it doesn't get an exclusive agreement with the city. I think something went wrong somewhere, and I am not sure what.

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Third Strike Hamlet

Third Strike

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Posted

^I noticed this a couple of weeks ago, actually. They have the entire lot blocked off, save for the transit station, and they've been pulling stuff out for awhile now. I think they want to salvage some of the equipment in there, before completely tearing it down. It also looks like they'll be finish by March of next year.

 

End of an era. Now it's going to be interesting how long that lot stays empty. I'm still not sure this deal with Studio Charlotte is going to take off. I still think a park or mixed-use development would be ideal for this location (as far as feasibility goes). But we'll see.

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Third Strike Hamlet

Third Strike

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Posted

If you know anybody that's interesting in buying a full-size ice rink, well here's their chance. EHG has the rink up for sale, but just for a short time. It also includes the related machinery and escalators. It will be interesting to see if anybody purchases this, and if/how it will be used elsewhere in Charlotte.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/going_green/2013/09/eastland-mall-skating-rink-salvage.html

 

Eastland_01*600.jpg?v=1

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nowensone Burg

nowensone

Posted
Posted (edited)

This may have already been noted though don't recall it, anyway, had no idea of some of the names on the board Bert Hesse has put together:

 

 

... Hesse’s high-profile Studio Charlotte board.

Among the board members: former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, former Priceline.com CEO Jeff Hoffman, broadcasting mogul Cathy Hughes of the Radio One and TV One networks, and Pauletta Washington, actor Denzel Washington’s North Carolina-raised wife.

 

 

This would seem to indicate some real seriousness..

Edited by nowensone
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MilZ Hamlet

MilZ

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Posted

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/11/21/4485824/developer-seeks-nearly-38-million.html#.Uo56xfwo7mQ

 

The pitch is in... While I cheer for this ultimatly becoming a successful project, it is hard to optimistic considering the funding and political obsticles that are in the way. How much are people willing to pay for something that will inevitably need to keep feeding on public funds to complete all the phases?

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