Charlotte's Urban Lowe's Home Improvement

[Conformity]

UPer's:

If I can get 10 or more RSVPs, I will open the Southborough sales center on Tuesday night at 8 PM to UPer who wants to see it before the Next Big Thing article breaks the following morning. This is not a pitch....we will not be taking contracts. Just a chance for development junkies to see it first.

LMK

Conformity

[atlrvr]

I think he was offering to let people come check out the project before the official announcement on Wednesday, but doesn't want to waste his time if only 2 people are going to show up.

[sleightofhand]

Where is the sales center?

[cinco]

UPer's:

If I can get 10 or more RSVPs, I will open the Southborough sales center on Tuesday night at 8 PM to UPer who wants to see it before the Next Big Thing article breaks the following morning. This is not a pitch....we will not be taking contracts. Just a chance for development junkies to see it first.

LMK

Conformity

thanks for the open invitation, conformity. unfortunately, tuesday night will not work for me....

if the rendering that creativedirectclt just posted is the project that your inviting us to - then let me just say: BEAUTIFUL! great addition to the southend. i love the brick for this area of town. IMO, you guys are doing an excellent job of designing and building well-thought out projects. your projects seem to have a sensitivity to their prospective area, all the while challenging it a little with it's creativity.

i appreciate the diversity that you've given this city so far and can't wait to see what you plan to do with the ol' auto werks site in PM.

[dubone]

Ok guys. Let's not continue to respond openly in this thread to the invitation.

[CLT]

Good article on the Lowes/Southborough project today. Very innovative. I wish more developers would "think outside the box"!

[Miesian Corners]

Looks like a great project. I think the developer has done an excellent job with a very difficult site. If only Pappas had done his project in Midtown like this. Sigh.

[dubone]

It is quite interesting how many complex problems that needed to be solved. Imagine having to provide a fire escape from a commercial property through a residential building. These are things that most developers in this city never have to think about. Ever since I first saw the renderings back during the rezoning phase, I have been impressed. Knowing how much needed to be solved to make it happen, makes me even more impressed. I think this project will really help to really establish a more urban context for the remainder of the under utilized land between Iverson, Ideal, and South.

I still find it horribly ironic that Olmstead Park turned inward to shield their view from the industrial blight that was there before, yet somehow a retailer that probably every single one of them would go to shows up, and they require it to be sheilded from their view. So now, we have new residences facing their horrible brick wall, and the back of their development. I feel like Conformity should have been the ones asking Olmstead to sheild their ugliness from view.

[dubone]

I've been thinking about this project lately. It is just incredible how this desire by the neighborhood to 'screen' another project actually allowed potentially wasted land to somehow fit ~50 units on a sliver of land. It is this kind of design that helps us have innate density and infill while solving liveability problems at each step of the way. The fact that there is a zero-lot line between a big box warehouse and a townhome is pretty incredible. If only the city had dared to demand townhomes facing King's Dr on the Midtown project, that project would have been worlds better, with actually better use of land and higher return. But there was somehow no imagination for it. Hopefully this solution will broaden the imaginations of everyone, including us here.

http://www.liveinsouthborough.com/

[Conformity]

I've been thinking about this project lately. It is just incredible how this desire by the neighborhood to 'screen' another project actually allowed potentially wasted land to somehow fit ~50 units on a sliver of land. It is this kind of design that helps us have innate density and infill while solving liveability problems at each step of the way. The fact that there is a zero-lot line between a big box warehouse and a townhome is pretty incredible. If only the city had dared to demand townhomes facing King's Dr on the Midtown project, that project would have been worlds better, with actually better use of land and higher return. But there was somehow no imagination for it. Hopefully this solution will broaden the imaginations of everyone, including us here.

http://www.liveinsouthborough.com/

Okay....straight away...I didn't pay for that. Dubone...thanks so much. I can't tell you how much it means to me to hear things like that from people who understand design and give a crap. At this very moment we continue to work away on budget issues that are quite cumbersome with this project. Your kind words are energizing. We are fighting to preserve every detail as we move toward our agreements with the GC. I'd hate to be one of the developers that does, as Metro puts it, "technicolor renderings" and then builds Value Engineered garbage. As my grandma used to say "If it was easy, everyone would be doing it."

I have lots of opinions about Mid Met, but I can't freely express them here because, understandably, I would appear to simply be bashing our competition (to the extent we represent competition to Pappas, which we probably don't).

[Mobuchu]

I stopped by the sales center today to get better pics (too dark last time), in case anyone is curious how this is going to look. Conformity did an amazing job at fitting so much into so little space. Hopefully other developers will see this and take notes...

(sorry for the glare)

Here is the whole project. South Blvd is at the top, Magnolia to the right, Lyndhurst on the bottom. Lowes being the gray section of the model. Notice the ramp to the roof for parking access and the smaller parking out front. Lyndhurst and Magnolia will be completely shielded from the big box by Southborough.

The Magnolia side.

Here is the building with retail at the corner of South Blvd (right) and Magnolia. It has parking in an UG deck just behind it.

And here is the view that the neighborhood will have. Corner of Magnolia (right) and Lyndhurst.

[A2]

Not bad, not bad at all.

(now if we could only get other developers on South to do the same )

A2

[swh1972]

Looks great! This will be a good addition to th area.

[New Name]

Looks fantastic. One question though, will the residents have to battle for parking spots? And then how will they walk from their parked cars to their units?

...EDIT: I assume the UG deck is for the residents. What's the infrastructure like to move from parking to unit?

[rockhilljames]

<Borat voice> Niice! </Borat voice>

[Mobuchu]

...EDIT: I assume the UG deck is for the residents. What's the infrastructure like to move from parking to unit?

No, the parking deck is small and is just the section behind the first two buildings (i think).

I'm sure Conformity can clear up any ???.

[Conformity]

Thanks for the positive comments. Mobuchu....thank you for posting the pics.

I was frustrated to see Southborough lumped into the BJ article that ran today. What the hell?

118,000 SF. Of that, 25,000 is office and retail. The other 3 combined at over a half million square feet don't offer a 25,000 SF total mix between them. I've lodged my complaint with Lee. I don't understand it....I mean they don't call out Southborough in the article, but what are we doing in an article that questions whether South End is seeing adequate mixed use from the development community.

The Escapists asked:

will the residents have to battle for parking spots? And then how will they walk from their parked cars to their units?

Townhomes fronting the sidewalks....all but 2 have 2 car garages. The two townhomes that turn the corner at Lyndhurst and Magnolia have 1 car garages. Flats all have one car garages....leave your garage, walk to the elevator foyer and ride it up to your level. there are two extra garage stalls for sale. Overflow in the lower level of the deck (upper level exclusive to retail). On street parking spaces on both Lyndhurst and Magnolia and 6 additional on site visitor spaces (that are not in the deck).

Southborough has been selected by the American Society of Landscape Architects as their case study when they come to the Charlotte Convention Center for their regional conference in May.

[queensguy06]

I have another question maybe Conformity can answer. I was wondering if there will be a ramp or an elevator to get customers to and from their cars on top of the building?

[Justadude]

This project looks exceptional. I hope it works out well in practice, because it may represent a leap forward in luring suburbanites into the center city with urban-friendly big-box development.

[lptk]

Very, very nice. Thanks Conformity.

This neighbor is looking forward to supporting all of that retail - on foot.

[Conformity]

I have another question maybe Conformity can answer. I was wondering if there will be a ramp or an elevator to get customers to and from their cars on top of the building?

Drive your car up Lowe's ramp to park on their roof. Take an elevator down to the main entrance lobby which is on the long side of their store running parallel to Iverson.

Make sense?

[RiverwoodCLT]

Looks like Lowe's new project is under way now. A fence is up and they are clearing and leveling the site.

[A2]

Looks like Lowe's new project is under way now. A fence is up and they are clearing and leveling the site.

I saw that as well driving by on Sunday.

Finally !!!!!

A2

[Conformity]

I saw that as well driving by on Sunday.

Finally !!!!!

A2

Damn. Tough crowd.

As an update on the Southborough mixed use component:

20% of the residential has sold.

Interestingly, there has been little resistance to being attached to or near the Lowe's store.

An office user has signed on the 3rd floor of the 24,000 SF mixed use building....an architecture firm.

2 food service tenants are reviewing leases on the bottom floor of the mixed use building.

Both Lowes and Southborough have their grading permits and Southborough will have vertical permits for 2 of its 3 construction packages within a week.

[lptk]

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear all the uses are getting interest. Every time I drive past those trees you are preserving along Magnolia I try to imagine how the street will be changing. My guess is that once done, particularly with the trees, it'll look like it's been there for years.