Archive for the ‘Development’ Category
July 15th, 2010
|
Author: 
“Regions Bank has launched foreclosure proceedings against Afshin Ghazi’s EpiCentre entertainment and retail complex in uptown Charlotte.
The filing — made this morning in Mecklenburg County by substitute trustees Sellers, Hinshaw, Ayers, Dortch & Lyons, a Charlotte law firm — states that Ghazi affiliates Pacific Avenue and Pacific Avenue II ‘failed to make timely payments of the debt upon maturity of the note.’”
Read more by Susan Stabley at the Charlotte Business Journal.
Tags: 
From the press release:
“Balfour Beatty Construction, North Carolina’s largest construction manager, announced today it is moving its Carolinas Division headquarters to The Design Center of the Carolinas at 1930 Camden Rd. in Charlotte’s Historic South End.
The move optimizes the integration of Balfour Beatty Construction and its Charlotte-based subsidiary RT Dooley, which was acquired in February 2009. The Design Center will be home to the consolidated operations of Balfour Beatty Construction and RT Dooley that are currently housed in separate locations.
“This is an important milestone that will enable us to even more effectively bring our combined capabilities and talent to bear on behalf of our clients,” said John Woodcock, president of Balfour Beatty Construction’s Carolinas Division. “We are excited by the prospect of being in South End, which has been an important part of Charlotte’s economy in the past and has an even more promising future.”
“We are pleased to welcome Balfour Beatty to Historic South End and believe the decision of this global business to locate in the district is a strong indicator of the vibrant business climate that has matured in South End,” said Michael J. Smith, president and CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners. “This is the beginning of a new chapter for South End as it continues its transformation from the city’s warehouse district to a design and entrepreneurial district and now becoming a major employment center.”
Balfour Beatty will become the largest office user in the historic district, occupying nearly 30,000 square feet in the Design Center, which comprises three buildings featuring historic brick, expansive windows, and vintage architectural detail. Balfour Beatty chose the Historic South End location for several reasons, including the adaptive reuse of a historic site, easy access to Charlotte’s Center City via the Lynx Light Rail Blue Line, the convenience of the location for Balfour Beatty clients and other business partners, and the wide range of nearby amenities.
“Being located in Charlotte’s center city fulfills Balfour Beatty’s priority to provide additional service and convenience for our corporate, professional services and public sector clients and enhances our ongoing community engagement focus,” Woodcock said.
“The Design Center is a unique work environment of forward-thinking businesses in an historic and architecturally compelling community that inspires people to do their best,” said Ivy Greaner, chief operating officer of Ram, owner of the Design Center. “We are delighted that Balfour Beatty has selected it as their Charlotte headquarters. We believe that one of the strengths of the Design Center is in what it adds to the quality of life for those who work here.”
About 90 Balfour Beatty and RT Dooley employees will relocate to the new headquarters after the interior upfit of the space is completed.
Balfour Beatty entered the North Carolina market via acquisition of the commercial construction division of Centex, which began its Charlotte operations in 2001. The acquisition of Charlotte-based RT Dooley in February 2009 created the ability for Balfour Beatty Construction to deliver integrated facilities, interiors and mission critical solutions to its clients.”
watch this video in HD on YouTube
We’re wrapping up our series on the Mecklenburg County budget with County Commissioner Jennifer Roberts. Questions indexed below for easy reference.
- Just last week, you and the Board of Commissioners approved the final Mecklenburg County budget for the 2011 fiscal year. How do you feel now? (0:19)
- How do you deal with the pressure? (0:57)
- These are important decisions, but a lot of people aren’t engaged. That is, unless they’re part of an organization receiving big cuts. What’s wrong with the process? Why aren’t more people involved in the public debate? (3:26)
- You just got back from Boston on this year’s Inner City Visit. How was that? (6:07)
- Boston Mayor Tom Menino made a point to offer his assistance in bringing the 2012 Democratic National Convention to Charlotte. Are you involved in this process? What are city and county doing to bring this to Charlotte (9:56)
- The Board of County Commissioners managed to to lessen the blow of cuts by almost
$11.5 million$14 million compared to the recommendations given by County Manager Harry Jones. How is this possible? Where does this money come from? (10:55) - The libraries alone received $3.5 million less in cuts than recommended. But even that still leaves a $10 million dollar cut. A lot of people are asking how the county can justify taking so much money away from libraries, but I want to play dumb for a second: why are libraries important? (14:48)
- Some people might be surprised to find that it’s not all cuts across the board. Why are any programs at all seeing increases in funding from last year? (16:52)
- Let’s talk about city and county consolidation. I know this is a topic you and Mayor Foxx are particularly interested in. What are your feelings about this idea? (21:38)
- How does the board get along? Can politics get in the way of effective decision making? How do you manage this? (28:19)
- What role has media coverage of the budget played in your decision making? Do you feel coverage has been fair or too sensational? (32:08)
- Who can people talk to with questions about county operations? (34:50)
- What are we looking at next year? Do we have more cuts in store? (36:47)
Posted in City, Development, Economy, Feature, Government, Infrastructure, Mecklenburg County
|
Comments Closed
“A Houston, Texas based development company is planning to buy the mall that was once Charlotte’s trendy place to shop.
Those days are long-gone and the mall was facing foreclosure and due to shut down next week.
That is when Boxer Properties of Houston stepped in, proposing to turn the mall into a multicultural retail and office complex.
You might not know the name Boxer, but you might be familiar with Plaza Fiesta that Boxer operates just over the line off of I-77 in York County.
Plaza Fiesta is a Hispanic-oriented mall where most all of the signs are in Spanish and Hispanics customers are clearly the target audience.”
Read/watch more by Rad Berky at WCNC.
There’s a really active thread over on Urban Planet right now with people sharing found photos and illustrations of Charlotte’s past.
There’s so much of Charlotte we’ve thrown away — so much we’re continuing to throw away. It’s great to look through these and get a little perspective.
If you’re reading this from the feed, click through for the big photo gallery included in this post.
There’s a really active thread over on Urban Planet right now with people sharing found photos and illustrations of Charlotte’s past.
There’s so much of Charlotte we’ve thrown away — so much we’re continuing to throw away. It’s great to look through these and get a little perspective.
If you’re reading this from the feed, click through for the big photo gallery included in this post.
In 1975, Eastland mall was the biggest and best shopping center in North Carolina. After 35 years, Charlotte is loosing one of its malls at the end of June. It has been rumored about for a while now, but now we finally have a date.
The 80-acre land holding the once thriving fashion spot will now be vacant. There are no plans from the city or potential buyers to re-build. Concerns about security loom, now that such an empty building will be left unattended.
When one door closes another shall open. Let us hope for something bigger and better than Eastland Mall in the future. Charlotte has a good 3 malls. Perhaps one more with a different variety of stores could help.
In 1975, Eastland mall was the biggest and best shopping center in North Carolina. After 35 years, Charlotte is loosing one of its malls at the end of June. It has been rumored about for a while now, but now we finally have a date.
The 80-acre land holding the once thriving fashion spot will now be vacant. There are no plans from the city or potential buyers to re-build. Concerns about security loom, now that such an empty building will be left unattended.
When one door closes another shall open. Let us hope for something bigger and better than Eastland Mall in the future. Charlotte has a good 3 malls. Perhaps one more with a different variety of stores could help.