Baltimore Development News

[Nino_B]

Hopefully there isn't serious structural damage to this historic icon of Baltimore. Seems odd that they are just uncovering or reporting on this now as the quake was 7 months ago.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bre...,3755124.story

[rockin'.baltimorean]

i was watching "The First 48" last night, and at the begining of one of the episoides, an aerial view of charlotte, north carolina was displayed...

with all this talk about about "baltimore vs. charlotte", i was really shocked at how small their skyline is.

looks very desolate....

looks very isolated....





i would take our skyline on any given day!!!

[rockin'.baltimorean]

Originally Posted by Nino_B

Hopefully there isn't serious structural damage to this historic icon of Baltimore. Seems odd that they are just uncovering or reporting on this now as the quake was 7 months ago.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bre...,3755124.story

yeah, i often pass this building on cathedral street. It's always jam-packed with people, so let's thank our lucky stars that the crack wasn't severe.

you're right.......7 mo's is a bit too long for something of this significance to go unnoticed.

[scando]

Originally Posted by rockin'.baltimorean

yeah, i often pass this building on cathedral street. It's always jam-packed with people, so let's thank our lucky stars that the crack wasn't severe.

you're right.......7 mo's is a bit too long for something of this significance to go unnoticed.

Cracks like that start out little and then grow. Fortunately the article says that the damage isn't structural, but in the plaster facade. It sounds like it needs to be fixed and they don't want plaster falling on somebody, but it's not like the dome is going to collapse.

[scando]

Originally Posted by rockin'.baltimorean

i was watching "The First 48" last night, and at the begining of one of the episoides, an aerial view of charlotte, north carolina was displayed...

with all this talk about about "baltimore vs. charlotte", i was really shocked at how small their skyline is.

looks very desolate....

looks very isolated....

i would take our skyline on any given day!!!

Check out Google Maps...Charlotte's downtown seems to be about 70% highways and parking...not a place for fans of dense cities.

[New_Balto]

Originally Posted by rockin'.baltimorean

i was watching "The First 48" last night, and at the begining of one of the episoides, an aerial view of charlotte, north carolina was displayed...

with all this talk about about "baltimore vs. charlotte", i was really shocked at how small their skyline is.

looks very desolate....

looks very isolated....





i would take our skyline on any given day!!!

I see fewer buildings overall and a few more taller buildings than ours overall.

[hpal3]

http://www.tommyholtphotography.com/...-photo-shoots/

http://photos.igougo.com/pictures-ph...e_skyline.html

http://www.ronsaari.com/stockImages/...tTwilight2.php

http://www.kellymangum.com/hometown/...re_skyline.gif

[hpal3]

I will say this, Charlottes skyline will look even bigger 10 to 15 years from now. Their skyline popped up almost from nowhere as ours did not. That said, I prefer B'more to the Queen City as well!

[30 Floors Up]

Originally Posted by hpal3

I will say this, Charlottes skyline will look even bigger 10 to 15 years from now. Their skyline popped up almost from nowhere as ours did not. That said, I prefer B'more to the Queen City as well!

I don’t think it will. Their skyline was fueled by the deregulation of banks and the allowance of interstate banking. Banks are one of the largest users of office space. The two tallest buildings, and many of the smaller ones, were bank buildings constructed for the two regional banks that were based there, Wachovia and Nationsbank.

Their skyline is partly the result of Baltimore's loss of banks. NationsBank bought MNB our largest bank, and promptly moved operations there.

Now Charlotte is suffering because one of their two regional banks has been bought and is no longer based there. Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, purchased Wachovia. The other, Nationsbank, has become Bank of America, but they are struggling. I think it is only a matter of time before they relocate to New York or elsewhere.

Increasingly what’s fueling city growth is air connections. When Cincinnati lost hub status at their airport several years ago, Chiquita moved their corporate headquarters from that city to Charlotte (a HUB with a glut of office space) this year due to air connections. Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas have become what they are due to air connections.

That bodes well for Baltimore if Southwest ever goes international. So far, I haven’t heard any more about that.

[waj0527]

Good news about J. Crew. They've been rumored to be moving to HE since they closed the store at The Gallery. Let's hope the have sense enough to sell men's clothes, too. I was forced to schlep to Columbia Mall before the locations in Towson and Annapolis opened.

[Gsol]

Originally Posted by waj0527

Good news about J. Crew. They've been rumored to be moving to HE since they closed the store at The Gallery. Let's hope the have sense enough to sell men's clothes, too. I was forced to schlep to Columbia Mall before the locations in Towson and Annapolis opened.

Interesting you say that, because they have a great selection of mens clothes that are stylish and fit well. They have a store in my area at The Tme Warner Center, in Columbus Circle. The mens store is so successful that they split the stores and opened a separate mens store. That has been successful, the store is generally busy. The only problem is the stuff is pricey, but it looks and feels good. Maybe you can get two stores, or hopefully one large store with a great selection. Check out their sneakers, specially made New Balance $145 (sorry not UA).

[KLynch]

Dang, you guys are ballers! I'm more of a Kohl's and Old Navy guy.

I've spent a lot of time in Cincy and I've been to Charlotte. I like both cities, but Baltimore feels like NYC compared to both of them. Their downtowns are tiny. So if they have a taller building than us? Congrats to them, but there is no comparison between us and those cities.

[pertplus]

Originally Posted by JeffCantonite21224

Rumor has it that a J. Crew will be opening soon in Harbor East. Maybe not the biggest news ever, but will further expand Harbor East as a shopping destination. Hopefully this will lead to more retailers downtown.

Harbor East seems to be turning into a "downtown Chevy Chase" when you drive down Wisconsin Ave in DC, they have a good bit of mixed use but certainly upscale development there. JCrew, Tiffany's etc. Doesn't hurt having all those monied workers right there either. We have em beat with our water views, though.

[pertplus]

[QUOTE=30 Floors Up;89732984]...
Now Charlotte is suffering because one of their two regional banks has been bought and is no longer based there. Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, purchased Wachovia. The other, Nationsbank, has become Bank of America, but they are struggling. I think it is only a matter of time before they relocate to New York or elsewhere...QUOTE]

You hit the nail on the head here. Bank of America built their newest tower at One Bryant Park. From Wikipedia "The US$1 billion project was designed by Cook+Fox Architects to be one of the most efficient and ecologically friendly buildings in the world. It is the second tallest building in New York City, after the Empire State Building, and the fourth tallest building in the United States. Construction was completed in 2009."

I doubt that Wells Fargo and Bank of America have any strategic advantages to being HQ in Charlotte, except for relatively low cost of living. Credit card businesses for most banks are vested in Delaware due to less restrictive regulatory standards, so I could foresee some moves to be closer to financial center in the next ten years. But who knows

[Exrexnotex]

Townhouse Kitchen and Bar is opening in Harbor East. It'll be located right next to RA. Also, the Greek restaurant that has been long advertised is underway and will be located at the corner of Lancaster and Central.

Does anyone know where J.Crew will be located?

[hpal3]

[QUOTE=pertplus;89738729]

Originally Posted by 30 Floors Up

...
Now Charlotte is suffering because one of their two regional banks has been bought and is no longer based there. Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, purchased Wachovia. The other, Nationsbank, has become Bank of America, but they are struggling. I think it is only a matter of time before they relocate to New York or elsewhere...QUOTE]

You hit the nail on the head here. Bank of America built their newest tower at One Bryant Park. From Wikipedia "The US$1 billion project was designed by Cook+Fox Architects to be one of the most efficient and ecologically friendly buildings in the world. It is the second tallest building in New York City, after the Empire State Building, and the fourth tallest building in the United States. Construction was completed in 2009."

I doubt that Wells Fargo and Bank of America have any strategic advantages to being HQ in Charlotte, except for relatively low cost of living. Credit card businesses for most banks are vested in Delaware due to less restrictive regulatory standards, so I could foresee some moves to be closer to financial center in the next ten years. But who knows

Originally Posted by 30 Floors Up

I don’t think it will. Their skyline was fueled by the deregulation of banks and the allowance of interstate banking. Banks are one of the largest users of office space. The two tallest buildings, and many of the smaller ones, were bank buildings constructed for the two regional banks that were based there, Wachovia and Nationsbank.

Their skyline is partly the result of Baltimore's loss of banks. NationsBank bought MNB our largest bank, and promptly moved operations there.

Now Charlotte is suffering because one of their two regional banks has been bought and is no longer based there. Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, purchased Wachovia. The other, Nationsbank, has become Bank of America, but they are struggling. I think it is only a matter of time before they relocate to New York or elsewhere.

Increasingly what’s fueling city growth is air connections. When Cincinnati lost hub status at their airport several years ago, Chiquita moved their corporate headquarters from that city to Charlotte (a HUB with a glut of office space) this year due to air connections. Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas have become what they are due to air connections.

That bodes well for Baltimore if Southwest ever goes international. So far, I haven’t heard any more about that.

I don't know about comparing companies being bought out when we just lost our last Fortune 500 company to Chicago...we are atleast getting a new tower out of the deal though. Charlotte has 6 Fortune 500 companies.

[Eerik]

Charlotte is a powerhouse that isn't going to disappear anytime soon...

While it may no longer be home to Wachovia, it does remain the regional headquarters for the East Coast Operations of Wells Fargo, and Charlotte is the headquarters for Wells Fargo's capital markets activities: equity research, sales and trading, investment banking, etc.

While folks may deem Charlotte to be a one-industry town, it is not. They have an extremely diversified economy with numerous Fortune 500 companies headquartered within the region. Aside from banking, representation covers everything from retail to metals, utilities to forest and paper products, and electronics. In terms of business, for the past twenty years, regionally they have really been competitive with Atlanta -- and continue to be so today.

For example, the energy sector alone has attracted more than 200 companies and employs over 25,000 people and has dubbed Charlotte as the "New Energy Capital." Aside from educating the graduating engineers -- The University of North Carolina is closely linked with the energy sector since it also conducts major energy related research that fuels the business market.

While 70-storey towers are impressive and imposing, I agree that street-life is important to urban centers. While downtown Charlotte is not Manhattan, to say that no urban core exists is also incorrect.

They have as many open parcels as we do; and unlike us -- their downtown is not surrounded by a helpless ring of extreme poverty.

[bma83]

Originally Posted by Gsol

Interesting you say that, because they have a great selection of mens clothes that are stylish and fit well. They have a store in my area at The Tme Warner Center, in Columbus Circle. The mens store is so successful that they split the stores and opened a separate mens store. That has been successful, the store is generally busy. The only problem is the stuff is pricey, but it looks and feels good. Maybe you can get two stores, or hopefully one large store with a great selection. Check out their sneakers, specially made New Balance $145 (sorry not UA).

I'm constantly at the Time Warner Center's J. Crew store. Good to hear that they are coming to Harbor East. Would love to hear that a Zara, a Club Monaco, a Joe Fresh, and a Uniqlo are opening up there as well. I can always dream.

[Coldspring]

Charlotte has the Epi Center which is a 'festival marketplace' very similiar to our Power Plant Live. Though CLT looks nice modern and sleek.. At the street level there seems to be less going on after hours than Bmore with the exception of the few blocks around the Epi Center, the Bobcat Arena, and a few other nodes where you have hotels and nice restaurants. Downtown Bmo has more nodes of activity across a wider area. They still have a nice downtown.. its just not an urban or dense downtown like Baltimore. They are also having the DNC convention which should put the city in the spot light as well. There is also a real Transportation Center downtown which we dont have... but could use..that also a nice touch.

[UCTerp]

Originally Posted by Exrexnotex

Townhouse Kitchen and Bar is opening in Harbor East. It'll be located right next to RA. Also, the Greek restaurant that has been long advertised is underway and will be located at the corner of Lancaster and Central.

Does anyone know where J.Crew will be located?

I don't know, but I'm guessing it will be in the new retail space located at the former entrance to the Promenade (on the corner of Aliceanna and Exeter, next to South Moon Under).