Yeah I was just looking back at all of this. 213 S. Harrington isn’t actually what got demolished today. It’s actually 321 W Hargett St. I did reach out to Vita Vite, which is the only occupied building of that little cluster. Hopefully they’re not going away, but I was curious if they knew anything.
I can reach out to Lindsay and ask but as far as I remember she owns her parcel.
3 Likes
iMaps seems to confirm this as the case!
2 Likes
I might stop by tonight after the Origin Hotel walkthrough (and half-priced happy hour sushi at O-ku) to check out the damage and see if they know anything.
Smart of Dillon Supply Company to hang onto this parcel. I am sure Highwoods is eyeing that one to complete their parking lot rectangle. I don’t know the backstory but also big Kudos to Vita Vite to own their property
C’mon Highwoods why eff up the Hargett St momentum with a parking lot. Much prefer some place holder retail until a vertical project materializes.
They confirmed that Vita Vite owns the building and is staying. The rest is all being turned into a parking lot until it is decided what to build there. The bartender looked irritated for sure about this.
9 Likes
Welp, there goes the old ‘Our Place.’ Not sorry to see that go. And, certainly don’t miss the street hustlers that used to work that corner.
But, that was in a different time and dimension.
3 Likes
The whole warehouse district–>Boylan Heights carved up homes as apartments—>Cameron Court swath was known as the gay ghetto back in the 80s and 90s (not sure about the 70s ha). This is a good thing as it was something of a safe haven of culture and acceptance back when things like gay marriage were not widely accepted thoughts. It was our Castro. The Fallout Shelter, White Rabbit Books and Capital Corral were some final vestiges of that in the late 90’s. Legends lives on quite well of course. Our Place seemed to thrive in the overarching grit down there too as did the GCF. Behind the building prostitution was quite common all over down there until maybe 8-10 years ago. Pretty different area not that long ago…
13 Likes
Thanks for the history. It’s always good to remember our past and how we got to where we are today. When I bought my first condo downtown at the Cotton Mill in the mid 90s, my parents freaked out because they deemed the immediate area too dangerous for me to live there with a halfway house next door (where the storage building now is), and an aging housing project nearby that has since been re-envisioned as Capitol Park.
4 Likes
Thank you, Mark. The one thing I would like to add is that during the late 80’s, early 90’s…way before social media, these places were the only ones that were addressing the Aids crises and was a constant source of information and help to many people that was not supplied from any other sources…not from workplaces, churches, let alone the government (the presidents could not even say the word) at that time. You were even afraid to get a test done at the Doctor’s office. Later, the HIPPA law took care of that. I know as I get older, it is time to make way for newer and better things but, when I saw these pics this week, it was a shock. Especially with the history that once was.
5 Likes
I actually helped implement HIPPA and COBRA as a temp at Sprint back in like 1995 or whenever it was but never thought about that. I was just a young kid partying downtown where solidly half my friends were LGBT…but that stuff doesn’t really come up between midnight and 2am
(unrelated, I forgot about Innovations, ha, holy Sh*^, that place sold stuff for some crazy, uh, parties. Y’all may never go in Circa again if I say too much).
2 Likes
It’s Highwoods, so they’re tearing down this building in preparation for signing a 5k sq. ft. tenant to a three story spec office building in suburban Atlanta. 
2 Likes
So Highwoods owns this? If so it is sad. They are one of the largest REITs in the U, headquartered in Raleigh and they will have 2 gravel parking lots in key downtown areas
4 Likes
Not sure how to do this, but city should raise cost of setting on parking/vacant lots in center city. Tax the land as if had high-rise building on it, if not done already, or maybe a tax on parking spaces. Would discourage just setting on it. A down side to this could be owners of buildings that would be removed to make parking, may just set on empty buildings that could become a blight on city. Just random thought that may not belong on this thread.
Extra cost to sitters would likely raise parking rates that would also encourage other modes to commuting. But the extra parking cost could also discourage companies from moving into downtown.
Could result into the heads you lose, tails I win - arrr.
Just random thought that may not belong on this thread.
2 Likes
Too many state and federal laws would probably prevent any “punitive” measure like that
1 Like
I agree there must be some way to discourage gravel parking lot in downtown
Just curious, but if you had to choose to build something tall here or on the Edison lot, which would you choose. I like this lot, a great location, and it would be much more visible from all directions.
2 Likes
This is roughly the argument made by proponents of a Land Value Tax as opposed to a Property Tax. It’s an interesting proposition.
2 Likes