The move makes sense as Charlotte is a major U.S. banking center.
Been thinking about this scenario with LM owning 227 —not sure how deep their pockets or adventurous their planning, but reformat the ground floor of 227 in a manner that activates Exchange plaza with hospitality concepts, maybe put the long-gestating ‘incubator’ concept into the old La Stella and couple those with opening a new concept at 150 Faye in partnership with Highwoods, you’ve got some momentum in the pipeline for our lil’ ole Main St…?
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Just saw this on fb. Looks like we’ll be getting more news on the recommendations for Fayetteville Street and the rest of the city this Thursday.
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Yeah, I saw it on IG. I wonder how old that photo is? It has to be at least pre-Bicentennial since the pedestrian mall wasn’t yet built, but after the construction of the BB&T building (now Capital Bank) on Fayetteville & the Legislative Building. That puts the photo likely between the mid 60s and mid 70s. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to see the Holiday Inn in this view as well. If so, then this photo would be closer to 1965.
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Karl Lawson (Raleigh Boy) archive photo - 1966 is the tag at bottom of the post, seems to align with your perspective.
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I suppose that I could get a side hustle as an investigator? 
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Someone has a big idea…
We’ll see
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This would be a good location for a coffee shop instead of the dead space it is now. Also, it kinda drives me nuts that they’re showing the lights overhead when we had a Jaume Plensa design for the plaza years ago that was killed, in part, due to the overhead lights.
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The first issue to fix is the city government’s lack of vision for downtown. Not sure that will happen anytime soon.
Let’s just think of all the big ideas for downtown that basically never made it off the initial concept work.
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This is less commentary on the plan and more about the images, but those overhead LED lights took me right back to school photo day in the early 90s…
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Yes I do like that they recognize how severely underutilized the pedestrian street between the Convention Center and Fayetteville St/Marriott hotel is currently.
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Also I don’t think you can put anything in that corner it’s a underground pass to the convention center.
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Well I participated in a focus group for this, and it’s apparently as close as they could get to including my suggestion of string lights 
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FYI, I highly recommend reading through the full report near the bottom of that page. I gotta say, I think they’re nailing it. Some additional things they recommended that stuck out to me:
- Repurposing of City Market Hall into an indoor market
- A transformative “aerial or bridge connection” from the Fayetteville Street area to the Dix Park area
- Permanent outdoor retail stalls
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What I see when I look at this is a concept that has not been architected, specified, or estimated, and will come back at $50m, then will be broken into phases, then added to a parks bond, and won’t get fully implemented until 2035.
The other more incremental option is to identify a space (LIKE THE FORMER LA STELLA PIZZA AND ADJACENT PLAZA) and get funding to convert into a commissary kitchen to support 6-7 street food vendors, along with a micro-retail startup space for 2-3 local makers, street lights over FS just in that one location, and throw all money/marketing/support at that ONE concept to ensure success. Make it a true magnet for pedestrians and convention visitors, with the confidence that one successful block will spill business/foot traffic into adjacent blocks and existing businesses.
In just a couple of years, this model could spur private investment along FS without years and years of street construction and fundraising.
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I would say that it won’t “start” the implementation process until 2035 at the earliest with no eta for any completion… 
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Maybe I am just becoming jaded after 20 years of witnessing firsthand the ups and down of Fayetteville St. This is a rehash of everything brought up before using new words like “activate.” The issue has never been consultant driven ideas since 2006 when it was opened back up for cars; rather, the failure in executing said ideas by private business and city government alike. There, off the soapbox.
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Now that I honestly think about it… Fayetteville St. was on an upward trajectory all the way leading up to that stupid sidewalk ban. The sidewalks need to be activated in full, which encourages more foot traffic.
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That’s basically my argument. I feel the city has overregulated the street into mediocrity.
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