Still waiting on the “tallest building” part to get fixed, but I just wanted to point out how impressive my powers are!
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Article says “move” for the Berkeley. Had me wondering where they could recreate the vibe… maybe here just 2 blocks away. Maybe they could recreate the back patio in the courtyard too?
Might need a lot of money to pay Empire rent prices tho. Or the old Fiction Kitchen space?
420 S Dawson
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Another Maurer renovation of the old Dr. Pepper warehouse. They should be celebrated more often for their work
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you said BUTT…HAHAHA
Sorry, it’s been a rough day already…Lol
A lot of folks don’t realize that the slab to slab distance in a commercial office tower is nearly always greater than the slab to slab distance in most all residential buildings. I suppose a hyper luxury housing could have a tall slab to slab distance that could rival a commercial building, but those not going to be typical.
Aggregating the 4-5 ft of difference in slab to slab distances over dozens of floors results in commercial towers being 100+ feet taller than a residential building with the same floor count.
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I remember Kane Realty claimed it was the tallest entirely residential building, not the tallest of all buildings. The claim morphed into a different meaning as it was retold.
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330 W Hargett & Vela Longview would go In at 6th & 8th
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Opps somedayy I wil learn to proff-read before postt - l
“Remember, kids: Every time you see a new pickleball court open, an orthopedist gets a new boat.”
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I only found out about this yesterday. It’s wonderful to see that block see that block developed, but the loss of the Berkeley makes the victory feel hollow. I’m a young person, so I don’t have nostalgia for the place. It may not be the most beautiful building. But, when I step into any historic building, I teem with emotion thinking about all the people that were in that same place and all the things that place saw. With the re-zoning approved, it’s probably a done-deal that the project gets approved, huh? Sad to see the city didn’t fight for it at all.
I’ll be furious if they demolish it and then just sit on it for a few years before eventually building some generic apartments that never would have even needed the demolition.
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Hello and welcome. As someone not as young, but who only went to the Berkeley once, and that was in the last year, I do feel like it getting demolished is not ideal. The rezoning was approved with conditions that the lease be extended for that business, and it allowed them to remain while they look for a new home. And the city did fight for that part. But they’re limited by state law in terms of conditions and not allowing people to build on their land. Even without the rezoning, the new project could still demolish it by right. The silver lining is that the project that has been proposed seems to be actually moving forward, and will provide a significant amount of housing downtown.
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Welcome. Many fond memories of this place in late 90’s. Enjoy them while they last. Roast Grill, Chargrill@ Hillsborough will be hard to keep forever. I remember the bands at the underground @ Cameron Village and Darryl’s. Enjoy them while they last…
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The rezoning to DX-20 a few years ago ultimately doomed the Berkeley. The sliver of the Berkeley was excluded from the recent upzone to 40 but the build-by-right prior to that was still plenty to “justify” replacing it.
It’s also a bit of a punch to the gut that the current building plans have the entrance to the parking deck where the Berkeley is. So our dependency on cars is what’s justifying removing yet another historic building downtown.
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…which is literally the case with the old Goodnight’s building, currently. 100 year old building, demolished for 6-story apartments that absolutely could’ve been building around it (or at VERY LEAST saving the facade) - and yet the entire site now sits completely abandoned, absolutely zero construction or even prep has taken place since the demolition… absolutely infuriating.
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That one is a killer. A much more interesting existing building torn down for a less interesting plan that they proceeded to not actually build. Brutal.
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I do think the city should take action against those kinds of developers. Either sh!t or get off the pot, and if you already demo’d an historic building before you get off said pot - you should be sued.
What can they really do though? After the fact I imagine not much, right? Can they put in some conditions as part of the re-zoning or project approval?
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Better historic protections. The ones we have seem more about protecting NIMBY neighborhoods on the edge of downtown rather than the most vulnerable and historically significant buildings in downtown.
Goodnight’s never should’ve been on the chopping block to begin with. The empty part of the parcel was more than enough for any developer to get their hopes and dreams with.
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2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Possible New Development Locations and Projects - Rezonings
The historic protections available to individual buildings that everyone loves are the exact same historic protections for “NIMBY neighborhoods on the edge of downtown” - all of them are regulated through the Certificate of Appropriateness process. All of the buildings that everyone is bummed about were on landmark “wish lists” - but you have to have willing property owners to be designated. City Council has the authority to designate landmarks/historic districts without the consent of property owners - but they’ve never had the chutzpah or political will to do that. Even then, if a property owner wants to tear down a designated historic landmark or a building in a “NIMBY neighborhood on the edge of downtown,” the most that state enabling legislation allows cities to implement is a one year demolition delay. That’s it.
City Council could negotiate/require protections in exchange for concessions/bonuses during the rezoning process - like we weren’t a withered Rust Belt city begging for private development to notice us - but they choose not to. Even if a landmark building or neighborhood is locally designated, they’ve shown an abundant willingness to toss that out when push comes to shove - so even those “historic protections” don’t really mean much. While the state legislature throttles the extent of what municipalities are able to do, ultimately the buck mostly stops at Council’s table.
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