A look at soon-to-open First Ward Park, and all the development planned around it
Grass is growing and crews are putting finishing touches on landscaping along Seventh Street in Charlotte’s First Ward, where big hopes are riding on a new park.
Developer Daniel Levine, whose company is building First Ward Park, took me on a tour of the new park and surrounding areas Monday. Built on a former surface parking lot on Seventh Street, across from ImaginOn, the 4-acre park is expected to anchor a major redevelopment.
It will open to the public with a dedication, tours, music, hot chocolate and a holiday lights switching-on ceremony set for Dec. 8.
Details of the park:
– Around the park, wider sidewalks with landscaping have been installed, making the area more pedestrian-friendly.
– Eighth Street will open next month, bisecting the park. The road can be closed for festivals and weekend events.
– Water jets and a children’s play area closer to Seventh Street and ImaginOn.
– A fountain and shady areas to sit next to UNC Charlotte’s uptown building on Ninth Street.
Levine, who has faced criticism for not developing his company’s holdings around the park sooner, also laid out his plans for the lots around First Ward Park.
– Across from the park, between Seventh and Eighth streets along Brevard Street, Levine plans to build two Hilton-branded hotels.
– The Philip Carey building (formerly Dixie’s Tavern), a warehouse that’s more than 100 years old, is under renovation at Seventh Street and the light rail. The building will feature a public walkway allowing people to walk through the structure to access the park. Levine said he has signed a confidentiality agreement with the tenant, but said the business that’s renting the building will “invite the public.”
He said he couldn’t confirm rumors that the tenant will be Google, which has created urban showrooms in other cities where it is installing its ultra-fast fiber network.
– Levine said he’s looking for a retail or restaurant tenant to occupy a historic but boarded-up building at Seventh and Brevard streets, which he plans to renovate.
– Running along the west side of the light rail extension, Levine is planning to build “Market Street,” which will run between Seventh and Ninth streets. It will be built after the light rail extension segment is finished.
– Levine has hired brokerage firm HFF to market the surface parking lot at Eighth Street and the light rail to developers.
– Next to UNC Charlotte, on Ninth Street just east of the light rail, Levine plans a 20-story office tower.
– A block north, at 10th and Brevard streets, Levine Properties is planning to build 264 apartment units wrapped around a 1,300-space parking deck. The deck would provide parking for UNC Charlotte and the light rail as well.
Photos: David T. Foster III/Charlotte Observer
This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 11:01 PM with the headline "A look at soon-to-open First Ward Park, and all the development planned around it."