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View Poll Results: Skyline
I just can't decide 16 5.35%
Charlotte has the better one 234 78.26%
Nashville has the better one 49 16.39%
Voters: 299. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 09-08-2021, 05:35 PM
 
37,877 posts, read 41,910,477 times
Reputation: 27274

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Quote:
Originally Posted by jkc2j View Post
I've provided the details I know of Nashville, please feel free to provide the details you know of Charlotte. I mean, you even admitted you don't keep up with Charlotte development, but guessing based on your gut.

Also, there's currently 14,000 people in downtown Nashville as of the 2020 census and growing very fast and this is before the effects of Amazon or Oracle which are still in development. That number doesn't include midtown which is it's own business/residential district which is close to 12-13k.

https://ctycms.com/tn-nashville/docs...2020-final.pdf

I typically shy away from using wiki as a source but based on what I'm seeing, Nashville has 7 towers currently under construction ranging from 456ft-280ft. Meaning tower cranes currently up and running with another 31 in various stages of development i.e. proposed, approved, on hold.

Charlotte currently has 3 under construction from 619ft-212ft with another 10 in various stages of development i.e. proposed, approved, on hold etc.

Both cites are seeing development, but it seems Nashville is currently building more towers in the 200-400 range with a combination of office and residential, where as Charlotte's current under construction of 200ft-600ft range and is primarily office.

Not including what hasn't been released to the public for either city, Nashville has 5 towers from 500-700ft proposed and approved. Charlotte currently doesn't list anything at that height other than what's already under construction with the new Duke energy building at 619ft.

Charlotte indeed does have things going on but it seems Nashville is gaining ground in high-rises very quickly. Please feel free to post information to the contrary for Charlotte if what's stated is not true.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...s_in_Nashville

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_in_Charlotte
It's hard to find an updated comprehensive list for Charlotte. These sources seem to be about as good as it gets:

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/ch...250394436.html
https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/maps/crane-watch
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/vi...611761475&z=13

Although there are a few highrises planned for South End, at the moment a lot of Charlotte's development is transit-oriented which spurs more lowrise/midrise development. The second phase of the city's streetcar line just opened and is spurring investment in the form of lowrise redevelopment on the predominantly Black west side; large-scale mixed-use development is still occurring near light rail stations; and the intermodal Gateway Station is progressing nicely. There's also the proposed redevelopment of the former Eastland Mall site, Wake Forest School of Medicine campus, and Uptown entertainment district (in conjunction with a possible new Panthers stadium).

Last edited by JMT; 09-08-2021 at 06:50 PM..

 
Old 09-08-2021, 05:54 PM
 
592 posts, read 589,967 times
Reputation: 996
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77 View Post
It's hard to find an updated comprehensive list for Charlotte. These sources seem to be about as good as it gets:

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/ch...250394436.html
https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/maps/crane-watch
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/vi...611761475&z=13

Although there are a few highrises planned for South End, at the moment a lot of Charlotte's development is transit-oriented which spurs more lowrise/midrise development. The second phase of the city's streetcar line just opened and is spurring investment in the form of lowrise redevelopment on the predominantly Black west side; large-scale mixed-use development is still occurring near light rail stations; and the intermodal Gateway Station is progressing nicely. There's also the proposed redevelopment of the former Eastland Mall site, Wake Forest School of Medicine campus, and Uptown entertainment district (in conjunction with a possible new Panthers stadium).
Thanks for posting some details of what’s happening in Charlotte. Some very nice projects, especially the the new streetcar line with transit oriented development. Hopefully Nashville gets its act together on the transit front soon.
 
Old 09-08-2021, 06:53 PM
 
50 posts, read 34,570 times
Reputation: 81
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkc2j View Post
Charlotte currently has 3 under construction from 619ft-212ft with another 10 in various stages of development i.e. proposed, approved, on hold etc.

Both cites are seeing development, but it seems Nashville is currently building more towers in the 200-400 range with a combination of office and residential, where as Charlotte's current under construction of 200ft-600ft range and is primarily office.

Not including what hasn't been released to the public for either city, Nashville has 5 towers from 500-700ft proposed and approved. Charlotte currently doesn't list anything at that height other than what's already under construction with the new Duke energy building at 619ft.
Listen man, Charlotte has way more than 10 in towers proposed, stop looking wikipedia and listen to people that actually follow/know what is going on in the city, like Charlotte485 said. Just looking at Munity77's link you that will be able to tell there are definitely more than 10 if you read the whole article not just looking at the pictures. There's tons of developments in Charlotte that have 2nd or 3rd "phases".

Anyways, that's not really not that important. There is no denying that what Nashville is getting is currently more than Charlotte but until all these towers go vertical, then there's no reason for me to be impressed and the same goes for Charlotte. Believe it or not, Charlotte actually had a 1400 ft tower proposed 20+ years ago, yes it was scrapped because of a recession but you get my point.
https://www.bizjournals.com/charlott...18/daily8.html

Uptown and the surrounding areas have so much room to grow, tons of open parking lots. We don't need height we need density. Most of the new tall construction is from banks and I don't think Charlotte will get another decently sized tall building in awhile apart from the near 1M sq ft. office tower mixed used development yet to be announced and any bank that will be building in Charlotte. The way Charlotte builds is very different from how Nashville builds.
https://www.bizjournals.com/charlott...velopment.html

I think that in the next 10 years, 80-90% of what is being built in Charlotte will be in the 200-450' range.
 
Old 09-08-2021, 07:07 PM
 
592 posts, read 589,967 times
Reputation: 996
Quote:
Originally Posted by WASD44 View Post
Listen man, Charlotte has way more than 10 in towers proposed, stop looking wikipedia and listen to people that actually follow/know what is going on in the city, like Charlotte485 said. Just looking at Munity77's link you that will be able to tell there are definitely more than 10 if you read the whole article not just looking at the pictures. There's tons of developments in Charlotte that have 2nd or 3rd "phases".

Anyways, that's not really not that important. There is no denying that what Nashville is getting is currently more than Charlotte but until all these towers go vertical, then there's no reason for me to be impressed and the same goes for Charlotte. Believe it or not, Charlotte actually had a 1400 ft tower proposed 20+ years ago, yes it was scrapped because of a recession but you get my point.
https://www.bizjournals.com/charlott...18/daily8.html

Uptown and the surrounding areas have so much room to grow, tons of open parking lots. We don't need height we need density. Most of the new tall construction is from banks and I don't think Charlotte will get another decently sized tall building in awhile apart from the near 1M sq ft. office tower mixed used development yet to be announced and any bank that will be building in Charlotte. The way Charlotte builds is very different from how Nashville builds.
https://www.bizjournals.com/charlott...velopment.html

I think that in the next 10 years, 80-90% of what is being built in Charlotte will be in the 200-450' range.
Ok, thanks for your contribution. And no I didn't rely solely on wiki, but sites like emporis don't list details for proposed projects unless you have a paid subscription. Simply used wiki to get a general idea as some information can be useful, I saw there's a few missing there for Nashville too. Also never denied Charlotte didn't have anything going on. That's good Charlotte has more than 10 towers proposed, which is why I requested for information from your fellow Charlottean to provide details which they did not. Also, I did check out Mutiny's posts. Both cities seem to have quite a bit going on.

Last edited by jkc2j; 09-08-2021 at 07:18 PM..
 
Old 09-08-2021, 07:40 PM
 
15 posts, read 13,703 times
Reputation: 22
No doubt Nashville is blowing up. I’d much rather visit Nashville than Charlotte and it’s becoming a destination city. But I don’t see Nashville building anything as sleak as the Bank of America Corporate center. That building alone puts Charlotte > Nashville for me.
 
Old 09-09-2021, 09:23 AM
 
Location: TPA
6,476 posts, read 6,444,160 times
Reputation: 4863
Quote:
Originally Posted by WASD44 View Post
Believe it or not, Charlotte actually had a 1400 ft tower proposed 20+ years ago, yes it was scrapped because of a recession but you get my point.
Really? Wow, glad that didn't go through lol, that would've been extremely out of place. Nashville had a 1000 ft tower proposed too. I think every city had one proposed right the recession. 1000 was the magic number for some reason. I hope Charlotte never buildings anything taller than BOA.
 
Old 09-09-2021, 10:03 AM
 
Location: TPA
6,476 posts, read 6,444,160 times
Reputation: 4863
My question is what is it that everyone actually cares about? Is this VS about who is taller? Who has more skyscrapers? Who has better looking skyscrapers? Who has more street activity? Who is building more? Who has the better outlook? To me:

Who is taller - Charlotte obviously wins here, and has been winning since the 70s.

Who has more - Charlotte obviously

Who has better looking - subjective, but to me, Charlotte obviously. The Batman Building in Nashville is extremely unique and Pinnacle is good looking with its shape, same for JW, but that's about it really to me in terms of ooh la la buildings. Nothing special about 505, I honestly think its quite ugly. L&C Tower does not do it for me. 5/3 Center is good looking, but its a building that could go in either city. Can't imagine the Batman in Charlotte.

Charlotte meanwhile, imo, has multiple unique buildings that would not A. be built today, and B. found in many other cities. The new 2019 BOA Tower is a style fresh out of the 90s and is a building you dont see popping up in todays climate. I could be wrong, but it may very well be the only post 2010 skyscraper in the country with a crown. '92 BOA is obviously iconic, Hearst, Duke Energy, and 300 South Tryon are all well designed. Charlotte also incorporates lighting features much better into the skyscrapers. Charlotte also has more art-deco left, though both cities sorely lack in that department.

And I personally do not think this is going to change. Nashville is building an impressive amount, but its just too many tall blue rectangle boxes to me. Charlotte's U/c and proposed still has more unique ideas.

Who has more street activity - see this is where its tricky. Obviously Nashville has the tourism with Broadway and 2nd Ave, but those bars are not apart of the skyscrapers, so I dont count it. You cant party on the first floor of the Batman. Charlotte probably has the edge on ground level skyscraper retail. This is the area though where South End in Charlotte and Nashville Yards in Nashville can really shine, if they do it right.

Who is building more - Nashville I guess at the moment. Not sure if Charlotte's South End projects are included. So if quantity is what you care about, then yes, under construction quantity, Nashville is winning, regardless of how the buildings look.

Who has the better outlook - I still gotta give it to Charlotte. The fact that BOA and Duke already have dominant towers, yet are still building more, is telling. Being a banking hub, this is going to continue. Nashville thanks to Amazon is really getting a taste, but Nashville is still not Amazon's main focus.

I think the edge Nashville has here is it becoming a trendy condo happy city. 5 of the 7 tallest under construction in Nashville right now are residential condos, and majority of the proposed are condos. Charlotte's current under construction is all office. And the fact that I think Charlotte in the future will have more Uptown demand taken by edge cities like South Park and Ballantyne, and even Fort Mill. I see Nashville's focus staying in the core and Midtown.

So if Nashville does completely close the gap, it'll be thanks to going condo crazy, but Charlotte will still build them, and Charlotte having actual light rail will bring in demand for condos. Plus with a new BOA Stadium eventually on the way, I'm sure development will be thrown around that. I think Charlotte is going to do enough in the next 10 years to firmly keep its lead overall from a quantity standpoint. From a quality and beauty standpoint its just never going to be topped, unless Charlotte paints BOA bright yellow and starts building everything Soviet bloc style. I just simply do not see Nashville anytime soon, if ever, supplanting Charlotte for the regions #2 (excluding Florida and DC).

But bright future for both cities and their vista views.
 
Old 09-09-2021, 01:16 PM
 
592 posts, read 589,967 times
Reputation: 996
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jandrew5 View Post
My question is what is it that everyone actually cares about? Is this VS about who is taller? Who has more skyscrapers? Who has better looking skyscrapers? Who has more street activity? Who is building more? Who has the better outlook? To me:

Who is taller - Charlotte obviously wins here, and has been winning since the 70s.

Who has more - Charlotte obviously

Who has better looking - subjective, but to me, Charlotte obviously. The Batman Building in Nashville is extremely unique and Pinnacle is good looking with its shape, same for JW, but that's about it really to me in terms of ooh la la buildings. Nothing special about 505, I honestly think its quite ugly. L&C Tower does not do it for me. 5/3 Center is good looking, but its a building that could go in either city. Can't imagine the Batman in Charlotte.

Charlotte meanwhile, imo, has multiple unique buildings that would not A. be built today, and B. found in many other cities. The new 2019 BOA Tower is a style fresh out of the 90s and is a building you dont see popping up in todays climate. I could be wrong, but it may very well be the only post 2010 skyscraper in the country with a crown. '92 BOA is obviously iconic, Hearst, Duke Energy, and 300 South Tryon are all well designed. Charlotte also incorporates lighting features much better into the skyscrapers. Charlotte also has more art-deco left, though both cities sorely lack in that department.

And I personally do not think this is going to change. Nashville is building an impressive amount, but its just too many tall blue rectangle boxes to me. Charlotte's U/c and proposed still has more unique ideas.

Who has more street activity - see this is where its tricky. Obviously Nashville has the tourism with Broadway and 2nd Ave, but those bars are not apart of the skyscrapers, so I dont count it. You cant party on the first floor of the Batman. Charlotte probably has the edge on ground level skyscraper retail. This is the area though where South End in Charlotte and Nashville Yards in Nashville can really shine, if they do it right.

Who is building more - Nashville I guess at the moment. Not sure if Charlotte's South End projects are included. So if quantity is what you care about, then yes, under construction quantity, Nashville is winning, regardless of how the buildings look.

Who has the better outlook - I still gotta give it to Charlotte. The fact that BOA and Duke already have dominant towers, yet are still building more, is telling. Being a banking hub, this is going to continue. Nashville thanks to Amazon is really getting a taste, but Nashville is still not Amazon's main focus.

I think the edge Nashville has here is it becoming a trendy condo happy city. 5 of the 7 tallest under construction in Nashville right now are residential condos, and majority of the proposed are condos. Charlotte's current under construction is all office. And the fact that I think Charlotte in the future will have more Uptown demand taken by edge cities like South Park and Ballantyne, and even Fort Mill. I see Nashville's focus staying in the core and Midtown.

So if Nashville does completely close the gap, it'll be thanks to going condo crazy, but Charlotte will still build them, and Charlotte having actual light rail will bring in demand for condos. Plus with a new BOA Stadium eventually on the way, I'm sure development will be thrown around that. I think Charlotte is going to do enough in the next 10 years to firmly keep its lead overall from a quantity standpoint. From a quality and beauty standpoint its just never going to be topped, unless Charlotte paints BOA bright yellow and starts building everything Soviet bloc style. I just simply do not see Nashville anytime soon, if ever, supplanting Charlotte for the regions #2 (excluding Florida and DC).

But bright future for both cities and their vista views.
Charlotte definitely has the better skyline as of today, it's both taller and currently more in quantity. Nashville is gaining very fast in quantity but the quality of it's current under construction leaves a lot to be desired for some. This can be due do to a variety of different factors, one could be the dominant industries in both. Charlotte for banking and Nashville for healthcare and tech. Also because Nashville is a large tourist city, it's seeing a lot of hotel construction, which the quality and creativity of the buildings typically depends on the brand, with higher end hotels being more elaborate.

Tech companies don't tend to build very tall towers and tend to focus more on campus like office space, where as banks tend to build tall as a way to show prominence and prestige. Also, Charlotte built most of it's most prominent towers in the 80's and 90's when taller buildings used lots of high quality materials like granite, limestone and concrete. Nashville built it's tallest in the 90's as well with the AT&T (aka the batman building) using similar materials.

A lot of towers today seem to be going more of the steel and glass route, with some exceptions due to the cost of building materials being a lot more expensive, though I do still believe there should be room for creativity given budget constraints. Austin seems to be having the same issue as Nashville, with a lot of it's most recent towers being mostly glass and boxy or variations thereof, with the exception of their new Google tower which has an interesting design as an example of this.

Speaking for Nashville, the city is really just now starting to densify and build up it's skyline though even in the 90's it was pretty decent given it's smaller size. It remains to be seen if Nashville will overtake Charlotte in quality of taller buildings (possibly never) but it's biggest chance is to catch up in quantity and density. Nashville will probably have a couple of 700 footers here and there but since ranking skylines is subjective it'll be up to the individual to determine which they prefer 10 years from now once a lot of the proposed towers for each city are completed. I'd guess would possibly still be Charlotte for the foreseeable future given it's current taller prominent towers.

I personally believe the future of tall towers will be a mix of mixed use and residential. Hopefully developers can find a balance between being cost effective and creative.

Here's a couple of shots of Nashville:

Downtown:

https://up-bucket-0.s3.amazonaws.com...564d5b386.jpeg


Midtown:

https://dynamic-media-cdn.tripadviso...=1100&h=-1&s=1

Last edited by JMT; 09-09-2021 at 02:39 PM..
 
Old 09-09-2021, 01:51 PM
 
Location: TPA
6,476 posts, read 6,444,160 times
Reputation: 4863
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkc2j View Post
Charlotte definitely has the better skyline as of today, it's both taller and currently more in quantity. Nashville is gaining very fast in quantity but the quality of it's current under construction leaves a lot to be desired for some. This can be due do to a variety of different factors, one could be the dominant industries in both. Charlotte for banking and Nashville for healthcare and tech. Also because Nashville is a large tourist city, it's seeing a lot of hotel construction, which the quality and creativity of the buildings typically depends on the brand, with higher end hotels being more elaborate.

Tech companies don't tend to build very tall towers and tend to focus more on campus like office space, where as banks tend to build tall as a way to show prominence and prestige. Also, Charlotte built most of it's most prominent towers in the 80's and 90's when taller buildings used lots of high quality materials like granite, limestone and concrete. Nashville built it's tallest in the 90's as well with the AT&T (aka the batman building) using similar materials.

A lot towers today seem to be going more of the steel and glass route, with some exceptions due to the cost of building materials being a lot more expensive, though I do still believe there should be room for creativity given budget constraints. Austin seems to be having the same issue as Nashville, with a lot of it's most recent towers being boxy or variations thereof, with the exception of their new Google tower which has an interesting design as an example of this.

Speaking for Nashville, the city is really just now starting to densify and build up it's skyline though even in the 90's it was pretty decent given it's smaller size. It remains to be seen if Nashville will overtake Charlotte in quality(possibly never) but it's biggest chance is to catch up in quantity and density. Nashville will probably have a couple of 700 footers here and there but since ranking skylines is subjective it'll be up to the individual to determine which they prefer, which I'd guess would possibly still be Charlotte for the foreseeable future given it's current taller prominent towers.

I personally believe the future of tall towers will be a mix of mixed use and residential. Hopefully developers can find a balance between being cost effective and creative.
I agree with you that how skyscrapers are built today is just a different era than how they were built in the 90s. I know all of this. I'm not picking on Nashville, I would name other cities you are currently seeing this in, but I dont want the post deleted...but yes Charlotte was definitely a product of booming in the 90s and 00s while Nashville can be clearly seen as a product of the 10s and 20s, where costs matter much than creativity. That said, I still think Charlotte is building less blue glass.

Design Center Tower is an example of a new skyscraper that is not big blue glass. I'd love to see that design more in Nashville. Youre right though, hotels especially have a say, and everyone wants to keep costs down, especially condos. 505 is ugly to me, but I also cant expect the developer to shell out $$$ to deck it out in bling. It's too expensive now to get too fancy, unless youre a Bank of America.

And those are nice shots. Nashville definitely wins having a river and bridge. I love the view from the pedestrian bridge. Nashville definitely has more of an opportunity to densify and has more buildings around that can be renewed and lots that can infill.
 
Old 09-09-2021, 02:20 PM
 
50 posts, read 34,570 times
Reputation: 81
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkc2j View Post
Charlotte definitely has the better skyline as of today, it's both taller and currently more in quantity. Nashville is gaining very fast in quantity but the quality of it's current under construction leaves a lot to be desired for some. This can be due do to a variety of different factors, one could be the dominant industries in both. Charlotte for banking and Nashville for healthcare and tech. Also because Nashville is a large tourist city, it's seeing a lot of hotel construction, which the quality and creativity of the buildings typically depends on the brand, with higher end hotels being more elaborate.

Tech companies don't tend to build very tall towers and tend to focus more on campus like office space, where as banks tend to build tall as a way to show prominence and prestige. Also, Charlotte built most of it's most prominent towers in the 80's and 90's when taller buildings used lots of high quality materials like granite, limestone and concrete. Nashville built it's tallest in the 90's as well with the AT&T (aka the batman building) using similar materials.

A lot towers today seem to be going more of the steel and glass route, with some exceptions due to the cost of building materials being a lot more expensive, though I do still believe there should be room for creativity given budget constraints. Austin seems to be having the same issue as Nashville, with a lot of it's most recent towers being boxy or variations thereof, with the exception of their new Google tower which has an interesting design as an example of this.

Speaking for Nashville, the city is really just now starting to densify and build up it's skyline though even in the 90's it was pretty decent given it's smaller size. It remains to be seen if Nashville will overtake Charlotte in quality(possibly never) but it's biggest chance is to catch up in quantity and density. Nashville will probably have a couple of 700 footers here and there but since ranking skylines is subjective it'll be up to the individual to determine which they prefer, which I'd guess would possibly still be Charlotte for the foreseeable future given it's current taller prominent towers.

I agree, we'll see how many of those towers get built. Impressive for sure.

Charlotte-
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E-OuaNkW...pg&name=medium
https://photos.zillowstatic.com/fp/5...f2e047-p_e.jpg

2001
https://www.emporis.com/images/show/...-the-right.jpg

Last edited by WASD44; 09-09-2021 at 02:40 PM..
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