Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Conformity on Seventh

The secret is out. Plans are underway to develop the Roy White property on Seventh. Monte Ritchey may have been playing coy with the Business Journal, but he made a presentation to the ECA meeting Tuesday night. Let's hope he can do something good for the neighborhood with that property and end the long-running saga.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

The article is a little unclear--it is the lot next to Roy White, plus Roy White or the whole shopping center including the sub shop and dollar bargain?

John McBride said...

You're right, I wasn't clear. As I understand it, the property Conformity is trying to develop runs from the white house at the corner of 7th and Clement to the Sub Station. However I may have that wrong. Let me see if I can get this cleared up. I'll post what I find out. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I think elizabethcommunity.com should link to this site. You provide so much more relevant and current information about the "hood". It even looks more hip and trendy....Keep up the good work....

Anonymous said...

I agree. Could we get more info about development in the 'hood or about new businesses moving in, etc? I like features as much as the next person, but I want some news too. You do a GREAT job reporting on the neighborhood. This is one of the first sources I turn to. Thanks for all you do!

John McBride said...

Actually the ECA site does link to this blog. The link is at the bottom of the stack of links on the left.

Thank you for the kind words. I too would like more news. The original idea for UTWT was to get as many people in the neighborhood involved as possible. If everyone posted what they saw/heard/knew about the 'hood, we'd all be enlightened. Although some people have signed up, so far I'm about the only one who posts. But these things take time to develop, and I'm sure UTWT will have more contributors in the future. If you'd like to contribute, let me know. It's easy and free, although the pay is lousy.

Finally, the Roy White property does indeed run from the white house at the corner of 7th and Clement to the end of Arrow Cleaners/beginning of Sub Station as I mentioned in my earlier reply. There's speculation that Conformity might want to buy the rest of the building from Sub Station to Dollar General. But that's all it is -- idle speculation by neighborhood talkers. If I hear anything of substance on it, you can be sure I'll post it. Thanks for reading!

Anonymous said...

john
how do i go about creating a post for people to comment on? for example: cankerworms and tree maintenance?
thanks
kris solow

Anonymous said...

I'm following up on the question about what's going on on the 2500 block of 7th street where it's been bulldozed.

for whatever reason, even though there's a "financed by Wachovia" sign in the middle of the land, most of the people I've called have tried to say as little as possible. I was told the "official release" will be in a couple of months. I called around and was able to get this info:

-The plans are for 45 townhomes
-3 stories
-They will be 1700 to 1800 sq/ft
-The avg townhome will have 3 bedrooms and if I understood correctly, 3.5 baths.
-They will have a 1.5 car garage
-The pre-construction prices will be "in the low 2's". I asked what they meant and was told "215-220".
-They are being built by gateway homes

There are several condemed and nearly condemed properties on that block and right next to the soon-to-be-built townhomes, but the demolition for this project is complete. I was told they woul "probably look similar to the homes ate www.PrestonTownHomes.com", although they don't know if they'll be brick or not.

That's all I got!

Anonymous said...

one more thing: completion of the project will be 14 months from now.

John McBride said...

Kris:
It's a simple process. What happens is I send you an invitation through Blogger. You get the email, click on the link in it and follow the directions. You'll be creating a profile on Blogger, and after you do you can log in and post whenever you want. It should be pretty easy. I'll send you the invitation now. Let me know if you don't get it by tomorrow. Thanks.

John McBride said...

Hey nice work on the 2500 block of 7th! If you want, I'll send you an invitation to join UTWT too and you can post good stuff like that instead of hiding it here in the comments. Let me know if you'd like to become a contributor to UTWT -- it's free and easy.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the comment on the Elizabeth Community site. A website should reflect the personality of the business, area, person it represents. Look at the Noda site...it resembles the feel of NODA....
The Elizabeth site has served the area well in representing the history of the area and it has been a wonderful way to communicate major events....

BUT....it resembles its style and usefullness are rather dull. I have seen retirement home sites with more excitement. It doesn't communicate the diverse, active, engaged community that makes up Elizabeth.

The Elizabethcommunity.com site needs to be updated regularly / weekly and it needs a major makeover. Or simply replace it with this blog.

Anonymous said...

I live in the white house at the corner of 7th and Clement. Just to be clear, it's not part of the development, but since I'm about to buy the house, I'm vitally interested in what happens next door.

John McBride said...

Replying to the comment on the ECA site:

You're right, the NoDa site is reallly cool. But look -- it's put on by the NoDa Business Association. The ECA site has no such organization. The ECA site is strictly a volunteer effort. Hosting a web site and keeping it updated and fresh is a big job. And as I've mentioned before, the pay is lousy. All the ECA needs is more people to do the work. Anyone interested?

Which brings us to this blog. My thought was that if we got a few dozen people to occasionally post what they heard at the P-Stone or what they learned at the ECA meeting or what the police officer told them at the traffic stop, that'd we'd have an active site that by virtue of the voices making posts would present the feel of the neighborhood. No single person would have to do all the heavy lifting. So far I'm doing most of the posts, but I'm hoping that will change. If you have a Blogger profile, let me know and I'll set you up so you can post. If you don't have a Blogger profile, it's easy to get. Email me and I'll telll you how.

John McBride said...

Joe:

Thanks for making that point clear. The restrictive covenants on the vacant properties next to you require that whatever goes there be at least partially residential. So it won't be a Blockbuster store, as was originally planned. More than that I can't say right now. But if I learn anything more, I'll post it here. I understand the plantifs in the suit against the Whites are to meet with the developer soon. Maybe something will come out of that.

Anonymous said...

On in-town neighborhood web sites and their coolness and activity level:
Sites ebb and flow organically, and they're essential in getting our intown zoning and development news -- and canker worm news -- out quickly when we all need to work together.
Maybe those numerous active voices in the Commonwealth Neighborhood Association could help out John with info. useful for both neighborhoods. They're chatting up a storm at:
http://groups.google.com/group/CPNA?hl=en
The Merry Oaks Neighborhood Association's website is rather quiet except when there's a zoning issue, but has good info.
www.merryoaks.org
And maybe someday we'll all be as good-looking as UTWT.
John, how can folks email you? Couldn't find your address on website quickly.

John McBride said...

Email me at hellopix@mac.com. Or just post here. I get emailed every time a post or comment is made.