HipHoods, Charlotte, North Carolina

The City of Charlotte will host the next class in its next Good Neighbor Program on Wednesday, May 14, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Oaklawn Recreation Center. The Good Neighbor Program connects residents with information and resources necessary to maintain or improve conditions in their neighborhoods. The program offers a range of services from full-scale training to helpful hints in keeping communities healthy and stable.

Interested in attending? You can register online or by calling 704.336.2061.

Talley’s Green Grocery on East Boulevard in Dilworth will close its doors after 17 years, a casualty of the increasing organic grocer competition around Charlotte.

Health food shoppers are part of Talley’s problem. Increasingly, consumers are turning to a wider array of specialty stores, many of them bigger and able to offer more products at lower prices.

The 14,500-square-foot store has been hard hit since Asheville-based Earth Fare opened a SouthPark store last summer, said President Marc Friedland. “We just didn’t have the resources to build the business back up,” said Friedland, 58, who doesn’t know what he’ll do next. Talley’s will close once its current inventory is sold.

With two new Trader Joe’s already here and a third opening later this year, and Whole Foods coming in 2009, competition is only getting stiffer.

“I can’t wait for Whole Foods,” said Dan Ascher, a pastoral counselor who was shopping at Talley’s to take advantage of the 25 percent mark-downs. “They have a much bigger variety.”

Growth nationally of bigger specialty foods stores, such as Whole Foods, has edged out independents or made them work harder to keep customers, said Charles Stahler, co-director of the Vegetarian Resource Group in Baltimore.

The competition doesn’t end there.

Traditional groceries, such as Harris Teeter, and warehouse clubs, such as Sam’s and Costco, are offering more organic produce, hormone-free meat and soy milk. And some former staples of natural foods stores, such as Tom’s of Maine toothpaste and Burt’s Bees skin-care products, now line shelves of big supermarkets and discount retailers and can be bought online, too.

Read the full story here.

Plans for an eight-story, 400-unit apartment building will finally begin to take physical shape late this fall in Uptown Charlotte at the corner of Trade and Graham Streets.

Crosland LLC said it has secured a capital commitment from an institutional partner for the $100 million project, and plans to start demolition in late summer and construction this fall. Residences are expected to be available for move-in by late 2009.

Plans call for the building — named 500 West Trade — to enclose a private half-acre courtyard that will include a large resort-style saltwater pool, along with several garden areas and additional water features.

One end of the courtyard will have a two-story resident gym complete with a rock-climbing wall. A second pool is planned for the roof of the building. Retail shops and a leasing center will front Trade Street.

One-, two- and three-bedroom apartments will range from 600 to 1,300 square feet and rent for $900 to $2,000 a month.

Read the full story here.

Go Fab, Go Modern at the Spring 2008 Charlotte Modern Home Tour Sunday, May 18, 2-5 p.m. See 10 of Charlotte’s classic mid-century modern architecture during this exclusive tour. Built from 1951 to 2007, these homes show the evolution of modern style and timeless elements of design, and all are available for sale. Sponsored in part by Savvy + Co.

Maps of the tour will be available at each home — visit CharlotteModernTour.com for a complete list of homes on the tour and where you can find them.

Come out Friday, May 9 to the 12th Annual Twilight 5K Road Race & Walk to benefit the Right Moves for Youth club. The club provides local students the encouragement, support and resources necessary to be successful students while fostering a sense of belonging and peer support.

The course runs through Uptown Charlotte, and is one of the only evening races in town. Individuals, teams and families are invited to participate. The race begins at 7 p.m. at the Wachovia Atrium followed by a Free Fun Run for children beginning at 8 p.m.

Register online at runforyourlife.com.

As Charlotte’s center city works to upgrade its entertainment options, some tensions are rising as the city tries to balance its residential and entertainment districts.

“We’re working very hard to have a center city that has an exciting mix of uses,” said Michael Smith, president of Charlotte Center City Partners. “Sometimes there’s going to be urban tension created by that mix of uses.”

Estimates have uptown Charlotte more than doubling its current approximate population of 10,000 by 2012. A jump in gas prices and people looking for a close proximity between home, work and play are the main draws for urban living.

City officials hope current and possible future amenities, including the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Charlotte Knights baseball stadium, continue to lure residents interested in the appeal of urban living.

Recent conflicts, though, have shown the downside.

• Fourth Ward residents in March helped overturn — at least temporarily — new parking regulations made by the neighborhood’s own governing body. Many of the arguments centered on the inconveniences that come with living in the city versus residents’ right to park.

  Many residents in recent weeks responded to Coyote Ugly’s proposed move to the back of the Ivey’s building at Fifth and Church streets by contacting city leaders and state Alcohol Beverage Control Commission officials. The ABC Commission is still reviewing the application for a liquor license, and Charlotte Center City Partners wants to help find other options for the location.

• A combination of complaints by residents and Johnson & Wales University leaders persuaded the Mecklenburg County ABC board from opening a liquor store in Gateway Village. The board’s still looking for another location inside the I-277 loop.
• Residents in December spoke against a proposed tavern in the building that formerly housed the Original Pancake House. Construction has delayed the opening of 1300 Southend Tavern.

Read the full story here.

Charlotte’s Plaza Midwood neighborhood’s salute to spring returns May 2-3 with the Midwood Maynia festival. This year’s festival is promises to be the best one yet, with many activities for the whole family. See Midwood’s classic architecture up close during the Home & Garden Tour, featuring homes from Savvy + Co.. Participate or cheer on runners in the Midwood Miles 5K. Hear great live music from area bands, including Truck Stop Preachers and Eva Fina. Plus don’t miss the pet parade, kids scavenger hunt, and more.

For a complete festival lineup, visit plazamidwood.org.

Uptown Charlotte has in its future more parking and a year-round green market near the arena and light rail line.

Spectrum Properties plans to develop Center City Green, a 12-story, 1,400-space deck to include condos, a restaurant and a farmers’ market across Fifth Street from Time Warner Cable Arena, formerly Bobcats Arena.

Spectrum is buying the 2 acres on the light-rail line between the arena and ImaginOn from Bank of America, which will lease 1,300 spaces for its employees.

The $60 million complex will be developed with a goal of achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, said Spectrum CEO Darryl Dewberry.

Center City Green would have 88 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom condos priced from the $180,000s to the $280,000s and oriented toward Fifth Street for views of the arena and the skyline.

Steve McClure, vice president of Spectrum Properties Residential, said the residences would meet the Urban Land Institute’s “workforce” affordability guideline, meaning that police officers, teachers, nurses, etc., could qualify to buy there.

Spectrum wants to attract a restaurant that would feature a health-conscious menu and become an on-site pantry for organic meats and produce sold at an adjoining green market.

A year-round green market has been on the uptown wish list for more than two decades. Bank of America once considered providing sites at Seventh Street Station and the IJL Financial Center at 201 N. Tryon St.

Read the full story here.

Developers of the EpiCentre have announced that an open-air pavilion that’s part of the mixed-use development will open in May.

Pavilion at EpiCentre, a 25,000-square-foot open-air concert and event venue, will open in early May on the third story of the middle building of the Ghazi Co.’s mixed-use development on College Street, just south of Trade.

The concrete plaza with a covered bar can hold up to 2,000 people, Shiela Fletcher, a partner in and manager of Pavilion, said Thursday. It’s set to host concerts, festivals, corporate functions and private parties amid the bustle of uptown, within view of Time Warner Cable Arena, formerly Bobcats Arena.

As workers in hard hats and the clang of construction equipment makes clear, EpiCentre is not finished. But developer Afshin Ghazi has long planned an outdoor entertainment venue as part of the project.

Bars, restaurants, shops, a bowling alley, a hotel and condos are also on the way. The first tenant, Whisky River, a nightclub part-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., is scheduled to hold a grand opening later this month.

Read the full story here.

Related Stories

• EpiCentre Entertainment Lineup Unveiled

Wing Haven Nursery kicks off spring with a plant sale April 23-26. Come see the many unique plants, tools, and gifts for the garden. Shop unusual shrubs, antique roses, herbs, perennials, native plants, groundcovers, bulbs, and more. Plus volunteers can give you plenty of advice on how to make them flourish. All proceeds benefit Wing Haven, a Charlotte treasure since 1927. For more information, visit winghavengardens.com.