404 West Chapel Hill St. / Flintom's Esso

Are those the same set of church steeples in both backgrounds?

Thanks again for all the posts -- I appreciate your work!

I thought the TTA development would be on the south side of the street, where the new station is planned. Or are you saying that that's only for the station, and the north side will be Cherokee's site for transit-oriented development (shops, condos, etc.)?

Until the train arrives, I would suggest some sort of low-impact "development" such as the TTA leasing the storefronts to artists. On the other hand, I could see where the TTA or Cherokee would be reluctant to do this for fear of engendering a political constituency that would oppose the inevitable closing when the train comes. What's the harm in leaving it vacant, when there's no accountability? It's not like TTA has to show a return to its shareholders. :-)

This is off-topic, but what's the skinny on Foster's closing at Brightleaf? A quick search turned up nothing.

They were the only place I could get tasso ham, not to mention Ubet chocolate syrup and various other hard to find items. On parent's weekend or graduation the moneyed customers were thick as thieves in this place, and the rest of the time I thought they did a fair amount of business with the lovely patio, free wi-fi, etc. I'll miss their shrimp and grits.

Joe - Those are the same church steeples - of Duke Memorial Methodist on the northwest corner of Duke and West Chapel Hill St. More on it soon.

Phil - thank you again!

Dave
You've surmised correctly - the TTA station would be part of the multimodal transit station (glass and steel), and the north side would be the mixed-use development piece. While there is good evidence from other cities/countries that this is the right way to do things if you want a successful transit system, I'm not sure how they are getting around the 'public purpose' piece of eminent domain, particulalry in light of the current frenzy over takings for economic development. (Kelo v New London).

But I would guess that politically, if not legally, they might run afoul of many people should they stray outside of a narrow purpose. It is already a point of some contention, as at least one of these properties (I believe the Exxon Station) is still in the takings process, and there is no train in sight.
I agree on the vacancy piece; they do have some accountability for the above reasons, but I fear that this land will just sit there vacant will TTA comes up with a new plan (however long that will take).

The triangulated knowledge on Fowler's as far as I know is that
-they closed for 3-day renovation
-unexpectedly didn't reopen
-employees were seemingly unaware
-Owners began insisting that they were merely renovating until 12/1 (keeping your gourmet food store closed for Thanksgiving. Hmm.) But when asked if they were selling, they said 'no', but would entertain offers...
-Richard Morgan (owner of the property) says ~8-9 days ago that no work has been done.

So, I think they are closed and trying to find a new owner.

GK

WRT Fowler's: if one walks up to the front door and tries to peek through the space between doors, one will see a store that looks unchanged from a month ago. I also know from talking to some employees that they had essentially no notice. Whatever the owners are doing, it's not the right way to treat their customers or their employees.

Yep, I see now that it's official that it's closed. Sounds pretty final.

www.fowlersfoodandwine.com

Crap.

OOT: dcrollins: Tasso is one of the easier things to do at home, but you do need curing salt and patience. If you'd like a reference to a book on the subject, I'm jhvilas at gmail, and I'll send you the name of a book. You should be able to do the smoking on a grill. I've never made it, but it looks easier than bacon, which I have done.

Sorry about the way off-topic intrusion.