Stairway to heaven
Think of it as Greensboro's newly announced Proximity Hotel. On steroids.
Plans have been hatched for a 42-story building in Raleigh, the city's tallest -- five miles from downtown.
The new needle-nosed skyscraper would measure 480 feet in height. It would be called Glen-Tree, and would contain a luxury hotel and 4,700-square-foot condominiums, each of which would occupy an entire floor. (Greensboro's tallest building is the 20-story JP tower).
And it would stand separately from the Raleigh skyline.
"I'm a big fan of this project," a Raleigh City Council member told the News & Observer (registration required). But, "Does that suggest that anything can be built anywhere?"
If you've got the cash and the idea, of course it does.
That's the problem with Greensboro. We've got plenty of tall buildings; they're just scattered all over, as if whoever was in charge of planning the town did it during his afternoon martini break.
The Koury Center's over there. Grandover's way over yonder. Then the O.Henry's back thataway.
And all we have to show for all that concrete and glass is a gap-toothed downtown skyline -- with one cavity (the old Wachovia tower).
Manm what I'd do if I had a spare hundred million.
Comments (2)
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Is it all about a pretty skyline or is there some other reason why all skyscrapers should be built together? Seems that spreading them out might actually help in terms of parking and getting to and from these places.
Posted on November 1, 2005 3:49 PM
I would say yes, Truth, they do look better in a cluster, like a man-made mountain range rather than scattered hither and yon.
As for parking, it's not much of a problem in downtown Greensboro. There's surface parking everywhere, not to mention the still-underused city decks.
And remember, the footprints of skyscrapers are relatively narrow. They don't consume a lot ground.
Posted on November 1, 2005 4:15 PM