Posted Mar 31, 2012, 6:45 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: By the Mounds
Posts: 398
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This is not a very good headline, there is already a potential buyer for the lot in question.
This article also compiles the latest on-goings in the revitalization of downtown.
Tuscaloosa seeks $1.07M for downtown lot
Quote:
...The council on Tuesday adopted a resolution giving Mayor Walt Maddox the authority to negotiate the sale of the former Fire Station No. 1 site and the adjacent property that once held the Tuscaloosa Police Department.
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Connolly Net Lease met the city's minimum bid of $1.07 million.
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Kathleen Okrongley, president of Connolly Net Lease, said the company is anxious to complete the sale and enter the Tuscaloosa market.
“We are very excited that the city of Tuscaloosa has accepted our bid for the property at Lurleen Wallace Boulevard and Sixth Street and feel that the downtown area has strong potential for new retail and office space, as well as a need for additional residential units,” Okrongley said. “With the University (of Alabama) growing in a strong direction, and the mayor and his staff focusing on economic development, we feel that the city of Tuscaloosa is a great place to invest our time and business efforts.”
Okrongley declined to name the tenant that Connolly is negotiating with to occupy the main retail component of the project, but she said the current plan calls for the incorporation of two adjacent lots for a total of an almost 2-acre complex that will feature three buildings with a mixture of retail and residential spaces.
“The (city) was clear that the objective is to encourage mixed-use commercial and residential development to enhance the vitality of the downtown area,” she said, “so we intend to honor that objective and believe there is a demand that we can help satisfy with our proposed development.”
Should this happen, it fits in with the plans and predictions of Bill Snowden, the city's director of the Office of Economic Development, for the corridor of University and Lurleen Wallace boulevards.
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Late last year, local developer Phil Weaver announced plans to convert two properties he owns into developments with commercial property on the bottom floor and living space above.
In October, Weaver received permission from the City Council to convert the Broad Street Apartments on University Boulevard into a five-story, multi-use complex. Retail and office space would occupy the 7,500 square feet on the bottom floor, and the top floors would house 80 bedrooms in one- and two-bedroom apartment units.
A month later, Weaver went to the City Council again seeking — and, ultimately, receiving — permission to install five loft apartments on the upper floor of the vacant two-story building that most recently housed Fred's discount store next to Mellow Mushroom. The first floor of the building will have space for two commercial tenants.
And earlier this month, the City Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to sell the parking lot across University Boulevard from City Hall to Chance Partners for $600,000, which was double its appraised value.
Chance Partners plans the development of an 18-unit, 46-bed development. Called The Residences at City Lot, the site will also feature 2,327 square feet of retail space.
This is feeding Snowden's efforts to bring an around-the-clock populace to downtown Tuscaloosa, but doing so will require a certain level of amenities to support the residents.
“Once we get this 24/7 population, you're going to need a grocery store, you're going to need a drugstore, you're going to need everything that, generally, people need to live off of,” Snowden said. “That's how we've been marketing downtown and, so far, it's working to a ‘T.' ”
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Looking good so far! 
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