Montgomery development news

[RSAHort]

Not to worry...Dr. Bronner hates for any of the lights on RSA properties to be out.

[Brown Duckz]

Since we are on the subject, RSA looked incredible last night with the light rain and fog.... the light in the air was crazy looking.

[thoraudio]

Just saw an announcement on Montgomery Advertiser dot com that the Mayor is gonna announce something industry related at 2. Rehash of Hyundai motor plant? Something different? Slow news day, and a new McDonald's franchise?

[bystander1]

Originally Posted by thoraudio

Just saw an announcement on Montgomery Advertiser dot com that the Mayor is gonna announce something industry related at 2. Rehash of Hyundai motor plant? Something different? Slow news day, and a new McDonald's franchise?

Nah, it probably will have nothing to do with the Hyundai plant itself... or Riley's name would be listed so he could get ready to hog the camera.


...could be one of it's suppliers. I've heard there will be a number of expansion announcements in the city over the coming weeks.

[thoraudio]

nothing in the paper or tv sites... musta been a slow news day

[Brown Duckz]

Wetumpka works to land Lowe's

By Scott Johnson
Montgomery Advertiser


WETUMPKA -- Lowe's officials plan to build a 94,000-square-foot store in Wetumpka and hope to open in less than a year.

But first, the business is asking for $1 million in infrastructure improvements from the city, specifically roads in front of and beside the business.

"We're saying, 'Put up a road and we'll build on it,'" said Earlon McWhorter, president of McWhorter and Co. Inc., which will build the store for Lowe's.

On Monday night, the City Council voted to work with landowners and developers to provide the infrastructure necessary to bring Lowe's to the city. The council voted to spend no more than $1 million.

The developer said Lowe's wants to locate on undeveloped land across from the Wal-Mart Supercenter on U.S. 231.

Sales tax revenue from the store is expected to repay the initial investment in about a year, based on Lowe's estimates.

"I strongly support it. The math is there, and the math is strong," council member Robert Hankins said.

The plan is for the Lowe's to be open before the end of January 2008, McWhorter said. Site preparation likely will start in about 90 days, he said.

McWhorter said $1 million is the estimated cost of the road work.

"If it runs more, that's my problem," McWhorter said.

Council members said the construction of Lowe's will open the area up to more development. The surrounding area is largely pasture land.

Council member Elaine Lewis said it was an easy decision for the council.

"You can recoup your investment in a year's time. Who can argue that?" Lewis said.

[Brown Duckz]

'Playboy' calling Auburn pinups

By Darryn Simmons
Montgomery Advertiser


AUBURN -- One of the most popular men's magazines in the country is hoping to find the next "it" girls at Auburn.

Playboy magazine held auditions Monday for female students who are interested in appearing in the "Girls of the SEC" August pictorial. Interviews continue today.

"We're looking for someone who represents the student body, the modern college girl," said Eden Orfanos, a producer for Playboy who conducted the auditions.

Orfanos said they are talking to women of all body types, including those with an athletic or voluptuous frame. She said she was impressed with the girls she saw on Monday, noting she expected to interview about 35 girls during her two-day stint in Auburn.

"We knew there were some great-looking girls here and we were right," Orfanos said. "We've seen some we want to shoot (photos of) already."

Autumn Hayes, an Auburn University student from Birmingham, hopes she's one of them.

Hayes said she was interested in the chance to pose for Playboy after her uncle, who has a subscription to the Auburn school magazine that told of the event, told her about the audition.

"It was an opportunity to do something freeing," she said. "I've always been the good girl -- valedictorian, pageant person -- and I just wanted to do something that people don't expect."

Hayes said her family and her boyfriend are behind her 100 percent.

"My boyfriend says I'm going to get famous and break up with him," she joked.

David Rams, the Playboy photographer who took pictures of the prospective models, said it was important to convey a relaxing atmosphere at the photo shoot.

"You want them to feel like a queen for a day," he said. "I try to make them feel comfortable."

Rams said the young women he met were sweet and definitely ones who photographed well.

"We're looking for girls that are aesthetically attractive and physically fit, but it's also important to have that spark and body awareness," said Ram, who tries to bring out something in the women that they may not see in themselves.

"A lot of girls aren't aware they have a beautiful this or that," he said. "For example, they might think they have a big nose, but that nose could be their most beautiful feature with the right pose and lighting."

Meredith Garrett, a senior from Atlanta, hopes she gets the chance to show off her best assets.

"I think it's a perfect opportunity," Garrett, who learned of the audition through a roommate and whose boyfriend had been suggesting she pose for the magazine for a year. "I'd love for it to open doors in the (modeling) industry."

Like Hayes, Garrett is getting a lot of support from her friends. She isn't worried about how her peers will react if she is featured in the "Girls of SEC" issue.

"I'm graduating soon, so it doesn't matter," she said.

Orfanos said that attitude is what you need to pose in Playboy.

"You only live once, so if you have any desire to do this at all, don't be intimidated," she said. "Have the confidence to come out and see us and go for it."

[Brown Duckz]

County plans $15M space expansion

By Cosby Woodruff
Montgomery Advertiser




For more than 60 years, reporters in the Montgomery Advertiser/Alabama Journal building at 200 Washington Ave. worked to cover Montgomery County officials. Now, the building will do it literally.

When more than $12.5 million of renovations are completed in about 14 months, the old Montgomery Advertiser building will house the archives and offices for Montgomery County. An additional $2.5 million will be spent on a new 172-space parking deck.

The building will provide a one-stop shop for residents to pay taxes, purchase a car tag or license and attend commission meetings.

Commission Chairman Todd Strange said the county will not raise taxes for this project but will use money that was part of a bond for the detention center. The county issued bonds totaling $72 million last year, with $55 million for expanding the detention center. The remaining funds were set aside for the Advertiser renovations.

Montgomery County purchased the property after the Advertiser moved Sept. 27 and 28, 2002, to its current location at 425 Molton St. At the time, the county planned to raze the structure and replace it with a new building.

Commissioner Dimitri Polizos stepped in and convinced the county to look at restoring the structure.

The county commissioned a study and found that restoring the building would cost $4 million less than demolishing it and rebuilding.

Montgomery County will house its archives in the basement. Commissioners and their support staff will occupy the first floor, and the revenue and probate departments will be on the second floor.

The third floor will be used for storage until it is needed.

"This is the next step in the overall downtown Montgomery plan," Strange said. "This will give us a little more room."

The probate judge and district attorney will move into the offices in the County Annex I at 100 S. Lawrence St. vacated by the move.

D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. began gutting the building's interior on Feb. 20, with a June 4 completion date. The Hoover firm is removing interior walls, floors and ceilings. The company will tear down the former Azar and The Associated Press buildings on the same block.

Commissioners will open project bids in mid-May, with a late-May 2008 target date for project completion.

2WR Holmes Wilkins Architects produced drawings showing brick veneer facades encasing the building and parking deck.

The Alabama Journal constructed the building in the late 1930s. It has about 43,000 square feet of space.

Montgomery County bought the buildings in 2003 for $1.73 million. It will be known as the Montgomery County Courthouse Annex No. 3 when complete.

Advertiser Publisher Scott Brown said he is glad the building will survive.

"The old Advertiser building has a lot of history," he said. "It is exciting to see the county making an effort to preserve the building while expanding to meet its growing needs."

[thoraudio]

I'm confused.... is this the announcement that was to be made the other day... or was that different... or what...

City to gain more jobs

By Cosby Woodruff
Montgomery Advertiser


Although the Montgom­ery Area Chamber of Com­merce isn't giving out many details of the announce­ment it will make today in­volving a major expansion in an international compa­ny's Montgomery opera­tions, the announcement will involve more than 100 jobs, which should open al­most immediately in the Montgomery area.

Chamber officials de­clined to give details be­yond a brief news release stating the announcement would be at 2 p.m. in the chamber boardroom at 41 Commerce St.

Contacted about the an­nouncement, Todd Strange, chairman of the Montgom­ery County Commission, did say the expansion would be significant.

Asked if it would mean 100 new jobs for the area, he said it "would be more sig­nificant than that."

Strange also was tight-lip­ped with information, say­ing that company officials wanted to release it them­selves. He did say the im­pact would be immediate.

"I think it is pretty much here-and-now," he said. "It is very near term."

Officials from the cham­ber, the company and elect­ed officials, including Mont­gomery Mayor Bobby Bright, are scheduled to at­tend the announcement.

This will be the second major announcement of an international company's expansion in the last 10 days. Last week, Hyundai announced it will add 522 jobs with a new engine manufacturing plant.

Strange, who would not say whether today's announcement will be related to Hyundai, has called the carmaker the "mother ship" of international business in the Montgomery area.

[Brown Duckz]

It's got to be Hyundai suppliers.... "mothership of international business"

[bystander1]

Chamber announces company expansion in Montgomery area


At a 2 p.m. Wednesday news conference The Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce announced that Panalpina Woldwide is expanding its Montgomery offices.

The expansion will involve 140,000 square feet on Alapex Road off Highway 80 and about 20 new employees. The company currently has about 240,000 square feet and 210 employees in the area.

[bystander1]

Surely, the Advertiser got some of its numbers wrong. After all, the amount of incentives given to a company is based on the amount of jobs it will create/add.

However, it may be based on what Panalpina Woldwide will do in the near future. When they came here because of Hyundai, they said that, over time, it planned to expand its operations to the airport with major cargo facilites. It's been told to me that many other companies set up shop where they locate because they are excellent with inventory control for businesses.

...maybe those are the factors in having the big press conference to announce that amount of jobs (if the numbers are correct).
We'll find out the real details in a couple hours.

[thoraudio]

seriously.... I'm all for expansion... but a press conference for 20 jobs? That is like a McDonald's opening.

[Chad Emerson]

Hi everyone,

Just an FYI...I've relocated the River Region Smart Growth Update blog from www.riverregionsmartgrowth.com to http://riverregionsmartgrowth.blogspot.com.

Please re-bookmark and provide us with any suggestions that you might have.

Thanks, Chad.

[thoraudio]

New Trolley Lunch service to get started soon.

Trolley to deliver diners downtown

By L.C. Johnson
Montgomery Advertiser


There might not be such a thing as a free lunch, but there'll be a free ride to lunch starting next month.

The Montgomery Area Transit System kicks off free trolley rides to downtown restaurants when Court Street Square reopens. City officials set that date at April 24. Named the Lunch Loop Trolley, the brand new Route 18 will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays.

Also next month, hours for all routes except four will be extended to 9:30 p.m. weekdays -- nearly a two-and-a half hour increase. The four that won't have longer hours are downtown circulators -- Routes 12, 13 and 17 and Route 18.

The two developments were announced at one of two public hearings Thursday.

At one hearing, about 20 residents expressed the need for longer hours on Saturdays and at least limited service on Sundays.

MATS general manager Kelvin L. Miller told the group that the transit system will survey customers to determine their needs.

"We can't serve everybody," Miller said. "We're limited by some of the funding and equipment that we now have. So we try to do the best that we can for the community."

Transportation planner Robert E. Smith outlined plans for more buses and larger, air-conditioned buses to replace models that don't have working air conditioners.

Smith, who works for the Montgomery area Metropolitan Planning Organization, pointed out that it often takes up to nine months -- even with funding -- to get new buses.

"But make sure you fill out the surveys," Smith said. "I also urge you to sign petitions if you have to and take your concerns to your neighborhood associations."

[thoraudio]

County population up. I know it's not really the MSA, but here are Montgomery, Autauga, and Elmore's increase since 2k.

06 -- +6011
05 -- +2875
04 -- +1737
03 -- +1230
02 -- +2164
01 -- +1432
00 -- +483

Montgomery County's population hits new high for decade

By Francis X. Gilpin
Montgomery Advertiser


More people than ever this decade are calling Montgomery County home.

New census estimates released Thursday show 223,571 county residents in 2006, the highest number since the beginning of the decade. The county had lost population for the previous five years.

Autauga and Elmore counties were the fifth- and sixth-fastest growing counties in the state. Autauga County had almost 50,000 residents, and Elmore County had more than 75,000. The two counties combined, however, added only 425 more residents than Montgomery County.

Montgomery County's annual increase was 2,793 residents, making it the 12th-fastest growing county. The increase parallels spikes seen by Mayor Bobby Bright in building permits and sales tax collections in the city of Montgomery.

Demographer Don Bogie warned that the numbers are only estimates. Federal demographers use Internal Revenue Service data and state vital statistics, covering births and deaths, to be as accurate as possible.

"We have to treat these numbers with caution," he said.

Bogie, though, interpreted the figures as positive.

A growing population outside of coastal retirement havens is generally a sign that there are jobs available for working families, said Bogie, with Auburn Montgomery.

"If the economy is good, more people are moving in," he said.

But Bogie was reluctant to credit Montgomery's population boost to Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, which opened its doors two years ago. The Korean automobile maker employs about 2,000.

Bogie observed the same pattern of population growth in other large Alabama counties, such as Jefferson and Baldwin. Birmingham is in Jefferson County and Mobile is in Baldwin County.

For Bright, the news was particularly welcome since Montgomery County has an urban core fighting crime and commercial decay.

"It's encouraging to see the census data validates what we've known all along," Bright said in a statement. "More and more people are realizing Montgomery is a great place to live."

[bystander1]

It's not a surprise to me because the census' so called "estimates" were off for at least the last 3-4 years.

They've been showing these odd declines, despite what some people who work for the county and a person who works for the city planning dept. have told me, "just didn't jibe" with certain data the city and county collect that gives them a pretty good indication about growth--such as residential permits, new and current residential water customers, property tax customer, etc.

My wife, who works for a utility company, also told me that both their residential and business customer base have increased dramatically over the last couple of years...after being somewhat stagnant from about 1999-2003. So I believe the actual numbers for the past 2-3 years are much higher than these "estimates".

Don Bogie warned that the numbers are only estimates. Federal demographers use Internal Revenue Service data and state vital statistics, covering births and deaths, to be as accurate as possible.

"We have to treat these numbers with caution," he said.

It's so funny how this "Demographer" Don Bogie trust the census estimates like the Bible until they don't come out the way he predicted. He never talked about being cautious about the past "estimates". He was wrong about the 2000 census and heading that way again...
...what a joke...

[thoraudio]

Transmodal getting closer... but delays on the Riverwalk stuff..... of course.

Transfer station nears completion

By Cosby Woodruff
Montgomery Advertiser


Montgomery's long-awaited bus transfer station on Molton Street should be open by Memorial Day.

Montgomery transit riders will have an air-conditioned place to wait for their bus, and commuters will have an extra 380 places to park their cars.

The Montgomery Area Transit System (MATS) also will have offices in the station, and it will have meeting rooms and vending space.

Ken Groves, Montgomery's planning and development director, said the project, which began last year, should be completed in about 10 weeks.

He said riders now have to stand in the weather to change buses on Dexter Avenue.

The station was proposed in 2000 and approved by Montgomery City Council in 2004.

Groves said the parking deck would be an additional source of revenue for MATS. Parking rates have not been set, he said.

Groves said the final cost for Phase I of the transfer station will come in at about $9 million, with more than 80 percent of that from grants.

Phase II, which includes a 111-foot observation tower and skywalk connecting the tower to the upper level of the transfer station, will cost an estimated $6 million more.

He said work on Phase II was scheduled to begin in about six months but could be delayed an additional six months.

Groves said engineering studies are delaying construction of the next phase.

[bystander1]

Wow! Only a year long delay for the Observation Tower...whoa! Slow down guys--dont go too fast...

[thoraudio]

Borrowing/stealing these pics from Prof. Chad's River Region Smart Growth blog site.

Court Square area is getting close to being finished.

Not letting me img the pics... links now.

Before

After

Now, if only somebody would implode the One Court Square building.