Huntsville updates

[ThatGuy]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

The Huntsville City Council on Thursday night approved a rezoning request sought by brothers-in-law John Blue and Peter Lowe, who plan to turn a 68-acre field beside the Valley Bend at Jones Farm shopping center into as many as 250 homes of varying sizes and styles.

Called Lendon, the high-end neighborhood will also have boutique shopping, outdoor cafes, a large clubhouse that doubles as a bed and breakfast for out-of-town guests, and narrow streets to encourage walking.

Sounds like it is going to be nice. I could see these style developments starting to pop up all over the area.

[thunder89]

Been quiet, so here's some "news" going on in the Hampton Cove area

Turn lanes and traffic signals coming to U.S. 431 in Big Cove
Keith Clines
The Huntsville Times

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Many readers who have been asking about the installation of a traffic signal at U.S. 431 and Caldwell Lane should be happy to know that the signal may be in place by the end of the year.

The Alabama Department of Transportation plans to open bids this fall for a contract to install the signal and make other improvements on U.S. 431 from south of Sutton Road to north of Old Big Cove Road.

The City Council last month awarded Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood Inc. a $175,459 contract to design the planned improvements.

The work at Caldwell Lane/Miller Lane will involve building left-turn lanes on those intersection roads and on U.S. 431, and installing a traffic signal system with a left-turn arrow on all four sides, said City Engineer Shane Davis.

The intersecting road is named Caldwell Lane on the east side and Miller Lane on the west side.

Getting the signal at the intersection has taken awhile because several jurisdictions are involved.

Miller Lane is in Madison County Commissioner Phil Riddick's district. The northeast corner of Caldwell Lane and U.S. 431 is in Commissioner Jerry Craig's district; and the southeast corner is in the Huntsville city limits. U.S. 431 is a federal highway that is under the state DOT's jurisdiction.

A new traffic signal will be installed at U.S. 431 and Old Big Cove Road, where a Conoco convenience store is located on the west side of U.S. 431. The city has built a 1,000-foot long stub road on the east side that will eventually be extended to King Drake Road.

Davis said the signal is being installed at the intersection to accommodate pending commercial development at U.S. 431 and the stub road.

The project includes building a second left-turn lane from northbound U.S. 431 to Sutton Road. Davis said the additional lane should help traffic flow during morning rush hour.

Another part of the project includes a left-turn lane on U.S. 431 at Plainview Drive to help northbound U.S. 431 motorists wanting to go to Redstone Federal Credit Union. Several readers of this column have asked in the past few years why there wasn't a turn lane in the median at Redstone Federal Credit Union.

Construction is expected to cost about $1 million, Davis said. The state DOT will provide federal highway money for 80 percent of the cost, and the city will pay the rest, about $200,000. The city also is paying for the engineering design.

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/07/..._river_default

[HSVTiger]

After 110 years Coca Cola will close it's downtown bottling plant on Clinton across from the Von Braun Center. This should open up all kind of development possibilities now. New ballpark, new high rise hotel, VBC expansion, greenway etc.
Coca Cola will still distribute their products from their Meridian Street warehouse a few miles away.

[thunder89]

^Huge news

I hope that the city of Huntsville can team up with the VBC, the Stars, and other huge players in the Huntsville market to come up with a viable use for the land. Like you said, a huge development with a new downtown baseball stadium out parceled with apartments, a hotel, and an office building would be ideal..

And if things would ever pick-up, FINALLY making a riverwalk area along Pinhook Creek

[ThatGuy]

Where will Coke do its bottling now?

Coke will still own the property, correct?

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by ThatGuy

Where will Coke do its bottling now?

Coke will still own the property, correct?

Coke will truck in the product bottled elsewhere (crazy right?)
No word on the property details but you can bet the city of Huntsville wants this piece of valuable land developed in a first class manner. This has been a long range plan and it will be interesting to see what projects come to the table.
Last year a possible 20 story hotel was a possibility but the city was cool to the idea. They wanted VBC parking location for the project. Now new alternatives
may become available.

[HSVTiger]

other ideas for the property, which will now link up with the public housing that will be removed. A parking deck will be part of whatever is done.
a Coca Cola Museum
Sci Quest/ Planetarium
Mixed use, Hey Constellation get busy!
a signature Convention Hotel
High rise mini research park complex
Urban lofts
Restaurant row in a park like setting connected to Big Spring and the proposed greenway along the west side of the VBC.
A new access road to I-565 via Holmes (oh ALDOT will kill any progress ideas)
Widen Clinton avenue add a landscaped median with the option of trolley line.

[David1502]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

other ideas for the property, which will now link up with the public housing that will be removed. A parking deck will be part of whatever is done.
a Coca Cola Museum
Sci Quest/ Planetarium
Mixed use, Hey Constellation get busy!
a signature Convention Hotel
High rise mini research park complex
Urban lofts
Restaurant row in a park like setting connected to Big Spring and the proposed greenway along the west side of the VBC.
A new access road to I-565 via Holmes (oh ALDOT will kill any progress ideas)
Widen Clinton avenue add a landscaped median with the option of trolley line.

Given the present economy, getting a signature hotel (a Marriott, Hyatt Regency, Sheraton or even a Crowne Plaza) would be a big achievement. It is hard to see a high rise office bldg. going up, as there is very little office construction going on any place, nationwide.

On a bigger picture, the best use of the Big Springs/Coke Bottling Co. land would be to remove Pollard Street so you could combine it with the additional track which Big Springs, Inc. also owns on the west side of Pollard St. and in addition, the former public housing land which is just to the northwest and south of Holmes Ave. - on a map, this is where Pollard Circle is. Combined, there would be a sizeable piece of property to develop. And for an even bigger vision, add the track which is to the west on the other side of the creek. The City of HSV owns this land. There could be a "river walk" similar to that which is between the Von Braun and the Embassy Suites. As a result, Clinton Ave. could present a dramatic gateway to the downtown area from the I-565 interchange.

Other possible uses on these two tracks could be apartments similar to the Belk Hudson lofts, as well as restaurants which could play off of their quick access to the Parkway and I-565 and providing dining before and after events at the Von Braun. Presently, there are few dining options. Condominiums are an iffy bet because they would be in the Butler High School district).

Speaking of the Clinton Ave./I-565 interchange, the McClains also own the land on the north side of Clinton across from their Constellation development. It would sure be a good thing if that could be developed in a positive way, too, instead of sitting vacant. My source for land ownership is the website, emaps plus http://emaps.emapsplus.com/standard/madisoncoal.html

[HSVTiger]

4th phase of the Von Braun Complex on Redstone Arsenal set to begin.
These are large buildings


Turner Universal, a subsidiary of Turner Construction Co., has been awarded a $51 million contract from the Mobile District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to design and build phase four of the sprawling Von Braun Complex at Redstone Arsenal.
The project involves the design and construction of a five-story, 225,000-square-foot administrative facility for the Missile Defense Agency.
Turner expects to break ground this fall with construction to be completed by July 9, 2014.
A ribbon-cutting for the nearly 840,000-square-foot Phase III wing of the Von Braun Complex was last October. It is the largest single building on Redstone Arsenal

[HSVTiger]

New baggage claim area open at Huntsville International Airport


Second floor Mezzanine


Nov. 15 is the tentative date to celebrate the opening of the new $26 million baggage claim area and the 45th anniversary of the airport in its present location.

[Jugernagt]

Once-sizzling Dolce restaurant fizzles to nearly $1 million rent owed.
By Brian Lawson
The Huntsville Times

"HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Dolce Enoteca in Huntsville was a hot restaurant project led by the winner of the reality TV series "Big Brother" and boasting Hollywood celebrity investors like Ashton Kutcher.
It was unusually glamorous for a town built on other skills and served as a cool anchor in the then-new Bridge Street Town Centre development. Dolce opened in January 2008 with a sleek design, even sleeker servers and mostly Northern Italian menu with luxe ingredients.

Today, Dolce's owners are stuck with the check, a nearly $1 million judgment against it by a Madison County Circuit Court for unpaid rent and related expenses owed to Bridge Street's owner Huntsville Shores LLC."

Full story :
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/07/...estaurant.html

[Rail Claimore]

Not surprised. Huntsville is over-saturated with high-end retail and restaurants. It's only a matter of time before something gives, if it hasn't done so already.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by Rail Claimore

Not surprised. Huntsville is over-saturated with high-end retail and restaurants. It's only a matter of time before something gives, if it hasn't done so already.

That restaurant went out of business due to poor service, poor management, so so food, and crazy high prices.
Huntsville is not over saturated, have you been over Chapman mountain where
70,000 plus people live?

[stewdog1]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

4th phase of the Von Braun Complex on Redstone Arsenal set to begin.
These are large buildings


Turner Universal, a subsidiary of Turner Construction Co., has been awarded a $51 million contract from the Mobile District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to design and build phase four of the sprawling Von Braun Complex at Redstone Arsenal.
The project involves the design and construction of a five-story, 225,000-square-foot administrative facility for the Missile Defense Agency.
Turner expects to break ground this fall with construction to be completed by July 9, 2014.
A ribbon-cutting for the nearly 840,000-square-foot Phase III wing of the Von Braun Complex was last October. It is the largest single building on Redstone Arsenal

And the largest office building by square footage in the state of Alabama.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by stewdog1

And the largest office building by square footage in the state of Alabama.

as a comparison the 35 story Battle House tower in Mobile has 570,000 sq ft.
If just this one Von Braun Complex building was a comparable skyscraper it could easily be 50 stories, or a complex of several 20-30 story buildings.
But being a top secret high security government complex requires what they did.

[HSVTiger]

Some area 2011 airport passenger boardings, (not included are passenger arrivals, which usually doubles the number)

73 (National rank)
AL
BHM
Birmingham
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International
1,429,282

109
AL
HSV
Huntsville
Huntsville International-Carl T Jones Field
614,601

154
AL
MOB
Mobile
Mobile Regional
288,461

181
AL
MGM
Montgomery
Montgomery Regional (Dannelly Field)
188,177

273
AL
DHN
Dothan
Dothan Regional
46,388

34
TN
BNA
Nashville
Nashville International
4,673,047

41
TN
MEM
Memphis
Memphis International
4,344,213

150
TN
CHA
Chattanooga
Lovell Field
304,399

92
TN
TYS
Alcoa (Knoxville)
McGhee Tyson
841,237

100
FL
PNS
Pensacola
Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional
750,190

126
FL
ECP
Panama City
Northwest Florida Beaches International
417,902

107
MS
JAN
Jackson
Jackson-Evers International
615,622

90
SC
GSP
Greer
Greenville Spartanburg International
880,994

[HSVTiger]

The totally redone and reflagged Radisson on south Parkway will reopen soon as
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Huntsville South
Target date Sept 18 per their website.
Doubletree should put a nice high rise downtown.
I's surprised Drury Inn has not located in Huntsville yet.

[HSVTiger]

Thanks Southwest for screwing things up. They are losing their appeal in some markets.
I would go after Frontier really hard to replace Air Tran.
The departure of AirTran Airways from Huntsville International Airport next month will mean fewer flights and fewer available seats for air travelers.

The airport will have 21 percent fewer flights in August compared to last August and will have 17 percent fewer seats on the available flights than last August, airport marketing Director Barbie Peek told the Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority at its monthly meeting this morning.

AirTran, Huntsville's only low-fare carrier, will end service at the airport on Aug. 12. Southwest Airlines, which bought AirTran for about $1 billion in 2010, and AirTran announced the end of service in January.

Peek told the board that she is continually talking to other carriers about entering the Huntsville market or expanding existing service here.
Good opportunity for United
She said the airlines are changing their schedules more frequently, making the passenger capacity "a moving target." She said Southwest is cutting service to several airports.AirTran, which started service here on May 27, 2010, offers two daily flights to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and one daily flight to Orlando International Airport.

Commercial passenger traffic in June was 4.2 percent less than in June 2011, Deputy Director Butch Roberts told the board.

At the International Intermodal Center, rail cargo traffic increased 4.4 percent in June compared to the previous June, Roberts said. He called that "a positive sign."
Nov. 15 is the tentative date to celebrate the opening of the new $26 million baggage claim area and the 45th anniversary of the airport in its present location.


HSV Times

[neilson]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Thanks Southwest for screwing things up. They are losing their appeal in some markets.
I would go after Frontier really hard to replace Air Tran.
The departure of AirTran Airways from Huntsville International Airport next month will mean fewer flights and fewer available seats for air travelers.

The airport will have 21 percent fewer flights in August compared to last August and will have 17 percent fewer seats on the available flights than last August, airport marketing Director Barbie Peek told the Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority at its monthly meeting this morning.

AirTran, Huntsville's only low-fare carrier, will end service at the airport on Aug. 12. Southwest Airlines, which bought AirTran for about $1 billion in 2010, and AirTran announced the end of service in January.

Peek told the board that she is continually talking to other carriers about entering the Huntsville market or expanding existing service here.
Good opportunity for United
She said the airlines are changing their schedules more frequently, making the passenger capacity "a moving target." She said Southwest is cutting service to several airports.AirTran, which started service here on May 27, 2010, offers two daily flights to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and one daily flight to Orlando International Airport.

Commercial passenger traffic in June was 4.2 percent less than in June 2011, Deputy Director Butch Roberts told the board.

At the International Intermodal Center, rail cargo traffic increased 4.4 percent in June compared to the previous June, Roberts said. He called that "a positive sign."
Nov. 15 is the tentative date to celebrate the opening of the new $26 million baggage claim area and the 45th anniversary of the airport in its present location.


HSV Times

How about Spirit Airlines for the vacation destinations? I know they are the current airline that everyone loves to hate, but they are dirt cheap.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by neilson

How about Spirit Airlines for the vacation destinations? I know they are the current airline that everyone loves to hate, but they are dirt cheap.

Spirit is a possibility but their recent customer service has been in the toilet and they charge for everything.
The new People Express could be a possibility in the future.
Meanwhile;
The former Mason’s Pub on Clinton Avenue across from the downtown parking garage has a new identity as Barrel House. The location has been completely redone, said assistant manager Stacey Bryant.
Barrel House is “cocktail-centric,” she said, with specialty drinks using such ingredients as maple syrup, cracked pepper and fresh juices. Local brews will be available on draft and in cans. Pool tables will be for rent by the hour, and the patio has been refurbished. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday evenings, with live music Thursday through Saturday.
HSV Times