Montgomery development news

[bystander1]

Yeah I thought that was strange too. That was the building's estimated cost on the permit, but maybe it was just for one part of the construction process.

[Brown Duckz]

Seems closer to a demo&prep figure. It's supposed to be 12 stories isn't it? That's taller [but not wider] than most of his recent ventures.

[bystander1]

Here's a commentary from the Montgomery Advertiser
with some info about the new riverboat...

Refurbished riverboat may benefit downtown
July 24, 2008

A giant new riverboat is steam­ing into Montgomery's future, and it'll be here sometime in Septem­ber, if hurricane season coopera­tes.

Our riverboat is in the process of being refurbished in Savannah, Ga., and then will be transported to her new port of call -- conven­iently located downtown near all the fancy hotels, the ballpark and that stylish stuff.

It'll hold about 400 people, will stand three decks tall and cost about a half-million bucks to start with. The deal closes today, said Jeff Downs, the special assistant to the mayor who is the city's link to the project. The boat will spend a few weeks at a marina in Savan­nah and will undergo a makeover costing a few tens of thousands.

After that, spruced up and ready for action, she'll go plowing down the east coast of Florida via the Intracoastal Waterway to near Lake Okeechobee, bear hard to starboard, cut across to the west coast, then north to Apalachicola, Fla., eventually make her way up the Alabama River to a new home.

Operating, maintenance and a little infrastructure cost will be stacked on top of the purchase and transport cost. The money will come out of the Riverfront Foun­dation, a nonprofit created solely for riverfront development.

Times are tough right now. But a good riverboat at a reasonable price is hard to come by, and this sounds like a deal to me. Down­town Montgomery's renaissance is coming along better than most of us expected, and a riverboat is too cool an idea not to make mon­ey, sooner or later.

The nearby hotels and the re­sulting conventioneers provide a captive audience for dinner cruises and such. Branch Kloess, the director of facilities for the downtown riverfront, said they're already getting phone calls to schedule weddings and receptions on the boat, which hasn't been christened with a new name yet. It's currently called the Savannah River Queen. It was built in 1981 in Guild, Tenn., then transported to Savannah where it's been ever since.

Downs said the foundation will soon let an RFP -- request for pro­posal -- for an operator. John Bull, the guy who used to captain the Betsy Ann, is said to be interested in bidding on the project. ( )

The Betsy Ann was the river­boat that hauled revelers up and down the river until about 2002, when the construction surround­ing downtown improvement shut it down. Bull moved the Betsy Ann to Wetumpka, but a drop-off in business caused him to sell the boat to a guy in Panama City, Fla., where it remains.

The new riverboat will be twice the size of the Betsy Ann -- and the market's better for boat rides than it has been since the early 1900s.

Downs was telling me that the first riverboat ever to make it up the Alabama to Montgomery was the Harriott, in 1821. That porten­tous arrival ushered in an era of prosperity for the region.

Coupled with the invention of the cotton gin, riverboat technolo­gy enabled planters in Montgom­ery and the surrounding area to transport bales of cotton down the river to Mobile, and thence to a yearning world at a fabulous price.

Modern-day officials hope the new riverboat will likewise usher in a new era of prosperity by promoting tourism and economic development.

The change in focus is healthy. That cotton thing led to some real­ly unpleasant consequences.

Tom Ensey can be reached at 240-0192 or by e-mail at ten­sey@gannett.com with ideas or suggestions for columns.

Please, please don't let John Bull run (ruin) the new riverboat...

[Capital Heights]

Originally Posted by Brown Duckz

Seems closer to a demo&prep figure. It's supposed to be 12 stories isn't it? That's taller [but not wider] than most of his recent ventures.

Seems like the estimated cost being thrown around during the early discussion of the RSA Judicial Building was $200 - 250 million. According to the newspaper, the building permit stated $49 million for foundation work. Remember this building is supposed to be of unusual construction with a tremendous span over the current building.

[thoraudio]

Riverwalk Tower/Bridge is out for bid.

http://www.montgomeryal.gov/media/47...0comp-2-06.pdf

[mgmrebel]

Photo of the riverboat Montgomery is getting
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Im...iver_Queen.jpg

[OCA REP]

Several of the projects taking shape downtown were profiled in this morning's Montgomery Advertiser:

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/...19/1007/news01

No downturn downtown
Construction booms amid economic woes By Jill Nolin • jnolin@gannett.com • July 28, 2008

The process of administering Montgomery's budget has had the tone of a funeral procession, but the mood downtown is upbeat as city-sponsored construction projects take shape.

From streetscaping to roundabouts and parking decks to a New Orleans-style shopping and restaurant project, the city is involved in six active construction projects while the 2008-2009 budget for city departments undergoes spasms of contraction.

The downtown improvements include a pedestrian tower on the Riverwalk, a pair of parking decks and streetscaping on Madison Avenue. Washington Avenue is being converted into a two-way street and the Tallapoosa Street "Alleyway" project is in full swing.

The projects cost millions, a stark juxtaposition to the ongoing effort to balance rising costs of city services with decreasing revenues.

But the construction boom is the product of planning done years ago, said mayoral executive assistant Jeff Downes.

The sources of the funds are different, as well. Some of the projects are funded mostly by grants, others are pet projects supported through capital improvement money, which is available for use by the mayor and City Council members at their discretion.

"Those projects started in years that happened to be better than this one," said Lloyd Faulkner, city finance director. "They're not funded out of the general fund."

Riverwalk tower

Crews currently are building a pedestrian tower that will connect the existing Riverwalk bridge to the intermodal center on Molton Street. The project started the summer of 2006 and is projected to be completed by March 2009.

The project experienced a setback when workers discovered massive underground rocks, causing the city torethink the design before continuing.

Once the project is finished, people will be able to park in the intermodal parking deck, which has about 400 spaces, and use the tower to access the riverfront.

How much: $3.7 million

Funding source: A Federal Transportation Association grant, obtained through U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby's office, that requires a 20 percent local match.

Parking deck on Coosa Street

Crews are working on the foundation of a five-level parking deck that will provide 308 parking spaces. The work started in March and is expected to be finished by March 2009.

How much: $6.9 million

Funding source: This is a TIF project.

The Alleyway Project, or Grocer's Alley

Crews tore through a building at 156 Commerce St. in order to give the alleyway an L Shape, and now work is being done to redo the façade on the Commerce Street entrance. Internally, work is being done to create retail shops. Old railroad tracks have been pulled up from the original alleyway, and now workers are building a drainage system. The city's portion of the work -- what is being done in the alleyway -- is on track to be finished in October.

The city's work is only for the public areas. Several private property owners, like Jerry Kyser and Greg Allen, also are renovating buildings to fit in with the goal of turning the area into a New Orleans-style entertainment district. Several shops, bars and restaurants are in the works.

How much: $1.1 million

Funding source: This is a TIF project

Streetscaping on Bibb Street/Madison Avenue

Workers have started redoing the sidewalk area on Madison in order to make the appearance match the areas immediately surrounding the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center.

"The goal is to create a safe environment with plenty of lighting," Downes said.

Oak trees will be planted in the fall, and those trees will provide shade from the heat once they are full-grown.

This approach will be used all along Bibb and Coosa streets, and these two streets also will be resurfaced. The city also plans to paint a big biscuit in the center for the Tallapoosa and Coosa intersection.

City crews then will put a cobblestone "safety strip" in the middle of Commerce Street and all the way down to the tunnel. This is where people currently are double-parking vehicles, but only one row of vehicles will be allowed to park in the middle of Commerce Street once the cobblestones are in place. Downes said this is because the extended "curb line" will eat up some of the space on Commerce Street.

How much: $150,000 to $200,000

Funding source: Mayor Bright's capital improvement funds

Parking deck on Washington Avenue

Known around City Hall as the "Dexter Avenue" parking deck, the bulk of the property actually sits on Washington Avenue. The city tore down aged structures to build a five-level parking deck that will provide 238 parking spaces.

The work started May 1 and it is expected to be completed by June 2009.

How much: $5.7 million

Funding source: This is a TIF project

Roundabouts

One roundabout is done and another is almost finished as the city gradually converts Washington Avenue and Adams Avenue into two-way streets and installs roundabouts at some of the intersections to slow down traffic.

Motorists are using the roundabout at Ripley Street and Washington Avenue, but barriers are in place to divert traffic away from the nearly complete roundabout at Bainbridge Street and Washington Avenue. That is because there is a power pole in the middle of the street.

The plan is to address Washington Avenue from Jackson Street to Decatur Street, and then the city will tackle Adams Avenue in the same way.

The philosophy behind the change is that two-way streets and roundabouts slow down traffic and create a more pedestrian-friendly environment. The city hopes these changes will help in the revitalization of downtown Montgomery.

[thoraudio]

Pictures from the article. (source = The Montgomery Advertiser)

[OCA REP]

Originally Posted by bystander1

Please, please don't let John Bull run (ruin) the new riverboat...

I have heard this guy's name multiple times whenever there is talk of a riverboat. Obviously you are opposed to him having anything to do with the new one. Can you educate us as to why we may not want him for this job?

[bystander1]

Beside other things, mainly Loyalty.
He was quick to take his ball (boat) and head north for 'greener pastures' even after the city tried to work with him by building a temporary dock away from the old location while the city started work on the permanent dock and riverwalk. The city then would allow him to use the new permanent dock on the riverwalk once it was completed. But he viewed that as a slap in the face, and after talking about the city like a dog, left for Wetumpka where they promised to build a floating dock for his boat if he would move it there.


He did.


...a few months later, his operations went under...



...But now that a REAL riverboat is coming, he now wants to raise his head out the river, and swim back down to Montgomery, to take over operations for the new boat?!


...nall

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Grocer's Alley is gonna be a great asset to downtown. I see a domino effect in Montgomery's future.

[Brown Duckz]

A big addition from a familiar organization!

Buckmasters' return means big bucks for area
By Marty Roney • mroney@gannett.com • July 28, 2008




Buckmasters, a national whitetail deer hunting organization, which has its headquarters in Montgomery, has held its annual big show in Greensboro, N.C., for the past three years. Construction of the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center and renovation of the civic center made the move necessary.

"We are so glad to be back home," said Donna Gross, who's with Buckmasters. "We have always had tremendous support from people in Alabama. The expo will draw from the Florida Panhandle, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee. The civic center has always been an excellent fit for us. With all the work that has been done, we have a little more space now, and the facility looks great."

A crowd of 25,000 to 30,000 is expected to make the three day event, set for Aug. 15-17. More than 200 vendors will set up about 300 booths. It's a hunter's one-stop dream shopping excursion where you can buy anything from ATVs to camouflage clothing to deer stands and funny bumper stickers.

Admission is a can of food for the Montgomery Area Food Bank or $1.

The expo will pump $500,000 to $1 million into the local economy, said Dawn Hathcock, vice president of Convention and Visitor Development for the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.

"Most of the vendors will be from out of town, so that means hotel rooms will be booked," she said. "I expect most of the visitors won't stay overnight, but a crowd of 30,000 is going to have a great impact on local businesses. People who travel to Montgomery will have to buy gas, get something to eat. And of course there's the money spent on items at the expo itself."

The expo has been going on for the last 15 years, with the first two events held in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. It moved to Montgomery in 1996 and stayed until the downtown construction began. The event will stay in Montgomery, Hathcock said.

Gross is a little worried that high-priced gasoline may cut into this year's crowd.

Things will be fine, said Terry Browning a deer hunter from Montgomery.

"My brother lives in Dothan, and he's coming up that Saturday to go," he said. "Hunters don't worry about how much gas it takes to get somewhere to buy hunting stuff. And when we get there we'll buy enough stuff to fill up the back of the pickup."

[Brown Duckz]

I'm not sure if this was posted!

Business is booming in East Montgomery
By David Zaslawsky
Central Alabama Business Journal


MONTGOMERY - Although people debate the location of East Montgomery, there is no argument that the region is upscale from its subdivisions and retailers.

Where else do you find gourmet meals-ready-to-go along with a wine list that what make the finest restaurant envious?

The region is a retailer's dream. Alfa Realty Commercial Division bills the location of its Sturbridge Village shopping center in "the fastest growing, most affluent area of Montgomery."

The shopping center, which already features Winn-Dixie, Rite Aid and Applebee's, will soon be announcing expansion plans. The company's Web site talks about "continuing growth," room for "substantial enlargement as the market matures" and its location at the corner of Vaughn and Taylor roads - "the dominant intersection in this trade area."

What's behind Alfa's grandiose description? Try these projected 2009 numbers within a 5-mile radius of the shopping center from an Alfa Web site:
Population - 100,000
Households - 42,565
Average income -- $72,799
Retail sales -- $1.6 billion.

Alfa Realty Commercial Division calls its four-story, 100,000-square-foot Lakeview Center at The Office Park at EastChase "Montgomery's most fashionable office location." It is just the first phase of the office campus.
And the East Montgomery site has lured such heavy hitters as Jim Wilson & Associates, Merchant Capital, Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood and Morgan Stanley.

Office space is being added to Festival Plaza, which featured the country's first 16-screen Rave Motion Pictures theater. A 50,000-square-foot office tower will be added to Festival Plaza in spring of 2007, according to Southeast Real Estate Business.

David McClinton, senior vice president of development and brokerage for McClinton & Co. Inc. which developed Festival Plaza, told the Montgomery Advertiser, "We look for growth in East Montgomery to continue and are excited to have a top-notch location in such a great area of the city."

The Shoppes at Cornerstone, which features Stein Mart, Publix and another 20-plus stores, is located on the exclusive corner of Vaughn and Taylor roads. One of those stores will be Starbucks.

"Our line-up of stores will create over 119,000 square feet of great retailing in one of Montgomery's best locations, with everything from necessity items to the latest specialty stores," John Argo, vice president of retail development for Aronov, said in a statement.

On its Web site, Aronov states the location is "the busiest intersection in fast-growing East Montgomery with a combined traffic count of over 50,000 vehicles a day."

Pike Road is a small community in East Montgomery, but the town draws plenty of attention from retailers as earlier demographics showed 52 of the 74 owner-occupied homes are valued at $250,000 and up. Nineteen of the owner-occupied houses are valued at $400,000-$499,000. Twenty-one of the town's households have annual incomes of $200,000-plus.
The town's population has surged to 1,600-plus residents today and officials annexed land to create a business district.

"People are deciding to move up to something that is bigger, better and further east," said Don Bogie, director of the Center for Demographic Research at Auburn University Montgomery.

"As people become better off economically they keep moving further out. It's a pattern you see across the United States."

That's why East Montgomery is dotted with upscale jewelers and restaurants. But big-box retailers are also planning to cash in on the residents with plenty of disposable income. Home Depot has opened a store and Wal-Mart is building its fourth Montgomery store and first in East Montgomery.

Wal-Mart will help anchor the 350,000-square-foot Chantilly Station along with Lowe's, according to Southeast Real Estate Business.

Meanwhile, Jim Wilson & Associates are developing a 500,000-square-foot, $30 million shopping center called EastChase Market Center, which will feature two anchors and eight mid-box retailers, ranging from 25,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet.

The Shoppes at EastChase and The Plaza at EastChase drew retailers from other sections of Montgomery, including Dillard's. Other retailers were new to Montgomery: Target, Kohl's, Chico's, Abercrombie & Fitch, Williams-Sonoma, Banana Republic, Cost Plus World Market, PetsMart, Coldwater Creek and Ross Dress for Less.

Many of the upscale retailers followed the upscale subdivisions nearby. Rockbridge Place at Sturbridge offers new homes from the $400,000's. One of the featured homes by Alfa Builders is price at $531,000.

The 246-acre Taylor Lakes community is offering new homes in the $300,000's for the first two neighborhoods. There are six more neighborhoods in planning stages.

Who are these people living in East Montgomery?

According to information compiled by the Center for Demographic Research at Auburn University Montgomery from the 2000 U.S. Census, nearly 60 percent of the residents in East Montgomery recently moved to the area.

The median household income for East Montgomery was $52,458 through 1999, the latest year figures were available. About 29 percent of the East Montgomery households had annual incomes of $75,000-plus compared with 17.6 percent of all Montgomery households.

The Census Bureau divides areas into tracts and within East Montgomery there is a Census tract, which includes the Wynlakes subdivision, where almost 55 percent of the households had annual incomes of $75,000-plus. The median household income for that same tract was $82,565 in 1999.

Here are some other demographics about the Census tract, which includes Wynlakes:
96.4 percent have a high school diploma or above
60.6 percent have a bachelor's degree or above
Median value of the homes is $196,400
Nearly 55 percent are employed in upper-level white-collar jobs.
How do those numbers compared with the city of Montgomery?
80.7 have a high school diploma or above
29.4 percent have a bachelor's degree or above
Median value of the homes is $86,800
37 percent are employed in upper-level white-collar jobs.

According to Aronov's Web site, "The Shoppes at Cornerstone customers are highly motivated, well-educated young professionals with growing families. Active, upwardly mobile customers with a high concentration of double income families live, work, relax, and shop within the prosperous trade area surrounding the site. With a median age of 33, the lifestyle-conscious population earns an average yearly income in excess of $72,000."

Parker Collins, a senior planner with the Montgomery Planning Organization, earlier told the Central Alabama Business Journal he expects the rapid growth to continue in East Montgomery.

The area is expected to add 17,000 people by 2030, according to Bogie. That would give East Montgomery a well-heeled population of 48,531 - a 71 percent increase from today's population of 31,182.
That's more rooftops and retail follows rooftops.

[bystander1]

I'm glad Buckmasters has returned. The vendors and visitors won't believe the changes when they see it!

[bystander1]

While you're at it...



New hotels coming east of EastChase
July 25, 2008


Two new hotels are coming to east Montgomery near the Chantilly exit off Interstate 85. The Montgomery Planning Commission voted to approve the development plans Thursday night.


All told, they will add 182 guestrooms to the area that already has about 450. Candlewood Suites will be built on the northwest side of Boyd-Cooper Parkway, about 350 feet northeast of EastChase Parkway. The hotel will be a 3-story, 101-room building with just under 50,000 square feet.

A Country Inn and Suites will be built on Chantilly Parkway, off of an access road, near the intersection with Interstate 85. The hotel will be a four-story, 81-room building with about 15,500 square feet and a 1,300-square-foot canopy.

To get approval from the planning commission, developers had to get a story variance (from an allowable three stories to the approved four stories), a height variance (from an allowable 45 feet to the approved 61 feet) as well as a parking variance (from a 100-space requirement to the approved 92 spaces.)

-- Hilary Funk

Montgomery Advertiser

[10101000]

Originally Posted by thoraudio

Pictures from the article. (source = The Montgomery Advertiser)

]

Thanks for the photos.

[bystander1]

The parking deck on Coosa Street seems to be going up at a nice pace. Looks like it will be five stories, but I thought its original bid was for a 3-story deck with additional floors above it for lofts/condos.

[hiijakd]

that plan was abandoned a long time ago for various reasons. the first of those is probably due to the project manager and architects at the time. they are the same ones that took forever to get the Dexter deck up and running. The project manager was fired from both projects and the architects were fired from the coosa street deck. I think that secondly, the city abandoned the idea of condos because it would require alot more money and probably some sort of public private partnership that would entail lots of legal shuffling.

[spookyapp]

Can anyone give me an update as to the progress of the interstate construction in and around Montgomery? I am a student returning to Auburn this weekend and will have to drive though coming from Mobile, and just wanted to know how things are chugging along up there. It was still pretty bad last time I saw it this past May, and I've cut through East/South Boulevard ever since the construction started. The traffic is horrible! Anyways, if anyone could give me an update it would be much appreciated!

[Brown Duckz]

Originally Posted by spookyapp

Can anyone give me an update as to the progress of the interstate construction in and around Montgomery? I am a student returning to Auburn this weekend and will have to drive though coming from Mobile, and just wanted to know how things are chugging along up there. It was still pretty bad last time I saw it this past May, and I've cut through East/South Boulevard ever since the construction started. The traffic is horrible! Anyways, if anyone could give me an update it would be much appreciated!

You should definitely take the Bypass to get to I-85. I-65 probably has 2 smooth lanes in most places, but it's cramped & it's a speed trap. Just don't hit the Bypass in the middle of the day and you should be fine with traffic.... it flows pretty well to I-85.