Montgomery development news

[Brown Duckz]

Originally Posted by thoraudio

I wish I still lived in Mtgy. Less commute, more 'urban' etc...

but I gotta tell ya. Prattville is a great little city, and watching the entire community support the football team is really neat. Prattville Lions banners on every other car... 10,000 at a football game in a city of 25,000. Tremendous community feeling.

In a sense Prattville is rivaling the likes of Hoover and Vestavia Hills when it comes to a suburb community. The commute is roughly the same to the city, property values are rising, good schools, and good 6A football teams.

[Brown Duckz]

Originally Posted by thoraudio

What does everybody think about Oct. 28 as a possible meet date?

Auburn's on the road at Ole Miss, UAT has Florida college for the blind and infirm.

I've gotta ask my boss to see if she'll let me do it but it may be a good date.

That should work for me. I'll be in Destin the weekend before so... yeh. I say we do lunch, then hit the hot spots for photos and chit-chat.

[CapHitez]

Hello everyone! I have been "lurking" in the shadows. I've enjoyed reading the positive posts about downtown Montgomery.

I have been watching Dexter avenue getting readied for the cobblestone surface. I can see the concrete surface of old lighting route tracks under the dirt. I had no idea it was still there! Does anyone have any historical pics of Dexter avenue that show the route?

Also, does anyone know if there will be a street connecting South Court? I heard rumours that was scrapped.

[Brown Duckz]

Wow at all the new members!

There are some old pics on the net somewhere, I'll go and find them.

[Brown Duckz]

In 1886 the Capital City Railway Company began service in downtown Montgomery with America’s first city wide Electric Trolley system. Soon to be know as the “Lightning Route,” the system enjoyed and still does presently enjoy a great success. In 1936, after nearly fifty years of service, The Lightning Route was replaced by buses. The Lightning Route went back into operations by a private company in the 1980’s and is fully operated today by the Montgomery Area Transit System.

The City of Montgomery purchased the Montgomery Area Transit System in 1974 and contracted the American Transit Corporation to operate the system. In February, 1998, the City of Montgomery replaced its system of 17 fixed routes with Demand and Response Transit (DART), a call-in reservation service. Demand and Response Transit was formed in an effort to provide more effective service.

In January, 2000, it was determined that the Demand and Response Transit system was not serving the citizens of Montgomery in an effective and efficient manner. On February 2, 2000, the Montgomery City Council voted to establish, on a trail basis, three (3) new fixed routes to begin on March 6, 2000. The trial run of the fixed route service proved to be both more effective and efficient in serving the transportation needs of the citizens of Montgomery. The new fixed route system was such a success, that the City of Montgomery approved six additional fixed routes. The Montgomery Area Transit System is still today owned by the City of Montgomery and operated by First Transit Group Incorporated through contract.

[thoraudio]

Originally Posted by CapHitez

Hello everyone! I have been "lurking" in the shadows. I've enjoyed reading the positive posts about downtown Montgomery.

I have been watching Dexter avenue getting readied for the cobblestone surface. I can see the concrete surface of old lighting route tracks under the dirt. I had no idea it was still there! Does anyone have any historical pics of Dexter avenue that show the route?

Also, does anyone know if there will be a street connecting South Court? I heard rumours that was scrapped.

There are several pics of the old Dexter Ave (called Market St at the time I think) on the web.

This plan for the plaza shows Court St. being reconnected.

[CapHitez]

I found a couple of old images. The two on the bottom, attached for comparison, were taken by me in 2004.

[Brown Duckz]

I wonder if Court Square will be finished before Christmas?

[bystander1]

Originally Posted by Capital Heights

Where, exactly, is H. H. Gregg going?

It will locate in the old Stein Mart building in the Montgomery Promenade.

[Brown Duckz]

Hyundai plant sets production record

By David Irvin
Montgomery Advertiser


Hyundai Motor America noted two milestones Tuesday.

Its Montgomery plant enjoyed the most productive run in its history in September, producing a total of 22,325 Sonatas and Santa Fes.

The plant is on track to produce about 230,000 vehicles this year.

"Production is continually increasing, as we had hoped," said Kerry Christopher, a spokesman for the auto maker. "All the processes and the people are working together to build the vehicles that we need to meet our schedule."

Also Tuesday, the first Santa Fe rolled off the line in Montgomery with XM satellite radio installed as a standard feature. A partnership between the two companies was announced last year.

Sales officials at the auto maker hope the addition of XM to every Santa Fe will prompt buyers to purchase the crossover SUV.

Santa Fe sales had waned earlier this year as consumers anticipated the release of the 2007 model, which the local plant started producing in March. But by September that trend had changed. The car company sold 6,216 of the vehicles, up from 4,095 the previous year. Sales numbers from the auto maker showed a 53 percent increase for the sport utility vehicle over the previous month.

The Santa Fe is the first of four Hyundai models that will add XM satellite radio as a standard feature this year, the satellite radio company said.

"The Santa Fe marks the beginning of a long-term partnership between XM and Hyundai, one of the fastest-growing car companies in the world," said Steve Cook, executive vice president for XM's automotive division, in a statement.

[Brown Duckz]

Development irritates some area drivers

Retail is blossoming as Montgomery enters fall, especially along Ann Street in the new Midtown Plaza where eight new stores are now open.

Though the development is seen as a major economic boon for the area, some residents are complaining that increased traffic is making it harder for them to get to work and other destinations on time.

Several large retailers have opened in the shopping center in recent weeks, including Ross Dress for Less, Office Depot, Dollar Tree and Shoe Carnival. Joining the line-up are smaller stores such as Radio Shack, Cato Fashions and Foot Locker that are also attracting customers to the plaza -- and more and more traffic.

"In a way it's more convenient, but it's a lot more traffic," said Sheena Patterson, a resident on Longview Street just blocks from the new Wal-Mart.

The developers for Midtown Plaza said before the retail center opened, a full traffic study was done that showed adequate traffic throughput. A traffic signal was added and Ann Street was widened to four lanes from Interstate-85 to Highland Avenue.

But Katie Flowers, who lives on nearby Thrasher Street, said cars tend to get jammed at that intersection during the busy parts of the day.

"If I'm going to the interstate, I always go all the way back through the neighborhood, cause it would take me 15 to 20 minutes to go down Ann Street," Flowers said.

The anchor of Midtown Plaza, Wal-Mart, opened in the summer after years of preparation and construction. It is the third Wal-Mart in Montgomery.

Construction has already begun on an outparcel along Ann Street and at least two other retailers -- Payless Shoe Source and Cuts by Us -- are poised to open soon.

[Brown Duckz]

Looks like Mobile will send the first high-rise condominium tower in the air--

http://www.downtownmobileliving.com/index.html

Looks nice... very Miami beach looking architecture. When do you think Montgomery will fetch a proposal such as this? Something overlooking the river built into the river district with baseball, shops, and restraunts--I think we will see something within 3-5 years.

[Brown Duckz]

Quick bump.

My new Downtown Montgomery picture thread of 100+ pics.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=117476

[bystander1]

There's more new development coming to Old Cloverdale.



October 9, 2006



Huntingdon to sell some Cloverdale property

By Bob Lowry
Montgomery Advertiser




Huntingdon College has agreed to sell some property around the old Cloverdale School that it acquired in 2002 from the Montgomery school system to expand its campus.

Ken Upchurch III, chairman of the Huntingdon board of trustees, confirmed Monday that an agreement had reached for the development of residential and two-story mixed used retail and commercial buildings with second-story lofts.

Plans call for the Colonial Co. to purchase a strip of Huntingdon’s Cloverdale campus, including the frontage along Boultier Street and along Navarro to the driveway of the college’s Weil Center.

Two buildings would be built along Fairview Avenue, leaving the façade of the Cloverdale School building, which Huntingdon now uses as classrooms, a theater, athletic facilities and offices, visible from Fairview, said school spokeswoman Su Ofe.

She said Huntingdon’s current use of the Cloverdale property would not be affected by the development plans.

Huntingdon hosted a community meeting last Thursday to explain the project to neighborhood residents. Ofe and Upchurch said the plan was well received by the 150 to 200 people who attended.

But Mary Ann Neeley, a member of the Old Cloverdale Association who lives on College Street near the Huntingdon campus, was noncommittal about the project.

“I really want to know more about it,” she said Monday.

Upchurch said Huntingdon acquired the old Cloverdale Junior High School from the Montgomery County Board of Education “to facilitate football and make other improvements.”

But he said the school is now looking at part of the property “in terms of an income stream” since it was not going to be used for classrooms or other facilities.

“Huntingdon has some property that the board felt it ought to be looked at as investment property,” said Upchurch. “We talked to a number of developers trying to decide what would be best for Huntingdon and the neighborhood.”

“The Lowder group came back with something we deemed attractive for the college and the community. I do know the board has full confidence in Jimmy Lowder’s development of those properties.”

Upchurch said the development would be in keeping with the character of the architecture of Huntingdon, which was founded in 1854, and the surrounding Old Cloverdale neighborhood.

“One good thing that came out of this (meeting) was a recognition of a new spirit coming out of Huntingdon College—the connection of the college with the community, and not just football. It was just a general upswing in things going on at Huntingdon.”

Upchurch said he envisions the new development around Huntingdon and Cloverdale becoming much like Mountain Brook Village and Crestline Village in Birmingham, small communities within a city that invites walking customers.

“The real issue is that Huntingdon needs to be that center of activity,” he said. “The last 10 years or so, it’s not been not been a center of activity. It needs to be very viable player in the community.

The Cloverdale Campus is a 13-acre facility located across Fairview Avenue from the main campus. The campus was formerly home to the Cloverdale School Building, which opened in 1922.

Mac McCleod of the Colonial Co., said McAlpine Tankersley Architecture Inc., of Montgomery has been retained to design the Cloverdale development.

Construction could begin in 2008.

[Brown Duckz]

Housing Bubble In River Region?


For tri-county realtors like Lucretia Cauthen, these are the good ole days.

"We continue to do well here in the tri-county," said Cauthen.

Thanks to homebuyers like Ann Spears who recently moved from Montgomery to Millbrook and paid a $175,000 cash for a brand new home.

"I think people will pay for something if they really want it," said Spears.

A housing bubbe here? Maybe in other parts of the country but not here according to the Home Builders Association of Alabama.

"You have Hyundai, the military, state and federal governments here. It's never been boom or bust in Montgomery.. just steady," said Executive Director Russell Davis.

Millbrook and Prattville seem to be blowing the roof off on surging home sales but that's not to say Montgomery's been left out, so where is everybody coming from?

"That's a good question. I don't know but I'm glad they're here," said Davis.

There's no question these are good times for the housing market in the River Region but how long can the good times last. It wasn't that long ago when the market was downright terrible.

Between 1980 and '82, the tri-county endured a housing depression. Russell Davis remembers.

"Interest rates were around 21 % then. It was awful," Davis said.

"That's when I had to get out of the business as a realtor and find a real job," Cauthen said.

Some folks have doubts whether the boom can go on. A developer approached us while we were doing the story with concerns the housing market could collapse. That developer declined to give an interview but did say he has more than 4 million dollars tied up in new construction. It's often said that all good things must come to an end, but Cauthen with 25 years of experience doesn't see the housing boom splitting up anytime soon.

"People still need houses to live in," said Cauthen.

Back in 1980 only 200 homes were being built in the River Region. Today, 24,000 statewide by the end of the year.

[thoraudio]

My brother in law was with the 187th for 10 years.... nice to see them getting some new digs...

187th Fighter Wing gets new base

By Lisa Horn
Montgomery Advertiser


Ground will be broken today on a multimillion-dollar project at Dannelly Field in Montgomery.

The new Operations and Training Facility of the Alabama Air National Guard's 187th Fighter Wing will put several operations under one roof and replace the current 50-year-old headquarters. The $10.9 million project was approved by Congress in April.

The new building, designed by local firm Seay, Seay and Litchfield, will take 16 to 18 months to complete. Another local company, Bear Brothers Construction, will be the primary contractor, said wing spokesman Maj. Paul Griggs. U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers; Maj. Gen. Mark Bowen, adjutant general of the Alabama Air National Guard; and Maj. Gen. John White, commander of the Alabama Air National Guard, will be at today's 10 a.m. groundbreaking.

The 46,380-square-foot facility will consolidate the unit's offices of command and control, security forces, communications, personnel management, finance and contracting, Griggs said.

"Everything that you can imagine with our current facility is outdated -- the communications, the electrical system," said Capt. William Smith, deputy base engineer. "You've got better facilities, you train better and you fight better, and that's what we're after. I think it helps with the whole persona out here."

Since the 187th transferred from Birmingham in the 1950s, the wing's membership has doubled.

A contingent of the unit's 1,000 airmen recently returned from a six-week deployment to Iraq -- the wing's third combat deployment since Sept. 11, 2001.

[kevinlpugh]

Full Blog

DEADMALLS.COM FEATURE:
MONTGOMERY MALL: MONTGOMERY, AL
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Grant Wadsworth's Commentary
Posted April 29, 2006 (user submitted)
Montgomery Mall was started in the late 1960's with just one building that housed a local department store called Montgomery Fair. One year later the rest of the mall was built and opened with many specialty shops and another anchor store JCPenney. Montgomery Fair later became Gayfers department store. For many years this mall thrived and was located in a very main thoroughfare on the southeast end of town.

About ten years later in 1977 another major mall was built across town at another major intersection that was twice the size and offered four department stores and many more specialty shops. This mall did not hurt Montgomery Mall at all when it opened. In 1988 Montgomery Mall underwent a majorrenovation and expansion that updated and more than doubled the size of the mall. In this expansion the mall added a third anchor store called Parisian and a state of the art food court with a big carousel in the middle of the food court. In this expansion the mall also doubled the amount of specialty shops. Some of these included the Gap, Crabtree & Evelyn, The Limited, Lerner, and many other great stores for the 1980's time period.

Montgomery Mall continued to thrive and be the preferred mall in town until the late nineties and even into the new millineum. In 1999 crime in the entire area of the mall began to get really bad and their was even a shooting in the food court of this mall one weekend night around christmas time. Many people would still frequent the mall while they felt safe but gangs were getting to be a problem in the mall. in the summer of 2001 the first really nice specialty shop (Eddie Bauer) closed over night with no warning. I remember thinking to myself this is the beginning of many closures that will take place out here over the next few years. I was very right.

A new outdoor style shopping mall was built in the thriving East Montgomery and opened in November of 2002. This made Montgomery Mall begin falling into the ground almost overnight. Dillard's in Montgomery Mall (formerly Gayfers) announced in December of 2003 they would be closing their Montgomery Mall store in early spring and would have their store across town at Eastdale Mall and a new store at Eastchase Mall. In January of 2004 about a month after Dillard"s announcement JCPenney announces it willl build a new store at Eastdale Mall and close at Montgomery Mall in early 2005. In the year between Dillard"s and JCPenney's departures many specialty stores and resturants began to leave. Some of these were The Limited, Bath&Body works, The Disney store, Walden Books, Wet Seal, Ruby Tuesday, and the Pub just to name a few.

In January of 2006 Parisian announces they will be closing their location at this mall in early spring. This is the final real anchor store left at the mall that will soon be gone. One new so called anchor has opened in the first floor of the old Dillard's which is Steve & Barry's University Sportswear. It is debateble how well they are doing. I went to the mall two weeks ago for the final week of Parisian. The mall in General is a sad site all the way around. Most all of the chain specialty shops are gone and being replaced with many that people have never heard of. These seem to come and go on a regular basis. Rumors are now going around that the mall will close and be demolished for senior housing to be built on the property. Who knows the future of this mall? The management is always getting defensive saying in the local newspaper and local news stations that redevelopment is coming. Customers and the few tenants that are left all say they will believe it when they see it happen. This mall in this day in time continues to take one step forward and ten steps backward on a regular basis. It is very sad to see what once was the premiere shopping mall with beautiful architecture throughout become a ghost town. Many people do not even want to come out to this mall anymore because of the reputation this mall has developed over the last few years and the fact their are no stores hardly left here.

[kevinlpugh]

Sorry it took so long...

[Capital Heights]

great pics.....lotsa work going on.

[bystander1]

Thanks for the pics, kevinlpugh. They're Huge.