Huntsville updates

[g-man435]

Originally Posted by MovingAL

I love Greenville's downtown. I spent a lot of time there while in grad school. Main Street is great and the cross streets are really coming into their own.

Another town the City should look to is Asheville, NC. Their downtown is phenomenal. Microbreweries, local shops and restaurants that feature local produce: amazing place. The Asheville downtown is more expansive than Greenville's and feels more "Asheville" than Greenville feels "Greenville", in that Asheville feels like something you wouldn't see anywhere else, whereas Greenville looks like Fayetteville Street in Raleigh, NC or any other main street.

Thanks for the positive comments but a few things/corrections:

Greenville's downtown has micro-breweries like Blue Ridge Brewery along with micro-distilleries like Dark Corner Distillery, tons of local shops, and over 100 restaurants downtown (by end of year) with several featuring local foods. TD Bank Saturday Market offers local produce for sale also: http://www.saturdaymarketlive.com/ I definitely agree that Asheville is a fantastic city and has a great downtown also. The Orange Peel is beyond awesome and I love eating at their Mellow Mushroom. Nothing quite like the Grove Park Inn either.

Sorry for hijacking this thread.

[HSVTiger]

From the HSV Times

In Huntsville and Madison, 519 apartment units are now being built, according to a new report on the local market. And, about 1,000 more units that are part of six different projects are "scheduled for the near term," and could possibly get started in the next 12 months, said David Wilson, a sales agent with Birmingham-based Rock Apartment Advisors and president of The David Wilson Co. in Huntsville. Some of those projects are speculative, though, and may not be built, he said.
Nearly 2,000 units are part of future projects whose timing depends on market conditions.
"We're about to have a big wave (of apartment development) in the Huntsville market," Wilson said today during the fifth annual Huntsville Commercial Market Symposium.
Only 644 apartment units were added to the market in 2010 and only one new property with 86 units was added last year, according to the report by Wilson, who tracks dozens of local apartment complexes.
"The largest new construction coming out of the ground," he said, is the 226-unit Providence Place Apartments in the Village of Providence.
They destroyed one of the nice features of Providence, a nice greenspace with mature trees to put up these apartments. Poor design, poor planning, the new Huntsville look, actually it hasn't changed.



You have to wonder if developers and city leaders see good developments in other cities if they think..wow we could have done that.


Other developments under construction are Belk Hudson Lofts in downtown Huntsville, the second phase of Eagles Landing on Royal Drive in Madison, The Commons on Vermont Road in southeast Huntsville and the first phase of Limestone Creek north of Interstate 565 and east of Mooresville Road.
There's a "tremendous" number of apartment units in the pipeline right now, "but they're not all going to get done, at least in the near term."
The overall apartment occupancy rate last June was 92 percent, the result of people needing temporary housing after last April's storms, he said.
Wilson's survey in February showed a 90 percent occupancy rate for newer, more upscale Class A apartments. Then, three weeks ago, the Class A occupancy rate had climbed to 94 percent, he said.
Updates in other commercial markets were also presented at the symposium at The Ledges - hosted by the Alabama CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) Chapter.
Don Beck, a partner with The Shopping Center Group, told the group that the North Alabama retail market is experiencing "a pretty good explosion."
In the Huntsville area, there's been growth along U.S. 72, in Bridge Street Town Centre and around Valley Bend at Jones Farm in south Huntsville. A number of retailers are taking over previously vacant spaces across town: a Michael's craft store will open in the former Books-a-Million space on Airport Road, Goody's returned late last year to South Huntsville Square and Aldi and Advance Auto Parts opened in empty spaces in Huntsville West.
"Tenants are looking," Beck said.
There's also been some "shuffling around" in the retail market, he said, with Bed Bath & Beyond relocating from Westside Center to Bridge Street and the Toys "R" Us store on Memorial Parkway and the Babies "R" Us store at Westside Center moving to a combined "R" Superstore at Bridge Street.
In the local office market, "things are not as rosy as they have been," said Kyle Collins, senior vice president of Colonial Properties Trust. Though the overall vacancy rate at Cummings Research Park was 4.75 percent at the end of 2011, the rate for multi-tenant space was almost 10 percent, he said. After a review at the end of the first quarter, Collins believes the vacancy rate for the park's multi-tenant space is more like 14 percent.
The vacancy rate for the downtown office market was 21.5 percent at the end of 2011, an improvement from 24 percent the previous year. Some developments, including Gateway Place at the former Councill Courts public housing site, should have an energizing effect, Collins said.
Vacancy rates for the Huntsville-area industrial market are rising, with the rate at 12.3 percent at the end of last year.
Two vacant buildings in Jetplex Industrial Park, including the 850,000-square-feet facility that Continental had occupied, have had an impact on that rate, said Jeff Wilke, a vice president at Graham & Co.
The historical average vacancy rate is 7 percent, he said.
"It only takes one or two big deals to make the numbers look a whole lot better," Wilke said.

[HSVTiger]

Wake up state leaders, dont screw around, (ALDONT in particular)

Redstone Arsenals impact on the state..

A just-released study shows Redstone employs 33,439 people in the Huntsville metro area with an annual payroll of about $2.94 billion, or $88,000 per job. Counting spinoff jobs, the report links Redstone to 101,000 jobs in North Alabama for a total economic impact to the region of $11.47 billion - about one-sixth of Alabama's total Gross Domestic Product.
That's staggering, not to mention the $361.57 million Redstone activities generate annually in state and local tax revenues.

[David1502]

[QUOTE=HSVTiger;5698578]From the HSV Times

In Huntsville and Madison, 519 apartment units are now being built, according to a new report on the local market. And, about 1,000 more units that are part of six different projects are "scheduled for the near term," and could possibly get started in the next 12 months, said David Wilson, a sales agent with Birmingham-based Rock Apartment Advisors and president of The David Wilson Co. in Huntsville. Some of those projects are speculative, though, and may not be built, he said.
Nearly 2,000 units are part of future projects whose timing depends on market conditions.
"We're about to have a big wave (of apartment development) in the Huntsville market," Wilson said today during the fifth annual Huntsville Commercial Market Symposium.
Only 644 apartment units were added to the market in 2010 and only one new property with 86 units was added last year, according to the report by Wilson, who tracks dozens of local apartment complexes.
"The largest new construction coming out of the ground," he said, is the 226-unit Providence Place Apartments in the Village of Providence.
They destroyed one of the nice features of Providence, a nice greenspace with mature trees to put up these apartments. Poor design, poor planning, the new Huntsville look, actually it hasn't changed. ]




Actually, the Providence Place Apartmets at the Village of Providence are not located in the green space but in an area that was originally designated for single family homes. The green space located between the Springhill Suites (under construction) and the building which houses mellow Mushroom and Madison Drugs will always be undeveloped and will serve as a village green.

The Providence Place aptartments are located north of the 4 way stop (Biltmore Dr. intersection) past Mello Mushroom and directly across the street from the Paddock Club Apartments and stretch almost to the Old Monrovia Rd. roundabout. While this land was undeveloped, it was not a park like "greenspace".

In some ways, these aprtments don't seem to be a part of Providence except for the fact that their southern border faces the development and architecturaly they will be compatible with the other buildings.

It appears that because the single family homes have struggled to sell there (until recently), the developers of Providence decided it would be more profitable to build aprtartments instead. Also, they still have a large track of land on the other side of the Indian Creek Greenway, on the other side of Huntsville's "bridge to nowhere" where they are zoned to build single family homes.,

[ttownfeen]

Originally Posted by neilson

Let's be fair here. I don't see Montgomery getting a lot with their roads(the Outer Bypass is gonna be a Toll Road). Mobile's still waiting on their Western Bypass and Wallace Tunnel Replacement Bridge for I-10. Dothan's probably never gonna get their I-10 spur, and has there been any substantial progress on I-85's western extension?

Point is, outside of Tuscaloosa, it seems like all of Alabama is getting the shaft.

Eh? Where are these fringe road developments we are getting? 82 between Tuscaloosa and Montgomery is a two-lane highway while in Mississippi the same highway is a controlled-access freeway. The so-called "West Alabama freeway" is still a pipe-dream and the existing north-south, 43 is two-lanes between Phil Campbell and Thomasville.

[HSVTiger]

[QUOTE=David1502;5700521]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

From the HSV Times

In Huntsville and Madison, 519 apartment units are now being built, according to a new report on the local market. And, about 1,000 more units that are part of six different projects are "scheduled for the near term," and could possibly get started in the next 12 months, said David Wilson, a sales agent with Birmingham-based Rock Apartment Advisors and president of The David Wilson Co. in Huntsville. Some of those projects are speculative, though, and may not be built, he said.
Nearly 2,000 units are part of future projects whose timing depends on market conditions.
"We're about to have a big wave (of apartment development) in the Huntsville market," Wilson said today during the fifth annual Huntsville Commercial Market Symposium.
Only 644 apartment units were added to the market in 2010 and only one new property with 86 units was added last year, according to the report by Wilson, who tracks dozens of local apartment complexes.
"The largest new construction coming out of the ground," he said, is the 226-unit Providence Place Apartments in the Village of Providence.
They destroyed one of the nice features of Providence, a nice greenspace with mature trees to put up these apartments. Poor design, poor planning, the new Huntsville look, actually it hasn't changed. ]




Actually, the Providence Place Apartmets at the Village of Providence are not located in the green space but in an area that was originally designated for single family homes. The green space located between the Springhill Suites (under construction) and the building which houses mellow Mushroom and Madison Drugs will always be undeveloped and will serve as a village green.

The Providence Place aptartments are located north of the 4 way stop (Biltmore Dr. intersection) past Mello Mushroom and directly across the street from the Paddock Club Apartments and stretch almost to the Old Monrovia Rd. roundabout. While this land was undeveloped, it was not a park like "greenspace".

In some ways, these aprtments don't seem to be a part of Providence except for the fact that their southern border faces the development and architecturaly they will be compatible with the other buildings.

It appears that because the single family homes have struggled to sell there (until recently), the developers of Providence decided it would be more profitable to build aprtartments instead. Also, they still have a large track of land on the other side of the Indian Creek Greenway, on the other side of Huntsville's "bridge to nowhere" where they are zoned to build single family homes.,

I was calling the heavily wooded area they clearcut and scalped as the greenspace. The zoning and design should have required to save as many trees as possible.

[David1502]

[QUOTE=HSVTiger;5700967]

Originally Posted by David1502

I was calling the heavily wooded area they clearcut and scalped as the greenspace. The zoning and design should have required to save as many trees as possible.

I agree that they shouldn't have clear cut the track. It is ashamed that it now looks so barren. My point is that it was never intended to be green space. Also, it is unfortunate that even in the single family homes part of Providence, they didn't leave any trees either (except for along Old Monrovia). A few trees would have made it look more attractive and more of an established area.

[mp7123]

[QUOTE=David1502;5701062]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

I agree that they shouldn't have clear cut the track. It is ashamed that it now looks so barren. My point is that it was never intended to be green space. Also, it is unfortunate that even in the single family homes part of Providence, they didn't leave any trees either (except for along Old Monrovia). A few trees would have made it look more attractive and more of an established area.

If I remember correctly, there weren't any trees in the original phase of Providence to begin with. I think it was a field.

[HSVTiger]

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority Monday approved a construction contract worth about $13.3 million for the first phase of upgrades to accommodate the new Boeing B747-800

The resolution presented to the airport authority board of directors authorizes a construction agreement with APAC Mid-South Inc. for the first phase of the airport's Group IV improvement. APAC submitted the lowest bid for the improvement with a base bid of just under $13.3 million.

The cost of the entire project is $65 million.

In August, the airport was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to accommodate the new cargo jet, which is being supplied to Panalpina, the international air carrier serving Huntsville.

Huntsville International is the smallest of just 21 airports to receive the certification. Others include Chicago's O'Hare International, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Miami International and John F. Kennedy International in New York.

"This will give us the capacity to service the infrastructure," said to Butch Roberts, deputy director of the authority. "It will help us meet the standards required for the long term."

Panalpina operates 10 scheduled flights a week at Huntsville International Airport from Europe, Mexico, Hong Kong and Brazil. Panalpina has indicated Huntsville's role will likely increase when it adds the B747-800 to its fleet.

HSV Times

[brad0022]

Originally Posted by neilson

Let's be fair here. I don't see Montgomery getting a lot with their roads(the Outer Bypass is gonna be a Toll Road). Mobile's still waiting on their Western Bypass and Wallace Tunnel Replacement Bridge for I-10. Dothan's probably never gonna get their I-10 spur, and has there been any substantial progress on I-85's western extension?

Point is, outside of Tuscaloosa, it seems like all of Alabama is getting the shaft.

From an announcement earlier this year or so, the "outer loop" in Montgomery will be the start of I85 extention and current 85 will be renamed as 585 or some other spur number. Not 100% if funding for 85 to Miss is still in the works but it will take a few decades. It was thought to be a toll road early on but changes to included with extending 85 unless things have changed.

[HSVTiger]

Some random comments, notes from Huntsville officials Greenville trip.
A lot of this are things that have been frequently mentioned on this forum.
Thanks to the City of Greenville for hosting this event.

“Greenville was a city that was shuttered. Downtown was somewhere that you wouldn’t go in the seventies,” said Mary Jane Caylor of Big Spring Partners, a Huntsville development group. “There was not anything to do, and so the more we studied Greenville and the more information we got from Greenville, the more beneficial we believed the trip would be.”



“There’s a lot of livability in downtown Greenville,” said Caylor. “There’s 9,000 parking spaces, and the architecture in this downtown area is just absolutely so remarkable.” (Something Huntsville seems to be afraid of..great architecture)You can sum up the success of Greenville’s timely revival with statistics about foot traffic, or with the sounds of bubbling fountains and flowing conversations. But there’s something about the atmosphere that avoids description.

“The real magic is what you feel when you’re walking on the streets,” said Mayor White. “It’s very clean. It’s very safe. Lots of shops and stores. It’s really a big focus on the pedestrian experience.”
WHNT TV

Mayor Tommy Battle returned from a weekend fact-finding trip to Greenville, S.C., feeling pretty good about Huntsville's downtown.

"We've got a good start," Battle said during a Tuesday news conference.

The Greenville trip, organized by the Big Spring Partners downtown redevelopment group, gave Battle and about 50 other local leaders a firsthand look at one of the South's biggest success stories.

On life support 30 years ago, Greenville's downtown is now alive with restaurants, public art and loft apartments overlooking pretty parks. Its minor league baseball team, the Greenville Drive, plays in a stadium modeled on Boston's Fenway Park.

Battle took a Moleskine notebook to South Carolina and jotted down 26 "opportunity items" that he'd like to see in downtown Huntsville. Others on the trip made their own lists.


Easy-to-read street signs that direct visitors to key downtown attractions might be the first outgrowth of the Greenville trip.(Wow, add to that an overall upgrade of street /directional signs throughout the city..no stupid abbreviations, a consistant font and size)Other things on Battle's wish list will take patience: another "signature hotel" to help the city attract bigger conventions; parking garages with street-level retail space; figuring out the best way to redevelop East Clinton Elementary School after it closes.(Something for the arts, urban planning center,
downtown idea center, downtown community market)"Too much change too quickly is not a good thing," said Battle, "but no change at all is not good, either."

"If we accomplish five things off that big list in the first year, we've made progress."

Big Spring Partners Executive Director Mary Jane Caylor said seeing Greenville helped reinforce that downtown Huntsville is on the right track.

Within the past month, the center city has hosted Panoply Arts Festival, WhistleStop Weekend and Rocket City Brewfest. Thursday marks the return of the popular downtown Arts Stroll.

"It validated for me -- and I think for a lot of people -- that we're doing a whole lot of good things downtown," said Caylor.

Greenville has scores of multi-use projects that blend residential, retail and office space, and Battle said Huntsville is moving in that direction.

Twickenham Square, on the former Councill Courts public housing site, will include more than 230 loft-style apartments, a Publix supermarket, hotel, office tower and 22,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space caddy-corner from Huntsville Hospital.

City officials have agreed to provide up to $10 million toward the cost of a parking deck serving Twickenham Square.

Evans Quinlivan, a member of Big Spring Partners' board of directors, said Greenville began its downtown renaissance 30 years ago by planting lots of trees to beautify the area.

Huntsville needs to continue to invest in downtown, said Quinlivan, because it's a major drawing card for young professionals.

"If we're going to continue to attract the best and brightest," he said, "we've got to have a very vibrant downtown."

HSV Times

[HSVTiger]

Some Greenville photos from WHNT TV from recent visit by Huntsville officials







Huntsville is not far from achieving very similar results.

[HSVTiger]

One major issue holding Huntsville back (hostage)
ALDOT
From an article in August 2010

HUNTSVILLE, AL - It may be five years before work begins to extend the limited access portion of U.S. 72 to east of Shields Road to better handle the heavy traffic in the Moores Mill and Shields roads areas.

Bob Terry, who owns property on Chapman Mountain on the north side of U.S. 72, "In a way, I'm glad to see it," Terry said of the project. "Traffic out here is a big mess."

Terry said the plans the Alabama Department of Transportation displayed at the meeting showed a westbound on-ramp cutting off access to his property on the slope of Chapman Mountain.

"They're going to have to work something out," Terry said, adding that he didn't foresee it being a big problem.

Johnny Harris, the DOT Division 1 engineer, said the state hopes to start final design on the project in fiscal 2011. Right of way acquisition could begin in one to two years, he said.

Construction depends on when the money becomes available, Harris said. That could be three to five years away.

He said construction could cost from $15 million to $20 million, and the entire project could cost from $20 million to $30 million including right of way acquisition and engineering.

The 1.6-mile long project will involve building a four-lane through(should be 6 lanes) road with two-lane service roads on each side from the near the top of Chapman Mountain to about one-half mile east of Shields Road.

The project will include an overpass on U.S. 72 over Moores Mill Road and an overpass on Shields Road over U.S. 72.
a bit different
The plans show five buildings to be acquired and demolished to make room for the highway. They are McDonald's and Taco Bell in the northeast quadrant of U.S. 72 and Shields Road; Texaco convenience store in the southeast corner of U.S. 72 and Shields Road; Myric Motel (which has been demolished) in the southwest corner of U.S. 72 and Shields Road; and a car lot office on the south side of U.S. 72 between Moores Mill and Shields roads.

John Hayden, who owns property in all but one quadrant of U.S. 72 and Shields Road, said he was "pleasantly surprised" about the Shields Road overpass. The signs for businesses in that area will have greater visibility than if the overpass was on U.S. 72 over Shields Road, he said.

Hayden has plans to eventually develop a shopping center on his property east and north of McDonald's and Taco Bell.

"I think it's not going to negatively impact me," he said.

Brian Pollock, plant manager of PPG Industries on U.S. 72, said the project could be beneficial for the up to 2,000 vehicles daily driven to and from the plant by employees and delivery truck drivers.

He said drivers leaving the plant to go east on U.S. 72 have a "miserable" time trying to cross U.S. 72.

Mickey Fox said the project will be an improvement, but he thinks the state has "over-engineered" the design.

"I think they'd be better off if they just six-laned it out to Moontown Road," he said. Yep needs 6 lanes
The eastbound off ramp will start and the westbound on ramp will end near the top of Chapman Mountain.

Traveling east, motorists will exit U.S. 72 and use the service road to reach Moores Mill and Shields roads. Westbound drivers will exit east of Shields Road to reach Shields and Moores Mill roads.

There will be an on ramp to U.S. 72 in each direction between Moores Mill and Shields roads.

[HSVTiger]

And on the other side of the city the same story, with Johnny it's always "could start in 5 years"
From August 2011

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Residents in the County Line Road area will probably have to wait five years before they'll be able to exit Interstate 565 at County Line Road to get home.

The Alabama Department of Transportation could be in a position to start construction of two additional ramps at I-565 and County Line Road by late 2013 or early 2014, Johnny Harris, the DOT's division engineer for the area, said at a public meeting Tuesday night.

"It's high on the priority list and, so, is a good candidate for funding," Harris said.
The project will add an exit ramp for westbound I-565 traffic to reach County Line Road and an entrance ramp from County Line Road to eastbound I-565.

The entire project, including design, right-of-way acquisition and construction, could cost $30 million.

Harris said right-of-way acquisition could start next year and take a year to 18 months to complete. It would take another two years to build the ramps once construction starts, he said.

[HSVTiger]

Always a fun and pleasant event downtown

When: Today, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Where: Madison County Courthouse Square

How much: Free

Information: sidewalkartsstroll.com



The Sidewalk Arts Stroll, which will be held on the third Thursday of each month through August, includes 60 vendors with a wide array of art at every price.

Also the Green Street Farmers Market will be up and running a block east.

[HSVTiger]

Toyota Expansion

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Toyota plans to expand its Huntsville engine plant again with a new 300,000-square-foot building that will increase the company's North American production of V6 engines.

The expansion will mean about 125 new jobs, bringing employment at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama to 1,150, according to Toyota. The building now takes in 780,000 square feet.

Gov. Robert Bentley made the announcement today. He was joined by Jim Bolte, TMMAL's president, and Steve St. Angelo, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing, North America.

The increased production is scheduled to begin in March 2014.
HSV Times

[stewdog1]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

And on the other side of the city the same story, with Johnny it's always "could start in 5 years"
From August 2011

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Residents in the County Line Road area will probably have to wait five years before they'll be able to exit Interstate 565 at County Line Road to get home.

The Alabama Department of Transportation could be in a position to start construction of two additional ramps at I-565 and County Line Road by late 2013 or early 2014, Johnny Harris, the DOT's division engineer for the area, said at a public meeting Tuesday night.

"It's high on the priority list and, so, is a good candidate for funding," Harris said.
The project will add an exit ramp for westbound I-565 traffic to reach County Line Road and an entrance ramp from County Line Road to eastbound I-565.

The entire project, including design, right-of-way acquisition and construction, could cost $30 million.

Harris said right-of-way acquisition could start next year and take a year to 18 months to complete. It would take another two years to build the ramps once construction starts, he said.

Has anyone ever seen this list? It is been on high priority for 10 years now.

[MovingAL]

The Providence of Jones Valley? Proposed Lendon development would bring town center to south Huntsville
-Steve Doyle, The Huntsville Times
Sunday, May 20, 2012
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/05/...es_valley.html

"The family behind southeast Huntsville's busy Valley Bend at Jones Farm shopping center is proposing to build a high-end neighborhood right next door.

Brothers-in-law John Blue and Peter Lowe hope to start construction later this year on Lendon, a 68-acre project that Blue considers a template for future development of scenic Jones Valley.
Plans call for as many as 250 homes of varying sizes and styles, 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 - all bordering city-owned Jones Farm Park.

Blue said the mix of uses is designed to evoke the feel of downtown Huntsville."

[HSVTiger]

Nice development planned here

Bids for the new 700 car downwtown garage go out June12. This will be for Twickenham Square development.
A general idea of what theis will be like check out McBee Station in Greenville SC.
http://mcbee-station.com/

Twickenham will be a more substantial I believe in that a hotel and office tower are part of the plan.

Is is safe to say that the Constellation project along Memorial Parkway has become Huntsville's biggest eye sore?
Any stipulations/penalties in the contracts due to inactivity?

[mp7123]

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Miller Capital Advisory, acting on behalf of Institutional Mall Investors, has acquired the retail component of Bridge Street Town Centre from an affiliate of O&S Holdings, the California company that developed and managed the mixed-use project.

http://blog.al.com/huntsville-times-...nt_of_bri.html