Huntsville updates

[| BRAVO |]

Red Lobster is kinda gross... don't you think?

[luvinhsv]

Originally Posted by | BRAVO |

Red Lobster is kinda gross... don't you think?

Bravo, Your quote, "It's hard to compete with Tacky!" Well, Red Lobster gives it the ole' college try! If something as tacky as Red Lobster is allowed to move into Bridge Street, that would be the ultimate move of desparation for the owners of the "upscale" mall!

Too bad about Ketchup. I went there a couple days ago, and frankly, their food was pretty darn good. I think the biggest problem with that restaurant (other than the fact they forgot they weren't in LA anymore) is simply the location. PF Changs and Cantina Laredo are typically pretty busy. But you can park right in front of them. I went to the Station for lunch and, again, very good food, but a ghost town! Hopefully not like that Fri/Sat night. Parking is simply inconvenient for those back locations.

[Huntsvillenative]

Originally Posted by luvinhsv

Bravo, Your quote, "It's hard to compete with Tacky!" Well, Red Lobster gives it the ole' college try! If something as tacky as Red Lobster is allowed to move into Bridge Street, that would be the ultimate move of desparation for the owners of the "upscale" mall!

Too bad about Ketchup. I went there a couple days ago, and frankly, their food was pretty darn good. I think the biggest problem with that restaurant (other than the fact they forgot they weren't in LA anymore) is simply the location. PF Changs and Cantina Laredo are typically pretty busy. But you can park right in front of them. I went to the Station for lunch and, again, very good food, but a ghost town! Hopefully not like that Fri/Sat night. Parking is simply inconvenient for those back locations.

The Station isn't all that busy in daytime right now. Totally a different story at night.

There's nothing "tacky" or awful about Red Lobster. The place has been in business since the early 80's and still always packed.

[| BRAVO |]

Funny you linked my signature to Red Lobster. It's very true.

I don't know. I just kind of throw Red Lobster in that over commercialized Olive Garden, Applebee's, O'Charley's category. Bridge Street can do better.

Don't get me wrong... There are some national chain's that do a bang-up job.
Maybe a McCormick's?

[huntsville_rocks]

If red lobster opens a bridge street, i would suspect a mcdonalds would be right behind it

Originally Posted by | BRAVO |

Funny you linked my signature to Red Lobster. It's very true.

I don't know. I just kind of throw Red Lobster in that over commercialized Olive Garden, Applebee's, O'Charley's category. Bridge Street can do better.

Don't get me wrong... There are some national chain's that do a bang-up job.
Maybe a McCormick's?

[luvinhsv]

There is nothing wrong with Red Lobster. I like "Shrimp, Shrimp and More Shrimp" as much as the next Catholic on a Lenten Friday. BUT Bravo is absolutely correct - it is an over-commercialized national chain that just doesn't fit in with the Bridge Street concept. Obviously, national chains vary from cheap, quick family friendly a la Applebees to more upscale dining like PF Changs. Changs fits with Bridge Street. Any restaurant offering an "all-you-can-eat" anything is not what Bridge Street is looking for - at least I hope they aren't!

Like I said before, I lot of Ketchup's problem was their location. It would be interesting to put a well known upscale chain like a Cheesecake Factory in that location and see how it does. Would parking about 1 -2 blocks away sway customers from that? We'll probably never know!

And I am glad the Station is busy at night. I was VERY IMPRESSED with the place. Their food was good. The server was pretty good. But the place is very nice and I am sure fun as heck at night!

[bestdeception]

Originally Posted by ThatGuy

I would be surprised if all the restaurants there didn't have an cuisine exclusivity agreement in their lease.

Bingo. You nailed it ThatGuy. A seafood place isn't going to come to Bridge Street, nor is Cheesecake Factory. The best bet would be something like a Flemings or Capital Grill. I would love to see a McCormick and Schmicks, but don't think it's going to happen since they're mostly seafood.

[luvinhsv]

You know what might be good in the Ketchup location is an upscale Italian place such as Buca di Beppo or Maggiano's. Outside Carrabba's at Parkway place and Olive Garden (Red Lobster-esque) there isn't a lot of choice for Italian in HSV. Buca would be my choice. Fun place. I had my groom's dinner there in Minneapolis. Their bathrooms are hilarious.

[Huntsvillenative]

Originally Posted by bestdeception

Bingo. You nailed it ThatGuy. A seafood place isn't going to come to Bridge Street, nor is Cheesecake Factory. The best bet would be something like a Flemings or Capital Grill. I would love to see a McCormick and Schmicks, but don't think it's going to happen since they're mostly seafood.

A Cheesecake Factory IS being considered for one of the opening locations. Primarily underneath The Station on the back side of the east lake.

Red Lobster may not be the answer as I was told last night. But a seasfood themed restaurant of some sort may be down the road as competition for Conners.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

OMG, Buca would be freaking amazing! Though, sadly, they seem to only want to locate in larger metros...

[bestdeception]

Originally Posted by Huntsvillenative

A Cheesecake Factory IS being considered for one of the opening locations. Primarily underneath The Station on the back side of the east lake.

Red Lobster may not be the answer as I was told last night. But a seasfood themed restaurant of some sort may be down the road as competition for Conners.

I can assure you, Cheesecake Factory isn't coming to Bridge Street. A retailer, not a restaurant is being considered for below the Station. Just like another movie theatre isn't coming to Bridge Street, neither is a Cheesecake Factory. Your "rumors" are wrong.

[Huntsvillenative]

Originally Posted by bestdeception

I can assure you, Cheesecake Factory isn't coming to Bridge Street. A retailer, not a restaurant is being considered for below the Station. Just like another movie theatre isn't coming to Bridge Street, neither is a Cheesecake Factory. Your "rumors" are wrong.

FYI, I got my info from someone who works at The Station. We talked about what was going in below and he said nobody knew but that some had heard it could be a restaurant. I mentioned a Cheesecake Factory and he said that one was being considered for Bridge Street and it could be what they put in below. But since that is the only opened space at the moment with no tenant it was suggested that it could be below The Station. It's also possible that CF could buy the opened land space to the west of the food court and build a restaurant there. There's enough room for a mega facility of some sort.

There's a lot of BIG plans for Bridge Street that are still in the preliminary stages, such as possibly the nation's largest ferris wheel of over 200 ft tall (that's what I'm hearing now) to be it's main attraction, an outdoor amphitheater is also being considered for phase three or a possible development like Providence. The BS owners are in negotiations with other new tenants and Cheesecake factory could very well be one of them. They wanna bring top name brands and restuarant chains to BS that Huntsville and North Alabama does not already have.

There's also talk about another 4-star hotel to compliment The Westin Hotel.

[bestdeception]

Cheesecake Factory nor a seafood restaurant can't come because of exclusitivity clauses. Ferris wheel is merely a rumor that was started on forums. BS is always negotiating with potential clients, but right now no company is willing to expand. Only 1 tenant is even close to starting construction and that's next to Vintage Wines. They are a small food shop. The next major announcement will hopefully be that of a department store. Negotiations are with a company that has zero stores in Alabama, something like a Nordstrom I would assume. Not Macys, not Dillards. All these "big" plans aren't anywhere close to fruitition. Economy is starting to take a toll. Crabtree, Kate Spade, S&K's, all because of the economy. Ketchup because they did no business and had a terrible reputatation. There probably will be next to nothing new going on for a couple years now. Trust me.

[Huntsvillenative]

Originally Posted by bestdeception

Cheesecake Factory nor a seafood restaurant can't come because of exclusitivity clauses. Ferris wheel is merely a rumor that was started on forums. BS is always negotiating with potential clients, but right now no company is willing to expand. Only 1 tenant is even close to starting construction and that's next to Vintage Wines. They are a small food shop. The next major announcement will hopefully be that of a department store. Negotiations are with a company that has zero stores in Alabama, something like a Nordstrom I would assume. Not Macys, not Dillards. All these "big" plans aren't anywhere close to fruitition. Economy is starting to take a toll. Crabtree, Kate Spade, S&K's, all because of the economy. Ketchup because they did no business and had a terrible reputatation. There probably will be next to nothing new going on for a couple years now. Trust me.

No, I don't trust you on this because I have spoken to numerous of people IN THE KNOW that say differently. But you keep believing what you want. I know what I've been told. The ferris wheel is just talk right now, but seeing that others are starting to push for it, including mayor Battle, I think one will happen eventually.

Btw, the latest reports nationally are that the economy is picking up and is already ahead of where it was a year ago at this time.

[HSVTiger]

Mill renovation update

"Dr. James Byrne, a local eye surgeon who bought the mill in August 2007, and business partner Wayne Sisco are determined to make the place an important part of Huntsville -- again.
"I wanted to invest in a building, and this one was big and exciting," Byrne said Monday. "I feel like I have an elephant by the tail because there's so much to be done, but Wayne and I believe strongly in restoring it."
Byrne isn't rushing things: decades of dust and grime have to be removed; elevators must be added; offices partitioned off in the 1950s need to be gutted.
"We're working full speed ahead with a small group of people, but this is a multi-year project," he said.
Even so, you can hear the excitement in Byrne's voice as he talks about the mill's potential. He sees a restaurant that grows its own produce in one corner, loft apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows in another.
With 200,000 square feet, there's also room for a movie theater, a small school, work studios, even a microbrewery."
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2009/09/...ln_mill_t.html

[HSVTiger]

New interchange at I-65 and Tanner/Browns Ferry Rd should open this week.
That was a project probably 7-10 years in the making. This is the only exit between I-565 and US 72/Athens. I would expect to see development at this interchange, Huntsville and Athens have annexed land around it and it is close to the TVA Megasite. It is also touted as another evacuation route for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant (obviously we don't want to have to do that).
They are waiting on signs (sound familiar) how hard can it be say 6 weeks out
to realize "uhh we may need som of them there fancy green flat metal pieces with some type of marks on them"

[HSVTiger]

I wonder if maybe there are some other reasons for not doing this. Maybe the
VBC/City has some ideas of it's own for that property. That is a very ideal location for say maybe a ballpark or anything that could transform downtown.

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Forget about affordable lofts alongside public housing in downtown Huntsville. The Huntsville Housing Authority revealed Monday that it missed out on federal stimulus grants to tear down and reinvent Todd Towers and Searcy Homes.
But the board was undeterred, voting 3-1 to seek a federal grant to replace instead the public housing near the Lowe Mill.
"There is discussion of that being a sort of downtown west," said Carlen Williams, the authority's director of development. She told the board that the 72 units of Brookside public housing sit on 13.5 acres alongside Lowe Mill, and the neighborhood is seeing reinvestment from the city and individuals.
But one board member didn't like the sudden switch in focus.
"Personally, I don't think this a good idea for the board at this time, " said board member Dick Fountain.
Williams said the board would have to apply by Nov. 17 for a federal HOPE VI grant to redevelop Brookside. Fountain said he didn't like the short turnaround.
But more importantly, he said, the authority has long talked of redeveloping Sparkman Homes, possibly working with the city school board to place a school nearby. He said that should remain the priority.
"If we don't get this, we're no worse off," said board member Tommy Beason.
"We're $60,000 to $80,000 worse off," said Fountain, citing the cost to apply for the grant.
A few minutes later, Beason added, "Somebody is going to get $22 million to build a property. Why not us?"
Fountain said he didn't think the authority should pursue federal money just because it was available. The rest of the board agreed with Beason, voting 3-1 to begin designing a new Brookside.
"So am I to understand that Brookside is to be torn down," asked a Brookside resident, one of only 10 people in the audience.
Board President Charley Burruss said it was too early to discuss details.
"But the answer to that is pretty obvious," added Fountain.
The city recently paved the way for the transformation of the Lowe Mill area by buying the Downtown Rescue Mission property. Also, the school board this year shut down West Huntsville Elementary and Stone Middle, the only schools near Brookside and the Lowe Mill.
The Housing Authority board had applied for $43.5 million in five grants under the Capital Fund Recovery Competition portions of the federal stimulus package. The largest two proposals would have remade large parts of the downtown.
The board had proposed tearing down Todd Towers, which houses seniors. The proposal called for a new five-story senior center as well as a mixed-use building, including two-thirds private lofts and apartments and one-third public housing.
At Searcy Homes, which spreads over 15 acres near the Von Braun Center, the board had proposed tearing down the old brick housing and building a similar ratio of private apartments and public housing.
HSV Times article

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by Huntsvillenative

No, I don't trust you on this because I have spoken to numerous of people IN THE KNOW that say differently. But you keep believing what you want. I know what I've been told. The ferris wheel is just talk right now, but seeing that others are starting to push for it, including mayor Battle, I think one will happen eventually.

Btw, the latest reports nationally are that the economy is picking up and is already ahead of where it was a year ago at this time.

The Cheesecake factory in Birmingham hasn't been very profitable from what I hear I seriously doubt Cheesecake Factory is coming to Huntsville and definitely not BridgeStreet. The Cheesecake Factory rumors started when they announced the Constellation project the developer said he wanted to open a Cheescake Factory-LIKE restaurant in the complex. Next thing I know I kept hearing Cheescake factory was opening in Huntsville in a few weeks when I ate out at restaurants in Huntsville. I seriously doubt the people at the station know anything concrete, plans are just plans they are nothing official, look at the plans for SweetWater, Watercrest or whatever it's called in Madison does anybody seriously think all of that will be built.I wish it was true though I actually think a Cheescake Factory might actually fare well in Huntsville... but I can't see this happening anytime soon. By the way an "Upscale BBQ" place is replacing Ketchup.

[OCA REP]

Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede

By the way an "Upscale BBQ" place is replacing Ketchup.

Isn't that an oxymoron?

[HSVTiger]

Cheesecake ain't opening in Huntsville. If it did how many times would you go?
2-3 max. You can buy their cheesecake at Costco if you have to have it.