Huntsville updates

[stewdog1]

Originally Posted by Jugernagt

Back in February.

http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf...s_farmers.html

I think the before the story update the original title didn't say anything about Sprouts and only about a "new grocery store" coming to town. At the time of the ground breaking the land developers wouldn't release the name. I remember the press hinted at a Trader Joe's going in there.

No, there was plenty of information about Sprouts going there. It's probably in this thread.

[HSVTiger]

a signature high rise (15+ stories) should be part of this whatever is decided


from al.com, Steve Doyle

The former Coca-Cola bottling plant site on Clinton Avenue likely will not become home to a new downtown baseball stadium -- even though the rumored buyer helped develop Regions Field in downtown Birmingham.

Downtown Huntsville Inc. CEO Chad Emerson said concepts he has seen show the prime tract becoming a mix of uses that complement the nearby Von Braun Center.

"I don't think that site is going to be redeveloped with baseball," Emerson told AL.com Tuesday.

Spanning nine acres, the old bottling plant property was viewed by some as the most logical place for a new downtown minor league ballpark to replace aging Joe Davis Stadium on Memorial Parkway.

And things seemed to be moving in that direction when rumors surfaced this summer that the property had been optioned by Robert Simon, a well-known commercial developer who helped bring the $64 million Regions Field to downtown Birmingham last year.

The one scenario that absolutely can't happen is for that key piece of property to sit vacant and unused for an extended period.

A spokeswoman for Simon's Birmingham development company, Corporate Realty, said she did not have any information on the Coke property.

Demolition work is expected to wrap up in late October. After that, the potential buyer has 60 days to inspect the property before deciding whether to move forward.

Emerson, the Downtown Huntsville Inc. CEO, said he hopes that whoever buys the Coke site is prepared to redevelop it quickly.

[Huntsvillenative]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

a signature high rise (15+ stories) should be part of this whatever is decided


from al.com, Steve Doyle

The former Coca-Cola bottling plant site on Clinton Avenue likely will not become home to a new downtown baseball stadium -- even though the rumored buyer helped develop Regions Field in downtown Birmingham.

Downtown Huntsville Inc. CEO Chad Emerson said concepts he has seen show the prime tract becoming a mix of uses that complement the nearby Von Braun Center.

"I don't think that site is going to be redeveloped with baseball," Emerson told AL.com Tuesday.

Spanning nine acres, the old bottling plant property was viewed by some as the most logical place for a new downtown minor league ballpark to replace aging Joe Davis Stadium on Memorial Parkway.

And things seemed to be moving in that direction when rumors surfaced this summer that the property had been optioned by Robert Simon, a well-known commercial developer who helped bring the $64 million Regions Field to downtown Birmingham last year.

The one scenario that absolutely can't happen is for that key piece of property to sit vacant and unused for an extended period.

A spokeswoman for Simon's Birmingham development company, Corporate Realty, said she did not have any information on the Coke property.

Demolition work is expected to wrap up in late October. After that, the potential buyer has 60 days to inspect the property before deciding whether to move forward.

Emerson, the Downtown Huntsville Inc. CEO, said he hopes that whoever buys the Coke site is prepared to redevelop it quickly.

And this is why Huntsville will always been seen as the brother of Mayberry. Might as well call up Barney Fife and Andy Taylor to run the police squad. I hear Aunt Bee makes some good ole down home southern cooking.

Huntsville. A small southern city ran by small minded individuals who have no vision for a better city for tomorrow.

[beergutbrew]

Originally Posted by Huntsvillenative

And this is why Huntsville will always been seen as the brother of Mayberry. Might as well call up Barney Fife and Andy Taylor to run the police squad. I hear Aunt Bee makes some good ole down home southern cooking.

Huntsville. A small southern city ran by small minded individuals who have no vision for a better city for tomorrow.

Agreed

[HSVTiger]

Constellation update..same song different verse

Scott McLain says people shouldn't read anything into the lack of construction activity on his Constellation project at the Memorial Parkway-Clinton Avenue junction.

He said he and his business partners are actively negotiating with four restaurant chains plus several companies that develop residential and office space.

"There's a great deal going on behind the scenes, and we're very encouraged about it," McLain told AL.com Monday. "We have letters of intent flying back and forth.

"We're closer than we've ever been."

In May, McLain attended the International Council of Shopping Centers' annual convention in Las Vegas – the nation's largest retail gathering. He said spoke with 10 restaurant chains about Constellation and remains in close contact with four of them.

"All of these will be new to Huntsville," he said, "and all but one would be new to Alabama."

McLain said one or possibly two restaurant negotiations could wrap up as soon as this week. Once letters of intent are signed, he said, the Constellation team can apply for building permits and get the land behind the Von Braun Center ready for construction.

Because site work and engineering will take several months, said McLain, passersby probably won't see any steel rising from the ground until early 2015.
He said his goal is for construction to happen simultaneously on two restaurants that would face Heart of Huntsville Drive, as well as a second hotel to complement the 149-room SpringHill Suites that opened in late 2011.

In addition to McLain, who owns the land and runs Coldwell Banker Commercial McLain Real Estate, and other members of the McLain family, the Constellation team announced earlier this year includes: Batson-Cook Development of Atlanta; The McGarey Group retail recruitment and leasing firm of Huntsville; Huntsville's Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood architects; financial adviser Charles Dunlap of Atlanta; and Huntsville-based Yedla Management, which will develop the new hotel.

Kajima USA, a Japanese firm that owns Batson-Cook's commercial construction arm, is also "a source of financial support," said McLain.
Source al.com

[David1502]

Belk will have a "soft opening" of its $25 million flagship store at Bridge Street this Saturday. The grand opening will be on the 15th. The al.com article has pictures inside the new store. http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf...l#incart_river

The article seems to indicate the store will be at least high end as their Parkway Place store which is also a flagship location.

[HSVTiger]

Part of major downtown Huntsville road will be closed for the next 16 months as construction begins on the so-called "Downtown Gateway."

Lowe Avenue is now off-limits to traffic between Gallatin Street and Williams Avenue. That's the stretch behind Twickenham Square and the old downtown Holiday Inn.

Alan Clements, an assistant city engineer overseeing the Downtown Gateway project, said construction crews are already hauling in dirt for approaches to a new bridge that will be built over Fagan Creek.

Demolition will start next week on four vacant office buildings along Governors Drive and St. Clair Avenue that are in the way of the new downtown access road
There will be two lanes of traffic in each direction, separated by a grassy median. A traffic signal will be added at the Downtown Gateway-St. Clair Avenue intersection, said Clements.
Steve Doyle al.com

[HSVTiger]

Good news for TGI Fridays, this restaurant has operated in Huntsville since the mid 80's i think and survived the coming and going of theme style eateries.

"The TGI Fridays in Huntsville is slated to get a makeover in the next two years as a result of a new purchase agreement between the eatery's corporate office and a South Carolina company.

Southeast Restaurant Group (SRG), a subsidiary of KFK Group, announced this week it has added 20 additional TGI Fridays to its portfolio of franchise and independenty-owned restaurant concepts across the southern U.S. One of those 20 is the Huntsville location on 4935 University Square.

Nick Malone of KFK Group said TGI Fridays customers can look to its recently revamped Mobile location to get an idea of what the Huntsville store will look like when it is renovated.

"The scope of the reimaging varies depending on the restaurant and the guest," he said. "Elements of the exterior reimage include new signage, lighting and awnings. On the interior, the elements include new artwork/décor, improved seating and tables, upgrades to lighting and an enhanced bar featuring a steel gantry with inset TVs."

"We may also consider areas such as Madison, Athens, Decatur, or Florence given the growth of northern Alabama."

Malone said SRG is also looking to expand TGI Fridays' footprint in Huntsville, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery.

"Huntsville is a strong market and we will make a determination at some point in the future whether a second location, perhaps in the west side of the city, will be appropriate," he said. "We may also consider areas such as Madison, Athens, Decatur, or Florence given the growth of northern Alabama."
Lucy Berry al.com

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Good news for TGI Fridays, this restaurant has operated in Huntsville since the mid 80's i think and survived the coming and going of theme style eateries.

"The TGI Fridays in Huntsville is slated to get a makeover in the next two years as a result of a new purchase agreement between the eatery's corporate office and a South Carolina company.

Southeast Restaurant Group (SRG), a subsidiary of KFK Group, announced this week it has added 20 additional TGI Fridays to its portfolio of franchise and independenty-owned restaurant concepts across the southern U.S. One of those 20 is the Huntsville location on 4935 University Square.

Nick Malone of KFK Group said TGI Fridays customers can look to its recently revamped Mobile location to get an idea of what the Huntsville store will look like when it is renovated.

"The scope of the reimaging varies depending on the restaurant and the guest," he said. "Elements of the exterior reimage include new signage, lighting and awnings. On the interior, the elements include new artwork/décor, improved seating and tables, upgrades to lighting and an enhanced bar featuring a steel gantry with inset TVs."

"We may also consider areas such as Madison, Athens, Decatur, or Florence given the growth of northern Alabama."

Malone said SRG is also looking to expand TGI Fridays' footprint in Huntsville, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery.

"Huntsville is a strong market and we will make a determination at some point in the future whether a second location, perhaps in the west side of the city, will be appropriate," he said. "We may also consider areas such as Madison, Athens, Decatur, or Florence given the growth of northern Alabama."
Lucy Berry al.com

Good news! I've always liked Fridays, so I really hope they will place one in Tuscaloosa and Decatur.

[HSVTiger]

Coming downtown..nice mix of restaurants will be at Twickenham

The fifth and final restaurant at Twickenham Square will bring something sweet to downtown Huntsville.

Commercial real estate firm Crunkleton & Associates announced this morning that the Chocolate Martini Bar will open next spring. It will be the restaurant's first Alabama location.

Founded by Bill Panzica, the Chocolate Martini Bar has three other dessert restaurants in the U.S., including Louisville, Ky., Cleveland, Ohio, and Buffalo, N.Y. The more than 3,000-square-foot Huntsville location will be one of seven new Chocolate Martini Bars to open across the country.

"The property it is going to be in looks like a great fit and offers a pretty unique vibe," Panzica said of Twickenham Square.

Desserts include crepes, hot chocolate, milkshakes, cakes, pie, cupcakes, customizable s'mores, fruit and more. Champagne, beer, specialty shots, mojitos and several non-alcoholic drink options will also be available for purchase.

In addition to a full line of martinis or "liquid desserts," the menu offers salads, sandwiches, flatbreads, steaks, seafood and pasta -- but with a chocolaty twist.

Although open to both sexes, Panzica said his restaurant concept caters heavily to women with Martinis & Manicures on Monday nights and free chair massages on Wednesday nights.
From al.com

[David1502]

The long awaited Harris Hill development located at the intersection of Hwy 72 East at Moores Mill Rd. may be coming out of dormancy. On the City of Huntsville's Planning Commission Agenda for September, on page 4, there is a Zoning Change Request for NTI at the southeast corner of the Moores Mill Rd./ 72 East intersection. The request is for 10.23 acres which is presently zoned Neighborhood Business to change to Highway Business. This piqued my interest, so I looked at the Madison County Tax Assesor's website (http://emaps.emapsplus.com/standard/madisoncoal.html) and found out that there are two new owners for the different parcels which comprise the Harris Hill land: Progress Bank & Trust (in Huntsville) and a company called Crimson Harris Hill Blvd. LLC which has a mailing address in Newport Beach, CA (A very expensive locale).

There are two other owners of parcel:s a company called LLS LLC (based in Huntsville) and James Packard of Huntsville.

This leads to several questions: What is NTI (National Tire?) and what are the plans of Crimson Harris Hill Blvd? Banks don't usually choose to be in the real estate business and I am curious if Crimson Harris Hill will attempt to buy more.

A little bit of history: Back in the 1990's, Wal-Mart had plans to build a Super Center on this land, but there was an issue of an historic cemetery. Then, the Walker family purchased it and later announced plans for a large mixed use development with Target rumored as a major anchor along with numerous other stores, several restaurants and quite a number of apartments. They also purchased the historic mansion built in 1825. The only development which occurred was the construction of Harris Hill Blvd. from the other side of Chapman Mountain to Old Gurley Rd. and a 24 hour Fitness Center.

A major complication for the development of this property is that Alabama DOT has plans to build an overpass over Moores Mill Rd. and Shields Rd. and hasn't determined how much right of way they will require.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see if the new owners of these various parcels of land proceed with development any time soon.

[HSVTiger]

Downtown Development at the old Holiday Inn

Big Spring Square



Central Realty Holdings of Greenville, S.C. , is the lead developer of the $70 million project called Big Spring Square that will break ground in April 2015, Mayor Tommy Battle said at a press conference. It will open in 2016.
It will include a minimum of 28,000 square feet of shops, restaurants and offices.

- It will include 200 residential units and a multi-level parking lot.

- Demolition will begin in November and construction next April.

- The city retains ownership of the land and will retain some control of the development.

Central Realty Holdings also has the first option on a second phase of the project that will involve demolishing and replacing the Jim Williams Aquatic Center. A new Natatorium is in the city's plan for 2016.

[stewdog1]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Downtown Development at the old Holiday Inn

Big Spring Square



Central Realty Holdings of Greenville, S.C. , is the lead developer of the $70 million project called Big Spring Square that will break ground in April 2015, Mayor Tommy Battle said at a press conference. It will open in 2016.
It will include a minimum of 28,000 square feet of shops, restaurants and offices.

- It will include 200 residential units and a multi-level parking lot.

- Demolition will begin in November and construction next April.

- The city retains ownership of the land and will retain some control of the development.

Central Realty Holdings also has the first option on a second phase of the project that will involve demolishing and replacing the Jim Williams Aquatic Center. A new Natatorium is in the city's plan for 2016.

While it is great that development is finally happening, I'm sorely disappointed in it only being 5 stories. This development should have been at least 10 stories and been a pseudo signature tower. Something that would make it a distinctive downtown. From the pictures, it looks like an extension of Research Park and Bridge Street.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by stewdog1

While it is great that development is finally happening, I'm sorely disappointed in it only being 5 stories. This development should have been at least 10 stories and been a pseudo signature tower. Something that would make it a distinctive downtown. From the pictures, it looks like an extension of Research Park and Bridge Street.

exactly.. a great development potential that is as boring as it can be. Twickenham Station is the same way. Don't dare create something visually exciting.
The architect just opened the cookie cutter folder added Big Spring Square and clicked print..

[thunder89]

I'm happy with the uptick in downtown interest and development, but one would think that the city would utilize the area that exists. Yes, I like the idea of a mixed use area, and checklist all of these as a yes (hotel, retail, residential), but when will the city get the ball rolling with a little height? I don't think asking for a ten story building of some sort would be out of the question.

The cookie cutter design leaves a lot to be desired, but I'll take it. Let's just hope Constellation will do better....oh wait

[TimCity2000]

at least the holiday inn eyesore will finally be gone.

but yeah, this could've/should've been much more...

[David1502]

A representative for The Sembler Company, the leasing agent for Town Madison, said that they are in negotiations with ten big box retailers for the 300,000 square foot shopping center. Here is the link to the al.com article:
http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/in...l#incart_river

It would be more exciting if one of the anchors was a Macy's or a Von Maur's, but given the number of anchors (10) and the size of the shopping center (300,000 sq. ft.), it seems doubtful at this point. There seems to have been way more hype at the ground breaking than was needed for the reality of another Target anchored shopping center with the usual assortment of Kohl's, a Home Depot, a Mattress store, and maybe a Bed, Bath and Beyond. Their drawings already show a Publix and home improvement store.

There is a strong possibility that they will cannibalize other similar type shopping centers in order to get these 10 big box stores. My guess is that University Drive will take the hit.

The shopping center should open late 2016 or early 2017.

[huntsvillefan]

Originally Posted by thunder89

I'm happy with the uptick in downtown interest and development, but one would think that the city would utilize the area that exists. Yes, I like the idea of a mixed use area, and checklist all of these as a yes (hotel, retail, residential), but when will the city get the ball rolling with a little height? I don't think asking for a ten story building of some sort would be out of the question.

The cookie cutter design leaves a lot to be desired, but I'll take it. Let's just hope Constellation will do better....oh wait

Agree! So glad for all the development downtown; so sorry for the lack of imagination in the building designs.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by David1502

A representative for The Sembler Company, the leasing agent for Town Madison, said that they are in negotiations with ten big box retailers for the 300,000 square foot shopping center. Here is the link to the al.com article:
http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/in...l#incart_river

It would be more exciting if one of the anchors was a Macy's or a Von Maur's, but given the number of anchors (10) and the size of the shopping center (300,000 sq. ft.), it seems doubtful at this point. There seems to have been way more hype at the ground breaking than was needed for the reality of another Target anchored shopping center with the usual assortment of Kohl's, a Home Depot, a Mattress store, and maybe a Bed, Bath and Beyond. Their drawings already show a Publix and home improvement store.

There is a strong possibility that they will cannibalize other similar type shopping centers in order to get these 10 big box stores. My guess is that University Drive will take the hit.

The shopping center should open late 2016 or early 2017.

Some key comments in that article


The land for the retail area has been cleared of trees in recent weeks, and developers continue to work on site plans for store layout and roads.
Typical poor development, instead of working with the land destroy it


Beyer said the new interchange and road supporting the shopping center must be complete before any of the stores will open. He anticipates opening in late 2016 or early 2017.
Good luck, aldot controls this project

On a side note sounds like Publix or similar will be building another store in Madison. Wall Triana Highway and Browns Ferry Road.
Sembler Company's plans to build a 130,000-square-foot shopping center with a large grocery store as the anchor. There would be an additional 12,000 feet of linear retail space adjoin the grocery store, which will face Wall Triana, and three outparcels.

also
Construction of the northbound lanes for the Zierdt Road project is expected to begin in February, barring a harsh winter.

Scott Leach, senior project manager with Garver who is responsible for the design to transform the existing two-lane roadway into four lanes, said the project is scheduled for ALDOT's Nov. 7 bid opening.

and back downtown
Maynard Cooper & Gale, which launched in Huntsville 25 years ago, held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday morning for a new 18,000-square-foot office addition behind its existing facility on 655 Gallatin St. The new building on 515 Fountain Road will also include an elevated walkway to connect the two structures.

[Huntsvillenative]

Not having the new baseball stadium downtown at the former coke site is a crucial mistake and will hurt any future growth and development. You have to give people a reason to go downtown and not just for one weekend event, but for a weekly event for several months a year. Only baseball can offer that. But, oh well. It is what it is and why Huntsville is Mayberry 2014.