Montgomery development news

[thoraudio]

no, that's not the one we're working on. Unfortunately my 'partner' is the one with the connections and real estate experience, and he's in no hurry

[bystander1]

Originally Posted by thoraudio

no, that's not the one we're working on. Unfortunately my 'partner' is the one with the connections and real estate experience, and he's in no hurry

Maybe that means he's thinking of something really nice.


Thoraudio, maybe you can help us with some info about some of this:

The Old Alabama Railyards property is being cleared of all the brush and overgrowth, and now the old trainshed and support buildings there are fully visible. It's quite a sight to see clearly whats been hidden away for so many years. I wish someone could restore those buildings, but they look like they're too far gone to be saved.

Does anyone know what they are clearing the property for?

Also, what are they doing to Court Square next to the Regions tower?

[thoraudio]

the potential condo mentioned.



Homey isn't it

Actually, there are some windows on the other side facing the ball park, and it looks like the current covering is 'new' stucco... maybe there's something nice underneath. ***edit*** I've been informed that the stucco covers a beautiful concrete slab exterior

For my 'partner' he's definately of the bird-in-the-hand variety. He's got a successfull business, and concentrates on that. But he's still interested, and he's my only real 'in'.

If our current proposal gets beyond the blackboard stage, it will be a big deal, not just 3-4 condo units in a small converted building. But there's alot of time, and alot of hurdles to cross....

[thoraudio]

Bystander, no idea on the projects you've mentioned, but I'd guess now that the city owns the railyards that they're just cleaning it up and maintaining it. And I'd bet they're landscaping the little park next to the Regions tower...

although Roy Moore's group bought that building right next to it... maybe they're erecting a pedestal or altar for him.

<- conservative Christian who doesn't like that grandstander....

[DruidCity]

bystander1, that's a nice-looking diagram.

thoraudio, does your real-estate associate (or whatever term would be appropriate) do projects just in the Montgomery area ?

[thoraudio]

he's an appraiser... or more accurately, he owns an appraisal firm.

Last year, after learning about all the condo conversions going on in Bham, and finding that the Commerce Building was for sale, I decided I wanted to try to get involved in someway. Now since I have no money or real estate experience, I couldn't just walk into a bank and say, "I need $8,000,000 to fix up this old building over here", so I had to rely on my 'connections'.

So I called one of my high school buddies (all the $$ my parents spent to send me to a private school finally paying off ) who I knew was an appraiser. My questions to him were going to be, how do you do an appraisal with nothing to compare it to (the Commerce conversion would work at $200/ft but not at $150), and do you know anybody who'd be interested in pursuing something like this?

Well, it turns out he was interested. We pursued the Commerce building, I drew up proposals, got pro forma and renter info, did the leg work, while he pointed me in the right directions. Unfortunately, by the time he got serious, the building was under contract. The buyers strung it out to the end of the contract period (we were asked to prepare a new offer), but finally got it last month.

So now we're looking for something new. I did leg work again, tracked down properties, got prices, contacts etc... We settled on a project idea, but he's tied up with his current business stuff for a couple of months, and I've hit the end of my expertise (which was none to begin with).

Which kills me. Mtgy is a small market. I don't think it could support more than 100-150 condo's/apts downtown right now. But there is very little out there. My thoughts are that somebody is going to hit it big with the first large offering, and then the market will glut in a big ole hurry.

keep your fingers crossed.

[DruidCity]

I don't think it could support more than 100-150 condo's/apts downtown right now. But there is very little out there. My thoughts are that somebody is going to hit it big with the first large offering, and then the market will glut in a big ole hurry.

I don't know Montgomery all that well, but I'm guessing there's more of a pent-up demand than that. If it's like the rest of the state, there's a solid pile of would-be downtown buyers who simply haven't had anything to buy.

[bystander1]

Man, I can't wait to see how they can turn that hideous building into luxury lofts.

Thoraudio, I saw your proposal for the Commerce Building. It was really nice and I wish it had gone through. You’ve learned a lot about real estate on your own and with your friend’s help.

[bystander1]

Originally Posted by DruidCity

I don't know Montgomery all that well, but I'm guessing there's more of a pent-up demand than that. If it's like the rest of the state, there's a solid pile of would-be downtown buyers who simply haven't had anything to buy.

I'd have to agree with you, DruidCity. The way the small number of lofts that have been built so far are being snapped up as soon as they are completed (or before they're completed), seems to be a good sign of demand for downtown lofts. The fact that the strange-looking stucco building was purchased in order to turn it into 3 or 4 luxury condos looks like even more proof of that. Like you said, many are waiting for something to buy and are waiting for the bigger proposals; the attractive midrises and highrises in or near the Riverfront District. A study was done a fews years ago about the number of lofts downtown could support, but I can't remember how many. Maybe I can find the article somewhere, but I'm pretty sure it was more than 150.
That's good news for Thoraudio and his real estate partner's condo proposal.

[bystander1]

Originally Posted by thoraudio

Bystander, no idea on the projects you've mentioned, but I'd guess now that the city owns the railyards that they're just cleaning it up and maintaining it. And I'd bet they're landscaping the little park next to the Regions tower...

I found out what the city is doing to Court Square.

They are going to return it to its original form...a roundabout! Just as it was before urban renewal in 1970's.








Here's how Court Square looks today since the street around the fountian was bricked-in to make it a pedestrian walkway and park:















Much of the pedestrian park in the background will return to its original street form...





Traffic will no longer cut through Court Square like this...




I think that would be pretty cool to have a roundabout downtown again!

[thoraudio]

hmmm, mixed feelings on that one...

the roundabout idea is nice, but it won't go anywhere (unless they re-open Commerce). And if/when/maybe there is ever a revival in the 100 block, the pedestrian area would be a great dining/entertainment area...

although maybe it will give them incentive to blow up the monstrosity that is One Court Square.... hmmm.

[thoraudio]

Alot of people aren't aware of it, even in the Mtgy area, but Montgomery has an excellent theatre and company in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, as well as an excellent Museum on the same site, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. Both were originally funded by Winton Blount and have an endowment from his estate. Either me or Bystander needs to do a thread on it sometime...

Anyway, the MMFA is opening a new wing this week.

Special activities, exhibits on tap at Montgomery museum

By Robyn Bradley Litchfield
Montgomery Advertiser

Years in the making, one of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts' greatest projects -- its new 23,000-square-foot, $6 million addition with new gallery and educational spaces -- is complete, and folks at the museum can't wait to show it off.

Be part of the ribbon cutting at 5 p.m. today, or stop by this weekend to view two new exhibitions, take part in hands-on activities, meet the artists with works on display and more. But that's not all. At the end of next week, the museum will use the space for its biennial Art Auction, set for March 9 and 11.

On Tuesday, museum director Mark M. Johnson could barely contain his excitement as he stood in one of the facility's original galleries and pushed back the massive oak door leading into the new glass-roofed atrium and the enormous glass installation along the eastern façade of the new grand gallery.

"What do you think?" Johnson said as he moved to the side to reveal Seattle-based artist Cappy Thompson's glass installation, "Stars Falling on Alabama: We Are Enraptured by the Celestial Fireworks of the Muses," the new grand gallery's colorful centerpiece.

"The opening of this new Education Wing is the largest addition yet to the museum and will greatly enhance the museum's ability to serve its public," he said. "Plans like this become a reality with help from our wonderful volunteers, the community and the donors."

Laurie Jean Weil, chairwoman of the museum's capital campaign, which raised more than $9 million (including a $2 million investment from the city of Montgomery) to make the addition happen, is thrilled that this day has arrived.

"Yesterday, when I walked in and saw the carpet down, the Cappy Thompson window installed and the new quilt collection going up on the walls, I was just stunned," she said Wednesday. "I'm so excited for the people of Montgomery, the students and visitors of all ages who will come from around the country to see our exhibitions and participate in our programs."

The addition brings the museum's total space to 73,000 square feet, which includes the 70-by-72-foot Margaret Berry Lowder Gallery. It has doubled the ARTWORKS hands-on children's gallery, increased studio and educational spaces and will give the museum more room to display more works from its permanent collections.

Johnson said, "We're now a large medium-size museum, or a small large museum. With our very fine collection, exhibitions and programs, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is an ideal size, big enough to play with the big boys."

But it's still small enough to be flexible and intimate, he said. It continues to grow with the community, drawing more than 160,000 visitors annually.

Johnson expects Thompson's three series of painted glass windows to bring in even more people in the coming months.

Through May 14, the museum will also showcase an exhibition of 15 of Thompson's painted glass vessels in the atrium. And the artist will be here this weekend to participate in the festivities and discuss her work with visitors.

These vessels, by the way, were painted from the inside. Working on a light table, she follows the lines of a carefully drafted cartoon.

Johnson said, "She works in glass, but I don't consider her a glass artist. She's a painter who works on glass." And, he added, her work is not traditional stained glass, but its finished look has the same effect with her three-layer technique.

"This commission has been most thrilling. It's so exciting to be part of making a permanent piece for an art museum," said Thompson, whose theme for this particular piece is the 1833 meteor showers in Alabama that inspired the song "Stars Fell on Alabama."

"I have been working with muses in my art for awhile, and the museum is the temple of the muses, so I sort of redesigned the stars falling as celestial fireworks," she said.

In her work, muses bring inspiration to an artist (a self-portrait of Thompson) while a crowd huddles under a quilt (inspired by the museum's recent acquisition of quilts), musicians play and other spectators catch the display from afar. Even the designs in the quilt have ties to the museum, its collections and its facilities.

As for the quilts, Johnson said the museum recently acquired the collection of 38 African-American quilts through a partial purchase and donation by collector Kempf Hogan of Birmingham, Mich.

Several of them are featured in the exhibition "Just How I Picture It in My Mind: Contemporary African American Quilts from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts," which runs through May 14.

Quilted from 1950 to 2001, they were made by such Alabama and Mississippi women as Nora Ezell, Yvonne Wells, Mozell Benson, Mary Maxtion and Mary Lucas. Some of the quilters will be on hand this weekend.

Margaret Lynne Ausfeld, the museum's curator of collections and exhibitions, said this collection is important for a number of reasons.

"A lot of people are familiar with the whole tradition of quilt making in Alabama because of the focus on Gee's Bend quilts. This a family-centered tradition. These women have learned how to create this textile art from family members. And it is an important means of artistic expression," she said.

Johnson said the collection rounds out the museum's folk art collection.

"The quilts really complement what we already have," he said. "These 18 (on the gallery walls now) are just the beginning. This is just the first round."

[bystander1]

I am planning to do a photo thread on Blount Cultural Park this year once the museum addition is completed, and the grass and flowers start growing again... since it will look even better.

One down...

[bystander1]

Originally Posted by bystander1

Well, another sprawlmart. Is this any surprise? You just knew it would be a Walmart 3 years ago when McClinton & Co. first put its "another McClinton development" sign on the property. They've built all of the metro's supercenters.

I guess they figured ..."Hey, let's build 1 or 12 more"..

It looks like they actually are going to try to build twelve.
The fourth Walmart has been approved and now...


Could Fifth Wal-Mart Supercenter be Coming to Montgomery County?

WAKA CBS 8
March 3, 2006

Montgomery County could soon be home to a fifth Wal-Mart Supercenter -- possibly on Montgomery's west side. "If we can generate retail growth in an area of our city that needs it, then, yeah, I would welcome a fifth Wal-Mart," Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright told CBS 8 News Friday.

Although no deal has been reached, Bright and Wal-Mart officials have been talking. Some residents welcome the idea. "I think we need that because most of the time, the people on this side of town have to travel all the way across town just to go to Wal-Mart," Montgomery resident Deon Addison said.

City leaders are looking at various ways to breathe new life into the west side. The new Gateway Park and golf course off Interstate 65 is scheduled to open early next month. Workers are also making upgrades to Riverside Heights apartments.

You can count on CBS 8 News to keep you updated on any Wal-Mart plans. Montgomery's third Wal-Mart is under construction on Ann Street while the fourth location, just outside the city limits on Chantilly Parkway, was recently announced.

http://www.waka.com/

[bystander1]

More sprawlmart news info. The city wants to bring a planned eastside Walmart into the city limits plus renew the old plans for one on the westside. And it sounds like these won't just be replacement stores...


March 3, 2006

Bright: Wal-Mart won't close any Montgomery locations

By Sebastian Kitchen
Montgomery Advertiser

Mayor Bobby Bright said there are positive discussions with Wal-Mart officials to annex the location on Chantilly Parkway and to locate a store in a portion of the city where retail is needed, such as west Montgomery.

“They have committed to work with me,” Bright said. “Unofficially, they have committed to be part of the city of Montgomery and work with me in other challenging areas of our city that need retail.”

During the discussions, Bright said Wal-Mart has agreed not to close any of their current locations. Currently, two Wal-Marts are open in the city, one on East Boulevard and another on Atlanta Highway. A third is under construction on Ann Street and expected to open this fall.

Last week, the Montgomery planning commission approved a site on Chantilly Parkway just outside of the city limits in the police jurisdiction.

Bright has been outspoken about not wanting another big box retail store such as Wal-Mart in the city. He believed the location on Chantilly Parkway might lead to the shutdown of the store on the boulevard, which is already plagued with the closing of several chain stores in and around the Montgomery Mall.

The mayor also has concerns about the big box chains closing a store and leaving the building sitting in noticeable, prominent locations.

“Wal-Mart said they are committed not to do it again,” Bright said.

But Bright said he cannot control private dollars if developers want to sale land to Wal-Mart or other companies.

“They could buy Montgomery and put a Wal-Mart wherever they want,” he said.

Bright said he has expressed his concerns with the Wal-Mart officials and said they have been good corporate citizens in Montgomery.

He said they agreed to look at opening a Wal-Mart in west Montgomery.

[...]

[thoraudio]

A Wallyworld on the Southern Bypass at I-85 would actually be a good thing I think....

One thing I was thinking about the other day is that because of Montgomery's relative isolation, we're still the shopping destination for a huge chunk of rural area. not counting Prattville or Wetumpka, you've got to go at least an hour in any direction to get to even a small size town... Clanton to the North, Selma to the west, Auburn to the east and Greenville to the south, Troy to the Southeast.

So a major shopping center on each artery ain't really a bad idea...

[bystander1]

It will either go there, Southern Bypass at I-65, or somewhere along US 31 between US 80 and Hyundai Blvd...which is where they were going to build one about 6 years ago.

[neilson]

Look; if Wal-Mart can be the one to help redeem the Westside; I'm all for it.

And if it gives Hope Hull ppl a closer option for shopping; even more power!

I just want South Blvd. to be brought back to retail life.

[bystander1]

Originally Posted by thoraudio

hmmm, mixed feelings on that one...

the roundabout idea is nice, but it won't go anywhere (unless they re-open Commerce). And if/when/maybe there is ever a revival in the 100 block, the pedestrian area would be a great dining/entertainment area...

although maybe it will give them incentive to blow up the monstrosity that is One Court Square.... hmmm.

Well, part of you wish may come true...no word yet on destroying One Court Square.

The mayor said in a news interview Friday that Court Street, which you refered to as Commerce, will be reopened to one-way traffic. The report also said that the city was in the process of finalizing its plans to return the Lightning Route electric trolley system downtown---starting with Dexter Ave.

If so, whenever it's back running, I'm sure these places will be possible stops along the route:

*Riverwalk Stadium
*Union Station
*new hotel/convention center
*Intermodal Center
*Capital Complex

Thoraudio, what do you think would be some other possible stops along a new Lighting Route?

[thoraudio]

My initial thoughts on the Lightning Route.



This route would hit all the major 'hot'spots. Capitol, restaurants on Jefferson, Brewpub, Stadium, 'Grocer's Alley (which actually still has visible spur line tracks), 1 block from Riverwalk, Civic Center, half a block from intermodal, Troy U, restaurants on Montgomery, and the historic ride up Dexter.

Problems?

Are we talking circle route or 1 train going end to end on a single line. A single line would probably go up and down Commerce and Dexter.

I don't know the turning radius of the proposed units (if a circle route)... I'd assume they could do 90 degrees on the proposed streets, but I don't know.

It's going the wrong way down Jefferson. Jefferson is a developing street... but it's got potential. Madison is where the route used to run (all the way up into Capitol Heights), and the tracks may actually still be there, but running a line down Madison could be a serious traffic issue, and it wouldn't actually go by anything of interest except the RSA Tower.

It also wouldn't address 'commuter' issues. A line or a spur to the Crampton bowl parking lot would get a ton of use during the week.