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  #2781  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2008, 2:29 PM
Shawn35816 Shawn35816 is offline
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Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede View Post
Oh that really sucks another empty store in Madison Square mall we already have a complete empty anchor there and they want to build a billion dollar development in Madison and Decatur as well as Constellation downtown and Harris Hills.
That part of University is doomed to become a shadow of it's former self.

If you've ever been to places such as Florida (lived in Orlando), then you know what is going to happen. As more people move into the suburbs of an area, the stores tend to move farther out to meet the people. If you've been to the old Kissimmee area, you will see a lot of dead strip malls, and a few dead malls because as soon as the area stops being attractive, they move out.

Now I'm not saying that University will be totally dead, by the mall. I am saying that area will never be totally full of stores again.
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  #2782  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2008, 4:01 PM
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I don't totally agree, that property is WAY to valuable, location excellent.
The stores fail because of their issuse(Bankruptcy).
We are seeing an evolution of the area which is normal. Parkway Place is an excellent example of a dead mall brought back to a vibrant center and surrounding area. Madison Square will have to keep changing to keep up and why wouldn't it. Right now retail is sucking big time and no area is being spared. I guess a good indicator will be what happens with the Old Navy/Barnes Noble center since those have moved to Bridge Street.
In the past year and a half 3-4 hotels, 5-6 restaurants have opened in the area, which makes it much more attractive than it used to be. Plus a large amount of new housing has gone up or planned within a 1 mile radius of the mall.
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  #2783  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2008, 4:04 PM
Huntsville_secede Huntsville_secede is offline
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That part of University is doomed to become a shadow of it's former self.

If you've ever been to places such as Florida (lived in Orlando), then you know what is going to happen. As more people move into the suburbs of an area, the stores tend to move farther out to meet the people. If you've been to the old Kissimmee area, you will see a lot of dead strip malls, and a few dead malls because as soon as the area stops being attractive, they move out.

Now I'm not saying that University will be totally dead, by the mall. I am saying that area will never be totally full of stores again.
Yeah I know thats part of the problem, University is basically moving more into the Western portions of 72 closer to the population of Madison but Madison Square is still the largest mall in North Alabama I don't think it should die so easily unless Parkway plans a major expansion, or a new shopping center is seriously planned to be built (Billion dollar development in Madison). I still think of Madison Square as (THE mall here) BridgeStreet is a lifestyle center and too small to be considered THE MALL here. So who's going to be our mall now?
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  #2784  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2008, 4:09 PM
Huntsville_secede Huntsville_secede is offline
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I don't totally agree, that property is WAY to valuable, location excellent.
The stores fail because of their issuse(Bankruptcy).
We are seeing an evolution of the area which is normal. Parkway Place is an excellent example of a dead mall brought back to a vibrant center and surrounding area. Madison Square will have to keep changing to keep up and why wouldn't it. Right now retail is sucking big time and no area is being spared. I guess a good indicator will be what happens with the Old Navy/Barnes Noble center since those have moved to Bridge Street.
In the past year and a half 3-4 hotels, 5-6 restaurants have opened in the area, which makes it much more attractive than it used to be. Plus a large amount of new housing has gone up or planned within a 1 mile radius of the mall.
I agree I still think that area is too valuable to let die especially with its proximity to Research Park, and like I said before Madison Square is still the largest mall in North Alabama that means something. I think the area will just have to offer different types of stores than it has in the past since a lot of stuff is moving towards Madison.
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  #2785  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2008, 10:48 PM
crr0004 crr0004 is offline
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I think Madison Square Mall appeals to the type of people that are less willing to spend large amounts of money at the stores. The stores there are not attractive to those who can afford to spend money and therefore they will go to other malls such as Bridge Street or Parkway Place. The only stores keeping Madison Square's head above water are Belk and Dillard's, and they are lucky Bridge Street didn't end up getting a Macy's or something similar for one of their anchors.
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  #2786  
Old Posted Jul 24, 2008, 4:05 AM
Huntsville_secede Huntsville_secede is offline
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I think Madison Square Mall appeals to the type of people that are less willing to spend large amounts of money at the stores. The stores there are not attractive to those who can afford to spend money and therefore they will go to other malls such as Bridge Street or Parkway Place. The only stores keeping Madison Square's head above water are Belk and Dillard's, and they are lucky Bridge Street didn't end up getting a Macy's or something similar for one of their anchors.
I'm not convinced the people of Huntsville are really willing to spend large amounts of money at the type of stores in BridgeStreet especially with the way the economy is now. Some of my relatives came up for the weekend and stopped at BridgeStreet and they noticed how empty a lot of the stores were. And I've been there at least a dozen times and I always notice many of the stores empty even during peak shopping hours. A lot of the traffic there seems to be people waiting to get a table at one of the restaurants or waiting for a movie but are they actually buying anything? I'm interested to see how many of the stores are meeting or even coming close to their sales goal and remember the economy in Huntsville is still pretty good right now so the economic downturn can't be blamed entirely for BridgeStreet not meeting its expectations.
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  #2787  
Old Posted Jul 24, 2008, 1:48 PM
Huntsville_secede Huntsville_secede is offline
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County schools to buy land
Thursday, July 24, 2008
By KENNETH KESNER
Times Staff Writer kenneth.kesner@htimes.com

Rising propertycosts, availabilityreason for move

Money isn't available for a new school to relieve overcrowding at Sparkman High, but the Madison County Board of Education is planning to go ahead and buy property for a new campus now.

"Because land prices are going up quickly," said Superintendent Terry Davis, "we are trying to secure land in the Sparkman High district for a future high school."

Davis could not say when, if the land is bought, construction might begin.

"The need is now," he said, adding that "it is the big-ticket item" in the district's capital plan.

A high school will cost a minimum of $40 million and probably more, he said. Construction prices are rising and money for the project is not available in the near future.

Voters turned down a countywide half-cent sales tax increase that would have provided some building money for all three local school systems, and the Madison County district is at the limits of its borrowing capacity.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletim...290.xml&coll=1
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  #2788  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 12:00 AM
Huntsvillenative Huntsvillenative is offline
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Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede View Post
I'm not convinced the people of Huntsville are really willing to spend large amounts of money at the type of stores in BridgeStreet especially with the way the economy is now. Some of my relatives came up for the weekend and stopped at BridgeStreet and they noticed how empty a lot of the stores were. And I've been there at least a dozen times and I always notice many of the stores empty even during peak shopping hours. A lot of the traffic there seems to be people waiting to get a table at one of the restaurants or waiting for a movie but are they actually buying anything? I'm interested to see how many of the stores are meeting or even coming close to their sales goal and remember the economy in Huntsville is still pretty good right now so the economic downturn can't be blamed entirely for BridgeStreet not meeting its expectations.
The poor economy nationwide is having an effect on everyone including us. Gas prices are to blame. Once gas prices start to go down after the election then we will see a return of a past normal lifestyle. I'm optimistic that Bridgestreet will become the best option for local shopping around by the end of the year. I feel it already is. I love to go walking around Bridgstreet and there's always a massive oversized crowd there shopping and eating out and especially going to the theater. Not to mention the gondolas are always out on the lake as are the paddle boats and those aren't cheap to rent. So it's definitely making a profit.
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  #2789  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 12:04 AM
Huntsvillenative Huntsvillenative is offline
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I saw a story tonight on WAFF 48 about the housing projects around downtown are about to be raized and removed to make room for a major overhaul redevelopment. They mentioned new condos and upper scale businesses as well as shopping and retail and maybe even a new school. Sounds like wonderful things headed to downtown. They need to get Sci-Quest relocated to downtown near the Children's museum and the art museum. That would bring in more tourism and visitors to the downtown area.
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  #2790  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 12:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Huntsvillenative View Post
I saw a story tonight on WAFF 48 about the housing projects around downtown are about to be raized and removed to make room for a major overhaul redevelopment. They mentioned new condos and upper scale businesses as well as shopping and retail and maybe even a new school. Sounds like wonderful things headed to downtown. They need to get Sci-Quest relocated to downtown near the Children's museum and the art museum. That would bring in more tourism and visitors to the downtown area.

This probably is the Searcy homes area which will also include a greenway connecting to the Constellation project. Also on tap is the removal of projects around Huntsville Hospital which is planned be replaced with new housing, retail and offices, restaurants possibly a hotel. This land is some of the most valuable in the city.
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  #2791  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 12:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Huntsvillenative View Post
The poor economy nationwide is having an effect on everyone including us. Gas prices are to blame. Once gas prices start to go down after the election then we will see a return of a past normal lifestyle. I'm optimistic that Bridgestreet will become the best option for local shopping around by the end of the year. I feel it already is. I love to go walking around Bridgstreet and there's always a massive oversized crowd there shopping and eating out and especially going to the theater. Not to mention the gondolas are always out on the lake as are the paddle boats and those aren't cheap to rent. So it's definitely making a profit.
I would hope that our wasteful lifestyle would be changed. Huntsville could be a leader in alternative transportation, better urban design, and improving the environment. Bridge Street as a project is wonderful but you still have to have massive parking and no way to get to other places.without a car. A light rail or a true shuttle from downtown/Parkway Place, and or University Dr area would be a monumental addition. Bridge Street also could use another hotel even two to
add density. The good thing is all of this can still be done.
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  #2792  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 1:03 AM
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Passenger count at Huntsville International Airport through June reached 640,153.
A 7.9% increase over the same period last year.
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  #2793  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 1:20 AM
Huntsville_secede Huntsville_secede is offline
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Originally Posted by Huntsvillenative View Post
The poor economy nationwide is having an effect on everyone including us. Gas prices are to blame. Once gas prices start to go down after the election then we will see a return of a past normal lifestyle. I'm optimistic that Bridgestreet will become the best option for local shopping around by the end of the year. I feel it already is. I love to go walking around Bridgstreet and there's always a massive oversized crowd there shopping and eating out and especially going to the theater. Not to mention the gondolas are always out on the lake as are the paddle boats and those aren't cheap to rent. So it's definitely making a profit.
Like I said before I'm not convinced until I hear about some actually sales numbers. I don't see how those stores that stay empty all the time are making a profit, I go all the time and I see people looking, eating, going to the movies but not necessarily shopping at the really higher end stores and the jewelers especially Kate spade does anyone ever buy anything there? A lot of traffic at the mall doesn't necessarily mean some of the individual stores are doing well. It has been improving lately as BridgeStreet catches on more so hopefully by the end of the year it will do great especiall during the holiday season. Nevertheless I hope it is doing well the future of development in Huntsville depends on it.

Last edited by Huntsville_secede; Jul 25, 2008 at 1:38 AM.
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  #2794  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 3:03 AM
Jacknah Jacknah is offline
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I saw a story tonight on WAFF 48 about the housing projects around downtown are about to be raized and removed to make room for a major overhaul redevelopment. They mentioned new condos and upper scale businesses as well as shopping and retail and maybe even a new school. Sounds like wonderful things headed to downtown. They need to get Sci-Quest relocated to downtown near the Children's museum and the art museum. That would bring in more tourism and visitors to the downtown area.
Sounds good. Get that garbage out of there. Who was the idiot who decided to put that right in the middle of downtown on scarce real estate?
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  #2795  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 3:05 AM
Jacknah Jacknah is offline
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I would hope that our wasteful lifestyle would be changed. Huntsville could be a leader in alternative transportation, better urban design, and improving the environment. Bridge Street as a project is wonderful but you still have to have massive parking and no way to get to other places.without a car. A light rail or a true shuttle from downtown/Parkway Place, and or University Dr area would be a monumental addition. Bridge Street also could use another hotel even two to
add density. The good thing is all of this can still be done.

Pointless. Bridge Street is higher-end shopping and dining. Customers who spend money there are going to be people who can afford, and prefer, to drive in their own car there. Buses are miserable, and a waste of tax dollars.
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  #2796  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 3:28 AM
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Pointless. Bridge Street is higher-end shopping and dining. Customers who spend money there are going to be people who can afford, and prefer, to drive in their own car there. Buses are miserable, and a waste of tax dollars.
My only reaction to your post: When gas hits $5 a gallon then you'll know why mass transit is good.
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  #2797  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 3:41 AM
jmanhsv jmanhsv is offline
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^I second what g-man said...

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Originally Posted by Huntsvillenative View Post
I saw a story tonight on WAFF 48 about the housing projects around downtown are about to be raized and removed to make room for a major overhaul redevelopment. They mentioned new condos and upper scale businesses as well as shopping and retail and maybe even a new school. Sounds like wonderful things headed to downtown. They need to get Sci-Quest relocated to downtown near the Children's museum and the art museum. That would bring in more tourism and visitors to the downtown area.
Yeah, like Tiger said, they were talking specifically about the Searcy Homes project off of Holmes. The new elementary school is probably the proposed consolidation of Terry Heights and University Place, which really isn't planned for downtown (I'm almost positive it's planned for the Sparkman Homes area), but oh well. And I think the "shopping centers" they were referring to was the Constellation development, which is so much more than a mere shopping center. 48 tends to either exaggerate or get the story completely wrong, which is one of the reasons why I no longer watch local TV news....
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  #2798  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 8:48 PM
Jacknah Jacknah is offline
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My only reaction to your post: When gas hits $5 a gallon then you'll know why mass transit is good.

At $5 a gallon I'll still be driving my car. I can afford it. I don't see gas as being expensive at all. I'm the kind of person that spends money at Bridge Street. Anyone worried about being able to afford to drive to the mall is not going to be spending money on high-end clothing and acessories, or eating expensive dinners. Buses there is a complete and utter waste of precious tax dollars. There is no way that the profit to the community, nor the tax revenues, would outweigh the cost of such a boondoggle.
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  #2799  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 10:49 PM
Huntsvillenative Huntsvillenative is offline
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At $5 a gallon I'll still be driving my car. I can afford it. I don't see gas as being expensive at all. I'm the kind of person that spends money at Bridge Street. Anyone worried about being able to afford to drive to the mall is not going to be spending money on high-end clothing and acessories, or eating expensive dinners. Buses there is a complete and utter waste of precious tax dollars. There is no way that the profit to the community, nor the tax revenues, would outweigh the cost of such a boondoggle.
I heard that there are plans to build a monorail system from the Space Center to Botanical Gardens for tourist purposes. Maybe since BS is so close to the SC they will expand it to BS. Just a thought.
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  #2800  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2008, 11:30 PM
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At $5 a gallon I'll still be driving my car. I can afford it. I don't see gas as being expensive at all. I'm the kind of person that spends money at Bridge Street. Anyone worried about being able to afford to drive to the mall is not going to be spending money on high-end clothing and acessories, or eating expensive dinners. Buses there is a complete and utter waste of precious tax dollars. There is no way that the profit to the community, nor the tax revenues, would outweigh the cost of such a boondoggle.
Your logic is very ignorant and closed minded, I can afford to shop at Bridge Street and frequent the Monaco Theater, however if I had the choice I'd much rather use public transit. Then again, I've also lived in cities like Washington D.C. where it's common to sit next to a doctor, lawyer, or even an elected politician on the Metro.
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