Montgomery development news

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article on the slow progress of the 'Grocer's Alley" for the riverfront area.

Montgomery Riverfront Alleyway Development Stirs Debate

Plans are moving forward to add more restaurants and retail shops to the Riverfront area in downtown Montgomery.

Right now, the area is inhabited by parked cars and weeds, but Gordon Martin, part of the Riverfront development team, is optimistic about the way it will look in the future. He said the alleyway is, "Not much to look at now but you have to have a little vision and a little imagination."
Martin went on to talk about what he and the rest of the Riverfront development team think the alleyway will become. He said, "we think it's such a neat place to connect the convention center to the baseball stadium."

However, there are some problems in the development of the area. Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright addressed those concerns. He said, "We have run across some issues, a lot of issues." The problem is getting the property owners and the city to agree on who will be responsible for parts of this project. For example the city wants to own the alleyway itself. Bright further said, "I will not improve the alley way until the city has ownership interest in that alleyway."

It seems the owners have agreed to do that but not formally. The mayor wants the property owners to form an association to make these decisions. There are other issues too, such as deciding who will be responsible for the maintenance of the alleyway. Mayor Bright also wants to know what the outside of the buildings will look like, as that is key to cost issues. He emphasized that, "Business owners and the city of Montgomery need to know if they need to make the back of their buildings accessible."

The property owners say they're reluctant to go ahead with development plans until they know there will be enough parking available. The city says there will be. If this alleyway should become a reality, plans are for it to be done by the time the convention center opens which is September of 2007.

The alley in question.