Montgomery development news

[midwestrabbi]

I do not think most of the cities that are the state capitals care about the state house view. At least not in Denver because most of the buildings here and like the ones in Atlanta are mostly over 35 - 50 stories tall.For many of these capital cities you would not even know that the State House were there if it were not for a minor mention in their cities travel brochure. Especially these capital cities where the population is over a million in the area. Cities like Boston, Saint Paul, Indianapolis, O.k. City and Phoenix just to name a few that has a skyline that far far exceeds anything that Montgomery will ever have. I agree that the Alabama capital building is nice but how many tourist exit the Interstate when they see the Dome.

[hiijakd]

to me it isn't about the tourists but the residents like myself. I have lofts downtown one block from dexter and i dont want my view blocked.

[Brown Duckz]

Makes me want to go swimming in January.




The rest of the pictures can be found here----> http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps...S&ArtNo=801110803&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1

[EXbubba]

Speaking from a previous resident perspective one must look at the development of MGM as a whole where the original commercial district was along Montgomery and Commerce St and their respective cross streets. Those areas to me would be prime commericial office space for bigger buildings. Traditionally, the upper Dexter area was law offices and state services, as well as low level commercial. While large towers are impressive, I agree with smart code supporters to the extent that rehab and reuse of older construction as has traditionally be done in may MGM buildings would be a good fit. The cityscape itself is very tightly constrained by its physical location and I was some what surprised that RSA chose an area away from "downtown" commercial for commercial office space. Is the some land hoarding in those areas of lower Madison/Tallapoosa and all up Montgomery where a good business and walking environment would be mutually conducive. In today's modern world and MGMs hot climate, I would be surprised if anyone wants to leave their office building to go far for other reasons when they can do business on phone or computer. Agree that residential around downtown is the key, but MGM lost much of its redevelopable warehouse space to fire and parking lots over the past 60-70 years and costs for that same land must be prohibitive. Those of us who follow MGM from afar may be gone but we have not forgotten both the good and the bad that MGMs downtown represents. To grow the town must change as must the cityscape, but within the smart code and city-size perspective appropriate for a small southern city without major downtown resources beyond state govt. Compare your city with some place more reasonalble like Columbia SC for similar growth characteristics. Keep in mind that expediency is not always the best method to make a city grow - keeping the Dove Kohl plan in mind - and the original "downtown" MGM purpose in mind, that is the area that needs more commercial, but allow it to grow low-to-mid rise up Monroe, Dexter and Washington sts. So much for my ramble.

[thoraudio]

Montgomery Advertiser Pictures of the nearly completed hotel/convention center.

[midwestrabbi]

The Pics of the new Hotel and expanded Convention Center are great. Have they opened a Web site for the Convention Center ?

[Brown Duckz]

Hampstead under way on Montgomery east side

By Cosby Woodruff
Montgomery Advertiser


The first buildings are under construction at the Hampstead. The 416-acre, 1,800-home development is located in east Montgomery along Taylor Road.

Construction is already ahead of schedule on the buildings at 5003 and 5015 Taylor Road, according to Anna Lowder, co-director of design and development for the Colonial Company's development. She shares that title with her husband Harvi Sahota.

Office and retail tenants will occupy the first two buildings when they open. The buildings have a total of about 64,000 square feet and will cost a combined $13.6 million, according to information on building permit applications.

Birmingham builder Brasfield and Gorrie is constructing the first two buildings.

Lowder and Sahota said the first residential buildings will start going up in the first weeks of 2008 and should be ready for occupancy by the end of next summer.

By then, occupants of the first commercial buildings should be in place, Lowder said.

"The type of tenants we expect are restaurants, banks, professional offices, coffee shops and things like that," she said. "Our leasing has been amazing."

Lowder and Sahota, who most recently developed lofts in Cloverdale under the City Loft Corp., plan to move their office from the Cloverdale development to Hampstead, she said. That move should hold them for a while as they expect to take up to 15 years to build out Hampstead.

Lowder said the Hampstead development would resemble the Cloverdale lofts in many ways.

"It will have the same awnings and things and the same sense of scale," she said from her office in the just-completed loft complex.

Residents eventually will move in as single-family homes, condominiums and apartments are completed. When that happens, the community will have its soul, Sahota said.

"We are building walkable, compact communities," he said. "We are setting the template that other communities can use."

Hampstead is the first development under Montgomery's smart code regulations.

That code is intended to encourage high-density development with integrated green space, Lowder said.

Even with a housing market showing signs of softness, the couple said Montgomery will welcome such a development.

"People in Montgomery are familiar with DMZ," Sahota said of the project's design firm. "There is a lot of pent-up demand based on the concept and design."

Lowder and Sahota have confidence their plan will work in a fast-growing east Montgomery area.

"There is nothing in east Montgomery like what we have," he said.

Lowder predicted that even buyers unfamiliar with the design and construction teams would find it an attractive place to live.

"What we are creating is a convenient way to live," she said

[OldCloverdale]

more photos of the new hotel:

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/NEWS/80114006/-1/NEWS05

need photos of the restaurant & bar

[Brown Duckz]

I'm still ready to go swimming in January!

[thoraudio]

Where's Sulley to comment on the carpet?

[kevinlpugh]

http://mpaconline.org/

[midwestrabbi]

Is there a web site for the Convention / Civic Center ? With the Amphitheatre, and the New Theatre for the Performing Arts, and Riverwalk Stadium , and the New Improvements to the Civic Center, downtown Montgomery should become an active place after sundown. And think, over ten years ago I would drive to Birmingham several times a month with my family to attend events that Montgomery will now be able to host. Hats off to your leaders for their vision.

[OldCloverdale]

Bronner shares his vision for downtown

By Rick Harmon
[email protected]



This photo illustration provided by Retirement Systems of Alabama Director David Bronner shows the view from the Court Square fountain of what the old State Supreme Court building will look like after construction is completed on the RSA office complex, to the left of the state Capitol.


David Bronner, the head of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, says "mouthy old-guard" preservationists attacking his most recent project are a bunch of do-nothings; that there is a good chance the country is headed toward recession, but there is a silver lining; and that there is little to be done to bring business to Montgomery's west side.

These were just a few of the comments Alabama's biggest and most controversial investor made during a discussion he had with the Montgomery Advertiser.

Bronner, who invests the pension fund for state employees, has taken that fund from about $500 million in funds and another $1.5 billion owed by the state to about $32 billion in investments by the end of 2007. These high-profile investments have built the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, a chain of TV stations and newspapers, a string of successful resorts, a new skyline for Montgomery and a major makeover of Mobile.

But it hasn't come without controversy, and the current controversy surrounds his efforts to transform the old Supreme Court building, which has been vacant for about 15 years, into a 12-story RSA office complex with the old Supreme Court chambers forming a portion of its office and conference space.

Here is what Bronner had to say on the controversy and a host of other financial issues:

On the preservationists who are fighting the renovation because they say it will mar one of Montgomery's most famous views -- Dexter Avenue to the Capitol:

"It's been abandoned so long, you could go in and stuff was rotten and falling down. Yet you have this mouthy old-guard of 50-70 people who really think they are doing everyone a favor by keeping people from doing anything with it, unless it is exactly what they say should be done with it.

"... There are 18 buildings (storefronts) along Dexter that are abandoned. What have these preservationists done to save them? They haven't done anything, nor have they ever done anything other than talk and object when other people try and do something."

On what he will do if the preservationists sue to block the renovation:

"If they sue to stop this project, then I will sue them back, both in their official roles and as individuals."

On whether he wishes he'd just torn the original building down instead of incorporating it into the new building:

"It would have been a lot easier and a lot cheaper just to flatten it and rebuild. It probably would have saved us about $15 million-$20 million, but I probably wouldn't have built there then. There are a lot of places with better space and nicer views. What convinced me this would be worth doing is the ambiance. You will still have much of the Supreme Court chamber preserved, and I think when people walk into this building, they will just look around and go 'Whoa!' When people go in and look up, it is going to be something to see."

On why he believes preservationists will oppose him regardless of the project:

"If they really cared about what the city looked like, they would have found one project I'd done that they would have supported, but I don't think there has ever been one occasion in which they have said, 'Thank you for building this park downtown or for tearing down this eyesore.'"

On why it is necessary to make major renovations to historic buildings:

"History has to be living or it's dead. You can't recruit businesses and say, 'You see this old, old Carquest Building? You are going to love it -- sometimes the air conditioning will quiet down enough for you to hear what is being said at your meetings.'

"... They fought me during one renovation in downtown Montgomery over a movie theater (Montgomery's oldest movie theater, The Pekin, 30 N. Lawrence St., which was torn down in 1995). It was falling apart, and it was a single-screen movie theater. You might as well have asked me to try and save buggy whips as a single-screen movie theater."

On how far Montgomery's downtown still has to go, even after the new $200 million Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center:

"For a living downtown, you need more than nice lofts or homes. When people ask, 'Where am I going to get my groceries?' you can't say, 'Oh, just drive about 10 miles that way.' But you won't have things like grocery stores unless you have population density, and you won't get that density unless you have things like grocery stores. It's like the chicken and the egg. With the Biscuits and now with the Performing Arts Centre, I'm hoping people may come downtown to do things, stay to eat and then decide it's not such a bad place to live."

On whether a recession may be coming for America, and how Alabama may fare if it does:

"Last week, I think I said there was about a 60-65 percent chance that the country would have a recession. Now, I think it may be more like a 65-70 chance. It depends a lot on the housing market.

"... Alabama will do better than other states if only because of all the school construction that has already been financed. That and construction from businesses like ThyssenKrupp will allow us to do what has never happened in Alabama before, which is to do better than the rest of the country during a recession, rather than worse."

On what the chances are that new businesses and development can be attracted to west Montgomery:

"Bad. The first thing you'd have to do is create jobs there ... The problem is many of the people who are getting better educations and better jobs are moving out east. It's nice for them, but it doesn't help the west side.

"Ultimately I think about all that can be done is to change the economic status of the people who live there. If new industry brings lower unemployment and higher pay throughout the city, it will improve conditions there, too."

[hiijakd]

What a pompous jerk. I really can't believe Bronner would make the statements he has about the opposition to his project. I wish he actually knew what he was talking about. Unfortunately he doesn't. Maybe he wants me to bow down before him but I only have one Savior and he was more concerned with others than himself.

[OCA REP]

Originally Posted by hiijakd

What a pompous jerk. I really can't believe Bronner would make the statements he has about the opposition to his project. I wish he actually knew what he was talking about. Unfortunately he doesn't. Maybe he wants me to bow down before him but I only have one Savior and he was more concerned with others than himself.

Some of his words were quite strong. I never felt like part of the "mouthy old guard," rather I just wanted to see the historic view and feel of the approach to our capitol preserved.

He does make some good points in the interview but he comes across so ARROGANT, like it has to be his vision. Very true that the bulding has been there for so long with no interest. There were probably people that would like to do something with the building, but I am sure the costs were too prohibitive.

Does not sound like he is wanting to negotiate on this. Is there still an organized effort underway to "save the view?" I hope so, but I feel concerned citizens are being painted as a small (50 to 70) group of complainers and that will lead to more sympathy for Bronner and the RSA. Especially since he has done so much for Montgomery (which he has!) and we have never thanked him!

[OldCloverdale]

RSA, foes cross swords over capital offices plan
Preservationists claim building will alter historic Dexter Avenue view

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
KIM CHANDLER
News staff writer

MONTGOMERY -- Looking up historic Dexter Avenue, the Alabama Capitol, sitting at the crest of the hill, is the main visual attraction.

But a clash has erupted over the Retirement Systems of Alabama's planned addition to Dexter Avenue - a 12-story office complex that would sit over and around the state's old Judicial Building.

David Bronner, CEO of the RSA, said the plan is a careful attempt to preserve the historic court building while bringing economic progress to downtown. Historic preservationists say the $200 million "Godzilla" building will overwhelm the Capitol and spoil the vista where history was changed through the Civil War and the civil rights movement.

"The most historic and important view in Alabama will be destroyed," said Mary Walton Upchurch, a landscape architect who designed the landscaping plan for the Capitol. The largest object in the view is the most important, Upchurch said, and that will no longer be the Capitol.

Bronner, mastermind behind the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and luxury hotels, disputes the notion his new building will block the view. Bronner said he's invested nearly $1 billion, including building the city's tallest building, in downtown Montgomery to save it, not spoil it.

"What ... do you expect to happen to downtown Montgomery if you took out all the RSA projects?" Bronner said. "There is something called dead history and there is something called live history. Live history is where you try to save the things you can save and, more importantly, you have real people there working, earning a living."

Bronner's Montgomery projects include multiple office buildings, the 23-story RSA Tower and a new luxury riverfront hotel. Nearly 7,000 people work in downtown Montgomery in buildings created by RSA, and without the Retirement Systems, downtown would resemble a ghost town, Bronner said.

Tomb or tribute?:

The tempest began when RSA made a swap with the state, trading 150 coveted parking spots for state office workers in exchange for the old Judicial Building. To offset the cost of saving the old building, more office space had to be built, RSA officials said.

Plans were drawn to build an office structure behind and above the old Judicial Building on Dexter Avenue close to the Capitol.

The front section would be elevated on steel trusses, as if on a coffee table, with the historic building nestled underneath. Adjacent would be a landscaped area honoring the justices who served in the building.

While Bronner said the new building was designed to honor the old one, preservationists said it would entomb it. They also said the new building, which Upchurch called an "architectural Godzilla," would become the most prominent structure in the view along Dexter.

"I think the view of the Capitol will be greatly compromised and diminished by the presence of this building," said David Braly, an architect and president of the Landmarks Foundation, which works to preserve historic buildings.

Bronner said the view might be affected if you're standing on one side of the street, but not if you're standing on the other side or in the middle.

`Goat Hill':

Montgomery became the state's capital in 1846 after Andrew Dexter, one of the founders of the town, in the 1820s offered the large hill where his goats grazed as a site for the capitol, said Mary Ann Neeley, a historian. Thus Alabama's Capitol building was christened "Goat Hill."

It was looking up Dexter Avenue toward Goat Hill that Southerners saw Jefferson Davis take the oath of office as president of the Confederacy. About 100 years later, Dexter Avenue was where the 1965 voting rights march led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. culminated.

Preservationists say the view up Dexter is part of that whole story, and tensions over the project that would change that view have been high. During a forum hosted and attended mostly by historic preservation enthusiasts, some audience members laughed loudly when the architect described the new structure as embracing, rather than encasing, the old Judicial Building.

Bronner said he's not surprised at the controversy. Everything RSA has built in downtown Montgomery has been criticized, he said.

Bronner said he has no intention to change plans for the new building, but he is willing to listen to complaints or ideas. The timeframe to open the new building, estimated to cost $200 million, is 24 to 30 months, according to RSA project director Ron Blount.

Ex-Scottish Rites temple:

The old building, designed by Hyman Wallace Witcover, was built in 1926 as a Scottish Rites temple. The Masons left during the financial troubles of the Great Depression, Neeley said. The state renovated the building and it was used as a judicial building until the early 1990s, when a new building was constructed across the street.

Blount said the old building has sat empty for many years, becoming a white elephant for the state on a street with many vacant buildings.

Still, Nathan Norris, a planning and development adviser, said he believed "the trance of the $200 million hypnotist" was at work.

"You just say `$200 million building' and we're supposed to turn off our brains and fall asleep and stop asking questions," he said.

Norris said the RSA project violates the spirit of Montgomery's new development plan, which caps the height of downtown buildings at six stories. Charleston and Savannah have similar development plans. But RSA as a state entity is exempt from local rules.

Norris said the premise of the plan is to push revitalization outward through downtown instead of up into the air. He asked why a private developer would try to renovate vacant buildings in Montgomery when RSA plays by a different set of rules.

But Bronner argued that capping building height limits jobs.

Making a choice:

Braly said one solution, although not one without controversy, would be to decide which is more important, the 1926 building or the view. Razing the building would allow RSA to build an office building with fewer floors.

"We thought if we said, `Tear down the building,' they would be taking us to the Judicial Building to hang us," Blount said.

He told preservationists he hoped they could come to a congenial relationship.

"This is not about `My daddy can whip your daddy,'" he said. "We are not your enemy. We are your neighbor."

E-mail: [email protected]

[hiijakd]

just a note about grocery stores. Birmingham, as of my numbers 2 years ago, had 2000 residential units in the downtown area and 95% were occupied. The closest grocery store would have been the piggly wiggly on clairmont about 3 miles away. only now, 2 years later and approximately 2000 residential units later, they are getting their first downtown grocery store, so, people will live downtown without grocery stores, you just have to quit bad-mouthing the area so they will want to.

[midwestrabbi]

I love to read about all of the progress that Montgomery is making, especially in the downtown area. This site keeps me up with the latest in growth, industry and so forth. But there is one thing that Mayor Bright and the Council and the Chamber need to address, the Montgomery Airport. Since I have moved away I have flown into the Montgomery Airport several times, and will say one thing, inspite of its size it is one of the most attractive Airports. For years the airport was neglected and rundown. I read the Advertiser story today where the airport officials seem to not know what to do. The last time I was in Montgomery was for a funeral and in talking with others who had flown from other places, I was the only one who did not fly into Atlanta of Birmingham, and that is because it is in most cases over one hundred and fifty dollars cheaper to not fly into the M G M airport ( I got tickets off a web ticket site ). The city needs to seek more airlines who will fly around Atlanta like a direct flight or two a day to Washington ( with all the the Air Force bases and Federal jobs in the Montgomery area this would seem feasable ). If Huntsville with a population base under that of Montgomery can see more that a million people using that airport why cannot this happen for M G M ? Just wonder what your thoughts are, and the next time I come to Montgomery I will again try to come through your airport.

[OldCloverdale]

Originally Posted by midwestrabbi

...there is one thing that Mayor Bright and the Council and the Chamber need to address, the Montgomery Airport. Since I have moved away I have flown into the Montgomery Airport several times, and will say one thing, inspite of its size it is one of the most attractive Airports. ..

here's just a few of the recent items in the Advertiser on the airport:


Mayor Bright says city wants to help with troubled air services



Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright says the city is ready and waiting to be called upon to help out at the airport.

The Montgomery Regional Airport has been working to prompt its primary carrier, Delta’s Atlantic Southeast Airlines, to improve its service record. Officials with Delta and ASA recently promised better services during a meeting with Gov. Bob Riley.

The airport has reported having a drop in passengers during the last year – the third reported annual drop in the last three years – and Bright fears that those grim numbers will scare a much-needed a competitor to ASA away from Montgomery.

Bright said he hopes that the Jan. 10 meeting between Riley and the executives with Delta and ASA will bring about positive change. In lieu of that meeting, he said the city is ready to help.

-- Jill Nolin


EDITORIAL
Airline officials commit to improve

January 11, 2008

The commitment by officials of Delta Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines to continue to improve service to Montgomery Regional Airport is outstanding news, and not just for central Alabama, but for the entire state.

Now it remains to be seen if Delta and ASA will live up to those commitments.

The airline officials met with Gov. Bob Riley on Thursday after the governor had complained that poor service to Montgomery by ASA, which provides connecting service to Atlanta for Delta Airlines, was negatively affecting the state's ability to attract new industry.

Riley had written to Delta officials, saying that officials of potential new industries in the state had trouble getting to Montgomery to discuss locating in Alabama.

After the meeting, Delta Connection Senior Vice President Don Bornhorst and ASA CEO Brad Holt both said steps already had been taken to improve both on-time service and to reduce cancelled flights. That includes adding an additional plane to the rotation that serves Montgomery to increase the likelihood of having a substitute available in case of mechanical troubles.

Both men also were emphatic that further steps would be taken to improve on-time flights and to reduce cancellations.

And while Barnhorst sidestepped a question from a reporter about increasing the size of the aircraft which serve Montgomery, he also did not rule it out. But he did say that the company had no plans to decrease the number of flights into and out of the city.

Perhaps the most encouraging part of the airline officials' comments to the news media following the closed session with the governor was their unequivocal admission that service has not been acceptable.

"We've had a great meeting this morning. I'm really optimistic about what can happen in Montgomery with our air service," Riley said. "They're doing better than they have in the past, but their commitment to make it better than it has ever been is what I want the people of Montgomery and the central part of the state to understand."

Riley and the airline officials said there would be a followup meeting in 90 days to ensure that improvements were continuing and to see if long-range improvements to service in Montgomery might be moved up.

Riley applauded the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce for pushing for improved air service, and we join in that applause. But the governor is also to be congratulated for using the prestige of his office to seek improvements.

The Montgomery Regional Airport has a lot of pluses working in its favor, especially now that the Airport Authority's renovations have resulted in an attractive and functional facility. Chief among its assets is the fact that fliers can get through security in a fraction of the time, and with far less hassle, than they can in Atlanta.

If ASA and other carriers can continue to improve on-time service and dramatically reduce cancellations, Montgomery Regional could become an outstanding airport. We urge not only ASA and Delta, but other air carriers, to ensure that happens.



Airport wants to market facility



It looks like the folks at Mont gomery Regional Airport and those who govern the airport are finally tiring of getting beaten up over everything that goes on there.

Passengers are fewer, and the on-time performance of airlines is well below national averages. The budget is thin, and employees went more than a year without any pay increase at all.

Still, the airport board is trying to find a way to pay for a marketing department, and the airport budget may be in line for at least a little taxpayer help.

Phil Perry, the airport's executive director, isn't shy about saying the airport operates without direct tax money from any local government. It is hard to tell whether that is a point of pride or a burr under his saddle. Maybe it is a little bit of both, but maybe it is about to change.

Charles Jinright, president of the Montgomery City Council, was at a recent airport board meeting and told the group that he was at least open to listening to the airport's needs.

Jinright is just one member of a nine-person council, but his comments are a significant departure from what Montgomery officials have previously said.

Mayor Bobby Bright said late last year that he was opposed to funding the airport from city revenues.

If the city were in some sort of crunch where it could only fund essential city services, that argument would hold a little more water. The city, however, funds a number of non-essential services each year, and few of those are as important as the airport to Montgomery's ability to attract new business or to do business with the companies that are here now.

On top of that, the city council appoints every member of the airport authority, which means the council has at least some responsibility to make sure the airport functions as it should.

Members of the airport board point out that Perry is one of just four administrative employees at the airport. Other similar airports have more, some of them many more, employees.

None of those four has significant marketing responsibilities in the job description, but marketing is one of the things the airport needs most.

To that end, the airport board's marketing committee wants to find a way to fund a marketing person. They say they will need about $250,000 to pay for renovating an arcade into a customer service area, hiring a contract staff member and buying equipment.

Authority members are chomping at the bit to commit funding, but Jimmy Reynolds, who chairs the finance committee, put the brakes on that train. He worried that the budget, which has just $74,000 in reserves, can't afford an extra $250,000 for anything.

Jinright certainly didn't commit the city to a quarter million bucks, but his commitment to help at least sends a message that it would be appropriate for the airport to ask for some of that money.

Airport officials are looking for a marketing person to sell the airport to Montgomery's businesses, vacation passengers and others in town. Possibly more importantly, the person will have to sell airlines on the need to give Montgomery the best possible service, rather than what Montgomery has been getting.

Neither money nor marketing will matter if passengers believe it is a 50-50 proposition to get to or from Montgomery on time.

Still, once those odds improve, and they have of late, marketing will work.


Riley, Delta plan second meeting



Gov. Bob Riley met today with officials from Delta Airlines and its contract carrier to Montgomery and plans to meet again in 90 days.

By then Riley hopes to know whether preliminary changes, including Atlantic Southeast Airlines assigning a backup plane to the Atlanta-to-Montgomery route, lead to significant changes in air service to Montgomery Regional Airport.

Riley met with Don Bornhorst, senior vice president of Delta Connection, and Brad Hold, CEO of ASA. All three said the felt the meeting was productive.

-- Cosby Woodruff

[Chad Emerson]

The fact remains that Downtown Montgomery is a dead place. For much of the day, you don't even need crosswalks on Dexter since there is so little traffic.

All of the money that RSA has pumped into Downtown Montgomery in the last two decades has not changed this.

It is still dead. Moribund. A depressing place to be.

Compare that to Chattanooga where the city's leaders--public and private--worked together to create interesting places downtown.

The sad fact is that Chattanooga--not even Tennessee's 3rd largest city--has a dramatically more lively and active downtown filled with residences, retail, and office options.

Why can't Montgomery's leaders learn from the successes of others?