Huntsville updates

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Ahhhhhhhhhh, I'm getting really irked at not being able to read the Decatur Daily. Anyways!

"Alabama's top economic developer" has said that Decatur - Morgan County is prime industrial property.

http://decaturdaily.com/stories/9546.html

Can't read the rest of the article, so I can't really tell you much else. Sorry

[neilson]

Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede

Is it safe to say Debartlo development at Zierdt Road is dead then?

I would imagine so, yes.

Madison probably saw that it was better to go with a sure thing from ALDOT with the County Line interchange vs. a possible thing from ALDOT with the Zierdt Road interchange.

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

I would think so, ALDOT wasn't helping them with the interchange and they wanted to be annexed by Huntsville and now this pops up out of nowhere.
The Mayor of Madison mentioned these two interchanges(Zierdt and County Line) as high priority a year ago so these two proposals sound like they have been in the works for some time.
Don't forget that other big development proposal off of Hughes? maybe. A New Orleans type community but I don't think anything has happened yet.

I refuse to acknowledge that place cause it sounded so dumb in the article that announced it. The French Quarters in Madison. I seriously doubt that, Madison needs to find one good project off of 565 and stick with, I think County Line road is an even better location than Zierdt road so if they give up "The French Quarters in Madison" and the fight over Derbartlo maybe something will come out of this. But I hope they plan on building several thousand homes if both some form of this project and sweetwater gets built because nobody lives between the madison blvd side of County Line and Decatur.

[neilson]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

I would think so, ALDOT wasn't helping them with the interchange and they wanted to be annexed by Huntsville and now this pops up out of nowhere.
The Mayor of Madison mentioned these two interchanges(Zierdt and County Line) as high priority a year ago so these two proposals sound like they have been in the works for some time.
Don't forget that other big development proposal off of Hughes? maybe. A New Orleans type community but I don't think anything has happened yet.

That French Quarter, Providence-wannabe project is hopefully long dead. Madison doesn't need that sort of development. Bring it more down to earth and put that sort of development into further restoring and growing downtown Madison.

[Port_of_Bama]

I was thinking the same thing when I read that article. The French Quarter them is not a good look for Madison. I hope it`s brought down to earth ! That Italian them at Bridgestreet works well. Madison can try Spanish but wait a minute t,hats what the French Quarter realy is Spanish. Well Spanish with out the Creol then, lol.

[HSV79]

I'm sure this has to be for the same development.....On bidclerk they show that a development was was brought forth on April 24 and it mentions that it will include a 300 room hotel. My only question is most 300 room hotels have some height to them but if this is the Madison project and it being next door to the airport how do they plan on pulling this off?

[neilson]

Originally Posted by HSV79

I'm sure this has to be for the same development.....On bidclerk they show that a development was was brought forth on April 24 and it mentions that it will include a 300 room hotel. My only question is most 300 room hotels have some height to them but if this is the Madison project and it being next door to the airport how do they plan on pulling this off?

Watching Channel 19, it looks like the project will be at the SE corner of County Line Road and the Railroad Tracks. I also saw something about a Royal Drive extension too.

So this is gonna be fit between the Railroad Tracks and Production Ave. where FedEx is.

[HSVTiger]

Sounds like it has some heavy hitters, if it's the same Alex Hardy he was or may still be working with O&S Holdings (Bridge Street) but he may be finished with his part of it

Mayor Kirkindall said the project is designed to meet the shopping, dining, medical and residential needs of the Madison community.

It also will meet the lodging, entertainment and office needs of the region as a whole.

"This project will represent a more than 15 percent increase of the entire metro area office market, and a more than 8 percent expansion of the metro retail market," Kirkindall said.

The new lodging amenities will include a four-star hotel with meeting space, and new limited-service or extended-stay lodging, he said.

Kirkindall said the development has been in the works for about 18 months.

"We're excited about it," Bob Flowers, managing partner of Wann Springs, said in a telephone interview. "The whole Madison, Huntsville and Madison County is an area with a dynamic economy - unlike many other areas of our country."
Flowers said he expects to see the market continue to get stronger "and we want to be a part of that."

Wann Springs is a newly formed partnership including former executives of several nationally recognized development companies.

Alex Hardy, a partner with Wann Springs, said the revenue projections for the development will be available soon. Master planning, design, and engineering for the project is being conducted by the nationally ranked firm of Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan, Inc.

The Florida-based firm is known for its significant contributions to numerous high-profile projects, including the town of Celebration, Fla., which has been recognized as a hallmark of New Urbanism design.

Significant features of the large-scale development will include a new east-west roadway from County Line Road to Wall Triana Highway, Kirkindall said.

Infrastructure expansion may also create a more direct route from the interior of the city to Huntsville International Airport.

He said a large water feature of approximately 20 acres will be at the center of the project, fed by a natural spring.

In addition, Kirkindall said the project will be pedestrian friendly - bordered on the east by walking and biking paths adjacent to Bradford Creek winding through the greenway being developed by the city.

[HSVTiger]

Alabama Germany partnership, this is especially relevant with all the talk
about Volkswagen and ThyssenKrupp.

By BRIAN LAWSON
Times Business Writer [email protected]
Partnership marks10th anniversaryat awards dinner

Huntsville is the space exploration capital, Al Reisz said, because of the Alabama-Germany connection.

Reisz, a former Apollo engineer, is chairman of the Alabama Germany Partnership, which celebrated its 10th anniversary Thursday night with an awards dinner at The Westin.

The partnership was formed to promote business, cultural and educational ties between Alabama and Germany.

Members of the original German rocket team, including Konrad Dannenberg, were recognized for their contributions to science, education and culture in Alabama. The Wernher von Braun-led team, which came to Huntsville in 1950, was recognized on the 50th anniversary year of spaceflight.

Gov. Bob Riley was honored for his commitment to developing business with Germany. The late Edith Hohnheiser Phillips, a longtime German teacher at Grissom High School, received the Educator Award for her work in bringing Alabama and Germany closer.

Reisz, president of Reisz Engineers in Huntsville, said the Alabama-German connection "is what made Huntsville the town it is today.

"They helped found the Huntsville Symphony, the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Huntsville Theater, and they literally helped build the Huntsville Observatory on Monte Sano," he said. "People visiting Huntsville-Madison County can look around and see what an Alabama-Germany connection can do."

Phillips, a native of Germany, raised her three daughters here after her husband, a Huntsville native, died in 1984. She later received a degree in foreign languages from UAH and went on to teach German and history at Grissom. She also served as the German Club sponsor.

Lamar Smith, director of economic development at Alagasco in Birmingham and a founding member of the Alabama Germany Partnership, noted that more than 50 German companies now do business in Alabama, including Mercedes-Benz in Vance.

Mercedes U.S. International CEO Bill Taylor presented Riley with the Rainer Bauer Award at the dinner.

Mercedes' decision in 1993 to build an assembly plant near Tuscaloosa after a nationwide search is credited with spurring the growth of the auto industry in Alabama and giving the state credibility with future prospects.

Smith said Germans who have moved here tend to fit right in, and he expects that trend to continue with the addition of the $3.7 billion ThyssenKrupp steel plant under way near Mobile.

[HSVTiger]

This institute has the potential to transform life as we know it (cures for diseases), and create thousands of jobs. This facility is the finest in the country, Huntsville's next " space program".
By BRIAN LAWSON
Times Business Writer [email protected]
Riley, other dignitaries laud HudsonAlpha

Dr. Francis Collins led the team that mapped the human genome.

Thursday at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, he saw perhaps the first sparks for future groundbreaking science: Jackson County seventh-graders squishing strawberries to extract DNA.

The director of the National Human Genome Research Institute was the featured guest as HudsonAlpha dedicated its 270,000-square-foot facility that will combine biotech research and commercial product development.


"A lot of the most exciting science is what lies ahead," Collins told students from Jackson County's Stevenson Middle School and, later, a crowd of some 200 gathered for the dedication ceremony.

Gov. Bob Riley said the distance learning program is the future of education in Alabama, using the unique science done at HudsonAlpha and sharing it across the state.

"This is a historic day for Alabama and bioscience in America," Riley said.

Collins said Jim Hudson and Lonnie McMillian, the institute's co-founders, are very wise to make education a key component for the institute, as an "educated population" will be central to facing the ethical, legal and social questions that will come with biotechnology discoveries. He said the institute also will face key decisions about how to prioritize their efforts, given the range of interesting and important challenges ahead in "figuring out how life works."

Collins also praised Dr. Rick Myers, who was lured from Stanford University to serve as the institute's scientific director. He called Myers a "remarkable leader" and said he was vital to the Genome Project's successful mapping of human DNA in 2003.

Collins, a medical doctor and chemist, said mapping the genome laid a foundation for biotech researchers to discover how genes apply to specific diseases and, in turn, what kind of treatments will be most effective for individual patients.

Myers said the institute will be dedicated to solving the most practical problems in medicine, using state of the art tools.

"We are at a stage a lot like where the space program was 30 to 40 years ago," Myers said. "What we are able to do today was unimaginable even a few years ago."

Myers also singled out Hudson and McMillian for their vision for the institute, and the two men drew a standing ovation.

"It was the dream of these two gentlemen to set up something like this and have an impact on the world."

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Sounds like it has some heavy hitters, if it's the same Alex Hardy he was or may still be working with O&S Holdings (Bridge Street) but he may be finished with his part of it

Mayor Kirkindall said the project is designed to meet the shopping, dining, medical and residential needs of the Madison community.

It also will meet the lodging, entertainment and office needs of the region as a whole.

"This project will represent a more than 15 percent increase of the entire metro area office market, and a more than 8 percent expansion of the metro retail market," Kirkindall said.

The new lodging amenities will include a four-star hotel with meeting space, and new limited-service or extended-stay lodging, he said.

Kirkindall said the development has been in the works for about 18 months.

"We're excited about it," Bob Flowers, managing partner of Wann Springs, said in a telephone interview. "The whole Madison, Huntsville and Madison County is an area with a dynamic economy - unlike many other areas of our country."
Flowers said he expects to see the market continue to get stronger "and we want to be a part of that."

Wann Springs is a newly formed partnership including former executives of several nationally recognized development companies.

Alex Hardy, a partner with Wann Springs, said the revenue projections for the development will be available soon. Master planning, design, and engineering for the project is being conducted by the nationally ranked firm of Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan, Inc.

The Florida-based firm is known for its significant contributions to numerous high-profile projects, including the town of Celebration, Fla., which has been recognized as a hallmark of New Urbanism design.

Significant features of the large-scale development will include a new east-west roadway from County Line Road to Wall Triana Highway, Kirkindall said.

Infrastructure expansion may also create a more direct route from the interior of the city to Huntsville International Airport.

He said a large water feature of approximately 20 acres will be at the center of the project, fed by a natural spring.

In addition, Kirkindall said the project will be pedestrian friendly - bordered on the east by walking and biking paths adjacent to Bradford Creek winding through the greenway being developed by the city.

I wonder what kind of tenants this place will have. I'd still like to see the Pro Bass in Decatur with maybe some form of outlet type stores, I'd rather see upscale type anchors in this place like Macy's. If both places are to exist being so close they have to offer different things. And what about Constellation and Harris Hills, this all sounds like so much for the area I don't want to lose either Constellation or Harris Hills which are both vital for downtown and NE Madison County.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede

I wonder what kind of tenants this place will have. I'd still like to see the Pro Bass in Decatur with maybe some form of outlet type stores, I'd rather see upscale type anchors in this place like Macy's. If both places are to exist being so close they have to offer different things. And what about Constellation and Harris Hills, this all sounds like so much for the area I don't want to lose either Constellation or Harris Hills which are both vital for downtown and NE Madison County.

Yep, your right, the critical thing is the timing when all of these projects come online. It takes several years for construction and then several more for the community to absorb the new places. Bridge Street for example is coming up on almost 5 years since it was first announced, construction started in 2005 and it is still ongoing. Both Harris Hill and Constellation are at least a 2-3 year timeline. It has been a year since Constellation was announced and only the site has been cleared so these are long range projects.

[HSVTiger]

Sazio's in historic Five Points closed, the current revitalization taking place
was probably the death blow. It was good restaurant and it's location made it
unique . Hopefully after all of the landscape/streetscape work is done in the area someone will try something in that location.

[HSVTiger]

From WAAY TV

MADISON, AL- The City of Madison and Wann Springs Development Group (WSDG) announce a major development project for approximately 450 acres just north of the intersection of County Line Road and I-565. Plans for the mixed-use project include more than 4 million square feet of shopping, dining, entertainment, residential, hotel, and office development.

Ground breaking for the project is planned for the Summer of 2008.

"This is the most important economic development project in Madison to date," said Sandy Kirkindall, Mayor of Madison. "Our hope and expectation is that this project will serve so many of the needs of Madison and the region as we continue to address the demands of fast growth in North Alabama. By my estimate, the total capital investment in this project will be approximately $1 billion."

a strong statement but a fragile one I think, things can change quickly

"We are excited about the tremendous potential of this project, and of the Madison market," said Bob Flowers, Managing Partner of WSDG. "The consistent rate and quality of growth for the Madison area - and the promise of more to come - is impressive, not just for the Southeast, but across the USA. This is a very special market."

The project is designed to meet the shopping, dining, medical and residential needs of the Madison community. It will also meet the lodging, entertainment and office needs of the region as a whole. Significant features of the large-scale development will include a new east-west roadway from County Line Road to Wall-Triana Highway. Future infrastructure expansion may also create a more direct route from the interior of the city to Huntsville International Airport. A large water feature of approximately 20 acres will be at the center of the project, fed by a natural spring. The project will be pedestrian friendly, and will be bounded on the east by walking and biking paths adjacent to Bradford Creek winding through the new Greenway being developed by the City of Madison.

With full build-out of the masterplan, the project will represent more than a 15% increase of the entire metro area office market, and a more than 8% expansion of the metro retail market. New lodging amenities will include a four-star hotel with meeting space, and new limited-service or extended-stay lodging as well. Plans are also being developed for a dynamic regional arts center, including an indoor performing theatre and an outdoor amphitheater. Opportunities for office development include land for owner-occupied office buildings, multi-tenant construction, and mixed-use buildings in the Town Center area with offices above shops and restaurants.

Master-planning, design, and engineering for the project is being conducted by the nationally-ranked firm of PBS&J. With more than 4,000 employees in 75 offices nationwide, Florida-based PBS&J is well known for its significant contributions to numerous high profile projects, including the town of Celebration, Florida, which has been recognized as a hallmark of New Urbanism design. PBS&J (www.pbsj.com) is an employee-owned firm that provides infrastructure planning, engineering, construction management, architecture, environmental, and program management services to public and private clients.

About WSDG

Wann Springs Development Group is a newly formed partnership including former executives of several nationally recognized development companies. The members of WSDG have combined experience covering a wide range of successful projects throughout the South and Eastern USA. Past projects have included planning, recruiting, developing, financing and managing all aspects of retail, office, medical, lodging, and residential development.

[HSVTiger]

Thanks Toyota!
This is a beautiful area in North Huntsville


By STEVE DOYLE
Times Staff Writer [email protected]
Kiosk is added in memory of avid biker Hank Barnes

North Huntsville's Wade Mountain Preserve is growing.

On Thursday, Cynthia Parker, Land Trust of Huntsville & North Alabama executive director, said the group has agreed to buy 40 acres on the mountain's southern slope from Warren and Martha Jones. The purchase, expected to close next week, will expand the popular preserve off Pulaski Pike to more than 860 acres. Parker made the announcement during a ceremony to dedicate an environmental education pavilion and kiosk near the base of Wade Mountain.

Toyota and several other local businesses paid for the green-roof pavilion, where folks can picnic on tables made from recycled plastic, soak up the scenery or just take a breather after a long hike. The kiosk, with maps of the mountain, was a gift from the family of Henry "Hank" Barnes, an avid mountain biker killed in a September 2006 car wreck on Bob Wade Lane.

"We're really glad to have a place in Huntsville dedicated to his memory," said Barnes' sister, Mary Katherine Barnes. "He loved Huntsville." Barnes was a computer engineer for Nvidia in Madison. His co-workers recently created a computer engineering scholarship in Barnes' name at Georgia Tech, his alma mater.

Toyota executives kick-started the expansion of the preserve two years ago by giving the nonprofit Land Trust a $50,000 grant to use toward buying more property on Wade Mountain, Parker said. The preserve overlooks Toyota's sprawling V-8 engine factory, and employees there have volunteered hundreds of hours since 2004 helping to clear and maintain trails.

"We really want to live and work in harmony with the environment that's around us," said Jim Bolte, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama. "It's really a privilege for us to give back."

Toyota volunteers are scheduled to be back on Wade Mountain this weekend clearing another trail as part of Global Youth Service Days. It's tough, sweaty work: Bolte said he got poison ivy on a previous trail-blazing expedition.

The Wade Mountain Preserve began in the early 1990s when the city used a state grant to buy part of the south side of the mountain. The city and Land Trust have continued to add property, and it is now one of the area's largest green spaces.

In 2005, the city built a mile-long, paved greenway running from just off Pulaski Pike to the base of the mountain. From there, nature lovers can hike to their hearts' content on more than eight miles of trails criss-crossing the mountain. It is also the only Land Trust preserve where horseback riding is allowed.

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

With full build-out of the masterplan, the project will represent more than a 15% increase of the entire metro area office market, and a more than 8% expansion of the metro retail market. New lodging amenities will include a four-star hotel with meeting space, and new limited-service or extended-stay lodging as well. Plans are also being developed for a dynamic regional arts center, including an indoor performing theatre and an outdoor amphitheater. Opportunities for office development include land for owner-occupied office buildings, multi-tenant construction, and mixed-use buildings in the Town Center area with offices above shops and restaurants.

Not sure I like the idea of art center/ampitheatre and performing theatre all the way out there. Seems like a downtown area is a better place for that kind of thing for example constellation. I guess the cows out there are going to be at the concerts :-) Didn't Decatur's sweetwater also have plans for an ampitheatre and things like that something has to give. Like I said before though id rather see this type of entertainment stuff in Constellation.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede

Not sure I like the idea of art center/ampitheatre and performing theatre all the way out there. Seems like a downtown area is a better place for that kind of thing for example constellation. I guess the cows out there are going to be at the concerts :-) Didn't Decatur's sweetwater also have plans for an ampitheatre and things like that something has to give. Like I said before though id rather see this type of entertainment stuff in Constellation.

I think there is still a plan for an amphitheater between Constellation and the
Von Braun Center.
The battle of the Super Mega Centers has begun!

[HSVTiger]

Some pics of the Madison project, looks similar to Constellation, parts of it anyway.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

^^^ Reminds me of Midtown Village in Tuscaloosa.

[TimCity2000]

With all these new massive developments being announced, I'm glad Bridge Street is already built. It will be interesting to see how Sweetwater and this Madison development compete for some of the same tenants. Like someone mentioned above, something has to give. I just hope Constellation doesn't get sidetracked. As much as we keep hearing that it's still on line, I still get nervous until I see shovels in the ground and steel rising. Also, I think these developments should be incentive enough for Huntsville to ease up on its height restriction. These developments tend to all look the same, but downtown Huntsville really could become something special and differentiate itself from all this.