Montgomery development news

[thoraudio]

Thanks, Randy. Have fun, and stop in the capitol city and leave a few bucks, will ya?

[Randy Sandford]

Originally Posted by thoraudio

Thanks, Randy. Have fun, and stop in the capitol city and leave a few bucks, will ya?

Thanks! If my stomach can make it that long, I'll probably stop at a drive-thru in Prattville for dinner.

[midwestrabbi]

Originally Posted by OldCloverdale

IMO, downtown MGM is safe

I agree, I said that Mayor Emory made it appear that Downtown was not a safe place. I used to jog home from work several days a week back in the mid to late 70's, yes I would ride MATS to town and jog home ( I lived in Capital Heights at the time ). I love the atmosphere of downtown, you will not get that experience in any mall or Galleria. In Denver I understand that over 100,000 people live in the midtown area, I wished that I could afford the experience.

[hiijakd]

since i am downtown every day and most every night i can tell you that is is very safe. in fact it is the safest district in the city. i love walking down there at night.
as for the riverwalk, it isn't clear what is there. the tunnel entrance is very non-descript and the iron gates aren't very inviting, plus i have gone sometimes when the gates are locked and others when they are open and for the most part there is no rhyme or reason to it.
i have also heard people say it is also a long walk down the tunnel and for the average person (the ones that sit in the lane at walmart waiting for 20 minutes to get a space up front) the walk is even longer. maybe we could "embrace" the riverfront with a parking deck that will loom over it. all in the name of convenience. perhaps we can install escalators and moving sidewalks too, and best of all we could put a green roof on it.

[thoraudio]

Originally Posted by hiijakd

maybe we could "embrace" the riverfront with a parking deck that will loom over it. all in the name of convenience.

Isn't that what they are doing on Coosa St. ?

[midwestrabbi]

Downtown Montgomery has great potential. I just wished that the excitement that Montgomery ( Downtown ) is now experiencing, would have happened twenty years ago when I was around. The excitement that I read here is what I would loved to have been a part of. Back then very few white people ( and I am white ) even dared to go downtown, and most encouraged me to move my business to the burbs, but I didnt. It thrills me to see a younger generation stand up and lead in Montgomery. Keep it up. I believed back then that one day great leadership would rise up and take your city to another level. O) yes if the Mayor moves to Washington, what is the possibility of the next Mayor being pro- downtown ?

[hiijakd]

i was being sarcastic about the parking and having it actually suspend over the riverfront like the rsa judicial building



ohhhh

good news
rented the big loft today woot woot.
ok
thats all

[bystander1]

Originally Posted by Randy Sandford

Happy Anniversary my fellow tigers! My wife and I just celebrated our 14th anniversary on April 23.

I've never heard of Mimi's Cafe before, but they have an extensive and eclectic menu. Hopefully someone will be able to give a review soon.

BTW, I'll be passing through Montgomery later today on my way to Destin, so if you see a white 2004 Nissan Altima with an AU tag on the front and a Jefferson County license plate, feel free to honk or wave.

Randy, how about taking some pics on the way back home?

[bystander1]

Originally Posted by hiijakd

i was being sarcastic about the parking and having it actually suspend over the riverfront like the rsa judicial building



ohhhh

good news
rented the big loft today woot woot.
ok
thats all

Congrats, hiijakd!
...I would love to live there one day.

[bystander1]

Well you knew it was coming, especially with all the talk about the Wiregrass missing out on most of the economic development lately, but when and how may be what's more intriguing.

Gov. Riley said that both the Florida Governor and Florida Transportation Dept. want to work through a private company out of Dothan to build a toll road from I-10 in Florida to Montgomery.

But right now they are all remaining pretty tight-lipped with their ongoing negotiations.

[neilson]

Originally Posted by bystander1

Well you knew it was coming, especially with all the talk about the Wiregrass missing out on most of the economic development lately, but when and how may be what's more intriguing.

Gov. Riley said that both the Florida Governor and Florida Transportation Dept. want to work through a private company out of Dothan to build a toll road from I-10 in Florida to Montgomery.

But right now they are all remaining pretty tight-lipped with their ongoing negotiations.

Good. Make it a Toll Road from Dothan to Panama City.

Call it I-310 and make it a PPP(Public-Private Partnership) with ALDOT, FDOT and this private company out of Dothan.

[Brown Duckz]

Originally Posted by neilson

Good. Make it a Toll Road from Dothan to Panama City.

Call it I-310 and make it a PPP(Public-Private Partnership) with ALDOT, FDOT and this private company out of Dothan.

It's going to probably link Montgomery with somewhere near Tallahassee, through Dothan. This would save a ton of travel time between Montgomery and say Jacksonville or Orlando. 231 is a great Montgomery-PC connector already. Also, Panama City's growth could probably get them their own I-10 connector eventually.

[RSAHort]

Originally Posted by Randy Sandford

RSAHort and thoraudio, I was addressing that to you guys (in case the quotes from your posts didn't make that clear).

Anyway, I'm off to Destin in a few minutes (by way of Montgomery). Have a great weekend!

Thanks Randy! We have also been married 14 years.

[| BRAVO |]

Originally Posted by bystander1

Well you knew it was coming, especially with all the talk about the Wiregrass missing out on most of the economic development lately, but when and how may be what's more intriguing.

Gov. Riley said that both the Florida Governor and Florida Transportation Dept. want to work through a private company out of Dothan to build a toll road from I-10 in Florida to Montgomery.

But right now they are all remaining pretty tight-lipped with their ongoing negotiations.

That's interesting news... where do you guys think it would link up in the Montgomery area? 85 East? 65 South?

[rbp]

With the joint venture, they'd be able to use some existing roadways, right?
Any chance it could spur construction on the outer loop? Or would adding that to the mix doom it to failure?

[Brown Duckz]

Originally Posted by rbp

With the joint venture, they'd be able to use some existing roadways, right?
Any chance it could spur construction on the outer loop? Or would adding that to the mix doom it to failure?

It would probably be positioned perfectly in the middle of the loop that's to be constructed, halfway in between 65 & 85, & could possibly be linked to 231 as well. That way when you enter Montgomery you will basically enter our turnpike and go in one direction or the other. 15 minutes to Eastchase, or 15 minutes to the Airport/Hyundai. I really think it could work, even though I hate to see our Outer Loop built as such.

[Brown Duckz]

From WSFA:

Only on 12: Dothan Company Proposes Toll Road from Florida to Montgomery

Montgomery, Al. (WSFA) -- Governor Bob Riley has long said he'd welcome the idea of new interstate quality toll roads in Alabama.

Now it looks like a private company will take up the challenge with a mammoth billion dollar project from the Panhandle to the Wiregrass to Montgomery, with every mile privately owned.

Alabama has a problem a lot of states would love to have; a booming industrial economy and an increase in population.

But there's a snag in bringing in all this new business.

"Our senators and representatives do a great job of getting our fair share of transportation dollars down here. But if they doubled it, it still wouldn't take care of half of the needs we have in Alabama," said Governor Bob Riley, back in April 2007.

Riley and others say the answer to that dilemma is getting private companies to build interstate quality roads instead of the government.

The upside is faster construction times and less government red tape. The down side is that consumers will pay directly out of their pockets to drive.

Riley responded to a question about the possible toll road in Dothan Wednesday afternoon.

"It's going to take the participation of Governor Crist and the Florida Department of Transportation. But I think after the last couple of meetings, they have shown an increased interest in the project. We're not there yet, but we're closer than we have ever been," he said.

There are signs a private company is looking to undertake the huge project.

County commissioners in Washington County Florida published a notice for a public hearing in two weeks.

The agenda says a group called Focus 2000 wants to build a highway from Bay County to Montgomery.

A search of public records shows the company is based in Dothan, its registered agent a former manager of a major Alabama road building company.

His former employer told us they are aware of the project but have signed no contracts as of yet.

But it appears it's only a matter of making a formal announcement.

A state legislator familiar with the negotiations says some federal money will come to Alabama to help with the project.

WSFA 12 News reporter Chris Holmes left a couple of messages with Focus 2000's agent of record, a man named Steve Shaw, who lives in Dothan.

He never returned our calls.

We also asked Governor Riley's office for comment. They did not respond Wednesday evening.

[Brown Duckz]

Glovis Alabama may double work force
By Charles Barnette • April 22, 2008

MONTGOMERY - A new 250,000-square-foot warehouse will double the size of the current Glovis Alabama facility.

The company may also double its current work force so it can handle more auto parts when the new facility opens in October.

Glovis Alabama originally invested $12 million in Montgomery to build the 250,000-square-foot warehouse for storing parts manufactured by other companies. Those parts are used at the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) plant, where Sonatas and Santa Fes are built. HMMA is funding the new building and yard addition for Glovis.

To handle its inbound logistical tasks in facilities twice the size of the original plant, Glovis Alabama is expected to hire about 170 people, bringing the total local work force to 350, according to Liz Lindemann, human resources director.

Each of the vehicles that HMMA produces includes nearly 3,000 parts shipped here from South Korea and other outsourced suppliers from throughout North America.

More than 145 auto parts from some regional tier one and tier two companies are often stored in the Glovis warehouse.

To make further efficiency savings, when they deliver inbound materials to some suppliers, they also pickup finished parts and bring them to the assembly plant or container yard for their eventual journey into HMMA's assembly line.

This huge movement of transporting parts for assembly into the finished vehicles is when Glovis Alabama goes into action.

Glovis Alabama is an inbound logistics and warehousing company, not to be confused with Glovis America, its next-door neighbor, which is an outbound processing center for moving the finished vehicles by truck, rail or boat to their showroom destinations.

Glovis America currently contracts with 300 workers, according to Patrick Foran, Glovis America's human resources director in Montgomery. Glovis America is also expanding to handle its services to Hyundai.

Glovis Alabama tracks the containers of more than 3,000 incoming auto parts that must be warehoused before they are sent in proper sequence to arrive "just-in-time," and "just-in-sequence" at the Hyundai general assembly shop.

The service uses a "pull system strategy" to manage the inventory of auto parts. The basic concept is to reduce expenses by eliminating unnecessary logistics costs within the plant and excessive inventory management costs.

Glovis Alabama, LLC, begun in 2003 as a third-party inbound logistics management company in Montgomery to support HMMA. Glovis Alabama is a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Glovis Co. Ltd., a global logistics management company based in Seoul, South Korea.

[Brown Duckz]

In the above illustration the new Toll Road would probably intersect the Outer Loop, 231, & conjuct with the Interchange. It looks like it would follow an almost certain 231 path, so would it actually be used instead of 231? At Dothan it looks like plans call for a due south connection to I-10, which IMO is just another 231. It would be different if it went to Tallahassee over the North side of Dothan, possibly grazing the Georgia state line. If we had the I-85 extension moving, we would have some crazy road construction going on in Montgomery.

[bystander1]

Originally Posted by Brown Duckz

It would probably be positioned perfectly in the middle of the loop that's to be constructed, halfway in between 65 & 85, & could possibly be linked to 231 as well. That way when you enter Montgomery you will basically enter our turnpike and go in one direction or the other. 15 minutes to Eastchase, or 15 minutes to the Airport/Hyundai. I really think it could work, even though I hate to see our Outer Loop built as such.

I believe the same thing. It will connect with the LONG proposed Outer Loop between I-65 and US 231 just south of the city. But I don't think any parts of the current US 231 will be incorporated into the toll road.