Montgomery development news - Page 242

bystander1 · #**4821** Posted **Jan 7, 2011, 11:18 PM**

This says a lot about the city's leadership nationally when it comes to new urbanism. It's The Congress for New Urbanism's highest award.

National award named after late Montgomery planning director Ken Groves

Dyingyak · #**4822** Posted **Jan 8, 2011, 5:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bystander1

This says a lot about the city's leadership nationally when it comes to new urbanism. It's The Congress for New Urbanism's highest award.

National award named after late Montgomery planning director Ken Groves

The most amazing thing to me about Ken, was that he was able to do what he did...in Montgomery. I tell people all the time, those who don't understand urban form and development, how progressive Montgomery is and they are all the time dismissing the idea. What he has started there is amazing and I am excited about the future of the city.

bystander1 · #**4823** Posted **Jan 10, 2011, 7:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyingyak

The most amazing thing to me about Ken, was that he was able to do what he did...in Montgomery. I tell people all the time, those who don't understand urban form and development, how progressive Montgomery is and they are all the time dismissing the idea. What he has started there is amazing and I am excited about the future of the city.

Ken helped lay a good foundation for the city Dyingyak. But really, it's not that surprising, unless you don't live in the city. Because Montgomerians don't do a lot of bitching and moaning about the state holding it back or get involved in a lot of "my city's better than your city" crap, folks assume there's nothing going on here. But the rest of the nation that keep up with those things like building cities the right way do know. Being the first city to adopt Smartcode city-wide as a development option, especially when Smartcode is still rather controversal in most (non-progressive) cities (esp. in the South) is very signifcant.

It's evident by the developers across the country flocking here to buy property and getting involved in the many charrettes and redevelopment efforts going on downtown. They said these projects were some of the hottest development opportunities in the southeast and wanted to be part of it.

Now, there will be a city-sponsored contest to redesign One Court Square.
From what I've heard, design students from Auburn University will be participating too.

A new look.
from The Montgomery Advertiser

Thedarkone1977 · #**4824** Posted **Jan 14, 2011, 8:00 PM**

Here are some picture I took while on ASU’s campus last weekend.

View of ASU Stadium site from across Interstate 85

ASU Gateway near Interstate 85

Former homes of Ralph D Abernathy and Nat King Cole

John L Buskey Health Sciences Building

Temporary Library and future site of the Montgomery Civil Rights Interpretive Center

ASU Football Complex and Practice Field

ASU Baseball Field

View from future Football Stadium site

View from Baseball Field Parking Lot

Ralph D. Abernathy Hall Building 2

Ralph D. Abernathy Hall Building 1

Building

Fred Shuttlesworth Dining Hall

Levi Watkins Learning Center

New Student Housing

Student Housing

Dunn-Oliver Acadome

SpawnOfVulcan · #**4825** Posted **Jan 15, 2011, 1:30 AM**

I'm so glad that ASU has decided to make an effort to keep the classic style of their campus instead of jumping for modern stuff. It all looks very nice. It's really starting to look like a school that anybody would love to go to.

bystander1 · #**4826** Posted **Jan 15, 2011, 3:54 AM**

Thanks for those pics Thedarkone1977. I agree with tredici. I love the classic look of the new buildings. I gives more character to the campus as a whole.

bystander1 · #**4827** Posted **Jan 15, 2011, 4:43 AM**

Looks like the Webber Building across from city hall may become home to a second Momma Goldberg's Deli location.

Glad to see the city concentrating on enhancing its downtown parks.

City looking to perk up park usage
from The montgomery Advertiser

bystander1 · #**4828** Posted **Jan 21, 2011, 3:04 PM**

Whatever it takes, I guess...

Quote:

Montgomery silences riverfront train whistling
By Jill Nolin • [email protected] • January 21, 2011
The Montgomery Advertiser

The complaints may finally be silenced -- along with the trains. And the city is saying the Auburn University football team is part of the reason. Dozens of trains roll through downtown Montgomery each day, bringing with them their cargo, their charm and, for light sleepers at the Renaissance Hotel, a miserable, restless night.

That will change in the next two weeks. On behalf of the city, McInnish has spent the last four months negotiating with the CSX in an effort to help downtown dwellers hear something new at night -- the sounds of silence.
CSX has agreed to have its engineers stop blowing the train whistles at the Coosa Street crossing, which connects to the amphitheater on the riverfront, according to Mayor Todd Strange. But because of federal regulations, there will have to be a trade-off.

Even though the mayor had been hearing complaints about the noise, it was not until Auburn University said it would have to find another location for its football team if the players could not get a good night's rest that Strange decided to take action. "That got my attention," Strange said Thursday, adding that up until then he had mostly accepted the train sounds as being just "the nature of the beast."

Several SEC teams stayed at downtown hotels, such as the Renaissance or Embassy Suites, and that has a significant impact on the local economy. Strange said he also was worried that negative word-of-mouth could cost the city conventions.

Click the link above for full story.

OldCloverdale · #**4829** Posted **Jan 21, 2011, 3:11 PM**

Office space: Owners of former Colonial headquarters seek tenants

By Mary Sell • [email protected] • January 21, 2011

Larry Crain Jr. first visited Montgomery in May of last year as a Hyundai dealership owner attending the carmakers' convention. He liked the city and the Arkansas man told his wife they should come back for a vacation.

Eight months later, he's back, not on a holiday, but on a marketing mission.

Crain, along with his father and brother, bought the 209,000-square-foot building formerly known as the Colonial Bank headquarters last fall.

They have no prospective tenant, but hope to have it on the rental market by Feb. 1.

"We'd love to have a tenant by April 1," Crain said during a recent visit to Montgomery.

For now, he's working on a marketing plan and on signage. The building now is called the Capitol Commerce Center. He's planning open houses for
potential tenants and the community.

"It would be well-suited for a single user, but we don't think that's likely," Crain said.

He's prepared to offer office space starting at 1,500 square feet. The rent, depending on the space, is $17.50 to $26 per square foot and "full-service."
That includes maintenance, IT support, fiber optics, housekeeping and security.

"Those things will be big expense-savers for the company," Crain said "This is the most wired building I've ever seen."

Crain said he expects most of his tenants will be existing businesses from the River Region looking for bigger, better space.

"But we want to make sure, if there is an opportunity to bring a new employer to town, we can help do that," Crain said.

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said the property is on his short-list of vacant buildings that he mentions to businesses interested in moving to Montgomery.

"It is a significant asset for us to promote in economic development," the mayor said. "It's a very strategic building. It's one of the first things you see when you come into Montgomery."

Colonial built the massive structure near exit 11 on Interstate 85 in 2006 to serve as its headquarters. Three years later, the bank, with 773 employees, failed. North Carolina-based BB&T took over most liabilities and some assets in a deal with the FDIC... (click link above for more)

photos: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps...OMMUNITIES010302&Lopenr=101200803&Ref=PH

bystander1 · #**4830** Posted **Jan 21, 2011, 3:42 PM**

Hey, it looks like residents and Biscuits fans will have two more places to eat from while hanging in The Alley: The Deli @ Alley Station and iCantina, which is a Mexican restaurant.

Thedarkone1977 · #**4831** Posted **Jan 21, 2011, 4:23 PM**

Here's the link to The Deli at Alley Station’s website. It's a one page website so fare but I like their log and professionalism already. Their applications are available on the website if anyboby's looking.

Thedarkone1977 · #**4832** Posted **Jan 21, 2011, 4:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bystander1

Hey, it looks like residents and Biscuits fans will have two more places to eat from while hanging in The Alley: The Deli @ Alley Station and iCantina, which is a Mexican restaurant.

Is there already a iCantina in Montgomery? If so, where is it and is it staying open?

bystander1 · #**4833** Posted **Jan 22, 2011, 12:58 AM**

No, but there's a couple around Birmingham.

OCA REP · #**4834** Posted **Jan 24, 2011, 3:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bystander1

Whatever it takes, I guess...

Click the link above for full story.

This should have been a no-brainer a LONG time ago. Glad to see it has finally happened!

Dyingyak · #**4835** Posted **Jan 24, 2011, 7:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thedarkone1977

Is there already a iCantina in Montgomery? If so, where is it and is it staying open?

There are a couple in Birmingham and they really are great. The one downtown in Pepper Place is a really great place to go when the weather is good because they have a huge outdoor patio.

The food is high quality "tendy" mexican cuisine, very fresh and fast service.

OldCloverdale · #**4836** Posted **Jan 27, 2011, 3:45 PM**

Did the Historical Commission folks not care about the baseball history at Cramton Bowl?

...The most interesting details involve the actual construction work on the 89-year-old stadium, which includes a plaza adjacent to Madison Avenue where the north end zone seats were located, the construction of a new press box and work on the concourse area under the west grandstands. Work halted briefly on two occasions after workers made interesting discoveries.

"You know going into any old facility you're going to find surprises," said Wiley Steen, director of the leisure services for the city.

The first came with the demolition of the north end zone, which was once the area behind home plate when the facility also doubled as a baseball stadium.

"I found two rooms in the northwest corner they didn't know were there," said Rush Stallings, vice president for Bear Brothers, the Montgomery firm in charge of the project. "Hopefully, before long, we'll be through with surprises like that. But any time you mix new stuff in with the old stuff, there are situations you know you're going to run into."

Years ago, those rooms had been bricked up as the stadium was converted to a football-only facility. Officials are uncertain whether the rooms were part of a concession stand or for storage, but likely will cover them again as they proceed with the plan to convert the area into a plaza...

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/arti...owl-renovation-work-reveals-hidden-rooms

OldCloverdale · #**4837** Posted **Jan 27, 2011, 4:18 PM**

City of Montgomery to split Planning & Development Dept.
Chad Emerson to head up Development.
Planning Dir position to open

thoraudio · #**4838** Posted **Jan 27, 2011, 6:10 PM**

if you can't say something nice......

nayrlladnar · #**4839** Posted **Jan 28, 2011, 1:17 PM**

Hey everyone. I'm a long time lurker of this thread. I enjoy all the knowledge you guys provide about downtown Montgomery, especially photographs.

OldCloverdale - Those old pictures of Cramton Bowl are amazing. Where did you find them and are there more?

thoraudio · #**4840** Posted **Jan 28, 2011, 2:02 PM**

I don't know where he found those, but Times Gone By - A history of Montgomery on Facebook has an awesome collection.