Mobile Development Thread

[elb401]

Thats great and its needed. Have any of ya'll tried the Kitchen on George yet?

[Port_of_Bama]

Originally Posted by elb401

Thats great and its needed. Have any of ya'll tried the Kitchen on George yet?

Kitchen ? I havn`t heard anything about it.I will have to check it out this weekend.

[Alxx611]

couple of newer images:

new Banktrust signs:

and at night:

new dinner cruise boat:



Maritime museum with newer Austal shed:





another LCS almost complete, in less updated photo of Austal expansion:



Loda lights:



cop with a parking ticket on Church St, lol

[Alxx611]

...................................................................................................

[Port_of_Bama]

Thanks for posting Alxx ! The old grey rhino has come a long ways and she is looking good ! I like the idea that the Mobile Downtown Alliance decided to put a a ceiling of lights on Dauphin street.Hopefully next year we will see more and I wish they would keep them up through out the year. After all it is on the entertainment district and having a ceiling of lights enhances it.

[Port_of_Bama]

Boeing to close Kansas facility, despite promising 7,500 tanker jobs

Published: Wednesday, January 04, 2012, 12:42 PM Updated: Wednesday, January 04, 2012, 1:36 PM

By Press-Register staff

WICHITA, Kansas -- Boeing officials told employees this morning that it plans to close its Wichita, Kansas, facility by the end next year and move the work to other sites, the Wichita Eagle reports.
"Boeing had long promised that Wichita would become a finishing center for a next-generation aerial refueling tanker should the company win a U.S. Air Force contract, worth $35 billion, to replace the current fleet of tankers. Boeing said winning the contract would mean 7,500 jobs for Kansas, including several hundred at Boeing Wichita," the story says.
The Air Force awarded the contract, which could be worth up to $40 billion over its life, to Boeing last year.
In several stories, the Press-Register reported how Kansas government officials strongly supported Boeing in its bid against EADS North America, which would have built the refueling tankers in Mobile's Brookley Aeroplex:

http://blog.al.com/press-register-business/2012/01/boeing_to_close_kansas_facilit.html

This is sad !

[Port_of_Bama]

New Year will bring more projects at Mobile Regional (Sisson)

Published: Tuesday, January 03, 2012, 7:13 AM
By Gulf Coast Business

The new year brings with it exciting changes and projects that are bound to make the customer's experience at Mobile Regional Airport easier and more enjoyable. Before jumping into what's to come, let's first take a moment to look at what improvements have been carried out over the last two years.

Bill Sission is executive director of the Mobile Airport Authority.
The years 2010 and 2011 were years of dramatic change at the airport. Recent passenger terminal improvements included new lighting, fresh ceiling tiles and a renovated Executive Club. Also inside the terminal, free Wi-Fi is now available throughout, updated furniture has been added, and all new play areas for children are now featured.
Outside the terminal, a new landscaping plan has been put into place, softening the appearance of the terminal facilities while treating visitors to a glimpse of the beautiful sub-tropical flora found on the Gulf Coast. All car rental and public parking lots have been resurfaced with modern ticketing equipment added. Faded and hard-to-read signs on roads leading to and within airport property have been replaced with bright, new directional signage. And perhaps most exciting, passengers can now reach the airport more quickly and efficiently thanks to the opening of a new route off Interstate 10 which enables drivers to avoid the congestion of Airport Boulevard.
So what's in store for 2012? Worn out carpeting on the first floor of the terminal is being replaced with durable and attractive terrazzo tile. This hard-surface flooring not only looks attractive, but is much easier to clean and maintain. As a bonus, it will make it easier for passengers to roll their luggage.
Early in the new year, work will begin to modernize the exterior of the terminal building. The façade project will include canopy extensions to protect passengers during inclement weather.
Soon, covered surface parking will be added as a premium parking feature, which could lead to a parking garage in the future when passenger counts continue to grow.
These projects are designed to continually improve the "customer experience" for passengers from the Mobile Bay region and also for visitors from all over the world who use our airport as a gateway to this community.
On behalf of the Mobile Airport Authority staff and board of directors, we wish our customers a Happy New Year. Thank you for "flying MO" -- and best wishes for 2012!

ttp://blog.al.com/press-register-business/2012/01
/new_year_will_bring_more_proje.html



Brookly Field please !!??

[Port_of_Bama]

Mobile City Council to vote on new development plan
Published: Wednesday, January 04, 2012, 7:00 AM Updated: Wednesday, January 04, 2012, 12:47 PM

By Robert McClendon, Press-Register

MOBILE, Alabama -- Nearly four years after Mayor Sam Jones commissioned a new development plan for Mobile’s urban core, it’s on the verge of being officially adopted.

The City Council is expected to vote next week to approve amending Mobile’s master plan to include The New Plan for Mobile, the formal name for a neighborhood design and economic development blueprint commissioned by Jones during his first term in office.

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/01/mobile_city_council_to_vote_on_2.html

If they are about progress then they should vote in full favor.

[elb401]

That’s great about the plan, but why just suggest this type of development to builders. They need to make it mandatory. The new rules will not stop developers......it hasn't stopped them in places that only have form zoning. Yes, it might make the development a little more expensive (might), but in the end you will have a better more vibrant neighborhood with higher property values.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Could Airbus be preparing to announce it will assemble passenger jet in Alabama?

The Birmingham News
Monday, Feb 13, 2012
LINK

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Speculation is building in aviation industry circles that Airbus soon will begin making an airliner in the United States -- with Alabama the favored site for the factory.
The Seattle Times reports that the talk at a major supplier conference days ago was that Airbus could announce as early as this summer that it intends to build A320 commercial jets in the U.S.
The European areospace company already operates an engineering center in Mobile and said previously that it was considering assembling cargo jets in the Alabama city. Of course, EADS, the Airbus parent, had planned to assemble refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force in Mobile had the contract not gone to Boeing.
One reason for the move to assemble passenger plans in the U.S.? The company won't seem like a foreign enterprise the next time a big U.S. defense contract comes up for bid, according to the Times.

[SouthSky]

Thanks, tredici. The Airbus talk is certainly ratcheting up recently. The Seattle Times had an article about this also. Obviously, Mobile stands to gain a large amount of momentum with a project this large.

Quite exciting for the area.

Airbus to build in Mobile?
Originally published February 11, 2012 at 8:02 PM | Page modified February 13, 2012 at 10:53 AM
Link Here
By Seattle Times business staff

At the aerospace suppliers' conference in Lynnwood this past week, speculation was rife that Airbus could announce as early as this summer that it intends to build commercial jets in the United States.

The heavy favorite for an A320 final assembly line is Mobile, Ala., which would make that city the latest node in an emerging aerospace-manufacturing cluster in the southeastern U.S. Two people at the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance (PNAA) gathering who have contact with Airbus and its suppliers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they believe Mobile will get the go-ahead to build up to 10 single-aisle jets a month.

To avoid any potential political interference from French unions, they suggested, an announcement will come after the French presidential election in May.

Others were willing to discuss publicly the implications of such a dramatic Airbus move.

"It would be a very good and logical move for Airbus," said Michel Merluzeau, the French-born chief executive of Kirkland's aerospace consultancy G2 Solutions.

[Port_of_Bama]

That is good news for the city as well as the state !!!


Mobile really deserve this. The city and the state fought hard for that contract.

[Port_of_Bama]

Facelift to make airport look a little more like downtown Mobile


Published: Monday, February 27, 2012, 5:53 PM Updated: Monday, February 27, 2012, 6:02 PM

By Dan Murtaugh, Press-Register Press-Register

MOBILE, Alabama -- Mobile Regional Airport is getting a facelift that likely will remind travelers of the downtown skyline.
The Airport Authority plans to install sweeping canopies along the front of the building that are made from the same pipe-and-plastic-covering material used in front of the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel on Royal Street in downtown Mobile.
The canopies will be adorned with LED lights, giving the airport the ability to highlight them with different colors, as is the case with the downtown RSA Tower and RSA-BankTrust Building, according to Thomas Hughes, director of aviation for the Airport Authority.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/mobile-area/1508132-facelift-make-airport-look-little-more.html

It would be better to have a downtown airport.

[elb401]

That's neat. I fly out of the airport about once every month or two. It will be neat to see how the airport looks when its completed.

[phoenixboi08]

It would be nice if they could work closely with Brookley and build one large airport facility, but alas...

[Dale]

Can't tell any difference with BankTrust. Looks like the same old drab building. Most underwhelming reno ever.

[SouthSky]

Just randomly searched to see if there was new commuting data from the Census for 2010 (there was, so I did some searching) and here are the results:

Mobile
Baldwin 25.4% (MSA) Up from 25.1%
Washington 27.9% (MSA) Up from 19.1%
Clarke 13.3% (on verge of CSA) Up from 12.3%
Monroe 9.4% (x) Up from 8.3%
Escambia 9.0% (x) Down from 9.1%

Not so surprising: Baldwin and Washington would be included in the metro in the updated definitions next year.
Surprising: Clarke looks to be on the verge of being added to the CSA, if the numbers continue their upward swing.

Population:
Mobile-Baldwin-Washington MSA (2010 numbers): 612,838
Mobile-Baldwin-Washington-Clarke CSA (2010 numbers): 638,671

[SouthSky]

Originally Posted by phoenixboi08

It would be nice if they could work closely with Brookley and build one large airport facility, but alas...

I've read and heard from multiple sources that a costly fine from the FAA would be incurred by MAA if the primary airport is moved from MOB to BFM.

But, it might be possible in the future that Airbus will be taking up too much space for the primary airport to be moved should they announce in the coming months that they will be building on that site.

[CottonCity251]

Originally Posted by SouthSky

Just randomly searched to see if there was new commuting data from the Census for 2010 (there was, so I did some searching) and here are the results:

Mobile
Baldwin 25.4% (MSA) Up from 25.1%
Washington 27.9% (MSA) Up from 19.1%
Clarke 13.3% (on verge of CSA) Up from 12.3%
Monroe 9.4% (x) Up from 8.3%
Escambia 9.0% (x) Down from 9.1%

Not so surprising: Baldwin and Washington would be included in the metro in the updated definitions next year.
Surprising: Clarke looks to be on the verge of being added to the CSA, if the numbers continue their upward swing.

Population:
Mobile-Baldwin-Washington MSA (2010 numbers): 612,838
Mobile-Baldwin-Washington-Clarke CSA (2010 numbers): 638,671

Good to hear Baldwin will be added back where it belongs... Happy to see Washington added as well!

[eshore78]

Aerospace industries looking hard at the Baldwin Co mega-site. Maybe a sign people are getting word Airbus is a possibility.



http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2012/mar/26/b-ar-3485761/?referer=None&shorturl=http://bit.ly/GTM83f