Huntsville updates

[stewdog1]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Good points above. I think Von Maur will still be a player sometime in the future.
They would be a good fit at a new revitalized Madison Square.
I think David1502 has the solution for Madison Square, a totally new innovative redo that could rival Bridge Street. Add another hotel parking deck, more outparcel restaurants, incorporate a greenway with water features, add an office tower, demand the state add lanes to Research Park Blvd and improve access to Madison Square. It's a great opportunity.

Yes it is. It could easily be made into a mixed use area with condos, lofts, office space and the like. If they could get the city to have a dedicated off-ramp from Research Park Blvd where the cinema is, it would be a boon for that development, plus eleviate traffic on University.

[HSVTiger]

Good job City officials, this is a major positive.

The City of Huntsville has come out clean following its first-ever IRS audit.

Finance Director Randy Taylor reported at Thursday's City Council meeting that the Internal Revenue Service spent the past several months digging into a $50 million bond issue from 2007 that paid for a slew of public improvements in the downtown area.

"The IRS agents asked a number of questions about the debt in several phases, and asked for the records supporting how we spent the funds," Taylor said today in an e-mail to The Times.

After being notified of the audit in May, the city shipped the IRS two large boxes of checks, invoices, bank statements and other documents related to the bond issue. Attorney Rod Kanter, the city's outside bond counsel, fielded follow-up questions from the auditors.

Taylor said the IRS closed the audit Thursday without changing the city's tax-exempt debt status.

"Given the complexity of this, in my opinion the IRS decision is just as significant as our triple-A credit rating" from Wall Street, he said.

Taylor said he believes Huntsville was chosen for the audit at random. The 2007 bond issue paid to widen Governors Drive, build a downtown public safety complex on Clinton Avenue, renovate the Von Braun Center and expand Huntsville Museum of Art, among other projects.

[David1502]

Originally Posted by Smoothcat

I find this pretty funny:



Now, I mean absolutely no disrespect to Decatur, as I grew up in Florence... but there's no way in heck that Belk was going to put a flagship store in the River City. Consider the other flagship locations: Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham. They only put those stores in major cities with large populations. Decatur wouldn't have the population base themselves, and I don't think they could have pulled enough shoppers from Huntsville. If the Huntsville city leaders were too dense to see that, well...

Also, I agree with David1502: somebody needs to inform the writer of that article that Macy's is NOT a high-end department store. Perhaps in NYC at their flagship store it is, but in places like Jackson, Tennessee, it is basically Belk with a better name. Still, Macy's would have certainly been a better choice as it would have at least been a different brand in the market. Something new. Would they fill Belk's space at Madison Square? I highly doubt it, but it would be great if they did. I do have to wonder why they supposedly demanded $20 million in incentives. Using Jackson again as example, does anybody know if that city ponied up that kind of cash to lure them in? It sounds like they just didn't want to come to Huntsville. Strange.

I hope the City of Huntsville is already throwing together a contingency plan for Life After Madison Square. I'm afraid a mall built around JCPenney and Sears will not be long for this world.

First of all, you are right the only Macy's store that can be considered high end is their flagship store, Herald Square in New York where they are in the process of spending $400 million to renovate it. That store is far different from all of their others - for example it has a Louis Vuitton boutique selling handbags that run from $800 +. Macy's flagship store for the SE, is their Lenox Square store in Atlanta and it is not that high end as they also have a Bloomingdale's store in the same mall which caters to the high end shopper.

As far as the Macy's store in Jackson, TN, that store came about just as an accident of it being part of the Goldsmith's chain out of Memphis. Goldsmith's probably located that store there in the 1960's and when Macy's (Federated Dept. stores) purchased Goldsmith's some time in the 1980's (I'm guessing) the Jackson, TN store came as part of that deal. Likewise, I would assume that the Bowling Green, KY store came about as a result of a similar deal.

Will Macy's need a heavy incentive package to aquire the Madison Square store? That's hard to say as there is ample parking and an existing building with over a 100,000 sq. ft. - so what could the incentives be for? The bigger problem is that the few remaining tenants in Madison Square are not congenial with the type of customer who would shop at Macy's. Also, MAdison Square has to a certain degree aquired a reputation as being unsafe. So, in some respects, it may be more advantageous if the owners got rid of all the exisitng stores there and did a total reboot of the center as a mixed use center. Since Von Maur has expressed an interest in HSV in the past, then they could be pursued for taking over the Dillard's Clearance Store.

[MovingAL]

Originally Posted by stewdog1

Yes it is. It could easily be made into a mixed use area with condos, lofts, office space and the like. If they could get the city to have a dedicated off-ramp from Research Park Blvd where the cinema is, it would be a boon for that development, plus eleviate traffic on University.

I would love to see MSM turned into a project similar to Atlantic Station in ATL. I had hoped that Constellation would've been designed that way, but at this point I just hope its completed.

[HSVTiger]

ALDI
German-based discount supermarket chain Aldi wants to build a store at the southeast corner of the Memorial Parkway-Hobbs Road intersection. The 1.86-acre property uesed to be a BP gas station.
This would be their third location in the Huntsville area.

[HSVTiger]

Choice piece of property which SHOULD become a major downtown development:

The City of Huntsville is showing interest in possibly buying the former Coca-Cola bottling plant property on Clinton Avenue -- before it's even on the market.

Mayor Tommy Battle recently sent a letter to the chairman of Big Springs Inc.'s board of directors, John Wynn, asking to be kept apprised of the company's plans to sell the nine-acre site.

The property covers an entire city block bounded by Clinton Avenue, Monroe Street, Holmes Avenue and Pollard Street, then continues on the other side of Pollard. Wynn said the main manufacturing facility is 143,000 square feet.

City Councilman Bill Kling said the site could be a perfect fit for another downtown hotel or for future expansion of the VBC.

"I think it would be worthwhile for us to sit down and talk to them and just see what might be worked out," Kling said Friday.

[HSVTiger]

Cummings Research Park 50 years old

Age has treated Cummings Research Park well. With its beautiful landscaping, over 300 companies, 175 buildings and more than 25,000 jobs, the parks 50th birthday is something to truly celebrate.

Cummings Research Park was established with one goal in mind, to attract high tech industries to the Huntsville area.

The park is the 2nd largest research and technology park in the U.S. and the 4th largest in the world.
WAAY TV

http://www.huntsvillealabamausa.com/new_exp/new_crp_toc.html

And Macy's could have been right in the middle of it, the city should play hard ball with some of these fickle retailers who promise the world but deliver much less.

[HSVTiger]

Intergraph today announced it will build a $58-million headquarters on the site of its current Madison campus, consolidating its sprawling set of one-story buildings into a single five-story facility.

A rendering of Intergraph's future $58-million headquarters in Madison. The five-story building is expected to open summer 2014.

The new building will total 250,000 square feet and house office space for 1,100 employees. It will also include a new data center, conference space, food service area and lakeside terraces. Intergraph CEO and Hexagon President/CEO Ola Rollén said the vision for the headquarters began soon after Sweden-based Hexagon acquired the company in 2010. Rollén said the facility will allow for collaboration and "spontaneous development."



This will have nice visibility along I-565 next to the Intergraph lake. When the lake was built 25 years or so ago the plan was for a HQ building to go there.

[HSVTiger]

Big plans for John Hunt Park
HSV Times

This morning, the city's subdivision committee reviewed an updated master plan designed to transform the old airport property south of downtown into a recreational mecca. Sun-bleached runways last used in the 1960s would be ripped out to make room for a 4,000-seat indoor sports arena plus an 18-acre outdoor festival area complete with terraced amphitheater.

The popular Benton H. Wilcoxon Ice Complex would get a third rink and arena seating for about 1,200, allowing it to host larger hockey and figure skating competitions. The old Jaycees Building would be replaced by a "multi-purpose community activities" facility. Two more championship-caliber soccer fields would be added near the park's main entrance.

The overhaul continues south of Airport Road with a proposed playground and splash fountain, picnic areas, at least eight new tennis courts at the city tennis complex, and an expanded cross-country running track.

"We tried to make sure we put something for everybody in the plan," Steve Ivey, the city's manager of parks and recreation, told subdivision committee members. "We want to make it a park that all residents can buy into."

He noted that John Hunt Park - named for the frontiersman who settled Huntsville in 1805 - is at almost the geographic "dead center" of town.

But until the old runways are torn out and replaced with grass and trees, said Ivey, "nobody's going to believe it's a park."

Bringing the park plan to life will cost millions of dollars not currently in the budget. The city intends to raise the money by selling 25 acres near the corner of Airport Road and Memorial Parkway for retail development, said Manager of Planning and Zoning Administration Marie Bostick.

That land is now home to Huntsville Fire & Rescue Station 6, which would relocate to Drake Avenue, a firefighter training facility and city medical clinic. Bostick said the city will solicit bids soon from developers interested in turning the area into an "aesthetically appealing, high-end retail center."
Land sale proceeds, plus 25 percent of sales taxes generated by the retail center's stores and restaurants, would be earmarked for John Hunt Park as well as a proposed outdoor sports venue beside McDonnell Elementary School. The city is in negotiations to buy 140 acres near the Triana Boulevard-Johnson Road intersection from the McDonnell family, said Bostick.

Officials also want to create new roads linking John Hunt Park with Brahan Spring Park on Drake Avenue, Merrimack Soccer Complex on Triana Boulevard and the proposed McDonnell Park. All are within about a two-mile radius.



WAFF TV

[stewdog1]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Intergraph today announced it will build a $58-million headquarters on the site of its current Madison campus, consolidating its sprawling set of one-story buildings into a single five-story facility.

A rendering of Intergraph's future $58-million headquarters in Madison. The five-story building is expected to open summer 2014.

The new building will total 250,000 square feet and house office space for 1,100 employees. It will also include a new data center, conference space, food service area and lakeside terraces. Intergraph CEO and Hexagon President/CEO Ola Rollén said the vision for the headquarters began soon after Sweden-based Hexagon acquired the company in 2010. Rollén said the facility will allow for collaboration and "spontaneous development."



This will have nice visibility along I-565 next to the Intergraph lake. When the lake was built 25 years or so ago the plan was for a HQ building to go there.

This is great news for the city of Madison and hopefully future expansion in that part of town.

[HSVTiger]

Good to have this guy around..
He can make things happen
Mr. Allen the Seahawks have the ugliest iniforms in the NFL(he owns the team), thanks for investing in Huntsville we need your input.

Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen came to Huntsville in a van 40 years ago "because there was a computer club" and he was barnstorming the country with an early computer called the Altair. Now 59 years old and worth $14 billion -- thanks to that other computer company he founded with Bill Gates -- Allen made his second visit to the Rocket City Wednesday aboard his personal Boeing 747 jet to talk about the new spaceflight company he's founded.

The annual Dr. Wernher von Braun Memorial Dinner, sponsored by the National Space Club's Huntsville chapter, honors individuals and groups who have made significant contributions the understanding and exploration of space. Speaking to the 24th annual Dr. Wernher von Braun Memorial Dinner sponsored by the Huntsville chapter of the National Space Club, Allen gave a glimpse into a life he's spending making "a contribution to the future" -- and having some fun. He spoke in a stage conversation with former Marshall Space Flight Center Director and current Dynetics, Inc. President David King. Listening in were 800 people at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

Two bouts with cancer -- one 25 years ago and a second that began in 2009 -- have "had a positive effect on my life," Allen told King. When you know your time might be limited, Allen said, you start to think seriously about "how can you contribute to the future, make the world better."

One of his answers, Allen said, is the new space company -- Stratolaunch -- he has formed with aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan. Dynetics is on the team Stratolaunch has assembled to launch rockets into space from beneath the world's largest airplane. It's essentially an upscaled version of the same plan that helped Rutan and Allen win the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004 for the world's first private manned spacecraft. Stratolaunch will seek to advance spaceflight and compete in various space markets, Allen said, but the company is also about "my desire to get back in the game."

Allen also discussed his funding of brain-mapping research at the Allen Institute for Brain Research in Seattle. He hopes to bring new technology to the issue of brain trauma in sports by measuring that trauma on the field, Allen said. Allen is the owner of the Seattle Seahawks football team.

Allen praised the space center's Space Camp programs. "That's just great," he said, "it shows kids they can expand their envelope." He discussed his own investment in the SETI radio telescope program seeking life in the universe and joked, "They promised to call the White House first and me second." His phone hasn't rung yet, Allen said, calling the search "the longest of long shots." But government was getting out of the search, he said, and he thought someone needed to do it.

Asked how space exploration will continue in a time of tight money, Allen said "you have to have multiple paths." He praised other investors who "have stepped up," including "Mr. (Elon) Musk" of SpaceX. "It's a time of transition," he said, adding that "anytime the guard is changing, it's a time of great challenges and great opportunities."

[HSVTiger]

this may have been posted earlier..forget Dunkin' how about that Mattress Firm!

Dunkin' Donuts is one of four tenants already on board for the 32,000-square-foot shopping center. It will be next to Shoppes of Madison on the west side of Ross. The four tenants represent a third of the new center's available space.
The three other stores are Taziki's Greek restaurant, Sprint and Mattress Firm.
This will be Dunkin's second location in the Huntsville area.

[ThatGuy]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

The four tenants represent a third of the new center's available space.

That means there is still room for at least two more mattress stores in the shopping center! And maybe a nail polish place or two...

[stewdog1]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

this may have been posted earlier..forget Dunkin' how about that Mattress Firm!

Dunkin' Donuts is one of four tenants already on board for the 32,000-square-foot shopping center. It will be next to Shoppes of Madison on the west side of Ross. The four tenants represent a third of the new center's available space.
The three other stores are Taziki's Greek restaurant, Sprint and Mattress Firm.
This will be Dunkin's second location in the Huntsville area.

Mattress Firm or not, at least Madison is getting more commercial companies to expand the base. I saw that small strip center in front of the hospital have a Firehouse sub sign go up. Maybe put another coffee shop in there as well.

That Dunkin' next to the hospital is a very smart place to put it.

[HSVTiger]

It's official, Publix downtown along with more...
This will be the 11th Publix in the Huntsville area.
Bristol Development Group, PGM Properties and Triad Properties intend to spend about $85 million transforming the land at the corner of Gallatin Street and St. Clair Avenue into a high-end retail, residential and office development. Homewood Suites hotel was announced earlier.
Called Twickenham Square, it will feature a large office tower and several yet-to-be-named stores and restaurants, in addition to the Publix, apartments and 101-room Homewood Suites.
Bristol co-founder Sam Yeager said he thinks the project has the potential to be "the envy of the Southeast."


"Not many places have this concentration of living units and shopping in proximity to 11,000 (medical) jobs," he said Friday.Along with several 1000 residents within a mile radius
Because all the architectural work is finished, Yeager said, construction on the apartments and Publix should be under way within a month. Brasfield & Gorrie General Contractors of Birmingham have been hired to build the Flats at Twickenham Square apartments.
Yeager said the apartments should be finished in 14-18 months, and Publix possibly sooner than that. The development will also include four restaurants and up to a half-dozen retail shops.
"We've received tremendous interest" from prospective retail and restaurant tenants, said Yeager. "There's a lot of retailers that want to be near all those jobs down there."
After real estate agents' fees are subtracted, the housing authority expects to net $5,095,199 from the sale of Councill Courts -- money that will be used to buy or build new permanent public housing across the city.
Executive Director Michael Lundy said he is particularly excited about having a Publix right across Gallatin Street from the authority's year-old Gateway Place senior apartments.
"That grocery store will be a real added value for those residents," said Lundy.
Meanwhile, the city will spend $9.8 million on a four-story parking garage serving Twickenham Square. Pearce Construction is expected to start work on the deck in the next 10 days.

"They already have all the bonds and insurance in order," Jeff Easter, the city's general services director, said Friday. "They were just waiting to go."

Of the 924 parking spaces in the garage, 131 will be reserved for Publix and the other retailers, 90 are set aside for apartment tenants and 55 are for the Homewood Suites and office tower. Huntsville Hospital has agreed to lease 209 spaces on the roof for employee parking.
The 439 remaining spaces will be available on a first-come basis. Lundy said three spaces will be set aside for public housing residents.
The developers plan to build a separate, smaller garage for the remaining apartment tenants.
Battle estimated Twickenham Square will generate $2.3 million a year in city property, sales and liquor and lodging taxes, plus $1.6 million in one-time sales taxes on construction materials.

The Flats at Twickenham Square along with the 175-unit Belk Hudson Lofts nearing completion on Washington Street will pump about 600 new residents into the downtown area, he said.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Great news. Glad to finally see this project moving along. It's been nice to hear/see all of the progress that is occurring in North Alabama's two largest cities

[HSVTiger]

Some road taunting by ALDONT

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/10/blake_bottom_road_overpass_ser.html#incart_m-rpt-2
After 20 years of talk and frustration, a Blake Bottom Road overpass on Research Park Boulevard is nearing reality.

State Rep. Mac McCutcheon and Madison County Commission Chairman-elect Dale Strong held a joint news conference Tuesday morning to announce that deals are in motion to build a $5.1 million overpass to serve the booming Monrovia and Harvest areas.

"We're closer than we've ever been to seeing an overpass," said McCutcheon, R-Capshaw.

About 17,000 vehicles a day traveled Blake Bottom Road until 2010, when access from northbound Research Park Boulevard was severed as part of a project to extend the limited-access portion of Research Park past Alabama 53.
The design unveiled this morning shows a "flyover" overpass. Drivers headed north on Research Park Boulevard who want to go west on Blake Bottom will loop around and above traffic on Research Park. Those wanting to go from Blake Bottom to northbound Research Park will also arch over existing traffic and then circle back around.

And this tease although Madison delayed it again, think the highway folks knew this.

The Alabama Department of Transportation has called a public meeting to review plans for the new interchange at Interstate 565 and County Line Road.

The Alabama Department of Transportation estimates a new interchange at I-565 and County Line Road will reduce traffic exiting at Wall Triana Highway by 18 percent.
The meeting is a final step before the state lets the project out for construction bids.
Unless there are issues which you can bet there will be.
"The intention of the meeting is show project layouts depicting the limits of construction. Your input is greatly desired regarding this traffic control scheme, public awareness, etc.," State Design Engineer William Adams wrote in a letter to Madison City Engineer Gary Chynoweth.

Chynoweth submitted the utility and construction agreement with ALDOT for city council approval Monday night. The council, however, followed the request of Mayor Paul Finley, who was out of town and not present at the meeting, to postpone the agreement until a future date when the newly elected council and mayor can be involved.

The agreement calls for the City of Madison to contribute 10 percent matching funds for the project, expected to cost about $30 million.

The project will add an exit ramp for westbound I-565 traffic to reach County Line Road and an entrance ramp from County Line Road to I-565 eastbound. The transportation department has predicted the completed interchange would reduce the number of vehicles exiting I-565 at Wall Triana Highway by 18 percent.

The project could take two years once construction starts.

The public meeting to review the plans will be Nov. 7 at 10 a.m., in the Madison City Hall council chambers.

[HSVTiger]

A few items coming up:
Phase 3 of the Five Points improvement plan started so long ago. This will be along Wellman Ave and include lighting, landscaping and parking upgrades.
Also some preparation for utility relocation at the I-565/County Line interchange.

[HSVTiger]

Huntsville's newest Walmart, located at 8570 U.S. Highway 72 W., will have its grand opening event on Friday morning.

The new location, which adds about 300 jobs to the area, will have a ribbon cutting ceremony with community and business leaders at 7:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The development is part of a three-phase project for the 53-acre Colonial Promenade Huntsville development, with the 180,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter as the anchor. The development -- which will also include shops, restaurants and apartments.

This is the seventh Walmart store in Madison County.yipee

[neilson]

Originally Posted by ThatGuy

That means there is still room for at least two more mattress stores in the shopping center! And maybe a nail polish place or two...

I wonder if Sleepy's will ever buy Mattress Firm? You know, Yankees invading the South and such....?