Huntsville updates

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

this is next to the old Times building, correct?

about 1/4 mile south

[jhsv]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

I bet no one would have guessed that location if asked. Supposedly some existing businesses will move to accommodate building the new store.
So will Merchants Walk expand ?

Am surprised about the location. There had been a rumor a while back about one in the area and there was some speculation it would be Acuff building location and I guess it still could include that site.

I thought maybe the Times building location.

[HSVTiger]

City approves
The Huntsville City Council approved an $8 million incentive package Thursday night for a new shopping center south of downtown anchored by Whole Foods Market.

Along with a 42,000-square-foot Whole Foods grocery store, the Shoppes at Merchants Walk development at the northeast corner of Memorial Parkway and Bob Wallace Avenue will include 50,000 square feet of additional restaurant and retail space and a new Regions Bank branch.

Shoppers will park in a two-story garage paid for by the developer, RCP Merchants Walk.

Under a contract that passed the council unanimously, the city will lease the parking deck for 25 years. The agreement calls for the city to pay $2 million to RCP Merchants Walk when Whole Foods is issued a building permit, $1.3 million when the grocery store opens, and $1.3 million more when the additional restaurant and retail space is completed.

All told, the city will pay $8 million to lease the parking garage and put up a new traffic light at the Bob Wallace Avenue entrance to the shopping center. There will also be an entrance from the northbound Parkway access road.

Shane Davis, the city's director of urban development, told the council he expects Huntsville to recoup the $8 million within about 3 ½ years.

He estimates the shopping center will generate $58.75 million in new sales taxes and $1.4 million in property taxes over the next 25 years. Sales taxes on construction materials alone will top $1 million, said Davis.

Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods has had its eye on Huntsville for years, and Davis said landing the popular organic grocery chain is a major coup. Whole Foods also announced a new store in Mobile on its Facebook page Wednesday night.


"Behind IKEA, Whole Foods is the No. 1 retailer the community has asked for" in surveys conducted by the city, said Davis.

He said Whole Foods' presence in Huntsville will help with industrial recruitment and cause other desired retailers such as Macy's, Nordstrom and The Container Store to take a hard look at the Rocket City.

The new shopping center - which will replace a 55-year-old Regions Bank branch, AAMCO transmission shop and several other buildings - will also be a catalyst for further redevelopment up and down the Parkway, said Davis.

RCP Merchant Walk's managing partner, Remy Gross, said after the council meeting that work on the shopping center "will begin in earnest this spring."

Gross, a former Huntsville resident who now lives in California, said he and other members of the development team began talking to Whole Foods about coming to North Alabama in 2006. The eight-acre Bob Wallace Avenue site met the company's criteria for a densely-populated area with good accessibility, he said.

Source Huntsville Times

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

City approves
The Huntsville City Council approved an $8 million incentive package Thursday night for a new shopping center south of downtown anchored by Whole Foods Market.

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

Source Huntsville Times

Ok, 2 things...

I took a look at the renderings. The article says that there is going to be a parking deck, but I don't see one in any of them?

Also, I thought it had been common knowledge for more than 6 months that Mobile was getting a WF?

[NitekKetin]

According to a site plan spotted on a Huntsville Facebook page, the parking structure is to the right of the Whole Foods building. I think the proposed Regions Bank branch is incorporated into the structure too.

[HSVTiger]

From the excellent Facebook page, Huntsville Development News

[stewdog1]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

a rendering of the developmnet


a 50 million makeover

Shane Davis, director of urban development for the city of Huntsville, said the $50 million, eight-acre redevelopment project, which will create up to 300 jobs, will stretch from Bob Wallace Avenue north to Merchants Walk along the Parkway. Construction on the site is expected to start late this summer.

Davis and others with the city are confident the upscale grocer and new retail development will be major catalysts in sparking more growth up and down the Parkway.

"We think the next 12 to 14 months are going to play very, very well for the Parkway," Davis said. "Retailers locating on the Parkway are finding great success. Whole Foods analyzed the Huntsville market and they, too, determined that's where they wanted to be."

David said the city has not agreed to provide tax breaks or subsidies to Whole Foods, but will offer assistance with public infrastructure upgrades, which will be discussed in more detail at tonight's Huntsville City Council meeting.

The council is expected to vote on a resolution that would authorize Mayor Tommy Battle to enter into a development agreement between the city and developer RCP Merchants Walk, LLC.

AAMCO Transmissions & Total Car Care, Regions Bank and a few other buildings will be torn down to make way for the new mixed-use shopping center, which has room for approximately 50,000 square feet of additional retail shops and restaurants. Davis said AAMCO will relocate and Regions will occupy a new building at the development.

Huntsville Times

That is definitely a major makeover. With the new Wal-mart down the road (which I'm not in favor of) at least the east side of the parkway will begin looking much nicer.

[jhsv]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

From the excellent Facebook page, Huntsville Development News

From that rendering it looks all of the existing buildings along bob wallace will be gone. I thought maybe the area where the Quiznos would be the same. That area is newer.

Will there be a need for a parking deck? Seems like there is a good bit of surface lot parking in the front and would be some on the back even without the parking deck. Didn't really understand the need to lease that for 25 years.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by jhsv

From that rendering it looks all of the existing buildings along bob wallace will be gone. I thought maybe the area where the Quiznos would be the same. That area is newer.

Will there be a need for a parking deck? Seems like there is a good bit of surface lot parking in the front and would be some on the back even without the parking deck. Didn't really understand the need to lease that for 25 years.

yeah a chance to make a dramatic space visible from the Parkway instead we get asphalt hidden with the euphoria of Whole Foods. Architects and developers are scared to design for the people instead of the automobile. Does anyone ever question these designs? Boring and bad is not a real design style.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

yeah a chance to make a dramatic space visible from the Parkway instead we get asphalt hidden with the euphoria of Whole Foods. Architects and developers are scared to design for the people instead of the automobile. Does anyone ever question these designs? Boring and bad is not a real design style.

I don't think we should be terribly torn up about the deck. If anything it's an acknowledgement of a more dense future. The idea of a parking deck that far south of downtown ("that far south" is certainly a relative phrase) is encouraging.

Certainly the design of the entire center could be better, but I hold a bit of hope that the surface parking is something of a place holder.

[downtownhsvguy]

Originally Posted by tascalisa

I don't think we should be terribly torn up about the deck. If anything it's an acknowledgement of a more dense future. The idea of a parking deck that far south of downtown ("that far south" is certainly a relative phrase) is encouraging.

Certainly the design of the entire center could be better, but I hold a bit of hope that the surface parking is something of a place holder.

I would agree that the parking lot in front of the building is a place holder for other development. Downtown will probably grow in a south and west direction so it makes sense the garage is there to kinda "test" the first step in that higher density.

[jhsv]

Is Constellation pretty much dead for the time being? So much is going in other areas-- Twickenham and now this Merchants Walk area. By now even if not another hotel I would have thought there would have been a couple of restaurants at least.

[Colin Giersberg]

Remington Outdoor Co. To Open Facility In Huntsville
Posted on: 10:42 am, February 15, 2014, by Lauren Morgan

Remington-factory
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) – The Military Times is reporting that Remington Outdoor Co. is coming to the Tennessee Valley.
According to the report, Remington is expected to purchase a 500,000-square-foot building to be used for manufacturing, new product development and training for the company’s commercial, military and law enforcement businesses.
Our news partners The Huntsville Times/Al.com report that Huntsville officials wouldn’t comment on the story Saturday morning.
The City Council has called a special meeting for 5 p.m. Monday to consider a development agreement among the city, Huntsville Industrial Development Board, Madison County and an unnamed company.
WHNT News 19 will keep you updated with the latest on this developing story.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

I'm surprised there wasn't some kind of blip on the radar for this development. Maybe the developers and city/state didn't want politics to be inserted into the discussion?

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by tascalisa

I'm surprised there wasn't some kind of blip on the radar for this development. Maybe the developers and city/state didn't want politics to be inserted into the discussion?

intense competition for this plant; 6 months ago it was going to Tennessee.
If true 2000 jobs, that's significant

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

intense competition for this plant; 6 months ago it was going to Tennessee.
If true 2000 jobs, that's significant

Sure is. Really gonna help with the federal cutbacks we might be facing.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by tascalisa

Sure is. Really gonna help with the federal cutbacks we might be facing.

Huntsville is in great position to gain even more jobs, federal and private.
Another BRAC which will benefit the area may be on the agenda for 2017-18

[jhsv]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Huntsville is in great position to gain even more jobs, federal and private.
Another BRAC which will benefit the area may be on the agenda for 2017-18

There probably should be another round just not sure how soon it would be agreed to.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Huntsville is in great position to gain even more jobs, federal and private.
Another BRAC which will benefit the area may be on the agenda for 2017-18

Originally Posted by jhsv

There probably should be another round just not sure how soon it would be agreed to.

Both true, but in the short term the city is struggling to maintain the kind of growth it has seen in the past decade and a half. Huntsville is still a stallion in the Alabama real estate market, but over the past year and a half things have slowed a bit with the cuts in defense spending.

The Pentagon wants another BRAC immediately, and they've been REALLY pushing for it over the past two years so that they can continue to operate efficiently and cope with budget cuts. BUT, Congress refuses to touch it. It's gonna be a little while before enough legislators agree that it needs to happen. When it does, Redstone and Rucker stand to gain a lot.

[HSVTiger]

Twickenham Place downtown at Twickenham Square scheduled to open in March. This building is connected to Huntsville Hospital via skywalk.