Huntsville updates

[Jugernagt]

Originally Posted by marvingardns

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106120/The-Best-Places-to-Raise-Your-Kids-2009

This article was on the front page of this morning's Yahoo homepage. Huntsville was the first to be named by Business Week as the best place to raise your kids. I wonder if this article went to print in this week's print magazine. It is certainly barebones.

Without reading into your post too deeply, the article lists Huntsville is listed #1 for Alabama, not the US. The article lists each state alphabetically and names the "Best Place" in that state.

[HSVTiger]

Airport news

"Rick Tucker, the airport's executive director, told the authority that commercial passenger traffic and rail cargo traffic were both down in October, and air cargo landing weights were down in September.

"We're beginning to see some of the slowdown," Tucker said. "The economy is having an impact on us as well."

Passenger traffic was down 4.5 percent in October compared with October 2007, although traffic is up 3.1 percent for the year.

Rail cargo traffic decreased 8.1 percent in October compared with October a year ago, but is up 5.3 percent for the year compared to the same period last year, Tucker said.

Air cargo landing weight decreased 11.7 percent in September compared with September 2007, but is up 2.3 percent for the year."

Also in the new 1300 slot parking deck scheduled to open in January,
The availability of handicapped spaces will be added to the electronic signs now at the parking deck that tell travelers how many parking spaces are available on each level of the garage or if the level is full.

[HSVTiger]

It would be an interesting site for a hotel,

By STEVE BYERS
Times Business Editor [email protected]
Crye-Leike Realtors asking for $1.85 million

A Memphis-based real estate brokerage has scrapped plans to construct a three-story office building on the former Copeland's restaurant site, blaming the economic downturn.

Crye-Leike Realtors officials told The Times in January that the property, off Airport Road at South Memorial Parkway, offered a "great location" for the company to establish a presence in Huntsville. Crye-Leike planned to occupy two-thirds of the 24,000-square-foot building and lease the rest.

Machak said Tuesday that the company has received a lot of interest from restaurant and hotel operators and that it hoped to sell the site within six months. In the meantime, he said, Crye-Leike will open an office in leased space on South Parkway early next year. It's interviewing prospective managing brokers for that office.

[HSVTiger]

No real surprise here, even in great times it would be hard to sell these condos. Quality hotel rooms are in short supply.
10 of the condos have been sold.

By GINA HANNAH
Times Business Writer [email protected]
Stronger demand for hotel rooms behind reduction

Bridge Street Town Centre won't include 74 condominiums atop The Westin hotel as planned. Developer O&S Holdings has cut the number to 35.

The reduction is based more on stronger-than-expected demand at the 210-room Westin, as the planned condo units are converted, than on the slumping economy and housing market, O&S spokeswoman Rachel Forman said Wednesday.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Yea, that doesn't surprise me. Though, I think eventually, we'll see condo projects springing up all along Research Park Boulevard as people want to live closer to their jobs.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by marvingardns

I've recently had dinner at Cotton Row and highly recommend it. The European street cafe atmosphere is EXACTLY what this town needs more of. The place was jam-packed on a Thursday night. Entrees range from $25 -$40. Domestic beers are $4, imports are $5. Wine ranges from $30 - $110 a bottle. Appetizers range from $8 - $15. Desserts are $9.

Main fare consists of ten different dishes, half of which is seafood. Staff is young and still quite unpolished and awkward, but give them time before you judge definitively. The food was very good. Not all was in place yet (i.e. the same napkins used on your lap are used in the bathroom to dry hands with??? ; triffle was served in a wide-lipped bowl???), but again give them time. I think this place will be a great success if they can refine the service more.

Here is a link to their website, sounds very good.
http://www.cottonrowrestaurant.com/Home.html

and more info
http://blog.al.com/kaylor/2008/11/cotton_row_adds_to_fine_dining.html

[g-man435]

Check this out guys: http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/12/cheap-cities-affordable-forbeslife-cx_hc_1112realestate.html Greenville and Huntsville are both listed in the top five.

[HSVTiger]

Thanks for the link g-man

Redstone Arsenal news, the road part is humorous, they must not be from around here.

By PATRICIA C. McCARTER
Times Staff Writer [email protected]
Military officials say more roads, schools needed to meet demand

Multiple construction projects and the transfer of 1,400-plus jobs are tangible proof that the 2005 round of BRAC is under way.

At a Wednesday "BRAC to the Future" luncheon at the Von Braun Center, military officials overseeing portions of the move of several commands to Redstone Arsenal from the Washington, D.C., area gave a progress report.


The short, happy story: Construction is on track; the money to complete that construction has been approved; and it would take an act of Congress - it has more pressing concerns these days - to stall or stop the process.

Ronnie Chronister, deputy to Army Maj. Gen. James Myles, commander of the Army Aviation and Missile Lifecycle Management Command at Redstone, estimated BRAC's economic impact on the Tennessee Valley at $4 billion.

"This is the biggest economic development event in the history of Alabama," he told the crowd of 500 business and political leaders Wednesday.
(But nobody seems to want to hear that)

'We will not fail'
Army Maj. Gen. Jim Pillsbury, who spent four years at Redstone and now serves as deputy chief of staff of logistics for AMC at Fort Belvoir, Va., said moving such a vast operation 700 miles has yielded some "gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands."

"But we will have to do whatever it takes to support our soldiers," Pillsbury said.

"We will not fail. You would not accept that."

Pillsbury reiterated three other speakers' points that the Tennessee Valley must build more roads and schools to meet the needs of the BRAC transfers. He urged the crowd to contact their elected officials and demand that they make it happen.
OK

[HSVTiger]

Q&A about the Harris Hill project, could be a long time on this one..

Q. Could you please tell me if there has been any new discussion on the proposed Harris Hills shops, etc., in northeast Huntsville? Is it still planned? Everyone in this area was so excited about the possibility of this development and would love to have an update.

A. "We continue to have interest and excitement about the project," says developer Cole Walker. "Huntsville is a top performer for most of the retailers, but all development is slow due to retailers' questions about the national economy, BRAC's true impact and Huntsville's growth.
"We expect the plan we put forward to the public will still materialize; however, it will definitely take longer to complete due to the retraction of consumer spending and tightened capital markets."

[bodagetta]

Did the Guthrie's by the Target on University close? Anyone have the scoop on this?

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by bodagetta

Did the Guthrie's by the Target on University close? Anyone have the scoop on this?

Must be, the phone # is not in service. Too bad originally when they opened it was very good but I ate there about a month ago and decided I would not go
back, food was bad, service was worse.

[bodagetta]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Must be, the phone # is not in service. Too bad originally when they opened it was very good but I ate there about a month ago and decided I would not go
back, food was bad, service was worse.

I drove by last night and saw the lights were out. I went last about a month ago and I agree - the service and food was not what I was used to. I've gotten to where I prefer Tenders anyway... better coleslaw

[chris21718]

I think the main problem with Guthrie's is there were too many fast food places serving meals based on chicken fingers and fries (like Tenders, with several locations in town, and Zaxby's). The market can only handle so many. I believe that Guthrie's overexpanded as well, since I saw new locations in so many cities. According to the web site, they had 61 locations in Alabama alone. Their location became saturated with other restaurants, especially in the past couple of years, and people had more choices than they did when they opened. Another factor may have been the painful experience of getting out of there and back on US 72 during lunch time due to the heavy traffic exiting the street going behind Rosies and Logan's.

Edit: I just did some searching and found that the Huntsville location isn't the only one to close. The Tupelo location on South Gloster (old US 45) closed as well. I suspect that others are as well.

On another note: Jax's BBQ in Madison Square Mall is already closed (the sequel to Biscuits n Blues after the closing at Bridge Street)

[Colin Giersberg]

The Guthrie's in Athens has been closed for the several months now. I believe that they may have moved out by the new Publix on County Line Rd.
In its place in Athens is a Nestle's Cafe

[marvingardns]

I finally drove up the access road over Chapman Mountain. It connects with the high end neighborhood overlooking Maysville Road and, in a roundabout way through the same neighorhood, connects with Oakwood Avenue. I did not realize they actually connected the end of Oakwood Avenue (formerly a dead end) to this neighborhood.

The access road has a center turning lane across the mountain, implying that is (or will be) zoned for commercial along the slopes of Chapman Mountain. It has underground utilities, lamp posts and sidewalks over the mountain as well.

[David1502]

Originally Posted by marvingardns

I finally drove up the access road over Chapman Mountain. It connects with the high end neighborhood overlooking Maysville Road and, in a roundabout way through the same neighorhood, connects with Oakwood Avenue. I did not realize they actually connected the end of Oakwood Avenue (formerly a dead end) to this neighborhood.

The access road has a center turning lane across the mountain, implying that is (or will be) zoned for commercial along the slopes of Chapman Mountain. It has underground utilities, lamp posts and sidewalks over the mountain as well.

It is unlikely there will be commercial zoning as the lots from the Hawks Ridge Neighborhood are almost adjacent to Harris Hill Blvd. and it is hard to see how the developer could sell these lots from $250,000 if commerical property were adjacent. Also, the Walker family, which is planning on building the Harrris Hill mixed use development, has already declared that they will keep their home (the big older home you can see from Moore's Mill at 72) with adjacent acreage free from development. I'm not sure how far up the mountian their property goes, but we do know that some portion of it, which the Walkers own, will not be developed.

To get an idea of how far north the Hawks Ridge neighborhood goes, drive down High Mountain and take a left into Hawks Ridge and then another left and you will be on a long road which goes almost to the road you were speaking of (Harris Hills Blvd.). This section has some gorgeous mountain top estate lots for $250K (You can imagine the homes will be approaching $1 million). There are already some homes being constructed. Check out their website, www.hawksridgehsv.com where you can see a plat of the developement which will also include some villa/townhomes in another section closer to Oakwood and Bankhead Parkway.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by bodagetta

Did the Guthrie's by the Target on University close? Anyone have the scoop on this?

The owner is relocating this restaurant to the eastside near Moores Mill Rd And Winchester. He cited high lease cost at the current location as the reason.

[HSVTiger]

Parking deck expansion at Huntsville International nearing completion






Parker building photos

[HSVTiger]

University Alabama Huntsville parking deck..very nice






Parker photos

[SpawnOfVulcan]

very very very nice