Mobile Development Thread - Page 223

nouveau_Mauvilla · #**4441** Posted **Sep 1, 2009, 12:10 AM**

I believe that parking lot will be removed when the museum is complete, not sure what it will be replaced with, though.

Yes, maintenance is sub-par at the moment. Bayfest on the river would also be nice. Not to say it won't, though. Slow and steady.

nimsjus · #**4442** Posted **Sep 2, 2009, 10:03 PM**

Nice article in the PR about some awards given for downtown improvement. It also casually drops a timeline for RSA's renovation of the Amsouth tower. Apparently they will be accepting bids soon.
http://blog.al.com/live/2009/09/moonpie_drop_wins_richardson_d.html

Bogue · #**4443** Posted **Sep 3, 2009, 5:29 PM**

I thought the Moonpie Drop idea was kind of cool & a good twist on the tradition. I hope it continues and that they work the bugs out.

Tourism looks like it's going to be a big portion of life in downtown for a long while. I think it's good that they work toward that.

I'm also a big fan of their renovating the old AmSouth building. I wonder when they'll unveil the plans. Hope they change the top of it somehow. That guy that suggested the wavy-top thing should send that pic in.

Port_of_Bama · #**4444** Posted **Sep 3, 2009, 5:33 PM**

From Bonners statement about the Amsouth it seeems as if he has big plans for the building. Im hoping for a shiny blue or turquoise colored glassy look.

pboo74 · #**4445** Posted **Sep 3, 2009, 8:15 PM**

Dr. Bronner in a short speech spoke about future plans in Mobile...hummm i wonder what else he has in store?

BlessedMobile · #**4446** Posted **Sep 5, 2009, 2:44 AM**

I met Ft. Conde Village developer, Larry Posner, yesterday morning on business and went on a tour of his upcoming Bed & Breakfast Hotel that he is building. A very old house at 163 St. Emanuel is about 25% complete on its way back to restoration plus an expansion using a period design. This is going to be a very nice 9 room B&B with a full time onsite manager and staff. It will be finished in the Spring of 2010. I believe we will see this as a beautiful addition to our upscale downtown accommodations. The views of the waterfront and downtown were really nice. I would encourage all of you to go down to Ft. Conde Village and see what he has done with most of the old homes. All of them will eventually be restored and others built in the period look.

Sulley · #**4447** Posted **Sep 5, 2009, 5:44 AM**

I hope the renovated "AmSouth" building has a spire identical to the one on RSA built on top of it!

buckett5425 · #**4448** Posted **Sep 5, 2009, 6:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gloria Estefan

I hope the renovated "AmSouth" building has a spire identical to the one on RSA built on top of it!

I sincerely hope you were being sarcastic...

Is this what architecture has become in the south? Cheep imitations of one good idea and people want more of it?

I wouldn't be surprised.

BlessedMobile · #**4449** Posted **Sep 5, 2009, 8:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by buckett5425

I sincerely hope you were being sarcastic...

Is this what architecture has become in the south? Cheep imitations of one good idea and people want more of it?

I wouldn't be surprised.

There is no reason to think that Bronner would do the spire again. The buildings needs are primarily internal (HVAC and sprinklers). Money will be more of an issue this time and the price tag is already about 30 million from what I have heard. Look for a new facade as the windows are in bad shape and need repairs and/or replacement; this is an opportunity to introduce a new exterior appearance. Will it look different...absolutely. My guess is that it will blend with the RSA...and that ain't bad.

OCA REP · #**4450** Posted **Sep 5, 2009, 2:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlessedMobile

There is no reason to think that Bronner would do the spire again.

I hope you are correct.

Of course, there was no reason to think that every RSA building in Montgomery required a roof in a particular shade of green either...

BlessedMobile · #**4451** Posted **Sep 5, 2009, 4:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by OCA REP

I hope you are correct.

Of course, there was no reason to think that every RSA building in Montgomery required a roof in a particular shade of green either...

I hear ya'. We got the color issue covered as we have a dark building in the Riverview Hotel, a light color building in the RSA and red brick for the Battle House Hotel. I just hope he doesn't do anything like the bordelo/casino carpet-look that he had put in the Battle House.

Bogue · #**4452** Posted **Sep 8, 2009, 8:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlessedMobile

There is no reason to think that Bronner would do the spire again. The buildings needs are primarily internal (HVAC and sprinklers). Money will be more of an issue this time and the price tag is already about 30 million from what I have heard. Look for a new facade as the windows are in bad shape and need repairs and/or replacement; this is an opportunity to introduce a new exterior appearance. Will it look different...absolutely. My guess is that it will blend with the RSA...and that ain't bad.

I agree that it's unlikely to have another spire & I've heard lots of bad things about the heating & cooling (etc.) being in desperate need of updating. The building has a different shape to it than the other two as well, which might make it unsuitable for a spire like those used on the other 2 buildings. I'd be happy w/ just about anything that upgraded the aesthetics of that building. Really, the top isn't as important to me as the sides. If he wants to put a spire on it, go ahead, just so long as the outside doesn't look like it was built in the 60's anymore.

I'd like to see more of a solid blue-glass look (sort of like that doctors office complex near I-65 & Dauphin but on a much larger scale). It would at least blend in more & the color would still be in the greater aquatic theme the city has been working on.

This is the page w/ the rendering (scroll down) that I was referencing earlier (the wavy top thing).

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=124993&page=65

NitekKetin · #**4453** Posted **Sep 8, 2009, 11:07 PM**

The restaurant on top of the AmSouth should be converted to a hip, yet affordable eatery. In fact, the entire top should be converted to outdoor seating and observation posts. Also, helicopter tours into the Mobile-Tensaw delta will originate from a launching pad here, as well. The Bienville Club can relocate to Eastern Shore Centre or something.

WEMO · #**4454** Posted **Sep 9, 2009, 1:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bogue

I agree that it's unlikely to have another spire & I've heard lots of bad things about the heating & cooling (etc.) being in desperate need of updating. The building has a different shape to it than the other two as well, which might make it unsuitable for a spire like those used on the other 2 buildings. I'd be happy w/ just about anything that upgraded the aesthetics of that building. Really, the top isn't as important to me as the sides. If he wants to put a spire on it, go ahead, just so long as the outside doesn't look like it was built in the 60's anymore.

I'd like to see more of a solid blue-glass look (sort of like that doctors office complex near I-65 & Dauphin but on a much larger scale). It would at least blend in more & the color would still be in the greater aquatic theme the city has been working on.

This is the page w/ the rendering (scroll down) that I was referencing earlier (the wavy top thing).

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=124993&page=65

I am a fan of a glass facade, but not the rendering that was drawn before.

Bogue · #**4455** Posted **Sep 9, 2009, 4:54 PM**

Yeah, I was more talking about the top of it being cool, though I don't think I'd mind the rest, either.

Anyone catch this in the PR this morning?

http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1252487710234000.xml&coll=3

"While the city just this year completed a $2.5 million renovation at Ladd-Peebles, Jones said he has gotten favorable response from at least one member of the University of South Alabama board of trustees about the idea of building a new "community stadium" to be used by USA, the Senior Bowl and the GMAC Bowl.

Jones said the city could not likely afford the cost of building such a facility on its own, but he believes it could be accomplished through a partnership with the university.

'We're talking about close to $100 million to get that done,' he said. 'I think between the University of South Alabama, the city, the county, some other entities, you could come up with that.'"

USA drew around 26K for its first game. Lots of events could take place in a 40-50K-seat outdoor stadium (concerts, etc.). While it may be a hard sell to get it put in downtown (limited potential locations & distance from USA). Having a new stadium near I-65 in Midtown might be a great idea. Putting it near where Springhill intersects might help clean up that area and encourage more growth while making it more prominent to people passing through (& easy to get into and out of).

$100 mill could be a tough sell for many, but the city wouldn't be on the hook for all of that (& not all would need to be up-front anyway). Corporate sponsorships (and the USA partnership in particular) would make a huge difference.

Sulley · #**4456** Posted **Sep 9, 2009, 6:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by buckett5425

I sincerely hope you were being sarcastic...

Is this what architecture has become in the south? Cheep imitations of one good idea and people want more of it?

I wouldn't be surprised.

Of course I'm being sarcastic.

SpawnOfVulcan · #**4457** Posted **Sep 9, 2009, 6:34 PM**

Naming rights could pick up a lot of that $100 million bill too. With cooperations from all those entities, plus maybe a commitment from the Senior Bowl to stay in Mobile, I think it could easily be pulled off.

SouthSky · #**4458** Posted **Sep 9, 2009, 8:15 PM**

I like the idea of a stadium off of I-65 near Spring Hill only if all downtown options are exhausted.

Maybe next to Hank Aaron Stadium after the future Halls Mill Road interchange?

A concept I drew up:

nimsjus · #**4459** Posted **Sep 9, 2009, 9:41 PM**

A downtown stadium would be awesome. I would gladly tear down the civic center or take up part of Texas St park to make room for a downtown stadium. A stadium on the civic center property would make the GMAC Bowl and Senior Bowl much better than they are at Ladd. Teams, staffs and visiting fans could walk from downtown hotels to the game and then to bars/restaraunts, etc. Businesses woudl also get a boom on Friday ngihts early from people grabbing a meal before high school games at the new stadium too. Im not a huge fan of the Hanks location just because there is nothign to do over that way and that neighborhood has already started going bad. Peoples complaints about Ladd is that it is not in a great area. The Hank area is not exactly a huge step up. The interstate access is nice. Columbus has all of their sports venues (minor league baseball stadium, community football and civic center) all in one place and it is next to the projects. I dont see any benefit to having it all located close to each other. I would rather see USA and the city build a joint stadium on or near the USA campus than out at Halls Mill. How about municipal park as a location. Pretty easy access from interstate/all parts of town. City owns it already and has golf course/tennis courts nearby. Nice part of town (SpringHill) where people are not afraid to go after dark. Easy access from campus for students and the big donors living in SpringHill. Lots of local businesses nearby for people to support in conjunction with the stadium. Nice setting with the lake and the art museum nearby. Close to USA and not horribly far from downtown. That is pretty much the center of town in my opinion and the city already owns the land...Thoughts?

NitekKetin · #**4460** Posted **Sep 9, 2009, 11:30 PM**

I'm in favor of having the Civic Center property hypothetically leveled for a community stadium. So that it doesn't completely overshadow the surrounding neighborhoods, it can be set within a landscaped plaza and flanked by a mixed use district.