Mobile Development Thread - Page 285

initiald · #**5681** Posted **Feb 14, 2013, 1:53 PM**

I'm sure it's buried in this thread somewhere, but I'm curious what has or will happen to the old CSX lot that was torn down a little while back? I remember at one time there was a proposal to put a condo tower there. I haven't kept up with Mobile developments for a few years.

elb401 · #**5682** Posted **Feb 14, 2013, 3:13 PM**

The developers for the condo tower could not get the financing for the project once the recession hit. The family that owned the land sold it to the City. The City was going to build a multi-story parking garage with first/second floor retail and restaurant space overlooking the park and river. The parking garage would have really been an extension of the parking for the cruise ship terminal. At the time it was expected to receive a second or larger ship. Well, we all know how that turned out.......Carnival left the cruise terminal empty. So the city just went ahead and paved the lot and now it is used as a parking lot for the park and other events. The parking lot is a temporary use until (or if) we get a ship again. I believe the city has the air rights over the tracks now.

initiald · #**5683** Posted **Feb 14, 2013, 8:22 PM**

Thanks for the update.

Port_of_Bama · #**5684** Posted **Feb 15, 2013, 3:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by elb401

The developers for the condo tower could not get the financing for the project once the recession hit. The family that owned the land sold it to the City. The City was going to build a multi-story parking garage with first/second floor retail and restaurant space overlooking the park and river. The parking garage would have really been an extension of the parking for the cruise ship terminal. At the time it was expected to receive a second or larger ship. Well, we all know how that turned out.......Carnival left the cruise terminal empty. So the city just went ahead and paved the lot and now it is used as a parking lot for the park and other events. The parking lot is a temporary use until (or if) we get a ship again. I believe the city has the air rights over the tracks now.

Speaking of Carnival it`s funny how they needed the assistance from the same city that they have abandoned and have been down talking. I hope Mobile sock the Hell out of Carnival`s pockets !

http://blog.al.com/live/2013/02/post_322.html#incart_maj-story-1

"It will cost Carnival $60 million to $70 million, maybe more," Lyons said. "These tugboats are not cheap. It's a horribly expensive venture for Carnival."

Port_of_Bama · #**5685** Posted **Feb 16, 2013, 7:49 AM**

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoft...oftv/2013/02/15/exp-erin-mobile-town.cnn

Historic, beautiful,charming,mysterious, and gothic are words that strongly describe Mobile.

Port_of_Bama · #**5686** Posted **Feb 25, 2013, 1:04 PM**

Café Royal is closing!?

SouthSky · #**5687** Posted **Feb 27, 2013, 2:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Port_of_Bama

Café Royal is closing!?

There is a silver lining:

"One of the best things we have in the auction is this 65 foot mahogany bar, which is very rare these come up for sale," he said, 'especially at auction.'

Late Tuesday, an official with RSA said it was their position the bar and soda fountain were a part of the original building and were not for auction."
...
"For decades it has anchored the first floor of the Van Antwerp, which originally was a pharmacy and soda fountain many moons ago."
...
"RSA plans to restore the first floor space as close as possible to it's original turn-of-the-century look."

Local 15, WPMI Link Here

Port_of_Bama · #**5688** Posted **Feb 28, 2013, 5:34 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SouthSky

There is a silver lining:

"One of the best things we have in the auction is this 65 foot mahogany bar, which is very rare these come up for sale," he said, 'especially at auction.'

Late Tuesday, an official with RSA said it was their position the bar and soda fountain were a part of the original building and were not for auction."
...
"For decades it has anchored the first floor of the Van Antwerp, which originally was a pharmacy and soda fountain many moons ago."
...
"RSA plans to restore the first floor space as close as possible to it's original turn-of-the-century look."

Local 15, WPMI Link Here

Maybe there will be another restaurant I guess.

This will be intiresting !
See visions of our downtown's architectural future at Mobile Arts Council :http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ss...owntowns.html#incart_river_entertainment

Alxx611 · #**5689** Posted **Feb 28, 2013, 9:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Port_of_Bama

Café Royal is closing!?

Sorry, but Cafe Royal is no loss. That was a tacky place disguised as fine dining. I'm sure something better will come along.

Port_of_Bama · #**5690** Posted **Mar 8, 2013, 6:30 PM**

What's next for The Pillars? New life for a Mobile landmark.

http://blog.al.com/live/2013/03/whats_next_for_the_pillars_new.html#comments

Port_of_Bama · #**5691** Posted **Mar 13, 2013, 5:19 PM**

A new reality tv show "Sweet Tea" is being filmed in downtown Mobile for TNT.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2013/mar/09/area-talent-working-on-sweet-tea-tv-show-or-tnt/

http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/03/three_georges_gets_time_in_spo.html#incart_river

A new growing industry is brewing in the Port City.

SouthSky · #**5692** Posted **Mar 14, 2013, 4:18 PM**

2012 County Estimates

The 2012 county estimates are out for Alabama; let's take a look at what is to be anticipated the Mobile MSA in 2013 when the new commuting data for MSA is taken into account:

Mobile 2012: 413,936
Baldwin 2012: 190,790
Washington 2012: 17,109
TOTAL 2012 EST: 621,835

elb401 · #**5693** Posted **Mar 14, 2013, 8:05 PM**

That’s good it shows that Mobile County is growing again after that slight decrease last year. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not sure that Baldwin or Washington County will be added to the metro this year. The commuting patterns are based on the 5-year American Community Survey. I believe the last 5-year stated that the commuting ratio was slightly below 25%. The good news is that the 3-year survey shows a 25.2% commuting pattern and the 1-year survey shows well above 25%. So, if we miss out on having the counties added in this time, both Baldwin and Washington counties should be added to the metro in 2018. That will be the next time they adjust the boundaries of metro areas on the new 5-year survey, especially if the trend continues. Given Airbus and Austel, I think we can bet that the commuting ratio will continue to increase. I hope I’m mistaken and they are added this year. I could have read the data wrong.

Oh, I look at demographics regularly for my job and I pulled the demos for the 36604 area code (Mid-town). Mid-town is doing great with income trends $10,000 to $20,000 above the average for the city. Also it looks like the population of that area may show some growth in 2017-2018. I can post that info later if ya'll would like to see it.

SouthSky · #**5694** Posted **Mar 14, 2013, 8:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by elb401

That’s good it shows that Mobile County is growing again after that slight decrease last year. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not sure that Baldwin or Washington County will be added to the metro this year. The commuting patterns are based on the 5-year American Community Survey. I believe the last 5-year stated that the commuting ratio was slightly below 25%. The good news is that the 3-year survey shows a 25.2% commuting pattern and the 1-year survey shows well above 25%. So, if we miss out on having the counties added in this time, both Baldwin and Washington counties should be added to the metro in 2018. That will be the next time they adjust the boundaries of metro areas on the new 5-year survey, especially if the trend continues. Given Airbus and Austel, I think we can bet that the commuting ratio will continue to increase. I hope I’m mistaken and they are added this year. I could have read the data wrong.

Oh, I look at demographics regularly for my job and I pulled the demos for the 36604 area code (Mid-town). Mid-town is doing great with income trends $10,000 to $20,000 above the average for the city. Also it looks like the population of that area may show some growth in 2017-2018. I can post that info later if ya'll would like to see it.

That would be interesting... please do post! Good news about Midtown.

Elb, is the 5 year survey a running average or what? Will the numbers be from 2008-2012 or 2009-2013?

KB0679 · #**5695** Posted **Mar 14, 2013, 10:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SouthSky

2012 County Estimates

The 2012 county estimates are out for Alabama; let's take a look at what is to be anticipated the Mobile MSA in 2013 when the new commuting data for MSA is taken into account:

Mobile 2012: 413,936
Baldwin 2012: 190,790
Washington 2012: 17,109
TOTAL 2012 EST: 621,835

The new MSA/CSA configurations have already been released. Mobile's MSA still only consists of Mobile County.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/bulletins/2013/b13-01.pdf (p. 40)

Port_of_Bama · #**5696** Posted **Mar 15, 2013, 12:12 AM**

^^^ GRRRR well at least the CSA is growing the sad thing is that Baldwin County is growing off of Mobile`s economic success. With the growth of midtown I see that Mobile will now start gaining off of it`s economic success rather than Baldwin. Mobile`s CSA was around 500K in 2000 I believe so we have gained over 120K within the last 10 years or so.

SouthSky · #**5697** Posted **Mar 15, 2013, 4:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by KB0679

The new MSA/CSA configurations have already been released. Mobile's MSA still only consists of Mobile County.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/bulletins/2013/b13-01.pdf (p. 40)

Thanks for the link. Guess we'll have to wait 'til '18.

Empire state of mind · #**5698** Posted **Mar 16, 2013, 12:28 AM**

That's not fair.. It's rigged.. Politics.

SpawnOfVulcan · #**5699** Posted **Mar 16, 2013, 12:40 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Empire state of mind

That's not fair.. It's rigged.. Politics.

What?

elb401 · #**5700** Posted **Mar 16, 2013, 10:41 PM**

I don’t think the surveys are just averages. They involve a little bit more statistics. I would like to note that you really should not compare the different surveys with each other. You should really compare 3 year surveys to other 3 year surveys and 5 year surveys to other 5 year surveys. The 1 year survey is the most current, but the least accurate of the three types. The 5 year survey is the most accurate, but the most outdated. The 3 year is considered somewhere in between. I know it sounds a bit weird. Just for fun I pulled some of the commuting numbers from several of the surveys.

1 Year Surveys (Least Accurate, Most Current):
2009- 23.37%
2010- 24.25%
2011- 28%

3 Year Survey (Kind of Accurate, Kind of Current):
2009- 23.7%
2010- 23.9%
2011- 25.37%

5 Year Survey (Most Accurate, Least Current):

2009-23.36%
2010- 23.97% (This is the one used for the delineation and why Baldwin is not in Mobile’s MSA)
2011- 25.29% (This one shows the commuting above the 25% threshold)

What is interesting is the large jump in the percentage of Baldwin’s workforce that is commuting to Mobile from 2010 to 2011. 2010 was an interesting year. There was the BP Oil Spill which caused a large decrease in the workforce in south Baldwin County. ThyssenKrupp was hiring strong and companies like Austal and BAE were doing major hiring. So with the decrease in jobs in the southern part of Baldwin coupled with the job expansion in Mobile during 2011 would be the cause of the large increase in commuting percentages. That would be my guess. However, the job market in south Baldwin is recovering very quickly. So in order to maintain this upward trend Mobile will have to see some serious job expansion over the next few years………. Airbus 1,000 jobs, Austal 2,000 jobs, BAE 1,800, and not to mention unnamed suppliers. So hopefully the trends will continue and the 2015 5 year survey will maintain the 25% commuting ratio and Baldwin would be added back into the Mobile MSA. Oh I saw were Baldwin County is now the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley Metropolitan Area. This is because those cities form a cluster with a population greater than 50,000 people.