Huntsville/Madison Development News (democrat, college, prices)

[RCSHSV]

Originally Posted by Shakeesha

I agree. That outlet was a let down. It is unlikely that Huntsville will get an outlet mall since two are planned for the Nashville area.

Is there some type of radius clause for outlet malls?

[dwhisent]

We used to go to the outlet mall in Boaz many years ago. Last time I went it was like a ghost town area.

[TimCity2000]

A trip to Boaz in the summer was always a sign that school was getting ready to start back. We made that pilgrimage every year, and I loved it! In hindsight, it does seem like an odd location for outlet malls, although it was always crowded back in the day. And I suppose there were fewer outlet malls overall, and they did actually have better prices, so it likely drew from Huntsville, Chattanooga, Birmingham, etc (maybe even Atlanta?).

The Leeds outlet mall seems to be doing fine, although it was doing much better before Covid. There are some storefront vacancies now. I'd guess the Foley mall does better. As someone mentioned previously, it pulls from a bigger tourism population in addition to locals.

[johnsonkk]

Two are being built near Nashville. One regular outlet in Antioch, TN and another being called “luxury outlet mall” but can’t find the location, just that it was going to start build in 2023.

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/on...g-to-nashville

[David1502]

Originally Posted by johnsonkk

Two are being built near Nashville. One regular outlet in Antioch, TN and another being called “luxury outlet mall” but can’t find the location, just that it was going to start build in 2023.

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/on...g-to-nashville

The tweet in the article says that the high-end outlet center will be built in the "market's southern high-income area." Translation: This means Williamson County which is probably the most affluent county in the southeast north of Palm Beach County in Florida. I think the median home price there is now approaching $700K (if not more than that). Williamson is the home of Brentwood and Franklin as well as a lot of unincorporated areas where many Country Music stars have multi-acre estates.

The Williamson County location of the high-end outlet center will be attractive to North Alabama shoppers as it will be about an hour and a half drive away.

Interesting note: Town Madison originally to have an outlet center component in addition to the "flagship Belk" and Cabela's. I guess they determined that there aren't enough shoppers locally to support an outlet mall and it's too far from I-65 to attract travelers. The proposed outlet center for Nashville that is not high-end will be located along I-24 (in the Antioch area) and will draw the millions of Midwest travelers who take I-24 as part of their trip to Florida. The high-end outlet center, on the other hand, will cater more to the high-income households in the local Nashville area, as well as those living in North Alabama who will have an easy drive up I-65 to get there.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by dwhisent

We used to go to the outlet mall in Boaz many years ago. Last time I went it was like a ghost town area.

We went there a few times many years ago. It was pretty good but nothing like the one down near Gulf Shores.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

A trip to Boaz in the summer was always a sign that school was getting ready to start back. We made that pilgrimage every year, and I loved it! In hindsight, it does seem like an odd location for outlet malls, although it was always crowded back in the day. And I suppose there were fewer outlet malls overall, and they did actually have better prices, so it likely drew from Huntsville, Chattanooga, Birmingham, etc (maybe even Atlanta?).

The Leeds outlet mall seems to be doing fine, although it was doing much better before Covid. There are some storefront vacancies now. I'd guess the Foley mall does better. As someone mentioned previously, it pulls from a bigger tourism population in addition to locals.

From my experience - the wives shop in Foley while the men play golf.

[AU HSV]

Senator Shelby going out with a bang. Alabama needs all the help we can get. If not us it goes someplace else.

Army Research – $17 billion for continued investment in transformational technologies to address modern and future Army warfighting needs.
Hypersonic weapons – fully funds Army hypersonic research, as well as an additional $60 million to develop a common hypersonic glide body and $50 million towards high energy laser development.
$2.6 billion for Space Launch System, of which $600 million is for concurrent Block 1B development, which is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
$110 million for nuclear thermal propulsion, which benefits Marshall Space Flight Center.
$652 million for FBI construction at Redstone Arsenal, which supports ongoing and growing efforts in Huntsville.
$44 million military construction project building a Physics Lab at Redstone Arsenal.
$52 million military construction project building Consolidated Warehouses.
$6 million military construction project updating Building 6231 at Redstone Arsenal.
$151 million military construction project for DIA/MSIC’s Advanced Analysis Facility Phase 2.
$11 million military construction project for Backup Power Generation.
$500,000 for the Invasive Species Mitigation Plan to begin the planning, design, initial engineering and project management for construction of carp barriers in the Mississippi River Basin, including the Tennessee River, and the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway.
$27 million for the Fish and Wildlife Service to combat Asian Carp and enhance efforts in sub-basins of the Mississippi River, which includes key areas of Alabama in the Tennessee and Cumberland basins.
No less than $10.5 million, $3.5 million above FY22 enacted level, for the NOAA VORTEX-SE program, which is located at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

More info on the annexation. It will have a master plan developed for the site.
https://www.al.com/news/2022/12/hunt...cruitment.html

Athens annexes land

ATHENS, Ala. (WAFF) - The Athens City Council voted in favor of annexing 183 acres of unincorporated Limestone County between I-65 and Hwy. 31 on Thursday morning.

According to Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks, this will help city tax revenue.

“It gives us an opportunity to grow our tax base just like our surrounding sister cities choose to do. Most of the general fund revenue is made up of sales tax,” he said. “It buys police cars, garbage trucks. It’s the opportunity for us to say welcome aboard.”

He said the city is not buying the land, it has just been incorporated into city limits. All residents living on the land will become citizens of Athens, gaining access to city services in exchange for city taxes

[neodasan]

Alabamians made a big mistake. It doesn't look like a young new senator has an ability to get these.

Originally Posted by AU HSV

Senator Shelby going out with a bang. Alabama needs all the help we can get. If not us it goes someplace else.

Army Research – $17 billion for continued investment in transformational technologies to address modern and future Army warfighting needs.
Hypersonic weapons – fully funds Army hypersonic research, as well as an additional $60 million to develop a common hypersonic glide body and $50 million towards high energy laser development.
$2.6 billion for Space Launch System, of which $600 million is for concurrent Block 1B development, which is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
$110 million for nuclear thermal propulsion, which benefits Marshall Space Flight Center.
$652 million for FBI construction at Redstone Arsenal, which supports ongoing and growing efforts in Huntsville.
$44 million military construction project building a Physics Lab at Redstone Arsenal.
$52 million military construction project building Consolidated Warehouses.
$6 million military construction project updating Building 6231 at Redstone Arsenal.
$151 million military construction project for DIA/MSIC’s Advanced Analysis Facility Phase 2.
$11 million military construction project for Backup Power Generation.
$500,000 for the Invasive Species Mitigation Plan to begin the planning, design, initial engineering and project management for construction of carp barriers in the Mississippi River Basin, including the Tennessee River, and the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway.
$27 million for the Fish and Wildlife Service to combat Asian Carp and enhance efforts in sub-basins of the Mississippi River, which includes key areas of Alabama in the Tennessee and Cumberland basins.
No less than $10.5 million, $3.5 million above FY22 enacted level, for the NOAA VORTEX-SE program, which is located at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.