Huntsville/Madison Development News

[AU HSV]

Groundbreaking and construction has begun on 2 Food City locations one on Governors Dr. Second on North Parkway /Northern Bypass intersection.
https://www.waff.com/2024/05/08/food...ille/?tbref=hp

[cooldiver]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

Long range (30 years) project in the planning stages.
https://www.waff.com/2024/05/07/deve...-limestone-co/

Nashville’s Rochford Realty & Construction Co., Inc. and Land Innovations of Brentwood, Tenn., are partnering for the planned development situated between Huntsville and Decatur near Mooresville.

And also involved is the family of 1818 Farms co-owner Laurence McCrary, a long-time presence in Mooresville.

The developers are planning more than 3,500 residential units and 200,000 square feet of commercial space.

The concept is modeled on Stephens Valley, a planned community located 15 miles northwest of Franklin, Tenn. near Nashville, not far from the Natchez Trace Parkway.

https://www.al.com/news/2024/05/this...atur-area.html

Before we get too excited, note that this is smaller than both Town Madison (563 acres) and Clift Farms (550 acres).

The only real support for the commercial parts of this development will come from Interstate traffic. Hardly anybody lives in or near that acreage. It's a long way from anything.

The access plans will be interesting since it is at the intersection of two controlled access highways and the only road of sorts leading to the property is the stub of the former highway 20 that formerly cut through Mooresville. And it's adjacent to what seems to be a rather swampy area.

One thing for certain, we can look forward to years of hype.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by cooldiver

Before we get too excited, note that this is smaller than both Town Madison (563 acres) and Clift Farms (550 acres).

The only real support for the commercial parts of this development will come from Interstate traffic. Hardly anybody lives in or near that acreage. It's a long way from anything.

The access plans will be interesting since it is at the intersection of two controlled access highways and the only road of sorts leading to the property is the stub of the former highway 20 that formerly cut through Mooresville. And it's adjacent to what seems to be a rather swampy area.

One thing for certain, we can look forward to years of hype.

It's pretty close to Mazda-Toyota, the Target distribution center, Polaris, and two Amazon distribution centers, and probably several more things. For the most part, those aren't highly paid technical jobs, but they jobs nevertheless. Maybe the housing will not be in the luxury price end?

$2.2B is about the same cost as Redstone Gateway, so it's not pocket change except to the US government.

[cooldiver]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

It's pretty close to Mazda-Toyota, the Target distribution center, Polaris, and two Amazon distribution centers, and probably several more things. For the most part, those aren't highly paid technical jobs, but they jobs nevertheless. Maybe the housing will not be in the luxury price end?

$2.2B is about the same cost as Redstone Gateway, so it's not pocket change except to the US government.

You are correct, I think this will be a midscale development at best. Nothing like the referenced Nashville development.

By comparison, here are some Clift Farms stats from an article at rocketcitynow.com. I will go out on a limb and speculate that the 1,7235 residential units figure is a typo.

"The Clift Farm Master Plan allots for approximately 400,000 square feet of retail and 350,000 square feet of office space, plus 1,7235 residential units. Single-family homes are available as well as units at the Henry House Apartments. There is also proposed space for a medical complex and further expansion along Balch Rd."

https://www.rocketcitynow.com/articl...e-cf1982d9222a

Seems the residential is listed at 1,735. So Clift Farms as an example is lighter on residential, heavier on retail and office space. With that mix maybe the city of Madison should have annexed it, but the blowback from the citizenry would have been ferocious.

https://cliftfarm.com/wp-content/upl...n-Sept2019.pdf

[AU HSV]

Alabama A&M makes offer to buy Birmingham Southern.
Seems like a good plan.
https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2...n-college.html

Alabama A&M University made a $52 million offer on Thursday to purchase Birmingham-Southern College with the intention to retain the school’s credentialed faculty and staff.

Under the offer confirmed by Alabama A&M, the university would operate the BSC property as a standalone campus under AAMU’s umbrella.

[AU HSV]

Construction has begun on previously announced Stadium Commons, adjacent to Joe Davis Stadium.
The $145 million mixed-use development off Memorial Parkway will feature retail, a parking deck, office space and eventually a hotel and apartments.

Also earlier this week permits were issued for 2 building pad/foundation @11.3 million for Front Row downtown. This will be for Phase 1 which includes two 6 story 545 residential units, 36,000 sq ft of Class A office space and 47,000 sq ft of retail space. Completion expected early 2026.
Second phase plans to include high rise office, hotel and condos and additional parking deck.
This project is located along Clinton Ave across from the VBC, the former Coca Cola plant site.

Also The City of Huntsville received an $850,000 grant from the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) as part of a pilot program for land-use study along a potential bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor. The route is 9 miles from downtown to Providence along University Dr.
https://www.huntsvilleal.gov/city-of...tion-planning/

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

A new 120 room, 4 floor Hyatt Studio extended stay hotel is planned for 200 West Park Loop. It will be next door to the StayAPT hotel. This is a new concept from Hyatt and very similar to other extended stay type lodging (nothing real exciting) which is the current "thing" these days. It joins a little cluster of hotels (Residence Inn, Days Inn) just south of University Dr. and adjacent to Research Park. This will be second Hyatt Studio so far in Alabama with the first being under construction in the Mobile area.

https://www.hyatt.com/development/ou...s/hyattstudios

Groundbreaking for this hotel occurred the other day

[cooldiver]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

Groundbreaking for this hotel occurred the other day

And it is also the second in the country as well as the second in Alabama.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

Construction has begun on previously announced Stadium Commons, adjacent to Joe Davis Stadium.
The $145 million mixed-use development off Memorial Parkway will feature retail, a parking deck, office space and eventually a hotel and apartments.

Also earlier this week permits were issued for 2 building pad/foundation @11.3 million for Front Row downtown. This will be for Phase 1 which includes two 6 story 545 residential units, 36,000 sq ft of Class A office space and 47,000 sq ft of retail space. Completion expected early 2026.
Second phase plans to include high rise office, hotel and condos and additional parking deck.
This project is located along Clinton Ave across from the VBC, the former Coca Cola plant site.

Also The City of Huntsville received an $850,000 grant from the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) as part of a pilot program for land-use study along a potential bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor. The route is 9 miles from downtown to Providence along University Dr.
https://www.huntsvilleal.gov/city-of...tion-planning/

The Birmingham BRT system has been in operation for a couple of years now. Any idea if it's been a success? Birmingham has a different demographic than Huntsville does, as well as a larger urban area, so I'm wondering if anybody here would really use it.

When I was a kid, my small city had a very good bus system that stayed full most of the time, but those were different times. Many families didn't even have a family car.

[TimCity2000]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

The Birmingham BRT system has been in operation for a couple of years now. Any idea if it's been a success?

Hard to tell. I rarely see anyone on the buses or waiting at the stops... however, I usually am only in the vicinity of them at nights or on weekends (i.e. vs a business day, which presumably is when they would be ridden most frequently).

I think all Alabama cities suffer from just not having enough density / population concentration in these areas. Maybe with the BRT stops in place, residential development will spring up around them, but based on their specific locations that seems unlikely. The stops downtown are positioned well enough, with proximity to UAB and other large employers. But the stops further out are along busy streets (which you would expect) near single-family neighborhoods. There may be a few apartments nearby, but not many. I think people are not realistically going to walk more than 10 minutes to get to a bus stop. I'd be curious to see what that type of radius looks like overlaid on the BRT route, just to get a realistic idea of how many residents are in that zone.

The other issue (and maybe I'm alone here) is that I simply don't have much trouble parking downtown when I go there. Again, that's usually on weekends or nights, and the BRT is geared more towards commuters. So I'm probably not the target audience. (Also, even though I probably could walk to a BRT stop in about 10-15 minutes from my house, my office is not close to a BRT stop).