Why is land now so expensive in NE Madison County?

[nalabama]

Re land prices south of the river and in Morgan County (Lacey's Spring): at auction Saturday, 120 acres of hunting/recreational land which sold about five years ago for $1325 per acre (IIRC) sold for $2585 per acre . About ten years ago, land in the same general area, but with road access, sold for around $700 per acre. I was also at an auction in Lacey's Spring two years ago where a gently-sloped 40 acres of what I considered scrub timber sold for approximately $4000 per acre. I think land on that side of the river will continue to appreciate in value--and perhaps explode in value--especially if the residents of Lacey's Spring will reconsider their decision to resist annexation into Huntsville.

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by kypeep

Any idea what the timeframe is for eliminating Hwy 72 lights at Moore's Mill? Shields Rd? Can't wait to see those 2 go.

And for building the overpass to Ryland Pike? I had heard something like 10 years for this part of it. Of course, I'm not holding my breath, I've lived in Huntsville long enough to know what's planned and what occurs in the way of road-building are two very different scenarios. Never enough money, either at the city, county, or state level to fund what's needed.

CWGlover, you've confirmed what I have thought for a long time, but it's frowned upon in Huntsville to admit that the BRACS folks probably won't come in droves and those that do move aren't stupid about real estate speculation here. Best I can tell, most of the BRAC folks are thought of as "sitting ducks" so used to high housing costs that they will swoon at the idea of more square footage and acreage. I am not sure many local businesses recognize that they are dealing with a sophisticated clientele in terms of what is expected in the form of amenities (restaurants, groceries, etc.) and home upgrades (counters, molding etc.). I had someone in the housing biz tell me recently that there are homes priced at $1M here, and these homes were finished out with far less than quality features when compared to similarly-priced houses in Birmingham. I am not sure how DC and Birmingham would cmpare these days in terms of quality of housing - it's been many years since I lived in Virginia - but I would venture to guess that those moving here will expect at least the same quality for the money as you would find in any major city, whether it be the DC/NoVa/MD area or Birmingham.

The Shields/Moores Mill overpass is actually scheduled to begin construction in late 2009 or 2010 which is like the 17th million time they have delayed it but I don't expect them to meet their 2009/2010 timeline either so expect another push back. The state has to acquire the right of way to build the overpasses too meaning all of the property on the right side of the road, Myrick Motel, wendy's, KFC has to be torn down. Unless we see major reform in transportation don't expect the county and state in particular to be able to be anywhere close to keeping up with road demands.

[boomer]

nalabama, I have only lived here 4 months and only have a limited knowledge on how annexation works on the commercial front. Can you further explain the logic how annexation will make property value in other counties explode?

Also, I can vouch that property values have increased in Morgan county. I bought raw land two years ago close to Valhermoso Springs (5 miles SE of Lacey Springs) for 4K an acre. My neighbor also bought theirs for 4k an acre two months after me. Last year another neighbor bought his for 6K an acre and swears it was the best deal he saw all year for this location. I see land all the time for 8k - 10k an acre in Morgan county but most seem to sit for 4-6 months before they sell. I am guessing the 6k per acre he purchased his for last year was about average.

I also saw in the Huntsville classifieds this week, an owner near Meridianville was selling his 40 acre plot for 20K. He said this "new" lower price was the best in Madison county. I am guessing prices for raw land in Madison county has reached its peak and land owners are starting to come down a bit. Perhaps developers bought all their future investment land the last few years.

Originally Posted by nalabama

Re land prices south of the river and in Morgan County (Lacey's Spring): at auction Saturday, 120 acres of hunting/recreational land which sold about five years ago for $1325 per acre (IIRC) sold for $2585 per acre . About ten years ago, land in the same general area, but with road access, sold for around $700 per acre. I was also at an auction in Lacey's Spring two years ago where a gently-sloped 40 acres of what I considered scrub timber sold for approximately $4000 per acre. I think land on that side of the river will continue to appreciate in value--and perhaps explode in value--especially if the residents of Lacey's Spring will reconsider their decision to resist annexation into Huntsville.

[nalabama]

nalabama, I have only lived here 4 months and only have a limited knowledge on how annexation works on the commercial front. Can you further explain the logic how annexation will make property value in other counties explode?

A local developer was pushing annexation into Huntsville of Lacey's Spring's property east of US 231 and north of the ridgeline that runs east to west about a quarter-mile south of the south part of River Loop Road. He owns about 900 acres in the area in question, and had plans to put in a marina and up-scale housing in the area. He's been successful in other areas, and I believe he would be successful there as well. Much of the older housing in that area would be likely candidates for teardown and resell as building/development property, which would lead to higher land values for the current owners of other property in the area.

That same developer also owns at least a couple hundred acres adjoining the river on the east side of the Morgan/Marshall County Line, which would then be ripe for development under the Marshall County building codes and property tax structure and would likely sell like firecrackers on the 4th of July. It would also raise the values of the land belonging to the other landowners in the Morgan County part of that valley and make them targets for developer buyouts.

[boomer]

A few postings ago, I stated that the BRAC could take 10 years to fill all the new positions coming to Huntsville. Here is quote from my previous hometown newspaper in Tampa, FL, "The aerospace and defense sector is bracing for a potential brain drain during the next decade as a generation of Cold War scientist and engineers hits retirement age and not enough qualified young Americans seek to take their place. The problem - almost 60 percent of U.S. aerospace workers in 2007 were 45 or older. Ian Ziskin, corporate vice president and chief human resources and administrative offer for Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp estimates that about half of Northrop Grumman's 122,000 workers will be eligible to retire in the next five to 10 years. The trend is the same at Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md., which could lose up to half of its work force of 140,000 to retirement over the next decade" (Tampa Tribune, March 5, 2008)

[ionlife]

And those who want to retire early could double dip t take advantage of that issue