Huntsville/Madison Development News (layout, articles, range)

[Emptynester1]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

People wishing, however Costco is adding on, appears it will be the liquor portion of the store when finished.
Costco liquor has good reviews and until now think the Huntsville store was
The only one in Alabama that didn’t sell it, due to zoning issues which have been resolved.

Thanks for that information. I was wondering what what was being done at Costco.

[RocketDawg]

According to other city forums here, Southwest airlines will begin service to Colorado Springs (government passengers perhaps) and Savannah (tourists), and return to Jackson, MS. I wonder if they are reconsidering Huntsville? CS and Savannah are both busier, but Huntsville has more passenger traffic than Jackson.

[RocketDawg]

Does anybody here have a subscription to the Huntsville Business Journal? I'm thinking about subscribing. I checked in today, and couldn't read the articles, they have a lot of good information, such as -- housing sales are up 28% over last year; Encompass Health is building a new facility (moving from Governor's) at Hwy 72 & Moore's Mill Rd; H'ville rent increase among the highest in the country (not good news if you're a renter); and Huntsville is the 15th best place to live in the country.

Also went to the MidCity site and they mentioned that in addition to those already announced is a mainline Marriott Hotel, with announcement coming soon. The approval of the amphitheater might have stimulated that.

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Does anybody here have a subscription to the Huntsville Business Journal? I'm thinking about subscribing. I checked in today, and couldn't read the articles, they have a lot of good information, such as -- housing sales are up 28% over last year; Encompass Health is building a new facility (moving from Governor's) at Hwy 72 & Moore's Mill Rd; H'ville rent increase among the highest in the country (not good news if you're a renter); and Huntsville is the 15th best place to live in the country.

Also went to the MidCity site and they mentioned that in addition to those already announced is a mainline Marriott Hotel, with announcement coming soon. The approval of the amphitheater might have stimulated that.

Aloft Hotel and Hotel Indigo is was planned for Mid City, the encompass facility was mentioned here weeks ago. At one time over 600 hotel rooms were planned for Mid City. Don’t know if those numbers have changed, those two hotels will make up almost half of that.

[David1502]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

According to other city forums here, Southwest airlines will begin service to Colorado Springs (government passengers perhaps) and Savannah (tourists), and return to Jackson, MS. I wonder if they are reconsidering Huntsville? CS and Savannah are both busier, but Huntsville has more passenger traffic than Jackson.

Southwest previously had service from Jackson and discontinued it probably five or six years ago. While Jackson may have less passenger traffic than HSV, it has an advantage of having a larger radius to draw from before hitting the draw for another airport - the New Orleans airport is about 3 hours away and Memphis is about the same distance. By contrast, the Nashville and Birmingham airports are within a two hour radius of Huntsville.

Savannah is more of a tourist draw - it has had Jet Blue service to New York for years, so it has a proven track record of having a lower cost carrier being successful.

It is more encouraging to see that SW will fly from Colorado Springs as it is little over an hour and a half away from Denver International Airport. The fact that SW is going to be flying from both Houston Airports (with the introduction of service from Intercontinental) and also from Chicago's O'Hare Airport shows that they have changed their policy of not cannibalizing the airports they already serve.

Perhaps, they will decide that they are missing out on the cost conscious passengers from HSV where Delta and other airlines offer their Basic Economy fares which are the most inflexible and can never be changed. In the past, when these Basic Economy fares weren't offered, more passengers would have traveled to BHM or BNA to fly Southwest, now passengers have other low cost options flying Delta, United and American.

Frontier has been successful, and proven their is a low cost market at HSV, but their service is restricted to two (or three)days a week with few connections at Denver. Southwest would be a big improvement over Frontier.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

Aloft Hotel and Hotel Indigo is was planned for Mid City, the encompass facility was mentioned here weeks ago. At one time over 600 hotel rooms were planned for Mid City. Don’t know if those numbers have changed, those two hotels will make up almost half of that.

If you go to midcitydistrict.com, then click on "Stay", they list the Aloft, Indigo, and then that a Marriott Hotel will be "announcing soon". Seems to be a new addition. Not sure what an encompass facility is.

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

If you go to midcitydistrict.com, then click on "Stay", they list the Aloft, Indigo, and then that a Marriott Hotel will be "announcing soon". Seems to be a new addition. Not sure what an encompass facility is.

Encompass is a rehab hospital that is currently across from Huntsville Hospital. They are moving to the Moores Mill location with a new facility.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by David1502

Southwest previously had service from Jackson and discontinued it probably five or six years ago. While Jackson may have less passenger traffic than HSV, it has an advantage of having a larger radius to draw from before hitting the draw for another airport - the New Orleans airport is about 3 hours away and Memphis is about the same distance. By contrast, the Nashville and Birmingham airports are within a two hour radius of Huntsville.

Savannah is more of a tourist draw - it has had Jet Blue service to New York for years, so it has a proven track record of having a lower cost carrier being successful.

It is more encouraging to see that SW will fly from Colorado Springs as it is little over an hour and a half away from Denver International Airport. The fact that SW is going to be flying from both Houston Airports (with the introduction of service from Intercontinental) and also from Chicago's O'Hare Airport shows that they have changed their policy of not cannibalizing the airports they already serve.

Perhaps, they will decide that they are missing out on the cost conscious passengers from HSV where Delta and other airlines offer their Basic Economy fares which are the most inflexible and can never be changed. In the past, when these Basic Economy fares weren't offered, more passengers would have traveled to BHM or BNA to fly Southwest, now passengers have other low cost options flying Delta, United and American.

Frontier has been successful, and proven their is a low cost market at HSV, but their service is restricted to two (or three)days a week with few connections at Denver. Southwest would be a big improvement over Frontier.

Yes, agree that Southwest's policy about cannibalizing from nearby airports seems to be changing, so maybe we'll get lucky. The area is growing so fast that it wouldn't really be surprising. I've never driven to Birmingham Birmingham, or even Nashville, just to save a few dollars on fares when you have to consider parking costs, wear and tear on your car, and safety on the highways. Maybe a family of four or five would make it economically feasible, but it never made much sense to me.

I checked the Transstats site for Savannah, and was surprised that they have about the same traffic level as Birmingham. I suppose B'ham suffers from being close to Atlanta, and we suffer from being close to Nashville and B'ham.

Given Covid, it seems like an odd time to be adding air service anywhere. I suppose they're expecting a rebound pretty quickly. I read that Southwest lost over $1B either in the last quarter or the last year, but there will be some government relief at some point.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

Encompass is a rehab hospital that is currently across from Huntsville Hospital. They are moving to the Moores Mill location with a new facility.

Yes, I think you or possibly someone else did mention that a couple of weeks ago. You said it would free up space for the hospital to expand, perhaps a high rise, if I recall correctly.

[TimCity2000]

^ new press release: Robins & Morton breaks ground on new rehabilitation hospital in Huntsville

Alabama-based construction firm Robins & Morton and Encompass Health broke ground on a new rehabilitation hospital in Huntsville, Alabama, on Oct. 21.

The new hospital will replace the existing Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of North Alabama located on Governors Drive in Huntsville’s Medical District.

Its new 77,850-square-foot location at the corner of Moores Mill Road and Highway 72 will house 76 beds, featuring patient rooms, an in-house pharmacy, a state-of-the-art rehabilitation gym, an outdoor training courtyard, a six-chair dialysis suite, four bariatric rooms, an isolation room, day rooms, a commercial-grade kitchen, a dining room, and an additional courtyard for outdoor dining and respite.

“It’s a privilege to play a role in expanding access to advanced care in our home state,” Robins & Morton’s Vice President, Donny Williams, said. “We thank Encompass Health for that opportunity and congratulate them on this milestone.”

The hospital will be constructed using a prefabricated exterior load-bearing wall system. Utilizing prefabrication will increase quality and speed-to-market, while also allowing the team to achieve schedule-critical activities such as dry-in at an expedited pace.

Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of North Alabama is expected to open to patients in the spring of 2022.