Auburn/Opelika developments

[ATLman1]

The city of Auburn welcomed yet another new comany to the area. Nikki America Fuel Systems is bringing 130 jobs to Auburn. The company makes carburetors and electronic fuel systems in Japan and North America. They're a major supplier to Briggs and Stratton, which is also located in Auburn.

[ATLman1]

Auburn:

HDI Solutions Inc., a provider of data management and related IT services to local and state governments as well as private clients, will add 130-160 jobs in Lee, Tallapoosa and Chambers counties.

The Auburn office will add 85 to 100 data-entry jobs, 25 to 30 positions in Alexander City and 20 to 30 in Chambers County.

[ATLman1]

New housing plan moves ahead: Student housing opportunities continue to grow in Auburn.

The Fairfield Residential property proposed off East Longleaf Drive behind Wal-Mart could be the future home to approximately 900 potential college students. Thursday evening the Auburn Planning Commission approved a recommendation to the City Council seeking conditional use approval to construct the multi-family residential use. The 300-plus units would house approximately 900 bedrooms on 32.8 acres of land. The gated community would consist of three-story tall buildings with gabled roofs.

[ATLman1]

Construction Projects Under Construction or Proposed for Auburn University:

Proposed:

1) New Basketball Arena: Cost estimated to be $80 million. If built, it will be finished in 3 years.

2) New student housing development: cost yet to be determined. The plan calls for multiple buildings, no taller than four stories each, to house an additional 1,650

beds. The project will include a new food service building as well.

Under Construction:

1) Shelby Center for Engineering Technology: The budget for the first phase of the three-building project is $50.7 million. The second phase is approximately $49.5

million. It being erected between the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and the Lowder Business Building along

Magnolia Avenue. Phase I will be complete by this fall.

2) Student Center: Cost is $50 million. The three-story, 184,000-square-foot structure will essentially replace the Foy Student Union by housing study areas,

ballrooms, food vendors and offices. Construction south of the Haley Center began last August. Completion is expected by fall 2008.

[ATLman1]

Major Retail Center Coming to Auburn:

The new development will be built just off Interstate 85, at exit 51. The plot of land may soon be home to the largest retail development the city of Auburn has ever seen. For the first time, developer Tom Hayley of Hayley and Redd development is speaking publicly about the project. His company purchased 215 acres along the interstate and Shell Toomer Road. This is the site where they will construct a multi-million dollar retail and restaurant shopping center called West Pace's Crossing. The center will have about a dozen new restaurants, five major department store anchors and dozens of smaller retailers. Hayley says West Pace's Crossing will be one of the largest and nicest retail projects between Mobile and Atlanta.

[ATLman1]

West Pace's Crossing Retail Development:

An auto mall will be among the first to locate in a new multi million dollar retail center in Auburn. Lynch Auto Group, which purchased the Dyas dealerships in Auburn is getting on board with a 12 million dollar auto mall next door to the upscale shopping and restaurant center. The auto mall will include a new Toyota and Nissan Store as well as a Chevy Cadillac store. The auto mall is expected to create 50 new jobs in both sales and service. The entire development is expected to open in 2008.

[ATLman1]

More jobs headed to Auburn:

Tuesday, Governor Bob Riley along with Auburn officials announced that two companies - Seohan Auto USA and Seohan Drive shaft USA - will locate in Auburn. They will create 170 new jobs to the Lee County area. The whole investment is worth $33 million. The two companies will occupy a 250,000 square foot facility that will be built in Auburn's Industrial Park. Construction of the new building will begin immediately with production scheduled by the end of the year.

[ATLman1]

Area named nation's top spot for industry:

Site Selection magazine, a national trade publication, ranked Auburn/Opelika Metropolitan Statistical Area the top economic development area among metro areas with populations under 200,000 people.

Last year, the Auburn/Opelika MSA with a population of 123,000 people brought in 19 new facility projects. In Auburn, approximately 1,069 jobs were created with a $161.3 million in capital investment; and in Opelika, approximately 523 jobs were created with a $198.5 million in capital investment.

[ATLman1]

Giant Casino Planned Outside Lee County:

If a group made up of gaming executives and Macon County investors have their way, a high-stakes bingo resort facility that will rival any casino in world could open its doors within spitting distance of Lee County.

Dominic Polizzotto of Southeastern Gaming Opportunity, LLC said Friday that the only thing keeping a planned 300-room resort hotel and a state-of-the-art charity bingo casino on the southeast corner of the Wire Road exit from becoming reality is securing a gaming license in Macon County.

"We have conceptual plans, and we

[ATLman1]

Census report ranks Auburn-Opelika 89th among nation's top 100 growth markets

A new U.S. Census Bureau report ranks the Auburn-Opelika area 89th among the top 100 fastest-growing metro areas in America.

In the period between April 1, 2000, and July 1, 2006, Auburn-Opelika gained 10,689 residents - a growth of 9.3 percent, according to the population estimates released this week.

[ATLman1]

TigerTown Expands:

Construction on a 100-room Fairfield Inn is expected to begin this summer with the hopes of opening in time for the upcoming football season. The second hotel, a 100-room Courtyard by Marriott, is expected to open next year.

Construction is already under way on a new Kroger in the center. The 83,000 square-foot grocery is expected open later this summer or early fall.

[Zumthor]

Looks like another Opelika-Auburn coup!!! It is amazing how they are able to attract so many businesses to relocate there. I am impressed!!!!

Auburn University is finally joining the ranks of other engineering universities and creating a technology park. Also the Auburn/Opelika area is midway along the interstate between Kia and Hyundai, two automotive manufacturers that share common components. With one of the highest rated public school systems in the South and access to a major interstate and a top University, I'm suprised it's taken this long for the rest of the world to discover us.

[Zumthor]

The question is, will the City realize that it has a role to play in controlling the growth pattern so that the city doesn't become a tangled mess of random developement and reactionary transportation planning.

[convulso]

The question is, will the City realize that it has a role to play in controlling the growth pattern so that the city doesn't become a tangled mess of random developement and reactionary transportation planning.

auburn struggles with its growth - i think the fact that auburn's and opelika's fortunes are so closely linked means that auburn's city leaders can't be unrealistic in their desires to control growth with a heavy hand. but, if anywhere in alabama has a shot at shaping the kind of booming development this metro is seeing, and doing it in a progressive manner that keeps the city attractive to the 'desirable' prospective resident / business demographic, it's auburn. with my pattern of living in auburn half the year, and tucson (rampant development) the other half, i have begun to appreciate auburn's efforts at shaping its growth (not an easy task when there's so much of it - not only in the city, but in lee county as well) and in the community's level of informed participation in what goes on.

it ain't perfect, but it's much better than you'd expect to find in alabama.

[DruidCity]

Maybe you Auburn folks can help me out.

What's your opinion of the TigerTown development ?

The reason I ask is that the same developer has plans to build a shopping center

directly across the street from my subdivision in T-town. It's so close that I can see the site from my room,

but I really don't know what to expect.

[convulso]

^ as long as shopping centers don't offend you, you should have no trouble accepting their style of development (if it's anything like tigertown). tigertown's not a progressive development - it's parking spaces and outdoor-access strip mall buildings, fringed with banks and restaurants - but it's done about as well as strip malls are going to be done. tigertown has done huge business (judging only from its steady traffic; i have no figures), with a scaled-down best buy, old navy, books-a-million, ross, pet store, office supply store, target, olive garden, buffalo wild wings, coldstone, starbucks and several other predictable stores & eateries. they themed the sidewalks with tiger statuary and have the planters that emanate music.

they're building the thing in phases, which i think is a good thing, and there is a lot more planned (though i'll have to check how far the current phase has progressed when i get back to town this weekend).

for me, it's a case of tigertown being as good as it gets, if it's a foregone conclusion that what you're getting is a strip mall. i've seen much worse, even where brand new strip developments are concerned.

hope that helps.

[DruidCity]

Thanks. Yes, that's basically what I was looking for - just the overall feel of the development.

[HSVTiger]

this is all great info , might be worth it to also post it in the ALABAMA forum.

Auburn, Opelika and Phenix City are in Alabama much to the surprise of people

from other regions of the country.

War Eagle!

[HSVTiger]

http://www.siteselection.com/

Auburn- Opelika Bests All Competitors in Tier 3

Being located between two $1 billion automotive plants has its advantages. In Auburn- Opelika, Ala., the proximity to Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and the soon- to- be Kia plant in West Point, Ga., opened the door to a banner year in 2006.

The MSA of 123,000 people topped all metro areas of population between 50,000 and 200,000 in corporate project activity last year, netting 19 new facility projects totaling $188 million in capital investment.

Auburn- Opelika beat out in- state rival Tuscaloosa for the top honor in the Tier 3 category of U.S. metros, although Tuscaloosa's 12 corporate projects accounted for $592 million in capital investment.

The remainder of the top 10, including ties, were Sioux City, Iowa- Neb.- S.D.; Valdosta, Ga.; Blacksburg- Christiansburg- Radford, Va.; Harrisonburg, Va.; Parkersburg- Marietta, W.Va.- Ohio; Terre Haute, Ind.; Decatur, Ala.; and Danville, Va.

[Southron]

Great thread, ATLman1! Lots of good info here. This stuff ought to be in the Alabama forum.

[ATLman1]

Great thread, ATLman1! Lots of good info here. This stuff ought to be in the Alabama forum.

I agree I just include it because it is in the Columbus area. I will be glad to start posting in the Alabama forum.

[ATLman1]

TigerTown will soon house a Kroger complete with its own gas station, as well as restaurants such as Shane

[ATLman1]

Auburn/Opelika Airport Expansion:

The A/O airport is undergoing a $10 million dollar expansion. A new terminal as well as new hangers are currently being constructed. The new terminal will be served by an access road that will tie it into Frederick Road, providing easy access to Auburn, Opelika and Interstate 85.

[ATLman1]

$118M housing complex headed to Auburn by fall of 2009

With a growing student enrollment that has already surpassed the 23,500 mark, Auburn University is taking dramatic moves do away with what has been described as inadequate decades-old student housing and replacing it with new residential quarters.

The latest move is the biggest

[ATLman1]

TigerTown Expanding

Columbus's WRBL News

Once Phase IV of TigerTown is complete, the open-air shopping center will stretch a million square feet and is expected to generate approximately $7.7 million in revenue for Opelika.

Members of the Opelika City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the city and TigerTown Ltd. on Tuesday during its regular meeting. In 2002, the developer committed to develop 500,000 square feet of center space; by year