Montgomery Developments

[Southron]

This year's drought has doubled the normal number of calls to a Montgomery contractor who repairs foundations. Lack of rain is causing the soil to shrink and pull away from houses, resulting in more cracked slabs. Contractors recommend that homeowners use soaker hoses 6 to 12 inches away from houses for a couple of hours three times a week to help prevent foundation damage.

Montgomery Advertiser: Drought hurting homeowners all the way to the foundation

[Southron]

A Central Alabama Business Journal article details the journey of Anna Lowder, of Montgomery's prominent Lowder family, from her hometown of Montgomery to London and back to participate in downtown revitalization. She and her British husband, Harvi Sahota, moved to Montgomery with the desire to bring the European tradition of mixed-use real estate development to the capital city. Montgomery was the subject of Sahota's dissertation for the master

[Southron]

Late June photos of expansion of the old Highway Dept./Public Safety annex building.

---

Renovation of this old fire house was just completed on S. McDonough St. I believe it was adapted for residential use.

---

More late June construction photos are posted in Montgomery project threads.

Edited June 23, 2007 by Southron

[Southron]

A construction contractor is putting up a $1 million, 9,000 sq. ft. office and warehouse building a couple of blocks from Zelda Road, in an area that much of Montgomery's new development has passed by. The contractor hopes to bring redevelopment to parts of town that currently are being dismissed as bad investment.

The new building replaces a delapidated and abandoned lawn equipment repair shop on Fifth Street. After the building is completed in August, the contractor will move his office on Carmichael Road to Fifth Street.

Montgomery Advertiser: Builder's design may revitalize area

[Southron]

Home Depot on Chantilly Parkway has agreed to annex into the city of Pike Road, which will bring hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales tax revenue for the growing city's school system. However, the store is not yet contiguous to Pike Road's existing city limit, which is required by state law for annexation. The mayor of Pike Road believes that other property will be annexed into the city, allowing Home Depot to follow.

Pike Road looks to be well on its way to becoming an affluent parasite community.

WSFA-TV: Home Depot Agrees to Annex into Pike Road

[Southron]

The city of Montgomery plans to sell Maxwell Heights, acquired in a 2006 land swap with Maxwell Air Force Base. Maxwell got the south and west portions of the former Riverside Heights housing area, off Bell Road and Eugene Street. Vandals have removed everything from windows and doors to copper wiring from the Maxwell Heights property, making it an unattractive eyesore.

Located off Air Base Boulevard, the Maxwell Heights property sits in a hazard area for Maxwell flight operations, and the city cannot allow residents to live there any more. Mayor Bright believes the property would be good for light industry.

Montgomery Advertiser: City looks to sell Maxwell Heights

[Southron]

According to census estimates, Montgomery's population was 201,998 as of July 1, 2006; a gain of 2,648 residents over 2005, and an increase of 430 residents over the 2000 census total. In 2000, Montgomery's population was at 201,568 and posted a loss each year until 2006.

Montgomery Advertiser: Tri-county population on the rise

[EXBubba]

The city of Montgomery plans to sell Maxwell Heights, acquired in a 2006 land swap with Maxwell Air Force Base. Maxwell got the south and west portions of the former Riverside Heights housing area, off Bell Road and Eugene Street. Vandals have removed everything from windows and doors to copper wiring from the Maxwell Heights property, making it an unattractive eyesore.

Located off Air Base Boulevard, the Maxwell Heights property sits in a hazard area for Maxwell flight operations, and the city cannot allow residents to live there any more. Mayor Bright believes the property would be good for light industry.

Montgomery Advertiser: City looks to sell Maxwell Heights

Scuse me Sourthron, but thats Bell St as Bell RD is out on the east side. This will be an excellent chance for someone to develop high or medium rise condos with an incredible view of downtown and across the river.

[Southron]

Scuse me Sourthron, but thats Bell St as Bell RD is out on the east side. This will be an excellent chance for someone to develop high or medium rise condos with an incredible view of downtown and across the river.

Thanks for catching the typo. Are you suggesting condos west of I-65 along Bell St. near Powder Magazine Park?

[Southron]

Sunday's Montgomery Advertiser took a look at the six largest projects in progress in and around downtown Montgomery:

Montgomery Intermodal Center

Builder: City of Montgomery

Location: near Molton and Tallapoosa streets

Cost: $9 million for first phase

Use: 380-car parking deck, office, meeting spaces, and bus transfer center for Montgomery Area Transit System.

Completion date: Currently set to open in late July 2007.

Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Spa at the Convention Center

Builder: City of Montgomery and Retirement Systems of Alabama

Location: Corner of Tallapoosa St and Molton St

Cost: $200 million

Use: Luxury hotel, parking deck and convention center.

Completion date: Hotel and parking deck - January 2008. Convention center - February 2008.

RSA Headquarters

Builder: Retirement Systems of Alabama

Location: 201 S. Union St

Cost: More than $100 million

Use: New headquarters for the RSA, some of the space may be leased to other tenants.

Completion date: May 2008

Forensic Sciences Building

Builder: Alabama State University and the State of Alabama

Location: Corner of Carter Hill Rd and South Decatur St

Cost: $10.3 million

Use: House forensic science classrooms for ASU and state forensic science offices.

Completion date: August 2007

Montgomery County Detention Facility

Builder: Montgomery County

Location: Corner of Adams Ave and S. McDonough St

Cost: $47.3 million

Use: Add 696 beds to the county detention facility, renovate part of old facility.

Completion date: October 2008

Renovation of the old Montgomery Advertiser building

Builder: Montgomery County

Location: 200 Washington Ave

Cost: $15 million

Use: One-stop site for residents to pay taxes, purchase licenses and tags and visit County Commission meetings.

Completion date: Summer 2008

Montgomery Advertiser: Lots of buildings going up downtown

[EXBubba]

Thanks for catching the typo. Are you suggesting condos west of I-65 along Bell St. near Powder Magazine Park?

It would seem like a winner to me. Bell St heading west was always an old throwaway mill district with some of toughest kids around and not much else besides Maxwell

[Southron]

It would seem like a winner to me. Bell St heading west was always an old throwaway mill district with some of toughest kids around and not much else besides Maxwell

Interesting idea to put mid-to-high rise residential there. Coupled with a major face-lift for Powder Magazine Park, condos would greatly improve the area. Once the improvements and infill are done along Bell St. east of I-65, such projects would make a nice complement.

[Southron]

Bed, Bath & Beyond, Circuit City, Michael's, Dick's Sporting Goods, and ULTA will join Costco in the new EastChase Market Center, the third phase of EastChase. The five stores are expected to open in May of 2008. No official word yet on whether existing Circuit City, Bed Bath & Beyond and Michael's stores will close when the new stores open.

This is not good news for East Blvd.

Montgomery Advertiser: EastChase will get five more stores

[poonther]

I'm not sure if this is the best place for this question, but since this is the main Montgomery thread, I thought I'd give it a shot. What had become of the Old Saint Margaret's Hospital in downtown. I know that it closed years ago, but was it torn down or is it being reused as something else? I do get to Montgomery at least once a year, but it has been years since I last passed by the old hospital. Just curious as I was born in that hospital.

[Southron]

I'm not sure if this is the best place for this question, but since this is the main Montgomery thread, I thought I'd give it a shot. What had become of the Old Saint Margaret's Hospital in downtown. I know that it closed years ago, but was it torn down or is it being reused as something else? I do get to Montgomery at least once a year, but it has been years since I last passed by the old hospital. Just curious as I was born in that hospital.

RSA bought and converted the St. Margaret's/Baptist Hospital complex into the state Criminal Justice Center, which houses the Departments of Public Safety and Corrections. The conversion was done within the last 3 or 4 years, I think. The new RSA headquarters is being built across the street.

Was this old St. Margaret's torn down and replaced, or added onto over the years?

Edit: Added postcard.

Edited July 11, 2007 by Southron

[EXBubba]

RSA bought and converted the St. Margaret's/Baptist Hospital complex into the state Criminal Justice Center, which houses the Departments of Public Safety and Corrections. The conversion was done within the last 3 or 4 years, I think. The new RSA headquarters is being built across the street.

Was this old St. Margaret's torn down and replaced, or added onto over the years?

Edit: Added postcard.

The St Margarets in the pictuxre is from beore 1950. The current building was built later and then added on to before going out of business. Then RSA remodelled it again. Edited July 13, 2007 by EXBubba

[poonther]

Thanks guys for the helpful replies and photo. I can sorta see the hospital, the way it looked in the 70's and 80's in that old photo if you look at the taller portion of the front bldg. minus the porch. I searched but could not find a photo of the way the hospital looked in it's heyday in the 50's, 60's and 70's.

My sister-in-law has worked over at Baptist for almost 20 years. She commutes daily from the far north side of Troy. Needless to say, she was happy when XM radio was formed and when books on tape came about.

[EXBubba]

Thanks guys for the helpful replies and photo. I can sorta see the hospital, the way it looked in the 70's and 80's in that old photo if you look at the taller portion of the front bldg. minus the porch. I searched but could not find a photo of the way the hospital looked in it's heyday in the 50's, 60's and 70's.

My sister-in-law has worked over at Baptist for almost 20 years. She commutes daily from the far north side of Troy. Needless to say, she was happy when XM radio was formed and when books on tape came about.

Visualize the whol e front end gone and the main structure open to a large green lawn. Sort of L-shaped with white granite and marble front.

[Southron]

The Montgomery Advertiser has a photo gallery of the renovated firehouse pictured earlier in post #81. The old firehouse on S. McDonough was adapted to residential use, and the owners turned it into an interesting living space.

Photo gallery: Firehouse renovation

Article: Old fire station becomes a new home

Edited July 15, 2007 by Southron

[Southron]

According to Mayor Bobby Bright, 20,000 homes are slated to be built in east Montgomery around the Vaughn Road, Pike Road and Taylor Road area. Incredibly, all of those new homes will be within the city limits of Montgomery.

With that many houses going up, the city population should be set to grow, and hopefully the city will capture a nice chunk of the people moving into the River Region.

Montgomery Advertiser article

[Alabadrock]

According to Mayor Bobby Bright, 20,000 homes are slated to be built in east Montgomery around the Vaughn Road, Pike Road and Taylor Road area. Incredibly, all of those new homes will be within the city limits of Montgomery.

With that many houses going up, the city population should be set to grow, and hopefully the city will capture a nice chunk of the people moving into the River Region.

Montgomery Advertiser article

Good lord! Who's building all of these houses. I'm assuming that they're all separate projects.

[EXBubba]

Good lord! Who's building all of these houses. I'm assuming that they're all separate projects.

Believe he was proablaby quote the number of applications that have been approved... not necessarily what is expected to be built - at least not in the near future. That would include all the new subdivisions planned in the future and those being built out now.

[Southron]

Believe he was proablaby quote the number of applications that have been approved... not necessarily what is expected to be built - at least not in the near future. That would include all the new subdivisions planned in the future and those being built out now.

Agreed. There are some pretty big home-building projects planned for east Montgomery. For example, the Hampstead traditional neighborhood development will include up to 1,700 units, and there are more big ones in the works, both TNDs and conventional subdivisions. There's still a good bit of room left to build within the city limits.

[Southron]

Montgomery civil rights activists disagree about where the National Park Service should locate an interpretive center for the Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic Trail. Potential sites include the City of St. Jude, a Catholic medical and residential complex where civil rights marchers camped on their way to the Capitol during the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march; an old culinary arts building at Trenholm State Technical College on Mobile Highway; and the old Mount Zion church, where the congregation provided refreshments and restrooms for the 1965 marchers.

The National Park Service will operate the interpretive center and choose its location. The Montgomery center would be the third of three along the civil rights trail, with other centers in Selma and Lowndes County.

Montgomery Advertiser: Groups take sides over site for civil rights center

[Southron]

The city of Montgomery established a new program to replace trees recently lost to drought. The No Net Loss Tree Policy ensures that whenever a city-owned tree dies, Montgomery's urban forester plants another one in its place. The city planted about 1,000 new trees last year, and lost 10 percent of them to this year's drought. The majority of the new trees lost to dehydration were in the Capitol Heights, Old Cloverdale and Garden District neighborhoods.

It's good to see the city taking steps to protect and improve the tree canopy.

Montgomery Advertiser: Program aims to preserve Montgomery trees