Montgomery Developments

[Southron]

Last night WSFA ran a special report on the future of downtown, with some discussion about how downtown projects fit together. The text of the report is in the link below.

Special Report: The Future of Downtown

[Southron]

The residential riverfront development in west Montgomery County was approved by the county commission. The 50-lot River Ridge Harbor development will be about 15 river miles from downtown and 8 river miles away from the Robert Trent Jones golf trail course. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, there are eight other developments being built along the Alabama River.

Montgomery Advertiser: River development approved

[Southron]

An out of state buyer signed a contract with Colonial Bank for the property at the corner of Bibb and Commerce, but the deal has not closed yet. The buyer is doing a feasibility study, and is supposedly considering several uses for the property. According to the Chamber of Commerce, a major hotel brand, possibly Hyatt or Hilton, is looking at downtown Montgomery.

If true, that would be 4 hotels within a block of the new convention center!

WSFA: Another Hotel For Downtown Montgomery?

[Southron]

Work is progressing on the expansion of the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, and should be complete in December. The church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is under consideration for designation as a World Heritage Site. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., directed the Montgomery Bus Boycott from the church basement.

Commemorative brick courtyard part of Dexter church expansion

[Southron]

The Montgomery City Council annexed a tract of land surrounding the Home Depot on Chantilly Parkway, after the city of Pike Road had annexed the superstore property. The Montgomery County Commission rescinded a vote that allowed Pike Road to proceed with its annexation, so the matter may be resolved in court.

Montgomery Advertiser: Council stakes Home Depot claim

The dispute wound up in court, and a circuit judge ruled that the Home Depot is in Montgomery County, not Pike Road.

Montgomery and Pike Road will probably continue to attempt to annex the property.

Judge Rules Home Depot Store Not in Pike Road

[jtrippe77]

Someone recently asked me about a 10 to 12 story building being built about 5 miles south of the Hyundai building on I-65. I had no clue what it might be. Anyone know what this is? He said it seemed out of place. He thought it might be a hotel.

[Southron]

Someone recently asked me about a 10 to 12 story building being built about 5 miles south of the Hyundai building on I-65. I had no clue what it might be. Anyone know what this is? He said it seemed out of place. He thought it might be a hotel.

I haven't seen anything like that on I-65 near Montgomery. Could he be referring to the Poarch Creek casino and hotel that's under construction just off I-65 in Atmore? It definitely sticks out like a sore thumb.

[jtrippe77]

I haven't seen anything like that on I-65 near Montgomery. Could he be referring to the Poarch Creek casino and hotel that's under construction just off I-65 in Atmore? It definitely sticks out like a sore thumb.

At first I thought he was talking about the Atmore casino because he is not familiar with Alabama. However, he said it was about five miles south of Montgomery. I've got to go to Mobile for business in June so I can check it out then. He did say that it was a good location for the airport and Hyundai. I'll try to find out more info.

[Southron]

Some good news for South Blvd: an independent grocer plans to open a store in mid-May at the old Winn Dixie location at 2256 E. South Blvd. The new Capitol Farmers Market will give the residents of 12,000 nearby homes a neighborhood grocery store for the first time since Winn-Dixie pulled out more than two years ago. Kudos to this guy for investing in an underserved area.

Independent grocer sees potential in south Montgomery

[Southron]

The city may silence train whistles downtown by closing the Coosa Street crossing to the public. This would eliminate one of the two entrances to the Riverwalk and force people to use the tunnel on Commerce Street.

This is a really dumb idea. Why eliminate an entrance to the Riverwalk that's right next to Riverwalk Stadium? Making the Riverwalk harder to get to is the last thing the city ought to be doing. The city should be considering a railroad quiet zone downtown, as Mobile is currently doing.

Montgomery Looks to Silence Trains

[Southron]

Dunkin' Donuts announced that they will return to the Montgomery market and open up to 15 new locations, as part of a national growth initiative that includes plans for 142 Alabama franchises. I guess we'll see if DD can compete with Krispy Kreme here in the Deep South. They certainly plan to trump KK in the number of stores in the area.

Montgomery Advertiser: Dunkin' Donuts coming to Montgomery

Boston Globe: Dunkin' Donuts eyes the heart of Dixie

[Southron]

A couple of downtown photo updates:

Dexter Ave Baptist Church expansion - May 31, 2008

Before and after photos of Destin Energy building (formerly a car dealership)

[Southron]

After undergoing renovations, the downtown Madison Hotel is now part of the Best Western chain. I was kind of hoping that the building would be demolished and the block redeveloped in true urban fashion, but I guess we'll have to live a little longer with the hotel set back in the middle of the block and surrounded by parking lots.

Madison Hotel joins Best Western chain

[Southron]

Einstein Bros. Bagels plans to enter the Montgomery market with up to three stores opening in six to 18 months.

The chain also plans to open stores in Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile. Einstein Bros. stores sell bagels, breakfast, coffee, sandwiches, soups, salads and other baked goods.

Einstein Bros. Bagels coming

[Southron]

WSFA recently ran a story about downtown revitalization. It's nice to see that commercial real estate professionals are now getting bullish about the prospects for continued redevelopment downtown.

Revitalization Well Underway In Downtown Montgomery

[Southron]

The city of Montgomery will build a new residential development on the west side. City plan

[Southron]

Today's Advertiser includes a front-page update on city projects currently underway downtown. A few projects with their projected costs and completion dates:

• Riverwalk Tower, $3.7 million, March 2009
  
• Coosa St. Parking Deck, $6.9 million, March 2009
  
• Alleyway (city portion), $1.1 million, October 2008
  
• Washington Ave Parking Deck, $5.7 million, June 2009
  
• Bibb/Madison streetscaping, $200,000, ?
  

No downturn downtown: Construction booms amid economic woes

Photo gallery

[Southron]

WSFA-TV ran a story recently about downtown revitalization with coverage of several of the ongoing projects in the area. Interestingly, an aide to the mayor mentioned that efforts are underway to recruit a grocery store for downtown. IMO downtown needs a lot more residents before a full-fledged grocery store will come, but an urban market would be a great start.

Montgomery's Downtown Revitalization Coming Along

[Southron]

Montgomery's planning commission approved a new long-range comprehensive plan for the city to serve as a reference guide when developers seek approval for new projects. The plan was created by the Birming

[Southron]

Dexter Ave Baptist Church expansion 10/5/08:

[Southron]

The city's new KPS Group-drafted Strategic Development Concept document, which provides general guidance for development decisions, is available for download at the city website. There are some really interesting things in there, including redevelopment concepts for Montgomery Mall, Bell Street/Riverside Heights, and a portion of the Atlanta Highway corridor.

Strategic Development Concept (.pdf)

[Southron]

Office Depot plans to close its East Blvd store as part of a national effort to close underperforming stores. Once that store closes, I wonder how long Barnes & Noble, Winn Dixie and Longhorn steakhouse will hang on at that location.

Local Office Depot store set to close

[Southron]

The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Lu

[Southron]

^ A couple of pics of the new building

[Southron]

A major component of the downtown master plan is to "plant street trees in an organized campaign," and efforts are underway to get this done over the next decade and a half.

The city contracted with an additional urban forester to conduct an inventory of the street trees (between curb and sidewalk), and the work is nearing completion. As of November, there were 2,586 trees downtown, and urban forester Russell Stringer estimated that it will take about 15 years to fulfill the goal of planting 4,000 more to fully establish the downtown tree canopy. The citywide total of street trees was 36,465 in December, and the urban forestry department intends to plant about 1,000 trees each year.

Fifteen years is a long time, but with streetscape improvements in the works for some of the most prominent streets, the trees should make a noticeable difference much sooner. Bibb St. (pictured below) already looks much better with the trees recently planted there.

Downtown tree plan on the grow

Street trees are being planted as part of downtown streetscape improvement projects