Transit planning, revisited

The Times on Sunday ran a story about the state of public transportation in the city. By 2011, federal operating assistance for the Shuttle will disappear, making the city the only source for funding, thanks to a state constitutional amendment that prohibits transit funding and a state Department of Transportation that publicly supports that law. The article incorrectly stated that the average commute time for Madison County is 18 minutes; according to the Census Bureau, in 2007, the average commute time for Madison County was 20.5 minutes, for the Huntsville-Decatur region, 24.25 minutes. By comparison, New York County, NY-- Manhattan-- has a average commuter time of 30.5 minutes. An editorial by John Peck had some interesting statistics. Nearly half (45%) of transit embarkments are in Northwest Huntsville; 30% in Southwest. Only 40% of riders are commuters, according to a city survey.

And last night, developer Doug Gooch did his pitch to the Madison City Council for their support on his light rail plan. For those who need to refresh their memory, here's my blog post about it from a few months ago.

People, I cannot stress this enough. The lack of reliable, convenient public transit is a city problem that needs a regional solution, and I don't mean just Madison County. It also won't be solved behind closed doors by some developer or a group of "civic leaders." And as long as transit is run only by the city of Huntsville, it will remain the "empty bus to nowhere." For transit to be truly successful here, there will need to be a planned regional system in place, and it will need to involve everybody, from mayors/councilmen/commissioners from every sizable town and county in the area, to the average rush hour commuter, to even college students and teenagers. Any less than that, and it will fail.

But first, like I've said before, we need a comprehensive regional transit plan. A regional transit plan would give the region specific alternatives to expanding roads and explore all the options and their costs. Some cities include this "Transportation Alternatives Study" in their long-range transportation plan (LRTP). Huntsville's 2030 LRTP has a section for public transit, but it fails to provide specific plans or options-- it basically says the area might need more in the future. We're due for an updated LRTP in the next year or so. Need some ideas?

• Birmingham, for all its faults, has a neat transit plan. The Regional Transit Improvement Strategy was completed five years ago. It includes alternatives and costs for transit improvements for major corridors in the Birmingham region.
• Chattanooga is currently developing an alternatives study, which will be included in their 2035 LRTP. This page gives a good summary of what a region the size of Huntsville's should be looking into for future plans, including: bike/pedestrian accessibility, local and express bus service, even an eventual rail transit system.
• Atlanta has a very comprehensive transportation plan, part of a larger regional plan called "Envision6"-- the 6 is for the projected 6 million residents of the metro area. While we're not envisioning 6 anytime soon (more like 1), it's cool to look at all of the options available. And they looked at just about everything.

All of the cities I listed above have strong regional planning councils who coordinate transportation and land-use planning, among other government functions, in their respective areas. Huntsville and Decatur should seriously look into getting one of these.

Looking Elsewhere...

Well, it's been a slow couple of weeks in Huntsville's urban development (it's always like this this time of year), so I thought we might look at what other cities in the region are doing:

Nashville's Gulch district is having trouble filling 800 condos built in the district in the past few years, according to The Tennessean. Despite TIF District improvements and its proximity to downtown, Music Row, and the West End (Nashville's Medical District), nothing could stop the recession; only 165 condos have sold in the three largest high-rise projects. However, it has had some success in bringing restaurants, clubs, and retail. Some familiar names, like Cantina Laredo and Urban Outfitters, have opened up shop there in the past year.

Those looking for more Sweetwater-type mega-developments might be interested in May Town Center, a project struggling to get approval from Nashville's planning board, partly because of access issues to the project, which will be surrounded on three sides by the Cumberland River. Another reason for the opposition is that it will be located in Bells Bend, a mostly agricultural area that is one of the last major open spaces left in Davidson County.

Chattanooga has 1-up-ped us again. A Monaco-style 12-screen movie theater is under construction downtown to replace the Bijou, a theater built during the first revitalization about 20 years ago. RiverCity Company, a non-profit organization responsible for much of Chattanooga's rebirth (Huntsville has tried to imitate its success with an organization called Big Spring Partners. Never heard of them? Exactly.) is developing the project along with Carmike Cinemas.

Birmingham is looking at building a downtown ballpark (sound familiar?) for the Barons, who currently play at Regions Park in Hoover. A development company is looking at the site near Railroad Park for the new stadium.

Constellation leasing signs up

As some of you have probably noticed, there are "now leasing" signs up along the Parkway service road for the Constellation outparcels, which will probably be occupied by restaurants. Today, a new sign went up along Clinton across from the project for a 3-story "Class A" office building that has been in the plans since the development was first publicly announced over 2 years ago. A rendering of the building is on the sign, so if you're in that part of downtown, go check it out-- it looks pretty cool. Otherwise, click on the image to get a better look at the rendering.

Time for a new Joe?

The Huntsville Stars, the AA minor-league baseball team that has been here since 1985, might be moving to another city in a couple of years because of low attendance, according to the assistant general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, of which the Stars are an affiliate of. Of course, this might just be a hollow threat. But let's say it's not.

The Stars have played in the Joe W. Davis Stadium (known to many locals as "the Joe") since they moved here in the mid-80s from Nashville. According to Wikipedia, it was considered the "crown jewel" of the league when it opened. But today, it's the oldest stadium in the league, and it doesn't include amenities that most modern ballparks have. Plus, its gray, metal and concrete architecture is less than stellar, possibly a result of it being hastily built.

Despite several renovations (the last being in 2007), not much seems to be helping attendance, which is last in the 10-team league. Many cities in this situation have built brand new stadiums to boost attendance and keep the team from going somewhere else. So, is it time for a new Joe?

One possibility is to build the new stadium next to the current Joe. While it would be cheaper to do that (considering the city already owns the land) the current stadium seems out of place, tucked away off the Parkway in a mostly industrial part of town, with little opportunity for spinoff development. If Huntsville really wants to bring some visibility to the team, they'll need to build somewhere else. Might I suggest... downtown?

Coca-Cola Ballpark

Several cities have built new downtown baseball stadiums in the last decade-- Memphis (Autozone Park), Montgomery (Riverwalk Stadium), and Chattanooga (AT&T Field), to name a few. Most of these have been successful in bringing people to the games and to the area surrounding the stadium. The ballparks in Montgomery and Chattanooga are a part of their successful riverfront revitalization projects. Memphis's ballpark anchors (along with the FedEx Forum, home of the NBA Grizzlies) an entertainment district.

So, say we had the $30 million or so to build a new downtown stadium. Where would it be built? One suggestion is the Coca-Cola bottling facility at the corner of Monroe and Clinton (hence the Coca-Cola Ballpark), outlined in white in the aerial image below. It would be an ideal place for a stadium, across the street from the VBC where the other professional minor-league teams in Huntsville play. It's within walking distance to Big Spring Park, the Constellation project, parking, and several open lots that are potential hotel/office/residential development sites. (Image courtesy Sellers Photo)

The city could also partner with developers to create a mixed-use project anchored by the stadium. Following the trend of new ballparks, the new stadium would probably have fewer seats than the Joe does-- about 6-7,000 compared to the current Joe's 10,200. The fewer seats would be closer to the field, allowing for a more "intimate" ballpark experience-- something that's popular in modern baseball stadium design.

Sure, there are probably cheaper places to build a new ballpark in the area. But would building a stadium in the middle of a cotton field in Limestone County be as awesome as a downtown stadium? No, because you are not Kevin Costner, and this is not Field of Dreams. If you build it [there], they will not come.

The "new" UAH master plan

Like politics, when a university gets a new administration, priorities change-- new ideas are introduced, and old ones are thrown out. This has certainly been the case for UAH since Dr. David ("Dave") Williams took the job as president of the university two years ago. Many of the changes he and his administration have implemented have been quite unpopular with students and faculty, especially since they have been kept "out of the loop" for the most part on these changes. But it looks like the new administration might be doing something right. Finally.

The new UAH master plan, which will replace the current one created in 2004, has an underlying goal: to make UAH a "traditional" campus. One of the major (and most interesting) focus points of the new plan is a "campus town center" along Holmes Avenue. Ideas for the new town center include live music/performance venues, art galleries, restaurants, a bookstore, grocery store, movie theater, and student apartments. A full list of ideas can be seen here. The town center, if successful, will give students, faculty, and visitors something that Huntsville currently lacks-- the "college town feel" of places like Auburn and Tuscaloosa. Plus, the greater accessibility to services and entertainment will make the surrounding neighborhoods more appealing to those who want to live in the city-- many of whom would be 20-something recent college graduates, a demographic Huntsville desperately needs, but lacks partly due to the scarceness of attractive urban living options.

Pedestrians and bikes
I probably don't need to remind you that Huntsville is not a bike- or pedestrian-friendly city. The area surrounding UAH is somewhat better, but not by much. One area of concern is trying to cross Holmes to get to the other side of campus. The university is trying to change that with a new pedestrian mall (under construction; the big red block in the middle of the picture above) that will go right through the middle of campus and cross Holmes in front of the Salmon Library. One thing I don't get about this plan is the random configuration of paths in the northern part of campus, especially the oval in the top left (between Roberts and Spragins halls).

Also, the creation of a campus transit system (Charger Transit?) is mentioned repeatedly in the plan, but will probably happen in the long-term. Hopefully by that time, there will be a reliable, efficient regional transit system to make it truly effective.

A denser campus

One of the consequences of UAH being a commuter campus is that the building are so spread out, you have to drive quite a bit. Try getting from Morton Hall to Tech Hall in 15 minutes on foot; you'd be stretching it on a bike. The plan calls for more buildings in the campus core, while creating a "greenbelt" of open spaces surrounding campus. And Tech Hall, isolated from the rest of campus (located at the bottom right of the above maps) will be no more, and the departments currently housed there will move elsewhere, probably in one of the proposed academic buildings that will surround the Shelby Center. One major note on the building plan is the sheer number of dormitories planned-- I counted at least 12, not including the one currently under construction. Also, notice that Southeast Housing (the oldest dorms/apartments on campus) is absent from the master plan. I wouldn't be surprised if they were torn down in the near future, especially after the new dorms are completed across the street in 2011.

The final draft of the master plan is due this fall.

Shuttle Bus gets federal grant

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has given a $2.4 million grant to Huntsville's Department of Parking and Public Transit for several transit projects, which include the replacement of aging vehicles (three buses, two trolleys, and three Handi-Ride vans), plus 350 bus stop signs and 50 bus shelters. Most of these projects were on the city's wishlist for the stimulus package.

The 350 bus stop signs the city's going to buy with this grant makes me wonder if they're planning a major re-imaging of the Shuttle Bus, which currently to most Huntsvillians is the "empty bus to nowhere." Too bad a fresh coat of paint won't change that.

Holmes/Greene Garage back on table

A new parking garage at the corner of Holmes and Greene downtown is back from the dead. According to the Times, The City Council tonight will authorize an application for a $1.2 million federal transportation grant to pay for the 5-story, 450 space garage, which will be built on top of an existing public surface lot. The new design for the garage is slightly different compared to the design released at a public meeting early last year-- it is now 5 stories instead of the original 6 to comply with the impending height limit buffer zones.

What makes this garage interesting is the planned residential and retail components. The city has partnered with developer Randy Schrimsher to build a 5-story apartment building next to the garage along Lincoln. The original plans called for 52 units, but the number will probably be less this time around. There will also be ground-floor retail space in the garage-- 10,000 sq. ft will be available for lease. The city has been in talks with several shops and restaurants, even a small grocery store with the earlier plans (the amount of space hasn't changed with the new design, so this is still possible).

For more info:
February 2008 article about this project, including an old rendering

Bridge Street to get another office tower... and a tennis complex

The Bridge Street developers reaffirmed what was already announced back in January-- a second office tower (identical to the first one) will be built in the northeast corner of the project. Construction will start early next year on the 6-story building, according to the Times.

Now, this is where it gets weird. The developers also announced plans to build the "Bridge Street Tennis Centre," a complex of 6 lighted "championship-style" tennis courts, on the northwest corner. Also, a putting green will be built at the Westin. Anybody else asking, "Why?"

Sounds like Bridge Street's having trouble filling up the rest of their 100-acre space, especially if they're resorting to build tennis courts and putting greens. Maybe I'm being a little too extreme here, but why not have some more medium-priced lunch places/coffee shops for the Research Park/UAH crowd? Anyone who has driven University around lunchtime knows those kinds of places do great business around there. (Several of you have talked about a Panera Bread opening, but I have yet to find anything to confirm that.) Also, where are those Phase II anchor stores that were promised a month after opening--in 2007? Sports Authority is the only one that has been announced, and will open later this summer.

Update: Paul Orfalea, co-founder of O&S Holdings, talked about a couple of projects on the "wish list" for Bridge Street:

1. A department store, which is "in negotiations." We can safely assume this is Macy's, unless, of course, the developers cheap out and take one of the Madison Square anchors (Sears, JC Penney, Belk, or Dillard's), quickening that mall's impending demise.
2. A "5-star hotel." This would probably be a tough sell for a city like Huntsville. I mean, could you imagine a Ritz-Carlton here? However, if they do pull it off, it will probably be a Starwood (Westin/Sheraton) or Marriott-brand hotel.
   

Todd Towers to be razed, redeveloped

An interesting little blurb in the Times this morning-- the Huntsville Housing Authority plans to continue the redevelopment of its properties using federal stimulus grant money. At the top of the list is the demolition of Todd Towers, the 6-story 100-unit senior housing complex at the corner of Monroe and Green Streets. Two buildings will be built in its place-- one, a 5-story, 90 unit senior housing complex, and the other, a 40-unit loft apartment building. The latter is being developed in a partnership with Thornton Properties-- it should be noted that they are also the developers of the 301 East Holmes high-end condo project, which would be adjacent to the loft apartments. The buildings are being designed by Bill Peters Architects of Huntsville.

The HHA is also applying for a grant to raze the remainder of the Searcy Homes projects along Holmes and Monroe and replace them with a mixed-use residential/retail development. This project is being designed by Joe Fuqua (I assume of Fuqua and Partners Architects).

Other HHA projects applying for grant money include the reconstruction of Sparkman Homes on Holmes (don't see how rebuilding the apartments is going to help the neighborhood) and the previously-announced Gateway Place senior housing in Councill Courts.

For more info:
HHA press release

Cheddar's, Zaxby's planned for University

The land being cleared in front of the University Place shopping center (where Phil Sandoval's and Nothing but Noodles is) is for a Cheddar's restaurant. A Zaxby's is also planned for another outparcel across University from McDonald's. This will be the ninth Zaxby's in the area, but the first Cheddar's (looks similar to a Ruby Tuesday) in Alabama.

Huntsville West

So Huntsville West, the shopping center at University and Sparkman, is getting some new tenants that I've never heard of. It wasn't long ago that the center had stores like Office Depot and Goody's. Despite several attempts to revitalize the center-- the Times has a good history of the center in the article linked above-- stores just can't seem to stick around there (with the exception of the thrift store and Hibbett's). Sometimes it was because the company went out of business (anyone remember Compo?), but most of the time the stores moved to new shopping centers-- Office Depot moved farther west next to Best Buy, and Goody's moved next to SuperTarget, where it remained until the company's demise earlier this year. These newer centers make it hard for Huntsville West to compete in its current form. So, if true revitalization is to be done, some radical and unique measures (at least for Huntsville) will have to be taken.


Time to meet the bulldozer...

If Huntsville West really wants to compete with the newer centers along University, it's going to have to be something new. It has the advantages of being at a relatively major intersection and in between two universities, but it has the disadvantages of being a waste of land (look at all that asphalt!) and being too old to attract better tenants. So bulldoze the center, and in its place, put in a "college town center" type development, or a Constellation for inner West Huntsville. Coming off University on the "Main Street," put in tenants that fit into the needs/wants of the demographics of the area-- a legit grocery store, college bookstore, some bars and restaurants (sit-down/quick service/fast-food), and a live music venue or two would be a good start. Elsewhere, build some 4-5 story loft-style apartment buildings. If parking's a problem, put in a parking garage. The city will probably need to improve pedestrian/bike access along Sparkman between the center and the universities-- this should be done anyway regardless.

Like I said, radical and unique. But there's not too much you can do with a 35-year-old shopping center that's within a mile of newer, more visible centers with vacant space. And bringing in retail that no one's ever heard of won't keep it alive for long.

Lincoln Mill Project: Making a Comeback?

Yet another project seems to be coming back from the dead. A plan to renovate the Lincoln Mill in Northeast Huntsville into retail space and lofts could be back on the board, with construction starting in early 2010.

For more info: Check out past articles on this project.

Planning Commission Approves Buffer Zones

The proposed downtown historic district buffer zones passed a major milestone tonight, with the city planning commission passing the ordinance amendments unanimously (with councilwoman Sandra Moon abstaining). The only government hurdle that's left is approval by the city council, which should happen in a month or two.

A text description along with a map of the planned amendments' final draft can be found on the city Planning Department website.

Mellow Mushroom is Open!

Undoubtedly the most anticipated restaurant this year (and last year) had a soft opening this week in the Village of Providence. The "grand opening" for Mellow Mushroom will be June 1st. It seems like a long time since the story broke here that the Atlanta-based restaurant chain was opening a franchise location in Huntsville. It was originally expected to open in August of last year, but was delayed several times. Seeing how many people were already there today at lunch, there is quite a demand; I think I'll wait a couple of weeks before I stop by and get a Mighty Meaty.

First Private Development Deal for Councill Courts

The Huntsville Housing Authority this week voted to sell 1.3 acres at the corner of Gallatin and St. Clair to T1 Development, according to the Huntsville Times. The development company plans to build a 4-story mixed use building on the site called Resonant Pointe (why they called it this, I don't know). Plans call for ground-floor retail and restaurant space, second-floor offices, and "small, affordable" condos on the top floors.

Here's an aerial image of the area (courtesy of Sellers Photo) that shows the development's location in reference to Huntsville Hospital, Downtown, and Gateway Place (the senior housing complex being built by the housing authority).

Let's hope this is the first of many similar projects for this neighborhood-- there's still 15 acres of the housing project yet to be sold along with surrounding parcels of land (such as the old high school) that need to be redeveloped.

Light Rail Transit: A Feasible Option?

See? I told you it was time to talk transit. In this morning's Times, a developer discussed his idea for a light rail transit (LRT) system in Huntsville. His idea is to have a line from the airport to Research Park, eventually being extended as an elevated line over 565 to UAH and Downtown; another line from Research Park through the Arsenal to a Martin Road park-and-ride; and yet another line from Downtown to Martin Road.Now, hold up there. While I hate being skeptical on such an interesting proposal, LRT shouldn't be the first thing we should be looking into. It would be like building a house without a foundation. LRT is expensive compared to buses and commuter rail (but less expensive than building a highway), so a tax increase of some sort will be involved. Alabamians don't like taxes anyway; why would we give more to government so they can spend it on something that hasn't been proven to work here?

I'm also afraid that this proposal won't work in its current form, because it has the classic problem of Huntsville's transit system-- It doesn't go where people need to go. Say you drive over Chapman Mountain, one of the most congested stretches of road in Huntsville, every day to get to work in Research Park. Would it help your commute any if you still had to drive over the mountain to get to the Downtown Station park-and-ride (assuming there would be one in this plan) to complete the 5-10 minutes left in your trip?

First, we need to prove that well-designed, efficient public transit can work in Huntsville using less expensive options, such as bus (local, express, and rapid) and commuter rail, possibly a test line using existing track and diesel multiple units (DMUs, seen on the Sprinter line in San Diego County, CA) between Decatur and Downtown Huntsville. And only then, after we have a successful regional transit system in place, should we talk about LRT. (I like the idea that's been thrown around of a north-south line through Huntsville using mostly-existing rail rights-of-way.)

But like I've said, before anything is implemented, there needs to be a plan. And any transit plan needs to include the whole region. This "Huntsville-only" and "Madison County-only" mentality isn't going to work anymore. Mayor Battle's got the right idea (from the Times):

"Battle pointed out that Redstone Arsenal's employees are coming here from 13 counties, and that local and area rail or other public transport would be welcome. 'We need to go to a regional transportation mode,' he said..."

Now, of course it's not possible to have a rail system extending to every "bedroom community" of Huntsville. That's where a regional bus system comes in. Local buses would connect surrounding neighborhoods to transit centers, while express buses would provide non-stop service from park-and-rides in outlying areas like Meridianville, Arab, Athens, etc. to transit centers in major employment areas like Downtown, Research Park, etc.

For further reference, Huntsville's going to need to look at what other cities have done. Here are some we should look at:

• Trimet (Portland, Oregon)- considered one of the best, most comprehensive transit systems in the country. An expansive light rail/commuter rail system complemented with a large bus system, and strict metro-wide planning controls that make transit more inviting. For more info on some of the measures Portland took to make itself transit-friendly, check out this recent interview of Trimet general manager Fred Hansen on Canadian public television.
  
• Sprinter (Oceanside, California)- a commuter rail line in a city only a bit larger than Huntsville. This is the transit system we should look into if we ever start a commuter rail service to Decatur.
  
• So, you think that public transit only works in so-called dense, "liberal" cities? DART (Dallas) and UTA TRAX (Salt Lake City)-- These newer systems are proof that mass transit can work in sprawled, conservative cities. They each have aggressive expansion plans, and their ridership numbers are comparable, and sometimes larger than, cities with established mass transit.
  
• Metro (Washington, DC)- No, I'm not saying we need to build a subway system, but this system has good examples of two things Huntsville needs more of-- multi-level (city, county, state) cooperation, and their website looks cool, is easily accessible, and frequently updated.

I have no doubt that light rail (or any kind of mass transit) will be successful in Huntsville-- but only after its planned to meet the needs of the region as a whole, not just the Arsenal or a select few in West Huntsville.

Update: Redstone Technology Park

The Times reported in this morning's paper that the Redstone Technology Park, a 420-acre office/retail project on Redstone Arsenal property at the southwest corner of the 565/Rideout interchange, is moving forward. The Pentagon must approve a deal between the Army, the developer (Montgomery-based Jim Wilson and Associates), and the city of Huntsville, and that decision is expected any day now. However, it will probably be three years before anything is built, and at least a decade before the project is completed. The city is considering a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district to pay for infrastructure improvements.

• For more info, check out my June 2008 post on this development.

Huntsville International: A Tale of Two Airports

This is the third in a series about transportation in the Huntsville area.

A little disclaimer here: I don't fly. Not that I have anything against it, I just like seeing the country from the ground, rather than 30,000 feet above it. But on the rare occasion that I do, I fly out of Nashville, which I'm sure many of you do as well. More on that later.
Huntsville International (HSV) is truly a tale of two airports- a cargo airport and a passenger airport. The cargo side of the airport is the pinnacle of our area's infrastructure, a product of visionary leadership. It's the largest airport in terms of cargo volume in the state of Alabama. It has the second-longest runway (nearly 2 miles long) in the Southeast, making it long enough to carry the world's largest airplanes. It is because of this that we have a true "international" airport, with cargo flights to Europe, Mexico, and Asia.

But the passenger side of the airport is plagued by several problems, despite having 1.25 million passsengers last year, a clean/modern/efficient terminal, and an aggressive expansion plan which includes new runways and terminals to the west of the airport in Limestone County (This is in addition to the $65 million expansion project that is well underway).

• Outside of the "legacy" hubs-- Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, and Detroit-- and government hub Washington-- the airport can't seem to keep its destinations. Delta started non-stop service to New York-LaGuardia last spring, and ended it in September due to high gas prices. In the past few years, service has also been dropped to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Newark, and Las Vegas.
  
• HSV has problems with keeping/getting a low-fare carrier; therefore, it is more expensive to fly out of HSV than other airports in the region. However, it is not the airport's fault; they're just not lucky-- Independence Air went bankrupt in 2006, and Allegiant pulled out of the market because of bad service in 2008. Southwest, the original low-fare carrier, has around 25% of the market share, but refuses to serve Huntsville directly because of the proximity to Birmingham and Nashville, two cities Southwest already serves. (And yet, it serves four airports within 50 miles of each other in the Los Angeles area.)
  
• Access to larger, cheaper airports is easy. Birmingham and Nashville are two hours away, and Atlanta, one of the largest airports in the world, is four hours. And, as you see with Southwest's large market share here, people use it to their advantage.
  

So, what can be done? Well, there's a relatively simple solution....

GET AIRTRAN! Do whatever it takes to get AirTran, or any low-fare carrier for that matter. But AirTran is a match made in heaven for HSV. And here's why-- look at the top final destinations (excluding top-ranked by far Atlanta) for HSV travelers in 2008:

1. Washington, DC (National)
2. Orlando
3. Los Angeles (LAX)
4. Dallas-Fort Worth
5. Baltimore (BWI)
6. Houston (Bush Intercontinental)
7. New York-La Guardia
8. Las Vegas
9. Denver
10. Boston (Logan)
    

Out of these ten destinations, HSV does not currently have non-stop service to Orlando, LAX, BWI, LaGuardia, Las Vegas, and Boston. And AirTran's hubs/focus cities (according to Wikipedia) are: Atlanta, Orlando, BWI, Boston, and Milwaukee. Could it be any more obvious? Don't blame it on the economy, or that "we're too small"-- Knoxville and Asheville, both smaller airports, are getting AirTran next month. Also, the old Southwest excuse for not coming to HSV doesn't apply here, as AirTran does not serve Nashville or Birmingham. Plus, our "close, but not too close" proximity to Atlanta, AirTran's largest hub, could put us in a good position to become an overflow/secondary hub.

So, let's get AirTran to begin non-stop flights from HSV to Atlanta, Orlando, BWI, and Boston. Then we'll have 7 of those top 10 destinations. As for the other destinations on that list, get Delta to restart its New York flights now that gas prices are back down, get American or United to fly to LAX (that is, admittedly, a long shot), and forget about Las Vegas (HSV's a business airport). Another good destination to think about with plenty of international connections is Philadelphia; that's something US Airways could do. That would give HSV non-stop flights to every major East Coast city except Miami.

If AirTran is successful here (it should be), maybe HSV will undergo a transformation like what happened with Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio, an airport that had less than 500,000 passengers go through in 1995. After AirTran came to the airport, its growth exploded; in 2008, 1.47 million passengers went through the airport. It is now advertised as an affordable alternative to busier Cleveland International, 50 miles away. While it's unlikely such a growth rate will happen here, having a stable low-fare carrier will lower fares and keep people from driving to the other airports in the region.

All things considered, the airport's issues are much less dire than the needs of the rest of Huntsville's transportation system, and the solutions are much simpler.

(Updated) New UAH dorm/dining facility to open in Fall 2010

In light of new info/plans, this is an updated version of the March post.

The new dorms will be south of the recently-opened intermodal center/parking garage in the middle of campus. (For those who know the campus well, it will be across from Fraternity/Sorority Row.) A new dining facility will be added to the parking garage, and will connect the two. The 5-story, LEED-certified residence hall will house around 400 students and will feature lounges and a common kitchen on each floor. The new dining facility, the second on campus, will feature a Quiznos Express, a convenience store, and another yet-to-be-named chain restaurant (I'm guessing Burger King, Pizza Hut, or Chick-Fil-A). It will have the capacity to serve 350 students. The architects of the dorm/dining project are local architect firm SKT and Florida-based HADP Architecture. Construction is expected to begin this summer, with completion by the 2010-2011 school year. There are plans for a second residence hall, which will mirror the first one to the south. No word yet on when it will be built.

While this has been in the plans for years (and it's not a bad idea), I still don't think now is the best time to be building anything of this magnitude, considering the imminent budget/staff cuts and the obvious "lack of morale" among faculty and students on the direction the university is taking.

It's time to talk transit.

This is the second post in a series about transportation in the Huntsville area.

I've heard nothing but good things about "Roads That Won't Be Built," so expect more road posts in the future. And hopefully we haven't seen the last of those old maps. But now, I'm going to discuss another part of transportation which I believe has not been discussed enough in this area.

Every once in a while, there's a newspaper article about how this region's road system is nearing capacity. Some roads are already well over capacity. So, what's the solution? "More roads! Wider roads!" say our government leaders. Which has somewhat worked... until now.

Don't get me wrong; I agree that roads such as 53, Winchester, and 72 need to be widened. Those highways are vital for commerce in the region. But every city comes to a point where more roads aren't going to solve all their transportation problems. For Huntsville, this point is coming quickly. Our population is growing, but there is less road money to go around. ALDOT seems ignorant to our need for better infrastructure, and the federal highway fund is on life support.

For some cities, like Atlanta, leaders didn't realize it until it was too late; now they're stuck with 12-14 lane freeways that are well over capacity-- one is now planned to be widened to 23 lanes. Another problem with Atlanta is that their region's governments were fragmented. Now, some smaller but growing cities like Nashville and Charlotte have learned from Atlanta's problems, brought themselves together, and invested heavily in alternate forms of transportation-- building bike paths, creating walkable urban neighborhoods, and improving public transit. (To Atlanta's credit, they have done these things as well in the past few years, though this is seen by some as "too little, too late.")

Huntsville has been a leader in creating bike paths and greenways, and there are plans for at least 130 miles of them in the future. We're working on walkable urban neighborhoods. But those only go so far; if you live in Athens, you can't walk or bike to work in Research Park. You could, but you run the risk of being run over by some soccer mom in a Yukon. But what about increased public transit?

Well, let's put it this way: the recently released Tennessee Valley Regional Growth Coordination Plan explicitly stated 89 "priority" road projects in the Primary Study Area (PSA) of Madison, Morgan, and Limestone counties totaling $3.5 billion. While the plan was supposed to include all forms of transportation, this is all it said about the future of transit in the area:

"Increased attention should be paid to improving public transportation in the PSA with particular emphasis on providing effective home-to-work linkages for major employment centers such as Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park and the Jetplex Industrial Park. This will require more funding for public transportation equipment and services; the cost is unknown at this time."

It went on to talk about the current transit services available in the area, which include the Shuttle/Handi-Ride in Huntsville, TRAM paratransit in Madison County, and MCATS demand-response service in Morgan County. Later on in the report, community leaders from 12 counties in North Alabama and Southern Tennessee were asked to pick their top 15 priorities for the future of the region from a list of 45, one of them being a better transit system. And guess what-- not one of them (we're talking about at least 100 people here) thought transit was a top priority.

And considering the current state of transit in this region, I don't blame them. Only 1,500 riders use the Shuttle daily, or about 0.009% of the population of the city. I challenge you to find a public bus system in a similar-sized city that has less ridership than Huntsville's; I haven't found one yet. This is of no fault to the people who run the Shuttle; I'm sure they're doing the best they can with the little resources they have; by the way, it's an amazing feat that they've kept bus fares at $1. And I think they're spending the stimulus money they received wisely, regardless of views on the stimulus package as a whole.

So, why doesn't it work here?

• There's little funding. The Huntsville Shuttle Bus, the only fixed-route bus system in the area, is funded solely from city and federal funds; none is truly dedicated and could go away at any time. There is no state funding for public transit-- you can thank our state constitution for that. And don't expect that to change anytime soon either; ALDOT maintains the view that "there is no place in Alabama" for transit. This lack of funding and its sources are the main causes for the other problems.
  
• It wasn't planned right. There is no real plan for fixed-route commuter transit in the region. Even within Huntsville, it's not commuter friendly-- note that there is only one route in Research Park West; it's not very visible and only goes to UAH, not downtown.
• Its extent/hours are limited. The Shuttle is run by the city of Huntsville, meaning that there can't be routes to, say, Madison or Decatur. Plus, there is little to no bus service on weekends or after 6pm, stranding many of those who need public transportation the most.
  

We could go on ignoring the need for transit, but there's a problem if we continue to do that.

Imagine Huntsville thirty years from now, in 2039. The metro population has just hit one million. It's a sprawling metropolis; cities like Fayetteville and Arab look like Madison today. The average commuting time has tripled; as a result, Huntsville is no longer one of the best places to live. Quality of life has taken a drastic hit as residents spend over two hours a day stuck on a road system that has barely changed in 30 years, leaving them little time to do anything else. In fact, the only list we're on is "America's Worst Traffic." Huntsville's become a miniature Atlanta-- but even that city now has better traffic.

Only then do we think about a transit system, but public/political pressure makes planners hastily design it without enough thought/public input. It takes years to get through government red tape and funding issues, and when it's finally introduced after millions of taxpayer dollars are spent, it's a "bus to nowhere"; few ride it because it still doesn't go where they need to go...

Definitely a worst-case scenario. The only thing I wasn't exaggerating about was the population projection. It's not a good idea to have a million-plus metro and no public transit. It's also not a good idea not to plan for transit after we really need it. Huntsville's growing, but our traffic problems aren't of epic proportions yet; so now's the perfect time to do something about it!

Here's what we can do today, without too much money being spent:

1. Create a Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), an appointed/elected transit board with representatives from cities and counties in Madison, Limestone, and Morgan Counties (eventually expanding to Marshall, Lincoln, and Jackson). Give it a catchy name, something like the "Valley Regional Transit Authority" (VRTA). The RTA would oversee operations like fixed-route bus service, paratransit (Handi-Ride), RideShare/Park-and-rides, etc. within the region. Need an example? Take a look at Chattanooga's RTA, CARTA. A website like theirs might help too.
   
2. Make a plan. The key to success for an efficient, well-run transit system in the Huntsville-Decatur region is comprehensive short- and long-range transit plans. Like the Long-Range Transportation Plan is to roads in the area, these would be a "road map," so to speak, for transit projects over the next 5 and 30 years, created by the RTA with lots of public input from throughout the region. Find out where people go frequently; for example, if a lot of people commute from the Winchester Road corridor to downtown, plan accordingly. The plans would include the feasibility of increased bus service and commuter rail, among other options.
   
3. Start over. Using the plan, begin a "reboot" of the transit system. Drop all of the old routes, use the money to add new, more efficient ones, and as demand permits, begin looking into rush-hour express bus service between Decatur, Athens, and elsewhere to major employment areas like Research Park.

I tried to not be too specific, as this is only to serve as a foundation. I'm sure if you've read this far, you have your own ideas for where a Huntsville-area transit system needs to go.

Huntsville's Bypass Network, and Other Roads That Won't Be Built

This is the first in a couple of posts about transportation in the Huntsville area.

I went back and forth on whether or not to write a post on this; I didn't want to talk about stuff everyone already knows about. Well, like it or not, here it is...

As you probably know by now, the $500 million Southern Bypass portion through Redstone Arsenal has been blocked by the US Army due to future security issues. So, what now? First, a little background...

The Huntsville bypass "network", seen in this edited Chamber of Commerce map, will be an odd series of roads wrapping around the city, carrying such unique names as Northern Bypass, Southern Bypass, and Eastern Bypass (the western bypass is better known as Research Park Blvd.). The total length, if it still included the now-defunct Southern Bypass portion through Redstone Arsenal, would be about 55 miles when completed. Some of it, about 12 miles, is already at least 4 lanes with at-grade intersections.

A timeline:

• 1965: The road we now know as Research Park Boulevard/AL 255 (or if you've lived here for a while, Rideout Road) began construction, over the next 20 years becomes freeway-standard from I-565 (then AL 20) to University Drive/US 72. Total length: ~3 miles.
  
• 1995: The second phase of 255, from University to AL 53, opens. Total length: ~6 miles.
• 2005: The third phase opens from AL53 to Pulaski Pike. This portion is called Martin Luther King Blvd. Total length: ~9 miles.
• 2012-ish: The road is now 4-laned to Memorial Parkway, and freeway-standard to AL 53.
• Sometime before 2030: The Northern Bypass will be completed to US 72 East, near Gurley, connecting to the Eastern Bypass currently around Hampton Cove. Hopefully some portion of the Southern Bypass will be built, at least the part from Parkway to New Hope/US 431. Total length: ~45 miles.

Now, of course, take the future stuff with a grain of salt. These roads have been on maps since the early 80s, as seen on these maps:

This first photo is from a 1982 (pre-565) map of Huntsville. Note that the route goes through several Northwest Huntsville neighborhoods. This obviously met a lot of opposition; and I wouldn't blame the residents one bit on this one.

The proposed route at this time continued east, and would have plowed through the Moores Mill/Winchester intersection, several neighborhoods on Shields Road, and hit 72 around Ryland Pike.

The next map (from 1991-ish, post-565) is obviously more aligned with the current plans to parallel Bob Wade Lane to the Parkway. By this time, the eastern portion was changed to parallel Homer Nance Road. Growth in the area forced the MPO to amend the 2030 Transportation Plan and put it closer to Maysville and Gurley.

Back to the Southern Bypass: If you can't build a Southern Bypass through Redstone Arsenal, the only feasible option is to go farther south, into Morgan County. If you live in South Huntsville, you may already use AL 36 as an alternate route to get onto 65 South towards Birmingham. Why not make it a 4-lane divided highway from I-65 to US 231? Interchanges could be built at AL 67, US 231, and a new 4-lane road that will connect to a 5-lane Zierdt Road (or Wall-Triana Hwy) in Triana, using a new bridge over the Tennessee River. This could solve a couple of current and future infrastructure issues-- East Morgan County needs a major east-west highway, and an alternate truck route to the Port of Huntsville may be needed as traffic continues to grow on I-565. It will be much less expensive than the original Southern Bypass, as none of this would be a full-blown freeway, and the right-of-way needed is mostly rural farmland. The only obstacles with this option would be getting federal approval to go through a portion of the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, and it would be put at the bottom of ALDOT's barrel, putting the project back at square one and decades behind.

And while we're talking about things that will never get built, let's talk about the Memphis-to-Atlanta Highway. This thing's been on the drawing boards for forever. I don't think it's necessary, at least not in its current form:

1. The Mississippi portion is unneccessary, period; it is too rural and too close to I-22, which is already built in that area and serves the same purpose.
2. There is also no need for an all-new interstate between Decatur and Florence. Alternate 72 from Muscle Shoals to Decatur can be upgraded to be fairly limited-access, with interchanges only at the largest intersections, at a much cheaper price.
3. Is it really necessary to build the highway so far north of Decatur (see ALDOT stimulus map below), and have it parallel 565 through rural Limestone County? Why not build it as close to the river as the NWR allows, and connect it with an expanded 31/20 interchange?

The only part of the currently-planned highway that might be necessary is the portion from South Parkway onward to Georgia and I-75. This would almost cut in half the time it takes to get from Huntsville to Atlanta. But there are two things to consider: Is there enough of a demand for travel between the two cities? And will the high cost of building the road be offset by this demand and the subsequent economic development?

One of the points made in the Tennessee Valley Regional Growth Coordination Plan is that many people coming to the area for BRAC are coming from regions where passenger rail is more frequent, and the lack of it in this region might be seen as a "disadvantage." Atlanta is being looked at as a hub for high-speed rail in the Southeast, with several lines planned to places like Chattanooga and Birmingham. Could an Atlanta-to-Huntsville high-speed rail line be looked at as a cheaper (and faster) alternative to building a freeway?

Next in this short series: Alternate transportation, including what the region can do with its miniscule public transit system.

Martin/Zierdt development land back on market

Remember Madison Commons, the grocery-anchored shopping center proposed at the Northwest corner of Martin and Zierdt? Well, it isn't going to happen, at least not right now. The 21-acre site for the shopping center and outparcels is now for sale for an asking price of $5 million; a corner lot where a CVS was planned is also for sale. In all, 67 acres are being sold; much of it was recently rezoned multi-family residential.

Lowe Mill Revitalization Continues

At the Huntsville City Council meeting last night announced an agreement with GreenCiti, LLC for the ongoing Lowe Mill neighborhood revitalization project. Last year, the city announced a public-private agreement to build/renovate homes in the area-- this was suspected at the time to be the main reason why the Downtown Rescue Mission was forced out of the neighborhood. Either way, it's a step in the right direction-- the homes will go for $100,000-150,000, giving people who want to live in a relatively safe/vibrant neighborhood near downtown another option other than more expensive places like Five Points.

SpringHill Suites/Constellation beginning construction... maybe?

Developer Scott McLain told the Times that construction will begin next month on the 153-room SpringHill Suites hotel downtown, the first of two hotels that will anchor the Constellation mixed-use entertainment project at Clinton and the Parkway. The contractor is Bove Construction of Jacksonville, FL. The hotel is expected to open in mid-2010; however, since the groundbreaking in 2007, construction has been delayed several times with little progress. And during that time, the design has changed-- note that a year ago, the SpringHill Suites was going to have 130 rooms and 6 floors. (The new design might be slightly taller.)

That being said, there's a lot riding on Constellation. It might finally answer the question: Can Huntsville support a vibrant downtown? For the sake of this city's future, I hope that answer is yes.

Move Sci-Quest Downtown! A New "Museum District"

In the past couple of weeks, the Times has talked about the possibility of the State Board of Education evicting regional science museum Sci-Quest out of its leased space in the back of the Calhoun Community College to make way for an expansion of the school, instead of using unoccupied space in the building. While this might sound stupid (and would delay the Calhoun project further), it does bring back the idea that Sci-Quest should move downtown to a more visible location. A couple of years ago, several properties in the center city, including the old Hale Brothers Furniture building on Washington, were mentioned as possibilities, and then-congressman Bud Cramer even appropriated federal funding for the relocation. And then it died.

This recession's got me bored. So the (possible) renewed interest in the idea got me thinking... How about a Museum District downtown? I like Atlanta's example, where the major museums/attractions-- Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, Atlanta Children's Museum, along with the Georgia Dome, CNN, Philips Arena, and a couple of hotels-- are clustered around Centennial Park (cool website, another thing Huntsville should look into). Putting it into a Huntsville perspective, that could be Sci-Quest along with the Museum of Art, Early Works, Constitution Village, and the VBC within a few blocks of Big Spring Park.

I've been looking for an excuse to use this updated vertical aerial image, courtesy of Marty Sellers/Sellers Photo:

A couple of possibilities exist in this area for a new Sci-Quest, but my favorite is the city parking garage across from city hall. There are plans to tear it down and rebuild it. A portion of the new garage--say, the south end across from EarlyWorks-- could be built for Sci-Quest, along with some space near the square for retail and restaurants. The pros of this location: City-owned land (cheap lease, similar to $1/year the museum has at Calhoun), unlimited height limit, good visibility from Courthouse Square and Big Spring Park. Cons: It's a parking garage, little expansion opportunity. Another place that has similar pros and cons is the old Fire Station #1, part of the municipal complex on Church. The other red square on the map is a Regions bank branch that I think is a total waste of land, but not a good place for Sci-Quest; sorry about that.

But, of course, these aren't the only options. There are quite a few good places in the north and west parts of downtown, especially near the Depot and the VBC, where Sci-Quest would do well downtown without being clustered with the other museums.

Updated rendering for the "new" VBC

This is an updated combined rendering (click for enlarged image) for the renovated arena-- to be renamed Propst Arena-- and concert hall-- renamed for Mark Smith, late founder of Adtran--, the two major components of the Von Braun Center renovation project. Work is expected to begin this summer, and take a little over a year to complete. The architect is Matheny Goldmon Architects of Huntsville.

For more info:
October blog post about arena renovations
September post about concert hall renovations
Times article

Height Limits re-revisited

Since the city and the Times have (yet again) failed to produce a map of the proposed downtown buffer zones, I thought I would spend a few minutes on Google Maps and make one myself, using the city's text descriptions of the zone boundaries (scroll down a couple of pages). Those who have read the blog for a while (or those who click here) will notice some changes between this map and the one I made in February. Sorry about the dots. So, what do all these colors mean?
Buffer Zone A- Building heights restricted to 2-3 floors (25-35 ft.). This will include any area that abuts a residential zone. Any C3 zone that is E of Madison (South) and Greene (North) Streets will be part of this zone, unless otherwise noted.
Buffer Zone B- Building heights restricted to 4 floors (60 ft.). This area includes South and East Side Squares and the EarlyWorks museum.
Buffer Zone C (yellow)- Building heights restricted to 5 floors (75 ft. ). This area includes 301 East, a proposed condo/apartment development and a proposed parking garage.
Buffer Zone D- Building heights restricted to 6 floors (90 ft.) This area includes North Side Square and the block that includes the First United Methodist Church.
Other- In most cases, this area will have an unlimited height limit. Some areas that abut residential zones, however, will be part of Buffer Zone A.

April briefs: Progress and Delay

A couple of brief updates on some area projects:

• No other project has prompted more emails to me than Harris Hill. In recent weeks, several tracts of land around the farm have been bought by developer Cole Walker's company, and heavy equipment has been seen on the site. Also, a rezoning request was submitted to the planning commission in March for the area between the new Harris Hill Blvd., Moores Mill, and 72 East, which shows that there has been a change of plans from the original layout shown to the public about a year ago.
  
• On the other side of town, the Watercress project at 72 West and Jeff is going through city approvals and agreements.
  
• Over in Decatur/Limestone County, the Bass Pro is still planned, but groundbreaking will be "more than likely" 2010, according to the Decatur Daily. This was the original opening date announced last year.
  
• And, need I tell you more about the city's Courthouse Square improvements project? Seems like the Times and Mayor Battle have got it covered. But I will say this: while some might think the $2.8M to replace the sidewalks might be a lot to save some old ladies in high heels from tripping, there seems to be a whole lot of people these days that are a bit "trigger-happy" when it comes to lawsuits... so if it saves the city from getting involved in drawn-out legal battles that could potentially cost taxpayers millions more than this will, then I'm fine with it. A better-looking, pedestrian-friendly square and the ability to have more outdoor dining are good perks too.
  

A Pedestrian-only Courthouse Square?

Greg Hathorn, of Sam and Greg's Pizza, talked to WHNT about an idea he had for the Courthouse Square downtown-- close parts of the square to cars and create a "city market." While creating a mini-Pike Place Market might work, shutting down a part of the relatively busy square might be tough. The east and west sides of the square (Washington/Franklin and Jefferson/Madison streets, respectively) are the main routes in and out of downtown, and Southside is used to connect the two, so closing down any of those to vehicular traffic would be impossible unless the city wants to create gridlock and confusion. The northside of the square is less traveled than the other three, so that would be the only feasible location for a public market. Also, it just so happens to be where Sam and Greg's is located, so I'm sure they'll want to be part of their own project.

UPDATE 4/09: A website has now been launched--http://www.marketplaceonthesquare.com/

Council Court is "for sale"... sort of

The remaining 16.3 acres of the Councill Court housing project is now up for sale, in a way. The Huntsville Housing Authority, which currently owns the land sandwiched between downtown and the Medical District, is accepting offers for all or part of the land until April 15th, when-- if a buyer hasn't been found-- a Realtor will take over for HHA. The land is valued at around $20 million.

While I don't think the land will be sold as a whole (I doubt anyone can get $20M+ in financing these days), I do think the city should have discretion on who buys what. This is an opportunity to get the critical mass of residents needed to bring more shops, quick-service restaurants, clubs, even a bookstore and/or grocery store downtown. It would be a terrible waste of valuable land if, say, Huntsville Hospital buys the whole place.

My ideas: A new urban neighborhood


My proposal for Councill Court is to make it the urban neighborhood that Huntsville never had. This is a chance to make a community where people can walk or bike to just about anything, given they work in downtown or the Medical District. If you're not familiar with the area, refer to the map above. The gray-roof buildings in the center is Councill Court. The odd-shaped building on the left is the main library, and Huntsville Hospital is on the bottom.

Throughout the neighborhood and beyond: Pedestrian/bike access to Huntsville Hospital, downtown along Gallatin, and Big Spring Park via Lowe would be greatly improved, with wider sidewalks and more visible pedestrian crosswalks. Some small spaces, including along the creek/ditch/canal on the northern side, would be set aside as parks/greenspace.

Along St. Clair: A row of 3-4 story brick office buildings with retail/restaurants on the bottom floor, anchored by a 6 story medical office building at St. Clair and Gallatin. On-street parking would be available along with the Huntsville Hospital garage at Turner/St. Clair being expanded/converted into a public garage.

Along Gallatin: A pedestrian-friendly, tree-lined commercial district, with 3-4 story buildings similar to St. Clair, but have loft apartments/condos on the upper floors instead of offices. Commercial would be anchored by a small urban grocery store and a multi-screen movie theater.
On-street parking would be available, with public parking garages on the north and south ends of the district.

Along Pelham/new side streets: A mix of 2-3 story townhomes and 1-2 bedroom apartments. Townhomes will go for around $200,000; apartments at about $600-1000/month-- comparable with living in the suburbs, and much more affordable than what is cuurently offered downtown.

St. James Place cancelled

Another proposal has given in to the bad economy. The 6.5 acre site slated for St. James Place, a planned 80,000 sq. ft. retail-office project on Cecil Ashburn Drive in Jones Valley, is now back on the market for $4.5 million.

City soliciting proposals for downtown site

The city is moving forward with soliciting plans to build a mixed-use "signature tower," and a location has now been cited as a surface parking lot at the northwest corner of Holmes and Jefferson. The project could be coupled with a parking garage (one of the "stimulus" garages?) if the winning developer chooses to do so. This is a very underdeveloped part of downtown, and being relatively far away from residential areas shouldn't create too much controversy.

Bridge Street creating Urban Outfitters petition

Bridge Street Town Centre has created a website in an attempt to gauge support for an Urban Outfitters store in Huntsville: http://www.wewanturbanoutfitters.com/. As some of you might recall, a similar attempt was made by Bridge Street a few years ago for a Wild Oats grocery store at the lifestyle center. Soon after, Wild Oats announced its merger with Whole Foods, and the new mega-organic grocery store chain has no current plans for Huntsville for the next 2-3 years, according to several inquiries by the Times and the Whole Foods website.

Personally, I think if Urban Outfitters wanted to locate a store in Huntsville, it would look for/prefer a more "urban" location than Bridge Street (Constellation developers, you guys listening?). Nashville's Urban Outfitters, for example, is opening next month in the Gulch, a growing cluster of high-rise condos between the CBD and West End. By the way, Urban Outfitters' "suburban" sibling, Anthropologie, is already at Bridge Street.

Downtown Height Limits Revisited

So, after months of talking about grocery stores (yawn), it's time to talk about downtown again. A public meeting will be held tonight (5:30) at City Hall to discuss the CBD's 10-story height limit restrictions, which many (including myself) believe are too strict, and have more than likely killed some projects. The Planning Commission approved the restrictions in 2006, and the city council put off revising the rules during the Spencer administration. Current mayor Tommy Battle seems to be more open to changing the limits, and has made several references to a "signature tower."

Update
Due to a previous commitment, I was not able to attend the meeting. But according to the Times, it seemed to be lively yet productive. The planning department will revise the height limits to include 2-4 story buffer zones in areas that are adjacent to residential zones, a 6-story height limit in the area where this development is proposed, and take out the 10-story limit in the remainder of the CBD. I can live with that.

Here's a new map with the proposed changes. This map is in no way official, and I cannot claim to its accuracy. There are probably some pockets of residential areas that I missed. Hopefully sometime soon the city or the Times will create a better map of the affected areas and put it on the web. But until then, here's the best of what 15 minutes on Google Maps can do:


I've divided the CBD into four zones: Blue Zone, Purple Zone, Green Zone, and Red Zone.
Red Zone: The areas abutting a residential area. Building heights restricted to 2 floors (30 ft.).
Purple Zone: The areas across the street from a residential area. Building heights restricted to 4 floors (60 ft).
Green Zone: A special 6-story height limit for a proposed public-private development (see below).
Blue Zone: The remainder of the CBD, or roughly Greene St. westward. Building heights unrestricted(?).

Areas in question

• The area of homes and businesses between downtown and the Medical District. West of Gallatin looks like it will be mostly blue. East of Gallatin, however, will be a mix of everything. It would be no surprise to me if this area is redeveloped in the future as a "Midtown" area of sorts with more relaxed restrictions of 6-10 floors.
  
• The housing projects northwest of the CBD. For now, they probably fall under red zone restrictions, but with their redevelopment coming soon, I just left them in the blue zone for simplicity's sake.
  

Huntsville Hospital wins Madison Hospital

A lengthy (7 years) battle for state approvals and the appeals that followed have ended in vain for Crestwood Medical Center. According to a press release, the hospital's board of trustees decided not to appeal a recent circuit court ruling to uphold the state Certificate of Need Review Board's approval of Huntsville Hospital's proposed Madison Hospital. The competing hospitals proposed separate hospitals along 72 West between Wall Triana and Balch. Huntsville Hospital's proposal is a full-service 60-bed medical center, a centerpiece in their already partially-built "Madison Medical Park." A list of proposed services can be seen on their site. No word yet on when the hospital will open, but hopefully it'll be soon-- an estimated 90,000 people now live in Western Madison County/East Limestone, which, if it were all incorporated as one city, would be the 5th largest in Alabama.

Side note- a Georgia developer last year proposed a 4-story medical office building next to the proposed hospital along 72. No word on if that's still going to happen.

Defense Aquisition University building CRP office

Defense Aquisition University, or DAU, will break ground in a couple of weeks on a new $12.3 million office building where classes will be held to train federal employees. The 50,000 sq. ft plus building will be located on Old Madison Pike, and will open late this year.

Catholic High breaking ground on new campus

Catholic High School (my alma mater) broke ground on their new campus off of Old Madison Pike today, five years after the school bought the 55-acre site from the UAH Foundation. The new campus will allow the school to have 400-600 students enrolled upon completion. The current campus, which opened in 1996 in a renovated office building in Research Park East with 40 students, is now at capacity with 320 students. Expected completion of the new school will be in mid-2010, with the construction of athletic fields coming later.

Go Falcons.

Park Tower "on hold indefinitely"

In another blow to downtown redevelopment, 200 Park Tower, a project that was to renovate the 9-story office building overlooking Big Spring Park, is now on hold indefinitely, due to a lawsuit filed in August of last year by a group of California investors against the local developers, Park Tower, LLC. The California investors, under the name San Francisco Residence Club (after an old hotel/hostel in the Nob Hill area in SF that seems to have closed a few years ago), claim to have invested $6 million in a ground lease on the building, according to court documents and the Huntsville Times.

The project was expected to begin this spring, but with no news about it in at least a year, I had little hope for it anyway.

Kroger planning new store at 72 and Nance

A reader's email I received last week prompted me to look at the parcel of land at the northeast corner of the intersection of Nance Road and 72 West. They wanted to know if I had heard anything about a new Kroger at the location, but I had not. Sure enough, here it is, hidden in a deed to Bank Independent (they're building a new branch here as well) on September 16, 2008:

"Owner of Lot 2... shall solicit approval from The Kroger Company for the development and operation of a new store (the 'Kroger Store') on parts of Lot 2."

Further on in the deed, there are signs that an announcement could happen by June 1st. By the way, "Lot 1" is the immediate corner of Nance and 72, and is where the Bank Independent branch will be built. The Kroger will be located right behind it on a part of "Lot 2."

As always, no lease has been signed, so nothing is official yet.

Watercress anchor: Earth Fare?

Yet another blurry site plan has come up, leading me to believe that Earth Fare, a North Carolina-based chain of organic grocery stores, could be another possible anchor tenant for the Watercress development, only adding to the confusion around the project. Until now, there have been rumors and speculation that Kroger would build a store here, with the only proof being a suspicious symbol on the City of Huntsville's development map.

Once again, this is only an educated guess from looking at the site plan above. All I know for sure is this: the words in the anchor tenant aren't "grocery store" or "Kroger." If you believe you have a better guess, feel free to comment.

The Huntsville Stimulus Package: $570 Million and Growing

The Huntsville Times in today's edition did a special report on Huntsville's wish list of projects included in a "Main Street Stimulus" plan created by the US Conference of Mayors. Huntsville alone has a total of $568,762,000 in projects on the list. And while most of it probably won't ever get the President's signature, it does give us a good look at the city's "wish list" of projects in the next couple of years.

For downtown, the city list includes three new parking garages, the Gateway Place senior housing facility in the former Councill Court area, and a "Courthouse Square Improvement Project." The list has revitalization projects (totaling $24.5M) in the Terry Heights and Lowe Mill neighborhoods, two inner west side areas that have been targeted for gentrification in recent years. It includes new parks, infrastructure improvements, and a grocery store/food co-op in Terry Heights.

And for whatever reason, either intentional or unintentional, the Times did not list any of the projects labeled as "Transit." So here they are:

• 15 new buses with alternative fuel capability: $3.75M (the city currently has 15 city buses, and has talked about replacing them gradually with biodiesel-powered buses)
  
• Replace the city's two trolley buses: $500,000
• Updated transit center message board: $15,000
• Bus camera systems for all 15 buses: $75,000
• Replace bus stops and system maps: $25,000
• 25 new bus shelters: $125,000

You can look at the complete list of projects for the city of Huntsville here.

And on a side note-- Edwardsville, Alabama (population 194 according to Census estimates) has a $375 million list of projects, ranging from $43,000 for solar panels on its city hall and senior center to $37 million for an "electric solar enhanced railroad line for support of local vineyards and tourism" that would dual as "transport for local schools."

Whether or not any of this money should come out of a stimulus package intended for rebuilding this nation's failing infrastructure, I'll leave that up to your own opinion.

Bridge Street plans another office tower

Now that the first 6-story office building is fully leased by defense contractor CSC (no telling what happened to the insurance and dentist offices that were originally planned to occupy space), the developers are now planning a second office tower similar to the first. There are a couple of possible locations for it, including next to the DSW and some vacant areas north of the lake.

The early Bridge Street plans called for at least 3 6-story office buildings.

2009 Development: A Look Ahead

So, now that the new year is here, what can we expect this year in developments? Here's a "brief" list of my predictions, moving roughly west to east for no reason:

• The "Water" mega-developments, Sweetwater and WaterStone- both of these projects are unrealistically large as proposed, especially in this economy. Expect them to be downsized. Sweetwater will become merely an outlet center, but Bass Pro Shops will remain. There's no way 2,700 single-family homes can be sold 25 miles away from Huntsville! Plus, that's just wasteful sprawl. WaterStone will probably keep much of its retail portion, but scrap its medical and some of its office plans, and hopefully some of its massive parking lots...
  
• Madison developments- Colonial Promenade (the Wal-Mart on 72 West) will definitely break ground early this year; Academy Sports could be announced as its secondary anchor. Madison Lakes and The Peaks are more iffy on their timelines, with both scheduled for "mid-2009."
• More on 72 West- Watercress will probably break ground on its apartment portion early this year, with the retail portion (a Kroger or other grocery-anchored shopping center) coming later. And will Providence residents get their urban-ish grocery store at long last-- will it be Whole Foods, EarthFare, or something different? And, more importantly, where's Mellow Mushroom!? Hopefully they'll stick to their April deadline.
  
• Research Park- More office developments, go figure. Phase II of Bridge Street, with a Sports Authority as an anchor, will at least partially open. Just to the south next to Redstone Arsenal, a hotel/office/retail project by mall developer Jim Wilson and Associates has a good chance of getting off the ground this year.
  
• Downtown/Center City- Hopefully 2009 will treat downtown much better than 2008. The height limits that have choked projects in the CBD will be eased/lifted, opening the door for several developments to get off the ground. If that happens, the plans for Constellation and Councill Court will become clearer, and some high-rises will be announced. A major VBC expansion/renovation project will begin in the spring. Also, expect more gentrification projects in the Lincoln, Merrimack, Lowe, and Five Points neighborhoods.
  
• East Huntsville- Probably the most frequently e-mailed question: What happened to Harris Hill- is it dead? No. It's not. A major tenant announcement could come early in the year just to keep nosy people like myself occupied, with construction starting in the fall at the earliest. And a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter at Shields and 72 will be "officially" announced.
  
• Metro-wide: A resurgence of Kroger. Dunkin Donuts returns to Huntsville after a decade-long absence. At least six new hotels.
  

2008 Development: A Look Back

Wow. That was one boring December. Few developments have come down the pipeline, save for a couple of small shopping centers and subdivisions... but nothing to write about. Despite the optimism expressed by government leaders and Realtors, the economic recession has hit Huntsville. But because of a strong start to the year, the total value of construction project start-ups in Madison County this year is on track to be comparable to (and even over) 2007's numbers (over $900 million), but the number of projects will be significantly lower, from 4,000 for each of the last two years to around 2,700. But there were some bright spots this year, as projects either finished-- like the Westin Huntsville, much of the airport expansion project, a medical office midrise in the Medical District, and three new Publix stores-- or just began construction, like Constellation and the Councill Court redevelopment. And more projects are expected to begin in 2009. More on those tomorrow. Happy New Year!

Entertainment center opening at Bridge Street

Bridge Street supposedly landed its newest tenant on Friday: The Station, a 28,000 sq. ft. family entertainment center, will be built on the north side of the development adjacent to the lake according to the Huntsville Times. It will have a 12 lane bowling alley, a restaurant/bar, arcade, billiards, and rollerball. It is scheduled to open in June or July of next year. The first location is supposedly opening soon near Cool Springs Galleria in Franklin, TN, according to a website posted in the comments section (see below). An official lease has still not been signed for the Bridge Street location.