Country Club Redevelopment: Yes, It's a Walmart

The surrounding area of the 20-acre Country Club Apartments on Airport Road in South Huntsville. Current zoning shown. 

For a while now, Walmart has wanted to move its Drake Avenue location, the last non-Supercenter store in the Huntsville area. They have looked at several sites along the Parkway over the years, but now they seem to have found the "perfect" site-- on Airport Road.

At the Huntsville City Council meeting Thursday night, it was revealed that the redevelopment of the 50-year-old complex on Airport Road would be a 189,000 sq. ft. Walmart. As expected, this did not go over well with the residents of the Piedmont neighborhood, which is just to the north of the Country Club site.

Some of you may recall that a couple of months ago, a rezoning request for the site was denied due to a need for a traffic study conducted by the city, which concluded that a theoretical big-box store would only exacerbate the congestion of Airport, which isn't scheduled to be improved until 2016 at the earliest, according to the city's Capital Improvement Plan.

While the city of Huntsville doesn't actively pursue new Walmart stores, municipal governments do like them because each Supercenter nets approximately $50 million in annual sales, which translates to about $2 million in sales tax revenues (the main revenue stream of Alabama cities). So they do welcome them at every chance they can get one. The problems with this particular store are that it will replace an existing store, leaving 100,000 square feet of vacant retail on the Parkway, and create only a marginal gain in sales tax revenues (compared to a completely new location). And did I mention the traffic it would create?

Some of you may recall that the redevelopment of Country Club was to be mixed-use, hence the odd current zoning of the 20-acre site as 60/40 multi-family residential (R2B) and neighborhood business (C1).

In this case, when the costs-- vacant retail, more traffic, unhappy neighborhood-- outweigh the benefits-- infill development, a better looking Walmart-- maybe it's time to put this proposal to rest and come back with a better plan. Airport Road is a desirable corridor, and other retailers will follow that aren't as touchy and will be willing to be part of a denser mixed-use development with a residential "buffer zone," which is what Country Club should have been all along. But Walmart shouldn't be left out in the cold, considering their significant contributions to the tax rolls-- something could probably be worked out that would keep them on the Parkway, or better yet, expand their current location.

UPDATE (6/3/2011): The Averbuches have pulled their plans to rezone the Country Club property to all commercial, effectively killing plans for a full-size Walmart there.

The Shoppes of Madison Tenants (Official and Rumored)

GBT has a new lease flyer out for Madison's new Target shopping center, with some of the smaller tenants that will join the big-box retailer shown. Ladies and gentlemen, if you were expecting something huge out of this project (and for that $7.5M price tag, you should), prepare to be disappointed.

I think most of the retailers and restaurants are familiar to you guys, with a few exceptions. Kinnucan's is a clothing store with locations in Auburn and Tuscaloosa. Which Wich is a sandwich shop whose closest locations are up in Nashville. Pie in the Sky Pizza is a small Nashville-based restaurant whose Madison location would be their first outside of Middle Tennessee. Zen Berry sounds like a frozen yogurt shop, and it is-- in British Columbia. Somehow I really doubt their first US location will be in Madison, so it may be something else. (UPDATE: Zen Beri is a frozen yogurt shop in Decatur, something I wouldn't have found if it weren't for one of the comments below.)

Update (12/2011): A previous version of this post discussed the possibility of HomeGoods being the junior anchor. With the announcement of Ross, there is no space left for HomeGoods at this shopping center. 

Below is a combined list of rumored and confirmed tenants:

Retail (smaller shops not included):

Target
Ross

Dollar Tree

Petco

Massage Envy

Rack Room Shoes

Maurice's

Kinnucan's*
AT&T

Restaurants:

Which Wich**

Zen Beri

Fulin's Asian Cuisine

Pie in the Sky Pizza**
Panera Bread
Moe's Southwest Grill?
Buenavista Mexican Restaurant

Legend:

* New to Region 

** New to State

? Rumored/Unconfirmed

The Belk-Hudson Lofts

By the Summer of 2012, the Belk-Hudson building and adjacent lots (top picture) will be home to the largest downtown residential development in modern Huntsville history (Bottom picture-- photo credit: Schoel Architecture of Decatur)

The Belk-Hudson Lofts is a proposed 6 story, $11.5 million project at the corner of Holmes and Washington. Part of the project will involve renovating the historic building at the intersection, which formerly housed a department store that gave the development its name, and another part will be constructed on a vacant lot that was occupied by the Old Towne Brewery until a few years ago, when a fire destroyed that building. The developer is Charlie Sealy, a Huntsville resident whose family manages apartment complexes throughout the Southeast, including in Huntsville. With 75 apartments, this project will more than double the amount of free-market residential units available in the CBD. The project is expected to break ground in July, and open in summer 2012.

One of the major concerns about downtown living is the prohibitive cost, especially for young professionals and empty-nesters, the groups of people most likely to live there.  According to Zillow, the cheapest residence for sale downtown right now is about $370,000. The one- and two-bedroom apartments at Belk-Hudson will rent between $850 and $1350 per month-- comparable to a nice apartment out in the suburbs.

So, what do you guys think? Awesome? Pointless? The start of something huge for downtown, or a one-time event?

Providence to get apartments, hotel

The Village of Providence is growing again. With new office and retail buildings already under construction, developer Todd Slyman announced at last week's Economic Development Summit two major expansion plans expected to break ground later this year-- 200+ "urban-style" apartments and another 100-room Hilton brand hotel. (If I had to guess which hotel brand, it would be Home2 Suites, a new boutique extended-stay hotel which just recently opened its first hotel in Fayetteville, NC.) The apartments and hotel will be located in the Town Center on Providence Main (see map above). Providence also has plans to replace some of its surface parking with at least one parking deck.

Village of Providence PDF map (shows layout of future buildings, parking deck)

A Grocery Store for Northwest Huntsville

We may not have a Trader Joe's yet, but another grocery store owned by the same German family is opening its second Huntsville store. Aldi, which already has one store under construction on 72 West in front of TJ Maxx, will begin construction soon on its second area store, in 12,500 sq. ft. of the old Office Depot at the intersection of University and Sparkman. This puts Aldi in one of the youngest (thus, more frugal) areas of Huntsville, with nearly 10,000 college students nearby. This will also give shoppers in the area an alternative to Walmart (too crowded) and Earth Fare (awesome, but too expensive for everyday goods).

The Ideas Map Results

Tonight, the City of Huntsville revealed the results of the Ideas Map, which went online in January. In the 18 days during which the map was live, users posted 926 ideas, and 4,897 interactions (likes, comments, etc.) to those ideas. This overwhelming response bodes well for future experiments in public interaction.

For the past couple of months, I've been analyzing the results of the map, and a report of all the lists I created and an analysis of the top retail/restaurants and other ideas is now posted at huntsvilleal.gov/ideas.

Top New Retailers, Citywide:

1. Trader Joe's
2. Macy's 
3. Ikea
4. Container Store
5. Whole Foods

Top New Restaurants, Citywide:

1. Cheesecake Factory
2. Chipotle
3. Joe's Crab Shack
4. Dunkin' Donuts
5. Dave and Busters

Top Ideas, Individual-- these were the single most-"liked" ideas.

1. Kroger at Martin and Zierdt
2. Five Points Streetscaping
3. Trader Joe's in Lincoln Mill
4. Joe's Crab Shack at Bridge Street
5. Target in Northeast Huntsville

Overall, the top ideas were-- this combines similar "liked" ideas in a certain area:

1. Trader Joe's in Southeast Huntsville
2. Macy's at Bridge Street
3. Target in Northeast Huntsville
4. Downtown Redevelopment
5. Trader Joe's in West Huntsville

As you can see, several non-retail ideas made it into the top 5, both individually and cumulatively. While downtown ideas ranged from a new ballpark to a brewpub, the idea below got the most support:

“The only way to make Downtown Huntsville into a viable walkable community is to pass an ordinance that requires the spaces facing the street to be limited to retail and restaurants. The attorneys, insurance companies, storage space, etc. should be only on upper floors and rear offices…”

This idea for the expansion of the Five Points streetscape project turned out to be very popular:

“I'm not sure, but I would guess that 5 Points/Old Town is one of the densest areas in Huntsville. It's also (at least east of California) one of the most affordable for young professionals and families. As a result, it could easily be one of the most vibrant, walkable areas of Huntsville, but it seems that there are power poles growing from every crack in the sidewalk, where sidewalks can be found.  Also, none of the buildings in the area (with the exceptions of Star Market and 1892) have been improved lately. Landlords should be encouraged (read: incentivized) to upgrade their facilities. Ideally, buildings would be 2 or more stories with small setbacks and provide, in some cases, apartment living (like the main street in Providence).  Further, I would personally love to see California turn into a 2 lane road with parallel parking and bike lanes between Randolph and Beirne. That, coupled with sidewalk improvements, would go a long way towards creating a pedestrian-friendly environment in the area of Huntsville that would be most receptive to it.”

And, finally, this made me very happy: cumulatively, ideas for better transit service throughout the city came in #6. Most, like the one posted by a user named "Zach" below, revolved around an eventual rail-based transit system:

“The key to having a great city is people being able to move around efficiently and quickly. Huntsville should lead the US and create its own mass transit system. There are plenty of existing rail lines that could be upgraded… You could turn the downtown station back into a usable station. It would be great, because it is right by the Visitors bureau and the main Shuttle Bus station. Passengers could then rely on (a much improved version) the shuttle buses to get them exactly where they needed to be. Some major areas could be accessible by the rail network though, such as; UAH, Parkway Place, Huntsville Madison County Library, VBC, Downtown Madison, and the Arsenal. Huntsville Hospital could even offer a van service to shuttle from a station located near Gov. Dr. on the L&N Line to the hospital or extend their trams. Crestwood could also offer the van service. A special Arsenal train could be offered to get people from the Downtown station to the Arsenal. MPs could be stationed on the train to have everyone's IDs checked by the time the train arrived at the Arsenal gates. This would greatly decrease crowding at the gate in the mornings and evenings. Moreover, a efficient and useful mass transit system would greatly benefit the city both now and in the future. Don't wait to build this after the city has already expanded and needs help. Anticipate the expansion and plan for the future!”

2010 Census: A Brief Analysis

After a disappointing 2000 Census that saw a population decline in Huntsville, the city increased by nearly 22,000 residents in the 2000s for a total population of 180,105. Madison continued its impressive population increase to hit 42,938 in 2010, from 29,329 in 2000.

The number that has gotten the most attention, however, has been 417,593-- the "metro area" population, which is the sum of Madison and Limestone County's populations. While the Times has run several stories proclaiming that Huntsville is now the second-largest metro area in the state, it is a bit premature to determine that. The new Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) definitions won't come out until the Summer of 2013, and only then can we officially determine whether or not we surpassed Mobile to become #2. That is doubtful however, considering that Mobile will probably (re?)gain Baldwin in the new MSA; even if Huntsville gained Morgan and Lawrence counties in the new MSA (population: 571,422), it still wouldn't be enough to surpass a theoretical Mobile-Baldwin MSA (population: 595,297).

The population junkies out there may enjoy this map compiled by The New York Times of Census 2010 data that has been released in the past month or so, visually showing growing and shrinking Census tracts and their demographics.

Source: The New York Times

I'll state the obvious first: Monrovia, East Limestone and Hampton Cove were the fastest-growing areas in the region between 2000 and 2010. But here's some interesting facts you may not have known, before you looked at the map of course:

• Five Points had the largest population decline of any city neighborhood in the past decade. Downtown also had a decline in population, mainly due to the loss of public housing. Lowe Mill, on the other hand, remained stagnant, nearly reversing years of population decline. Blossomwood, Oak Park, and even Terry Heights had slight population increases. 
• Hispanics fuel growth on the Southwest side. Hispanics now make up 6% of Huntsville's total population. Much of this growth is in Southwest Huntsville, where one tract recorded a ten-fold increase in the Hispanic population. 
• Southeast stagnates. Neighborhoods surrounding Bailey Cove recorded slight population declines in the past decade, while new home construction fueled growth in neighborhoods along the Parkway. My theory for the decline in older SE areas-- Southeast is aging, with more "empty nesters" (parents whose kids have moved off to college and beyond). You can see this phenomenon in other areas, such as East Madison, Southeast Decatur, and neighborhoods along Governors Drive. It is part of the natural cycle of a stable neighborhood-- once younger families begin to move in again (as can be seen in Piedmont and Jones Valley), the population grows. 

What to watch for in the next ten years: 

• Alabama's newest largest city. Birmingham, Huntsville, and Montgomery will all be around the same size in 2020 (approximately 200,000 each).  
• Significant increases in urban neighborhoods. As "Millenials" (e.g. yours truly) come of age, urban living options will be more in demand. Downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods will become hot residential markets, especially if the removal of the housing projects continues, and gas prices continue to rise. 
• Suburban growth continues. It will be different, though-- walkable, mixed-use (Providence-style) suburban neighborhoods will become the norm, thus becoming more affordable. So-called cookie cutter subdivisions will become unpopular and appeal only to the lowest bracket of home buyers. 

A lack of retail in North Huntsville?

Major retail development along North Parkway since 2000. (Graphic created by James Vandiver for the City of Huntsville.)

The claimed "lack" of retail development in North Huntsville is back in the news this week. Here's the truth: 1,034,000 sq. ft. of new or renovated retail space has been developed on North Parkway alone since 2000 (see graphic above). Retailers such as Costco, Gander Mountain, Lowe's and Walmart have opened stores in the corridor during that time. While there is still work to be done, North Huntsville definitely hasn't been left out. 

And this week at the Economic Development Summit, the city will be announcing yet another North Huntsville project expected to begin construction soon, and it's coming without "free land" or sales tax rebates. 

Economic Development Summit, Part 2

After the overwhelming response from the Ideas Map and the the first Economic Development Summit in January, the City of Huntsville has announced plans for a second summit to unveil the results of the Ideas Map. This one will be held at the Monaco theater at Bridge Street on THURSDAY, APRIL 7TH FROM 6-7PM. As was with the last summit, it is free and open to the public. (By the way, if you confirm your attendance with the city at rsvp@huntsvilleal.gov, you will receive a "special offer" from Smokehouse Restaurant)

I don't want to get everyone's hopes up just yet, but there is a chance that the Mayor will be making several announcements at the meeting if all goes according to plan.

The city has been discussing making the "Developing Ideas" summit into a series, focusing on specific issues (e.g. transportation) that will affect the future of the city.

Second Mondays Event on Downtown Development

So I decided to attend one of the "Second Mondays" events put on by the Downtown Development Initiative. Tonight's event was an update on a few downtown developments. A summary is below.

Doug Smith talked about his Park Place project on Meridian Street. The relocation of Cleveland Street is nearing completion. A new bar, the Lone Goose Saloon, will open soon at the project. The next phase after the Cleveland streetscape project is to continue renovations of the Lumberyard as an event space by renovating the 1920s Pullman train car and adding a rooftop space that will feature views of the downtown skyline and the mountains.

Scott McLain discussed his Constellation development at the Parkway and Clinton. The SpringHill Suites will open May 1st, and the Residence Inn will begin construction this summer. After that, the office and retail (still a "green grocer" as the anchor) will come, then around 100 apartments with rents around $1000/month. He also gave his general ideas for the restaurants that he would like to see come to the development-- a seafood restaurant for the convention crowd "with $40 lobster" (like McCormick and Schmick's) and a restaurant with an emphasis on its brews (like Gordon Biersch or its sister restaurant Big River in Chattanooga). Don't hold me (or Mr. McLain) to those concepts; as he said, he's on "Plan Number 40" for Constellation, and the plans are subject to change. One thing that's holding up progress is the lack of a large office space tenant; while McLain is convinced that moving City Hall is the answer, I think that a large bank (Wells Fargo?) and/or a tech company looking for space may be a bit quicker than waiting for the city to make a decision.

A new event was announced at the meeting-- the Greene Street Market, which will be a farmer's market that will run every Thursday night from May 19th until September in the old Health Department lot at Greene and Eustis, just to the east of the Courthouse and across from the Church of the Nativity.

One last note-- a shout out to the lady who stood up and, having seen it "somewhere" and liked it, commented about the Justice District idea.

Colonial Promenade is Back

With Target planning to open in Madison in the Summer of 2012, Walmart has accelerated their plans to open a store just to the west of the Target site in Huntsville city limits. Pending a City Council vote later this month, Huntsville is planning to provide up to $1.4 million in infrastructure improvements for the store and its surrounding center, Colonial Promenade. In addition to the 180,000 sq. ft. Walmart, the center will have 55,000 and 75,000 sq. ft. anchor stores along with 50,000 sq. ft. of small shop space. The Walmart is expected to open in Spring of 2012.

Site plan of Colonial Promenade

Symposium Stresses Need for Regional Planning

The 25th Symposium on the Future of the City was held today (Friday, February 25th) at the Knight Center on the A&M campus. If you didn't know about this until now, you're not alone, as publicity for this event was pretty sorry (I didn't really know about it until the day before). The audience consisted of city and planning officials and volunteers from nearly every group involved in sustainability in the Huntsville region, from bicyclists to local food groups.

The reason why I attended though was to listen to the keynote speaker, APA (American Planning Association) president-elect Mitchell Silver, Director of Planning for the city of Raleigh, NC. Raleigh and Huntsville are very similar cities; granted, we are about a third of the size of the Triangle region, but our knowledge-based economies and high quality of life make up the difference in population. Both cities are growing rapidly, but much of the growth has come in the form of low-density, largely uncontrolled sprawl. The difference is that Raleigh eventually realized that sprawl is expensive to maintain if it isn't managed correctly.

A couple of years ago, Raleigh decided to create a comprehensive plan with cooperation from the region. This created a single document that brought together long-range plans for land use, transportation, and greenspace. It was compiled using an interactive public involvement process that allowed everyone to have a say in the future of their city, which in part gave the plan a 96% approval rating among citizens.

And Raleigh wasn't destroyed. People weren't forced out of their homes. Some still moved to the suburbs. But now a balance in growth is being created, with suburban and urban living options (thanks to $3 Billion in private investment downtown in the past five years). Now, Raleigh is tackling another challenge-- rewriting and simplifying their zoning code, accelerating the comprehensive plan's goals.

What can Huntsville take out of this? I think the obvious point is that we have to think regionally. That means regional land-use and transportation planning with muscle-- no more weak committees or "plans for plans" (e.g. the "Tennessee Valley Regional Growth Coordination Plan"). We need an enforceable plan-- one that has been created with the public, agreed upon by the city/county governments, and is strong enough to refer to when making strategic planning decisions.

Ideas for North Parkway

Before I discuss what's wrong with North Parkway, let's take a look at what's happened on the corridor in recent history. Starting in the late 1990s, a dead mall was demolished and replaced with a Home Depot, Staples, and Costco. An aging/closing Kroger site was redeveloped as a Lowe's. Sam's Club moved elsewhere, but was soon replaced by Gander Mountain. Walmart opened a new Supercenter in 2004, replacing a trailer park; the store it once occupied is now home to Big Lots and Tractor Supply. Kroger recently renovated their Oakwood Avenue store. So while some might look at developments like Parkway Place and Bridge Street and think that North Parkway was somehow "left out," if you think about it, a lot has happened on the corridor, much of it redevelopment/infill, in the past decade or so. Plus, malls are so yesterday.

Despite these successes, North Huntsville had the second-highest commercial vacancy rate in the city in 2009 (10.8%, behind University) according to Graham and Company.

The North Parkway commercial corridor is different from South Parkway in several ways. First off, the storefront vacancies aren't mostly concentrated in one shopping center, as they are on the South side (in Haysland Square). Second, I have noticed in my research that there is a lack of modern retail space. Many of the shopping centers along the corridor were built in the early- to mid-1960s, and it appears that most haven't been renovated since. This hampers the ability to attract retailers, except for the ones whose only requirement is super-cheap rent-- such as check-cashing centers and thrift stores, which happen to be the anchor tenants of these strip malls.

Any developer will tell you that one major problem with the Parkway (North and South) is that as the road has expanded, the commercial zoning along the corridor has not, leaving little space for major redevelopment projects. My solution to this problem is to turn storefronts away from the Parkway and towards the secondary streets, treating it more like a limited-access freeway rather than a frontage road (see Builder's Square concept below for an illustration).

Some reasonable ideas for North Parkway were submitted by users of the City of Huntsville Ideas Map, including a grocery store, a hotel, and a fitness center. A new grocery store has been a top demand from North Huntsville residents for years now. The hotel and fitness center ideas were new to me, but both seemed logical, as there aren't any good options for either on the North end of town (though A&M recently opened a fitness center).

The maps below are a compilation of ideas for North Parkway's "Opportunity Sites"-- underutilized commercial sites that are in need of a little attention from their owners.

View Ideas for North Parkway in a larger map

I know there are several smaller sites in the area not shown on the map that are in need of a little TLC, but I'm hoping that some more visible redevelopment would draw other land owners to clean up their properties.

Finally, I wanted to focus on one Opportunity Site-- the 135,000 sq. ft. shopping center at Max Luther and the Parkway that once was occupied by Builder's Square and Food World and now houses a flea market, Furniture-4-Less (super super super sofa sale!) and Dirt Cheap. As this is the largest of the seven Opportunity Sites and the most expandable, I thought this would be the best place for a mixed-use redevelopment concept.

Illustration: Google Maps/James Vandiver

The current site would be redeveloped for a ~100,000 sq. ft. anchor store, along with an equal amount of 1-2 story small shop/junior anchor/office space. The 13-ish acres behind the commercial center would be set aside for a mixture of medium-density residential units (condos/townhomes/apartments) and green space, though if done today, this portion of the redevelopment would require a rezoning from Light Industry to Residential.

What do you think needs to be done on North Parkway? What kind of retail do you think would work there? Comment below, or use Facebook, Twitter, or email to share your thoughts.

Kohl's Coming to Jones Valley

Google Maps/HDN Illustration

Yes, the rumors are true: Assuming some access issues will be resolved, Kohl's is coming to South Huntsville. According to site plans, the new 64,000 sq. ft. store will be on the East side of Carl T. Jones just South of Ledges Dr., which would place it directly across from SuperTarget. This will be a stand-alone store, similar but a bit smaller than the existing location on 72 West. Construction is expected to begin in April, with completion early next year.

A Kohl's in South Huntsville was one of the more popular ideas on the city's Ideas Map.

The Justice District

For the next few weeks, I will be periodically discussing some of the more intriguing ideas posted on the City of Huntsville's Ideas Map. 


Idea 1: To rezone ground-floor spaces downtown to allow only retail and restaurant uses. I see two issues with this. First off, restricting land use also restricts innovative concepts for these spaces-- that's why I'm a huge fan of form-based code, which regulates based on design, not on use, which allows for more mixed-use development. Second, the ground-floor offices, which mostly house law firms that want to be close to the courthouse, would more than likely be "grandfathered" into any zoning restriction against them, so it wouldn't be very effective after all and might actually keep people and companies from moving to downtown.

If we want to free up space downtown for retail/restaurant uses, let's go back to an idea that has been discussed many times before-- move the courthouse, currently in a widely-hated 10 story building built in the 1960s, out of downtown and much of the space currently used by the law offices would free up, especially if office space is developed around the relocated courthouse. The courthouse itself could be demolished to make way for a Savannah-style square, or it could be renovated into offices, residential units, or even a hotel.

So, where would the courthouse go?

The general idea for years (and someone's idea on the map) has been to move the courthouse to the old grocery store site at Oakwood and the Parkway. I disagree with this proposal-- one, there is little space for law offices within walking distance, plus that site is visible, being next to a relatively busy intersection, so it could probably be put to better use other than a courthouse, which doesn't have to be so prominently placed. I propose renovating the old store into an "entertainment center," with a large bowling alley, billiards bar, and restaurant, like the Ace Bowling Center in Montgomery. That is, when the lease with Albertsons runs out in a few years, which further complicates redevelopment of that site.

I present an alternate location for the new Courthouse, in a redevelopment of an industrial area just north of downtown that I call the Justice District.

There are plenty of vacant/underused sites around the existing public safety complex and jail, so why not use them for the courthouse and the law offices that will follow it out of downtown? Here's what I envision: A 5-7 story courthouse on Wheeler Avenue, surrounded by 2-3 story office buildings for law offices, some with restaurants on the ground floor. A new park would replace an unsightly vacant gravel lot that is in the floodway. A greenway and transit corridor (bus or rail) would connect the district to points north and south, eventually reducing the need for parking.

Streetscape improvements would include "road dieting" Wheeler Avenue from four lanes to three, with parallel parking along one side. Trees would line both Wheeler and Fiber Street and sidewalks would be installed for easy pedestrian access.

Moving the courthouse out of downtown would definitely free up more space for new shops and restaurants, especially around the square. But what guarantee do we have that new businesses would open in these newly-vacant buildings? If this move is done at the wrong time, e.g. before there is a critical mass of residents and employees downtown, we could have a major vacancy problem on our hands and a significant daytime population decline that would harm the businesses already present. It's best not to rush this project; plus, there are a whole lot of people out there who still have a bad taste in their mouth from the jail fiasco. So embarking on another public building project that could potentially cost tens of millions of dollars might not be so popular today. But five years from now? Definitely.

Target all but Confirmed for Madison

Madison Mayor Paul Finley, in his State of the City address, made two major economic development announcements. The first announcement: Insanity Skatepark will become a major entertainment complex and civic center for the city, with event space, rock climbing walls, go-carts, and, best of all in my opinion, laser tag.

The next big announcement, the Shoppes of Madison, is probably the worst-kept retail secret I have seen since I started this blog three years ago. While the mayor didn't mention the "major anchor" by name, he did note that the "Target" date for opening is Summer 2012, while showing these renderings on a big screen:

The mayor noted that "apparel stores, shoe stores, and home decor stores" will locate in the center, along with some "sit-down restaurants." So, in conclusion, this will be your average shopping center. I just wonder how much in incentives the city of Madison will give to have Target build in their city (they've been pretty vague about it), and how the residents of the large subdivision behind this development will feel about a major project in their backyard.

I am surprised that nothing was mentioned about the Zierdt/565 development. It seems to be coming back from the dead, with Madison pushing for a new connector/interchange between Zierdt and Wall-Triana. Also, the Daniel Corporation and Breland Companies, the two developers involved in the project, were the major sponsors for the state of the city address. It's definitely something to watch for in the near future.

Trader Joe's, Whole Foods "Looking" at Huntsville

If you missed it at last night's packed Economic Development Summit, I can now confirm that Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, two of the most desired retail stores among Huntsvillians, are scouting the area for new stores. While there isn't a set location for either chain yet, and won't be for a while, you can look at their locations in other cities and see where they locate-- mostly in high-wealth, relatively high-density neighborhoods. The closest Huntsville has to this kind of environment is the area bounded by 565 to the north, Airport to the south, and the Parkway to the west. Another potential location with the right ingredients is Providence.

Huntsville to Hold Economic Development Summit

Yes, this is official. Photo courtesy: Trent Willis/City of Huntsville

The City of Huntsville will be holding its first Economic Development Summit-- "Developing Ideas: Planning for Huntsville's Future"-- on Wednesday, January 19th from 6-8pm at the Hudson-Alpha Center for Biotechnology in Research Park. The summit is open to the public.

The purpose of this summit is to get feedback from the public about where the city should be going in terms of economic development and planning. Representatives from the real estate community along with city officials and yours truly will be there to answer your questions. The format of this event is still evolving, and the attendance will ultimately determine what will be done.

Also at the summit, the city's new online Ideas Map will be formally introduced and demonstrated. Want to know what I'm talking about? Come to the meeting and find out.

Kroger opens 72/Jeff Store, Plans Three More

At last week's ribbon cutting for the new Kroger store at US 72 West and Jeff Road, Kroger said that their future expansion plans for Huntsville included three new stores in the expanded format, which is up to 100,000 square feet and contains a Starbucks, cheese shop and sushi bar.

If I were scouting sites for Kroger, this is where I would put the new stores (just my opinion, nothing official):

Martin and Zierdt-- Some of you will remember that this location was going to get a "grocery-anchored shopping center" a couple of years ago, but plans fell apart and the site is back up for sale. Despite the slowdown of growth in this area, it remains a viable site for a grocery store, and with Publix about three miles away (a little too close), Kroger is the best choice for the area.

Hampton Cove-- This area has both Walmart and Publix, but the nearest Kroger is 20 minutes away on South Parkway. An ideal location would be at 431 and Caldwell, closer to residents in the Dug Hill area but still in close proximity to the rest of the Hampton Cove area.

72 West and County Line Road-- Publix opened a mile south of this intersection a couple of years ago. With Walmart and Target planning stores near here in the next couple of years, it would seem logical that Kroger would jump in the mix as well. A store at this intersection would be more convenient for residents of East Limestone and Capshaw than the rival stores, which are/will be further south and east.

Ideas for South Parkway

I think we can all agree that South Parkway looks a little rough. The largest shopping center along the corridor sits two-thirds empty, and while the rest are mostly occupied, their tenants/landlords don't do well in upkeep. But why does it have to be this way? The corridor has big-box retailers like Home Depot, Lowe's, Kroger, Sam's Club, and Walmart, and the population is stable, highly-educated and fairly wealthy. A multitude of events could have brought the corridor to its current state, from long, drawn out construction projects that hinder access to the nation's economy (Goody's and Hollywood Video closed all of their stores nationwide in the past two years).

One way we can get things going in the right direction would be to start with a major revitalization of South Huntsville Square, which at 32 acres and 360,000 sq. ft. is the largest shopping center on the corridor. And I'm not talking just another "plant some shrubs in the parking lot" type of project. This one would take several years and ultimately make the center into a walkable "town center" type development.

 Reminder: These layouts are not official plans; I have created them to give everyone an idea of what could happen here. 

Short-Term Alternate A would leave the existing center, and its retail-only makeup, mostly intact. A serious investment would be made in making storefronts more attractive to prospective retailers. It would combine the former Big Lots, Auto Zone, and smaller shops in between to create a larger (up to 50,000 sq. ft.) anchor. The covered walkway in the middle of the north center would be opened, creating a pedestrian plaza with small shop space along it allowing room for landscaping, benches, and even outdoor dining. A group of vacant, overgrown lots to the north of the center between Staples and a residential neighborhood, which would otherwise be impossible to develop commercially without a zoning change, could be used for a park that would connect the center with the neighborhood and create an attractive buffer between the two. 

Short-Term Alternate B is similar to Alternate A, but some of the existing center-- such as the former Big Lots-- would be converted into ~30,000 square feet of flexible office space. This would be ideal if the retail market goes sour, or (being the optimist here) there is a high demand for office space due to BRAC (this center is less than four miles from Redstone Arsenal Gate 1).

The Long-Term Improvements are pipe dreams that would build on the short-term improvements and finally make the center walkable and more mixed-use. The development would revolve around a traffic circle built in front of the pedestrian plaza, and more small shops and restaurants would be built around it. Each of the new buildings would be no more than three stories to comply with current zoning regulations, with ground-floor retail and upper-floor offices. At least one of the new buildings could house a new anchor tenant, such as a major department store.

What do you think needs to be done on South Parkway? What kind of retail do you think would work there? Comment below, or use Facebook, Twitter, or email to share your thoughts. And if you're disappointed that I didn't highlight your part of town, be patient. I'll be there soon.