Southron

Construction update 8/23/09:

Waverunners and pontoon boats are for rent now at the riverfront. Looks like fun!

Nowyano, what you saw was the decline of South Blvd. The area around Montgomery Mall, which is now closed, declined rapidly after the opening of the Shoppes at East Chase. East Montgomery is growing like a weed, downtown is undergoing a major renaissance, but west Montgomery needs help. The city is working on redevelopment projects in west Montgomery, including a major streetscaping project on West Fairview Ave. Unfortunately, one of the consequences of the kind of leapfrog development that we do in this country is that some of the older areas decline when all the new stuff is built further out. The population of the city has shifted toward the east and retail development followed the rooftops.

The Alabama Association of Realtors is tearing down its office on Washington Ave near the state capitol and constructing a new one built out closer to the sidewalk, quite an improvement IMO. Renderings from the AAR website: Demolition photos of the old building: Click here

Wintzell's Oyster House, established in Mobile in the 1930's, is under construction downtown in the convention center parking deck retail bay at the corner of Bibb and Commerce. Just a few steps away from the Alleyway, this will be another big boost for downtown and the riverfront!

shack

Are any preliminary drawings available?

Work is well underway on the observation tower on the riverwalk. According to a city official, it should be completed by this fall. The tower includes stairs, an elevator and a 150 ft. bridge to the intermodal center across the railroad tracks. Work continues on riverwalk tower, bridge Photo gallery: New riverfront phase

The Advertiser has a new photo gallery (linked below) of progress on alleyway construction. Alleyway construction continues

cripple

clerks

The recently passed stimulus bill allocates about $750 million for construction of U.S. courthouses and other federal buildings, but more than half of that money will likely go toward a new headquarters building for the Department of Homeland Security. About $300 million will be available for new courthouse projects, far less than the nearly $1.5 billion needed for priority courthouses. The highest priority new courthouse projects are in San Diego, Los Angeles, Austin, Salt Lake City, Savannah, Mobile and Nashville. The San Diego courthouse is expected to be included in this year's budget bill, leaving Los Angeles as the #1 priority. Unfortunately, Mobile may have to wait even longer for the new courthouse to begin construction. Stimulus falls short on court projects Link to chart: Priority federal courthouse projects

According to the Advertiser, a new downtown police precinct will be based out of an Alleyway storefront. I wonder if the new police precinct at the Riverwalk silo has been cancelled... Police planning new precinct in Alleyway Project High-resolution plan of the Alleyway project (pre-SaZa): AlleyPlan.pdf

There's a sign up now on Tallapoosa Street...

thigh

Montgomery County is spending $8.5 million to renovate courthouse Annex I across the street from the recently finished Annex III in the old Montgomery Advertiser building. The project has been scaled back due to the current economic conditions, but may be expanded again if federal stimulus funds become available. Unfortunately, the $3.5 million external renovation, pictured below, has been put on hold. County continues renovation

The Montgomery City Council and Planning Commission are conducting internal work sessions this week concerning the new Montgomery Development Code that will replace the existing Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations. A public meeting to discuss the new code will be held in the future. Click here for a .pdf draft of the proposed development code. The SmartCode is mandatory for downtown and optional for the rest of the city, and this new code will update the conventional development code that can still be used outside of downtown. I'd love to see an analysis of what is changing. Montgomery Development Code work session

Developer John Elkington of Performa said he is scaling back plans for the entertainment district because he can't get a loan for the project. It will now be built in phases, with the first phase along Richard Arrington Boulevard from 22nd to 23rd Street using tenants appealing more to lenders. The second block would be completed once more financing is secured. Developer rolls back scale of BJCC entertainment district

Cell phone pic of construction 2/9/09:

I'm with you on the prices, especially when it's opening in the middle of a recession. --- According to the Advertiser, the 5,300 sq ft Sa Za will seat almost 150, including about 20 in outdoor seating along the Commerce Street sidewalk and another 15 or so in a bar in the alleyway itself. I'm digging all this new outdoor seating... Italian restaurant coming to downtown Advertiser photo gallery

Fantastic news! My hat's off to Ken Register for bringing this downtown. Below are links to the WFSA story and the restaurant website. It looks like the food will be really good. Italian restaurant partner to unveil plans for downtown location www.sazapizza.com

Troubles continue to stack up for the SaltAire community, largely because of the economic downturn and financial crisis. Liens filed against the project now total over $2.64 million. Regions bank loaned developers $6.5 million on the project, but will not loan any more. The developers say that it has probably become a 10-15 year project instead of seven to 10 years. SaltAire developers seek money as liens stack up

I'd forgotten about the Wintzell's announcement. That would be a good fit somewhere near the Riverwalk if they don't wind up in the Alley.