HSVTiger

well the project is a good idea but the design is crap. Hopefully the public outcry will cause the hack architecture to be reviewed. No need for this wall to extend all the way across the park. Can't Huntsville have some quality architecture for once that is over 15' tall?

Condo News, The design will be a problem I bet. Lazy architecture at work here Condo tower planned alongside Big Spring Summit developers announce plans for 2nd building Saturday, December 24, 2005 By JOHN PECK Times Staff Writer, [email protected] Developers of the Big Spring Summit office tower unveiled plans Friday for a second high-rise building that will feature condominiums and possibly some retail venues along the edge of the Big Spring International Park lagoon. Construction on the eight-story addition should get under way by summer, said William Stroud, a partner in Triad Properties. The building would stretch further along the waterfront from the Summit building. Mayor Loretta Spencer, City Planning Director Dallas Fanning and City Attorney Peter Joffrion joined officials with Triad and the Fuqua & Partners Architects firm Friday to discuss the project with Times editors and reporters. Spencer, citing other downtown projects under way, said the expansion is further proof that Huntsville's inner core is on the move. "There are other people (developers) looking at this town because downtown is hot as we said it would be," she said. The Summit addition, dubbed on drawings as Ovation Condominiums, comes two years after a divided City Council approved the Summit building for the southeast portion of the municipal garage in Big Spring International Park. The development deal gave Triad a two-year option for a second building along the waterfront. Stroud said the new building will feature mostly condominiums, but may also offer some office and retail space. "What we're contemplating is a facility that will be mixed use," he said. "It will be demand driven, but at this point, we're looking at a high concentration of residential condos." Preliminary plans call for 40 to 52 condominium units, ranging in size from 1,100 to 3,500 square feet. Friday's briefing by Fuqua's Paul Matheny proposed "penthouse" condos on the upper two floors with smaller condos on floors 3 through 6. Stroud said plans for the first two floors should materialize once Triad and its marketing team can determine the demand. Designers need that "flexibility" because large-scale urban living places are still a relatively new concept for Huntsville's downtown. "In many respects, we're moving into uncharted territory," Stroud said. Spencer commended Triad's willingness to invest in downtown. The city partnered with Triad by agreeing to lease Triad the space beside the park for its buildings in exchange for the so-called "air rights" to add two levels to the VBC parking garage. "We get blasted for it, but you would not see things happening in this town if we did not have these public-private partnerships," Spencer said. "The city can only carry so much of the weight." Because the option clause for Phase II was embodied in Triad's original development agreement the City Council approved in December 2003, the new condominium building won't require council action. The City Planning Commission, however, must sign off on the final design. Stroud is confident the second building will offer restaurants and other retail venues to serve Summit workers, condo dwellers, park visitors and others. More than a dozen potential buyers have already expressed interest in the condos even though marketing efforts haven't begun yet, he said. While the city is adding two decks and 348 slots to the existing 942-slot VBC garage, Triad owns the rights to lease back 300 of those spaces. The second phase of Triad's project will take some of those spaces, resulting in a small net gain of roughly 40 public spaces. A city department formerly occupied nearly 50 of those spots. Fanning said the city will still come out ahead because many of the Summit's spots will be freed after 6 p.m. daily and on weekends to rent back out to other motorists. Spencer said the city plans to beef up downtown shuttle bus service to encourage motorists to use other public parking areas if the VBC garage is full.

A few tenants announced for Bridge Street: Most of the retailers currently negotiating leases with O&S Holdings for space at the multi-use project will be new to Huntsville but familiar to avid shoppers: Coldwater Creek, Ann Taylor Loft and J.Jill, all women's clothing stores; Francesca's Collections, which sells jewelry and accessories; restaurants P.F. Chang's, Sullivan's Steakhouse and Bravo Cucina. The Westin Huntsville hotel will have an Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa that guests can access from the hotel or the street, said Alex Hardy, business development manager and director of public policy for O&S Holdings. Bridge Street will also have Huntsville's second Chico's store. Two other Chico's company stores are planned: a White House/Black Market women's apparel store and Soma by Chico's, which sells lingerie and sleepwear. Brighton's Collectibles will have a free-standing store. Brighton's handbags and accessories are currently available at Parisian.

Sci Quest possible downtown location Utility gets city's OK for office renovation Friday, December 16, 2005 By JOHN PECK Times Staff Writer [email protected] Sci-Quest could move into empty space downtown The City Council authorized Huntsville Utilities on Thursday night to spend up to $1.8 million to renovate some of its empty office space downtown that could become the new home of Sci-Quest. The cavernous space in the utility's administrative building on Spragins Street faces the cascading canal in the east end of Big Spring International Park. The unfinished area resulted from a top-to-bottom makeover of its downtown headquarters in the late 1990s. John Thomas, vice president of services for Huntsville Utilities, told the council that U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, recently secured $2 million for the renovation. Thomas said city leaders support moving Sci-Quest downtown. The Huntsville Utilities building may be just the place to accommodate Sci-Quest, he said, if legal agreements can be met among the private, nonprofit museum, the city-owned utilities building and federal grant money. "There are a lot of questions we'll have to reconcile," he said. Cramer discussed the possible Sci-Quest relocation during a news conference this month plugging downtown revitalization efforts. In announcing the $2 million renovation money, Cramer did not specify a site but said the hands-on science center for children would be a welcome addition to downtown. Sci-Quest Director J.D. Horne has said he and the Sci-Quest board support moving downtown. Sci-Quest currently occupies 42,500 square feet in a building owned by Calhoun Community College on Interstate 565 across from the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Outside the council chambers Thursday night, Thomas said several companies have inquired about the Huntsville Utilities space. An engineering firm has offered to lease 7,000 square feet at $16 to $18 per square foot, he said, and at least two other professional firms have expressed interest in the other parts of the 25,000 square feet. Thomas said the utility could create as much as 40,000 square feet for Sci-Quest in a renovation.

good move here, but the question is where (new or old building) and what about parking. Don't know if market square is part of this but big things are coming to that property.

Downtown Summit tenant Bruegger's Bagel Bakeries plans to open its first Alabama store in the Big Spring Summit, which is now under construction downtown. An official agreement signing is scheduled today at 9 a.m. on the first floor of the Summit. Vermont-based Bruegger's operates 250 bakeries in 17 states. Local franchise group Bama Bagels plans to develop four bakeries in the Huntsville area by 2008. seems like a good fit

This shows a little bit, and the location of the planned condo complex

Clinton building makeover Clinton Ave will become a major area of development in the next 12 months The building is located on the southwest corner of Memorial Parkway and Clinton Avenue and includes 4.5 acres for surface parking. An artist's rendering shows a planned new main entrance and fountain on the west side of the building where the old Huntsville News operated until 1996. The News building will be demolished.