By JOHN PECK
Times Staff Writer jpeck@htimes.com

Minor site preparation has begun for 301 East, a 25-unit condominium planned in downtown Huntsville which would be the first major new residential construction there in years.

"We've done some marketing studies. We feel there's a need for something like this downtown,'' developer Steve Thornton said Friday.

-The building will be on the northeast corner of Holmes Avenue and Green Street, cater-cornered from The Times building.

Thornton, president of Thornton Properties LLC, said a restaurant and possibly some other retail businesses will occupy the ground floor. The remaining five floors will each offer five condominiums with one to three bedrooms.

Construction should get under way by spring, with completion in about a year.

Thornton, who retired in 2002 as CEO from Huntsville's Avocent Corp., said he's excited to help rejuvenate Huntsville's downtown. Thornton and his wife, Judy, live in the Twickenham Historical District and were looking for a real estate investment that could help others enjoy the city's core.

"We enjoy downtown so much we'd like to see it return to a time when you see people walking on streets going from establishment to establishment,'' Thornton said. Their son, Derek, is general manager of Thornton Properties.

Asked whether the Big Spring Summit office development at Big Spring International Park was a catalyst, Thornton said he reviewed a marketing study well before the Summit building was announced. The study showed strong demand for more downtown housing. The draw, he said, was all the restaurants that have recently opened downtown. "That's certainly creating interest in downtown and we just wanted to add to it,'' he said.

The cost for the condos has not been determined. Thornton also hasn't selected a contractor yet. Bill Peters Architects of Huntsville designed the building.

Although bulldozers began clearing the site recently, the project remained a mystery to many people because a grading permit wasn't required, the property didn't need to be rezoned, and a building permit won't be needed until closer to construction.

Thornton said tenant prospects have already begun coming forward with "strong interest.''

A Shell gasoline station had been on the site. The condo development will be named simply 301 East, its address on Holmes Avenue. Thornton promises the units will have high ceilings, top-end appliances and design features, and balconies with a view and spacious enough for furniture. Units will be about 1,400 to 1,700 square feet.

Ralph Gipson, president of CityScapes, a downtown Huntsville development group, applauded the planned development. "We welcome more housing downtown,'' he said.

CityScapes renovated the Terry Hutchens building into condos and plans to build 15 apartments in the old Hale Brothers Furniture Building. CityScapes also led the way for popular downtown restaurants including Pauli's Chop House, Humphreys Bar and Grill and Cotton Row deli. Gipson cited a recent study showing market potential for as many as 1,000 new downtown apartment and condominium units.

"There's a real demand," Gipson said. "The primary interest for people wanting to be downtown is entertainment. There's a lot to do, from being able to go to different places to eat to walking down to a Vipers or a Flight game to going to clubs in a short distance.''

The condos in the Terry Hutchens building, which went on the market a little more than a year ago, sold out at prices ranging from $270,000 to $477,000. Eleven of the 15 apartment buildings in the Hale Building are unofficially spoken for, even though they haven't been renovated yet, Gipson said.

Margaret Anne Goldsmith, who owns several office buildings downtown, said 301 East condominiums could help draw new retail businesses to help fill vacant spaces around the courthouse square. Gipson and Goldsmith agreed parking is the biggest challenge to drawing more downtown commerce.