Condo complex looms alongside Big Spring
Project height could be as high as 8-story Summit, twice space
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Huntsville's downtown skyline is poised to take off again, this time with the possibility of condominiums overlooking Big Spring International Park.
Two years after the City Council approved Big Spring Summit, an eight-story office tower beside the Big Spring International Park lagoon, plans are in the works for a second high-rise structure that could include as many as 40 condos, plus restaurants, retail stores and offices. The second phase of Triad Properties' project could rise just as high as the Summit building, but stretch twice as far along the waterfront.
Triad executive William Stroud said spiraling construction costs make pre-planning difficult without knowing yet which venues the building will offer. Triad hopes to have more details fleshed out by early next year so it can begin submitting formal plans and acquiring the necessary permits.
"Our primary focus would be residential," Stroud said last week. He anticipates as many as 40 condos and preferably some restaurants, retail stores and maybe something like a health club on the ground level. "We're pricing plans now," he said.
Triad was given two years to exercise its option to build the second phase, but the actual deadline on the option agreement is still months away because the timetable is based on the construction startup on the Big Spring Summit office tower. That project has been under construction now for about a year.
City Planning Director Dallas Fanning said preliminary plans for the next phase show a building similar in design and height to the Summit building. The development agreement for the Big Spring Summit authorized a footprint of up to 14,500 square feet. The option clause for any second building allows use of up to 31,400 square feet of land. No height limit was set for either project.
Both Stroud and Fanning said they know of no geologic concerns under the cave-strewn Big Spring Park area that might deter another building as heavy as the Summit.
Reaction mixed
The planned Big Spring Summit second phase drew mixed reaction from City Hall and from at least one outspoken resident who led a citizens' crusade against the Summit. While supporters view it as progress, critics worry another high-rise will box in the park and further diminish its beauty and tranquility.
City administration officials praised the likely expansion as a way to add commerce and vibrancy to the city core. "It will illustrate how strong economically the downtown is," Fanning said.
Mayor Loretta Spencer said a mixed-use development would provide new eating and shopping opportunities for visitors and the growing influx of downtown residents. The number of downtown dwellers should swell even more with completion of the 301 East condominium tower on Green Street. The new 300-room Embassy Suites convention hotel, scheduled for opening next fall, will also flood downtown with more people.
"I'm excited to see the mixed-use available to those who work and reside in the downtown area," Spencer said. "And with the availability of shopping so nearby, people who are here from out of town will have the chance to spend their tax dollars in our city."
City Council members Bill Kling and Sandra Moon opposed the Summit development deal when the council approved it 3-2 on Dec. 4, 2003. They continue to oppose further development in the park. Kling said he's not surprised Triad plans to follow through on its option.
"It's a business decision on (Triad's) part. I'm sure (location next to the park) is a very good amenity to have. It's just that the park should be more for the public's benefit," Kling said.
Moon said the fact that neither the Summit tower nor its potential twin can protrude on park land does little to sway her opinion. The development agreement requires construction of both to stay within the outer edge of Von Braun Center parking deck.
"It's a de facto encroachment on the park," Moon said. "It looms over the park and takes away from the openness of the park."
Moon and Kling emphasized that their opposition isn't about Triad. Both say the Big Spring Summit appears to be a quality, nice-looking structure.
"I just wish it could have been built 300 feet over away from the park," Kling commented. Moon said she's troubled about giving a private company building rights atop public infrastructure like a city garage.
The $11 million, 75,000-square-foot Big Spring Summit tower is being built on the Church Street side of the VBC garage.
Triad leveraged approval for the Summit by purchasing the "air rights" above the VBC garage from a developer who bought them 20 years ago but never used them. Triad yielded those air rights to the city in the development agreement to construct the Summit in the southeast quadrant of the VBC parking deck. The 99-year lease agreement with Triad included escalating payment clauses for the ground lease and parking slot rentals, along with the option agreement for another building.
Demand is there
Stroud said construction of the Summit building is proceeding nicely, with completion expected by the end of January. About 70 percent of the available office space has been spoken for, he said. A restaurant will be built on the first floor. First American Bank will consume floors two through four. Several other companies have secured space for offices.
Stroud, noting the other downtown projects that are under way, said interest in more eateries and living units downtown remains high. "There's clearly a demand," he said.
Stroud wouldn't say exactly how big the next building might be. But Spencer and Fanning told of plans they've seen proposing a structure the same height and facade as the Big Spring Summit office tower. "We've seen the concept but not the specifics of the mix. It's similar to what's being built now," Fanning said
Fanning said Triad is well aware of the public's sensitivity to the park and will do quality work on any development.
Moon expressed regret that the city didn't work harder to acquire the air rights so it could have expanded its garage without having to deal with a third party wanting a high-rise over the park.
Huntsville resident Thomas Piff, who crusaded against the Big Spring Summit project and even launched an anti-Summit Web site, said the Summit project and subsequent planned development will forever destroy the character of Big Spring International Park.
"The big problem is the private profiteering at the edge of our spring, the symbol of our community," Piff said. "Civic leaders that facilitate privatizing the public trust such as Big Spring International Park clearly value advantaged profiteering over the commonly held values of Huntsville citizens."
The city had long wanted to add two more levels to the 940-slot VBC garage but couldn't because it didn't own the air rights. The Summit deal finally opened up that possibility.
Huntsville developer Jerome Averbuch paid for those air rights in 1984 when he bought a city-owned tract of land just north of the VBC garage for a convention hotel and office complex that never materialized. Another downtown development company, CityScapes, bought the air rights from Averbuch in 2001 for the failed Electric Avenue residential and entertainment complex where Triad is now building.
Two more decks are now being added to the VBC garage - at city expense - which will add 300 parking spaces. The Summit will lease hundreds of spaces during weekdays but free those slots up for public parking at nights and on weekends.
City administration officials note that five acres are being added to Big Spring International Park along the new canal that threads from the lagoon between the VBC and 10-story Embassy Suites.
Piff worries the Summit development, and now the proposed federal court building at the site of the former mental health center property, will shut off any expansion opportunities for the park. "Where will Huntsville grow Big Spring International Park as its population swells to half a million people by the end of the (Triad's) lease?"
© 2005 The Huntsville Times
© 2005 al.com All Rights Reserved