Rocket City reloads

Sunday, December 02, 2007

KENT FAULK

News staff writer

HUNTSVILLE -- A half century ago Huntsville's small downtown was the epicenter of commercial activity for Madison County.

Clothing and furniture stores, restaurants, and a variety of other businesses flourished. But by the 1960s shops and restaurants hunkered closer to the neighborhoods that were quickly filling with thousands of rocket and missile engineers.

That left legal, banking, accounting and brokerage firms to dominate the downtown landscape.

But as thousands of military jobs are about to be transferred to Huntsville in the next three years, city leaders hope efforts to liven up downtown will help lure people - particularly young professionals - to fill those jobs. Millions of public and private dollars have been, or are to be, spent on projects to renovate and expand the civic center, build hotels and condominiums, and open restaurants and bars.

"I don't think we'll ever get downtown back like it was in the 1950s the way I remember it," said Huntsville Planning Director Dallas Fanning, who grew up in rural Madison County. "But what we're going to do is have a more diverse nightlife, restaurants, and various businesses."

By 2011, the Army is expected to move more than 4,000 jobs to Redstone Arsenal. That doesn't include thousands of other contractor jobs expected to move to the city. Huntsville leaders have been trying to persuade those who hold the jobs to move to Huntsville. As many as one-third are expected to do just that.

"What is going on in downtown, no question, enhances the quality of life for our community and will help us to attract those people to fill those jobs," said Evans Quinlivan, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville-Madison County.

Even before the Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, decision in mid-2005, efforts had been under way to give downtown Huntsville an active nightlife. Several restaurants and bars have opened. A $40 million, 295-room Embassy Suites hotel with a Ruth's Chris Steak House adjoining the Von Braun Center was built, and downtown's Big Spring Park was expanded. Both were completed in late 2006.

More private and public projects are planned or under way.

The city is landscaping and putting in new sidewalks and lighting around downtown. Construction of a new $5.2 million public safety center in downtown, combining the west police precinct and downtown fire station, was approved this month by the Huntsville City Council.

$150 million project:

Developers also this year unveiled plans for Constellation, an estimated $150 million project that will include two hotels, restaurants, shops, office buildings and about 100 condominiums.

"Constellation will be the catalyst that not only continues the renaissance of downtown Huntsville, but also enhances the quality of life in Huntsville in general," said D. Scott McLain, a partner in Constellation.

The project is planned for 20 acres that sits to the rear of the Von Braun Center and is bordered on the other side by Memorial Parkway, the city's main north-south corridor. The former Heart of Huntsville mall, built in 1961, was on that site. It was bought by McLain's late father in the 1980s and demolished this year to prepare for construction.

YRG Management Co. LLP has announced plans to build a Courtyard by Marriott and Spring Hills Suites by Marriott, both with 160 rooms, within the Constellation site, McLain said. Construction on the two hotels is to begin soon.

With the Embassy Suites and the Holiday Inn Select, which has been in downtown Huntsville for decades, that would bring the number of hotel rooms to 915 within walking distance to the Von Braun center.

The rooms added by Embassy Suites, which is connected to the center's south exhibition hall by an enclosed bridge, have helped the civic center pull in record revenues in 2007, said Steve Maples, the VBC's executive director.

"It allows us to bid on conferences and conventions that we couldn't otherwise do," Maples said.

Civic center, museum:

The civic center also plans to spend up to $20 million on renovation projects and expansion in the next few years. Highlights include doubling the size of the women's restrooms, adding 1,000 floor seats in the arena for concerts, renovating concession stands, adding a mini cafe, and replacing walls along the southeast side of the arena to give a view from the cafe and concourse of Big Spring Park.

About $4 million for those projects has come from a special tax district set up to fund projects in the downtown area. City officials are working to get the other $12 million to $16 million for the work, including a look at selling naming rights to parts of the civic center.

At the eastern edge of Big Spring Park, the Huntsville Museum of Art is planning an $8 million expansion, which will include 22,000 square feet of new exhibition space and an auditorium, as well as a plaza entrance and multipurpose outdoor stage facing the park. The money has been raised and construction is to begin in April or May and completed near the end of 2009, said Clayton Bass, the museum's president and chief executive.

"Clearly it's becoming a more urban kind of downtown core because of the advent of more condominium projects, which we think is great," Bass said. "The more people who live downtown the more I think, the whole thing will flourish."

Downtown residences:

A few condos have been built in downtown Huntsville in recent years. Besides condos planned for the Constellation project, developers of the year-old Summit office building at the northern edge of Big Spring Park have a deadline next month to tell city officials whether they will exercise an option to build a second phase atop the city's parking deck that may include condos.

Park Tower LLC plans to refurbish one of downtown Huntsville's tallest downtown office buildings for condos, offices, and restaurant, salon, according to Bill Chapman, one of the owners. The 10-story building overlooks Big Spring Park from the west side of the courthouse square.

Millions of dollars in renovations of Park Tower are to begin in the next 12 to 24 months, Chapman said. The project calls for putting a new facade on the building to fit in with the historical character of downtown Huntsville and the top four or five floors converted into 35 to 50 condos. The bottom floor would be renovated for a restaurant and salon, and the floors in between renovated for offices, he said.

The group completed the purchase of the building in September and believes the project will fit in with what's being planned for Constellation and the other downtown projects, Chapman said.

"That's where everything's going on," he said.

City officials, meanwhile, have been trying to address a need for more parking. The city has set aside $4 million to help pay for a parking garage it's planning to build in the northeast part of downtown by a new condominium building and the 1920s era, 12-story Huntsville Times office building that was renovated in the past few years. The Times building includes a 10,000-square-foot lower level where the developer wants to attract a club or other entertainment business.

Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer said the parking garage would help serve some of the downtown restaurants that have valet parking. City officials also are talking to potential developers about putting in a delicatessen or market in the bottom of the parking garage to serve the area, she said.

Spencer said she's also met with chefs from California and New York to bring restaurants to downtown Huntsville. Several upscale restaurants from the West Coast are opening in the new, $280 million Bridge Street Town Centre shopping, hotel, and condo development in the city's research park, helping to raise the city's profile.

"We're on everybody's radar screen," she said.

E-mail: kfaulk@bhamnews.com



Rocket City reloads Sunday, December 02, 2007 KENT FAULK News staff writer HUNTSVILLE -- A half century ago Huntsville's small downtown was the epicenter of commercial activity for Madison County. Clothing and furniture stores, restaurants, and a variety of other businesses flourished. But by the 1960s shops and restaurants hunkered closer to the neighborhoods that were quickly filling with thousands of rocket and missile engineers. That left legal, banking, accounting and brokerage firms to dominate the downtown landscape. But as thousands of military jobs are about to be transferred to Huntsville in the next three years, city leaders hope efforts to liven up downtown will help lure people - particularly young professionals - to fill those jobs. Millions of public and private dollars have been, or are to be, spent on projects to renovate and expand the civic center, build hotels and condominiums, and open restaurants and bars. "I don't think we'll ever get downtown back like it was in the 1950s the way I remember it," said Huntsville Planning Director Dallas Fanning, who grew up in rural Madison County. "But what we're going to do is have a more diverse nightlife, restaurants, and various businesses." By 2011, the Army is expected to move more than 4,000 jobs to Redstone Arsenal. That doesn't include thousands of other contractor jobs expected to move to the city. Huntsville leaders have been trying to persuade those who hold the jobs to move to Huntsville. As many as one-third are expected to do just that. "What is going on in downtown, no question, enhances the quality of life for our community and will help us to attract those people to fill those jobs," said Evans Quinlivan, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville-Madison County. Even before the Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, decision in mid-2005, efforts had been under way to give downtown Huntsville an active nightlife. Several restaurants and bars have opened. A $40 million, 295-room Embassy Suites hotel with a Ruth's Chris Steak House adjoining the Von Braun Center was built, and downtown's Big Spring Park was expanded. Both were completed in late 2006. More private and public projects are planned or under way. The city is landscaping and putting in new sidewalks and lighting around downtown. Construction of a new $5.2 million public safety center in downtown, combining the west police precinct and downtown fire station, was approved this month by the Huntsville City Council. $150 million project: Developers also this year unveiled plans for Constellation, an estimated $150 million project that will include two hotels, restaurants, shops, office buildings and about 100 condominiums. "Constellation will be the catalyst that not only continues the renaissance of downtown Huntsville, but also enhances the quality of life in Huntsville in general," said D. Scott McLain, a partner in Constellation. The project is planned for 20 acres that sits to the rear of the Von Braun Center and is bordered on the other side by Memorial Parkway, the city's main north-south corridor. The former Heart of Huntsville mall, built in 1961, was on that site. It was bought by McLain's late father in the 1980s and demolished this year to prepare for construction. YRG Management Co. LLP has announced plans to build a Courtyard by Marriott and Spring Hills Suites by Marriott, both with 160 rooms, within the Constellation site, McLain said. Construction on the two hotels is to begin soon. With the Embassy Suites and the Holiday Inn Select, which has been in downtown Huntsville for decades, that would bring the number of hotel rooms to 915 within walking distance to the Von Braun center. The rooms added by Embassy Suites, which is connected to the center's south exhibition hall by an enclosed bridge, have helped the civic center pull in record revenues in 2007, said Steve Maples, the VBC's executive director. "It allows us to bid on conferences and conventions that we couldn't otherwise do," Maples said. Civic center, museum: The civic center also plans to spend up to $20 million on renovation projects and expansion in the next few years. Highlights include doubling the size of the women's restrooms, adding 1,000 floor seats in the arena for concerts, renovating concession stands, adding a mini cafe, and replacing walls along the southeast side of the arena to give a view from the cafe and concourse of Big Spring Park. About $4 million for those projects has come from a special tax district set up to fund projects in the downtown area. City officials are working to get the other $12 million to $16 million for the work, including a look at selling naming rights to parts of the civic center. At the eastern edge of Big Spring Park, the Huntsville Museum of Art is planning an $8 million expansion, which will include 22,000 square feet of new exhibition space and an auditorium, as well as a plaza entrance and multipurpose outdoor stage facing the park. The money has been raised and construction is to begin in April or May and completed near the end of 2009, said Clayton Bass, the museum's president and chief executive. "Clearly it's becoming a more urban kind of downtown core because of the advent of more condominium projects, which we think is great," Bass said. "The more people who live downtown the more I think, the whole thing will flourish." Downtown residences: A few condos have been built in downtown Huntsville in recent years. Besides condos planned for the Constellation project, developers of the year-old Summit office building at the northern edge of Big Spring Park have a deadline next month to tell city officials whether they will exercise an option to build a second phase atop the city's parking deck that may include condos. Park Tower LLC plans to refurbish one of downtown Huntsville's tallest downtown office buildings for condos, offices, and restaurant, salon, according to Bill Chapman, one of the owners. The 10-story building overlooks Big Spring Park from the west side of the courthouse square. Millions of dollars in renovations of Park Tower are to begin in the next 12 to 24 months, Chapman said. The project calls for putting a new facade on the building to fit in with the historical character of downtown Huntsville and the top four or five floors converted into 35 to 50 condos. The bottom floor would be renovated for a restaurant and salon, and the floors in between renovated for offices, he said. The group completed the purchase of the building in September and believes the project will fit in with what's being planned for Constellation and the other downtown projects, Chapman said. "That's where everything's going on," he said. City officials, meanwhile, have been trying to address a need for more parking. The city has set aside $4 million to help pay for a parking garage it's planning to build in the northeast part of downtown by a new condominium building and the 1920s era, 12-story Huntsville Times office building that was renovated in the past few years. The Times building includes a 10,000-square-foot lower level where the developer wants to attract a club or other entertainment business. Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer said the parking garage would help serve some of the downtown restaurants that have valet parking. City officials also are talking to potential developers about putting in a delicatessen or market in the bottom of the parking garage to serve the area, she said. Spencer said she's also met with chefs from California and New York to bring restaurants to downtown Huntsville. Several upscale restaurants from the West Coast are opening in the new, $280 million Bridge Street Town Centre shopping, hotel, and condo development in the city's research park, helping to raise the city's profile. "We're on everybody's radar screen," she said. E-mail: kfaulk@bhamnews.com © 2007 The Birmingham News © 2007 al.com All Rights Reserved.