6th and Beltline

I apologize for how long it’s taken me to post about this.  Either way, here’s my take on the new development at 6th and Beltline.

Below is an excerpt from the Decatur Development Map, which you should take a look at

Pay attention to the numbers and colors, they’ll help you figure out what’s going on.

Here’s a quick rundown:

Red means “Expected; awaiting construction”
Blue means “Completed”
Purple means “Proposed”

1) Shopping center, supposedly anchored by Kohl’s (they haven’t released the anchor yet, but it’s generally believed to be Kohl’s). 80,000 to 110,000 sqft.

2) Olive Garden: Currently occupied by Lynn Layton Cadillac. Lynn Layton Cadillac will move across 6th Ave (US 31) (the large road that runs north south). After Cadillac moves across 6th Ave, three takes place.

3) Lynn Layton Nissan and Cadillac move in together. Nissan will be remodeled once Cadillac moves over.

4) Kroger intends to build a fuel center in front of its building. At this moment, we don’t know where on that property it will be built.

5) New tenants have been announced for the Crossings of Decatur (anchored by Target) as:
- Moe’s Southwest Grill
- Gigi’s Cupcakes
- Shoe Show
- The Children’s’ Place

6) Bender’s Gym: A 33,000 sqft, $3.5 Million facility.

There’s also another development that I neglected to label on the map. The orange box immediately to the right of #2 (Olive Garden) is a Verizon Store that is currently under construction.

7) This is some proposed development spot. They didn’t really say anything about anyone looking at, simply that it was “prime real estate.”

Here’s the deal.

Most of this I expect to happen.  The city will benefit through increased tax revenue, substantially.  However, traffic is going to get bad.  The city plans improvements to the Beltline/Veterans Dr intersection, and there will be a light placed in front of the Kohl’s shopping center.

Eventually something is gonna have to give, and I don’t think we can expect anything to happen until the widening of the Beltline on the SE end.  Even with that widening, you still have the problems on 6th Ave and AL 67 east of US 31.  What we consider moderate traffic during the day (non rush hour times), can/will quickly grow into heavy.  It seems quite short-sighted of the city to only consider slight intersection improvements.

What else can we expect?  Sales tax produce is going to increase.  I don’t mean from the stores that are planned for construction, I’m talking about all over town.  Folks in Lawrence, Morgan, and northern Cullman Counties will have less of a reason to drive to Huntsville now, since Decatur is closer and will be more able to satisfy their shopping needs.  So, look for more traffic ALL OVER town.

As for when all of this will be completed, there’s no telling.  If I had to guess, I’d say mid 2013 would be the latest.  But, we all know how things progress in this city…

Academy plat approved!

The Decatur Planning Commission approved the plat for the Academy Sports and Outdoors store adjacent to Home Depot along the Beltline. The city council still has to approve the utility vacations, but those are expected to pass easily.

A marketing director for Academy cited the strong/stable economy in Decatur as a big reason that the sports retail giant decided to expand into Decatur. This store will not only be one of the few in Alabama, but it will also be the first in the Huntsville-Decatur Area.

Also, the commission recomended that a large amount of acreage be annexed into the city of Decatur. This comes as a result of the city’s new sewage expansion fund that aids in the extension of sewer lines in order to annex more land into the city. The land being consider is located near Woodall Road along Alabama 20. McDonad’s was the first business to be attracted using the fund.

Ready for a rebound?

Is Decatur ready for a rebound in this horrid economy?
(btw, if you only wanna read about Decatur’s economy, just scroll down to the bottom)

I’m thinkin it is. Take a look at the Decatur Daily… If you take out all the stories about what’s happening nationally and you focus on what’s happening in the state, it appears that the economy in Alabama is just business as usual. That’s not to say that there isn’t a problem going on that we just can’t see. There is, we know it. National stock declines have an effect on all publically (sp?) traded companies, and there are a lot of those in Alabama.

First of all, we have been very fortunate. The bank that holds the largest amount of the banking market in Alabama (Regions Financial) has been effected by the economic slump. Forunately for our state, the Southeaster United States isn’t in as bad a shape as the rest of the country. The economic conditions going on will only magnify the Northern cities that are experience a mass exodus of their population. Which cities are these? Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo. These were the major manufacturing centers of the 20th Century and they’ve been going through a rough time in the past few decades.

Let’s compare these northern cities to some southern ones. New Orleans, Birmingham, Mobile and to some extent Jackson. Detroit and New Orleans, major manufacturing cities, shipping ports and a hub of culture and money. That isn’t so anymore. Pittsburgh and Birmingham. THERE is where you’ll find a HUGE contrast. Read below:

Pittsburgh and Birmingham:

Here’s how I look at it, enormous manufacturing cities all go through I process that I like to call “eating/digesting themselves”. Both Pitt and Bham were huge steel producing cities, so they’re easy to compare. Birmingham has done a fantastic job and the city is in it’s last leg of the digestion process. These cities have to nearly collapse and fail before they can be reborn and turn into regions burgeoning with economic prosperity. Pittsburgh has just begun their journey down the throat. Birmingham was fortunate that when the steel industry in the U.S. began to shrink, the mills went to Pittsburgh. Why was that good? The city had to find a place to create jobs, which is where UAB came in. UAB, the largest employer in the state and a university that has a multi-billion dollar impact on the state’s economy. Yes, Pitt has some great schools, but they have not been the focus of job creation to replace the aging steel industry.

To stop comparing cities, let’s focus on why Alabama is more primed for a rebound than other states. Two main reason, IMO, slow growth (stable economy) and prime developable land.

Take a look at this map:

What do you notice? There’re quite a few red blobs that aren’t all that close together. This isn’t true for a lot of states. Most states have 3 maybe 4 big red blobs with expansive suburban skirts around them. Us, we have a spaced out geography with a lot of larger cities. This is a good thing. This is also why it seems like there is NOTHING between other cities. This helps because cities need to grow towards eachother, so I think that in about 20 years, you could easily see 4 areas of enormous growth and an increasingly metropolitan culture. The areas? Huntsville-Decatur, Birmingham-Tuscaloosa-Gadsden, Montgomery-Prattville, Auburn-Columbus-Opelika. Huntsville and Decatur are spaced perfectly so that the growth between the two could be enormous. I think the Birmingham area will be one of the most populated regions in the SE in the coming decades with Birmingham-Tuscaloosa-Gadsden-Anniston ALL very close, we’re going to see those areas grow closer together and eventually merge into a metro area with more than 2 Million people.

As for the slower growth, that’s our big win. We haven’t had any HUGE peaks like Atlanta or Las Vegas or Phoenix. Thank goodness, lol, people have not invested in the amazing potential in our state, which is something I think will change in the coming years.

NOW, FOR DECATUR!

Lol, I don’t think Decatur’s going to be in such a huge crisis in the next few years. Now, citizens are still going to face the decreased income, as the rest of the country is. BUT, we’re seeing these new stores coming to town, which will only decrease the amount of people that currently drive to Huntsville for what they want. A big cork for this problem is going to be Academy Sports, which has announced that construction will begin in January 2009. That is one part of the market that a store in Decatur has not been able to fill well. So, instead of Decatur Metro Area residents driving to Huntsville outdoor stores, they’ll stay in town. The same will happen with Bass Pro.

Ever been to Point Mallard???

Have you?

Cause if you haven’t, I’d recommend you go there before you become one of the ones that goes just because it’s the “cool thing” to do.

Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Dunlap is desperately looking for funding for improvements on Point Mallard Park. As many of you know, Point Mallard is where “America’s First Wave Pool” lies. Well, for the part that you may not be so familiar with is the increasing revenues that the park is experiencing during this horrible horrible HORRIBLE economic downturn.

I say this with sarcasm because the entire park has seen a revenue increase of 14%. Divided out, that’s 7% for the aquatic center, 9% for the general park, 19% for the golf course, 5% for the ice rink, and 24% for the campground.

Now, that’s grand over all. But, when you realize that the ice rink has not been the most popular attraction in Decatur it becomes pretty gasp-worthy. And the 24% for the campground, that’s just down right outstanding.

Well, Jeff Dunlap is looking for the city council to include in the bond issued for the Sweetwater development, funding for a lazy river ($2 Million). Dunlap is also asking that the city council hand the park $180,000 to provide sewer hookups to the the C and D parts of the campground. The campground is usually booked completely throughout the year by people who are wanting to stay throughout the entirety of the city’s festivals held at the park.

You may be asking, what justifies all this? Well, the fact that the Aquatic Center is the 2nd most popular amusement park in the state might just give you that answer. Also, with the recent downturn in the economy and increasing gas prices, more people are staying closer to home and going to more local attractions.

Dunlap is hoping to capitalize on all of this by allowing the park to continue setting attendance and revenue records, as it has been each year for about the past 5 years.