The Real Deal

By Rob Holbert Managing Editor

Residential development is coming quickly to downtown Mobile, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anyone knows where it’s going or what its effect will be.

With an eye toward divining the future of downtown residential living, the Downtown Mobile Alliance has a consultant visiting this week who will help capture a snapshot of where downtown stands as a place to live and where it could be going. Consultant Laurie Volk of Zimmerman-Volk Associates of New Jersey, is scheduled to be in town July 31 – Aug. 4.

“Residential is coming, but there’s no track record for residential downtown,” said David Calametti, business development manager for the Downtown Mobile Alliance. “They’re going to come in and quantify what’s the state of residential. They’ve got the ability and experience to say based upon this criteria, these are the types of projects that will work best in our downtown.”

A casual drive around downtown Mobile reveals a multitude of condo and apartment projects in the works, and Downtown Alliance executive director Elizabeth Sanders estimates there should be 150-200 more downtown dwellers by this time next year. That number could grow even larger if other potential residential projects, such as the tower proposed where the CSX building stands on Water Street ever becomes a reality.

“That’s 10 percent growth in one year,” Sanders said. “There are about 1,500 people who live downtown, but that’s still only about 1,600 people.”

And while almost everyone agrees having people live in downtown Mobile is the key to it thriving over the long-haul, the burgeoning success in getting people to want an 02 Zip Code does raise some questions about what the needs will be.

“The goal is to get a professional projection of a realistic goal as to what we can achieve with residential downtown. Is it 10,000 in 10 years, or it is 1,000 in 10 years? And what type of project should we be pursuing?” Sanders said.

The residential study is the first of three the Downtown Alliance expects to commission in the next three to four months.

“The next effort will be a retail market study that will help us determine the state of retail, although we know it’s pretty anemic right now. It will help us come up with a strategy and figure out the types of businesses that will be pioneers,” Calametti said.

Once the residential and retail studies are done, Calametti says the hope is that they will lead naturally into producing a new, overall strategic plan for downtown.

“The ‘String of Pearls’ are pretty much done, so we need to figure out what’s next,” he said.

Sanders said the plan would provide a “revised vision for downtown.”

Sanders said in addition to the 1,500 people who live within a half-mile radius of downtown, there are also 20,000 people who work in that space, as well as an undefined number of visitors.

“The question is how much untapped potential is there?” she said.

Volk will be collecting data and doing research over the time she is in town, and is interested in meeting with people who can have valuable input. He said anyone interested in meeting with her can call him at 434-8498 extension six to potentially set up a meeting.

Selection for the consulting firm to handle the retail study has not yet been completed.

Flight path change coming

The good news for those who are now in the redirected flight path for the Downtown Airport at Brookley is that things should be back to normal by the end of August.

Mobile Airport Authority Director of Marketing Marc Pelham said things should revert to normal by the end of the month. Flights were originally shifted to a second runway a few months ago so the main runway could be worked on. But $1.3 million in vandalism that took place in late April delayed the switch back, Pelham said.

“That resulted in this flight pattern lasting longer than we expected,” he said.

The change will probably come as a relief to many in neighborhoods such as Oakleigh where some of the big FedEx jets landing can sound like they’re ripping shingles off the roof, particularly at 4:30 in the morning.

Pelham said the majority of the flights were supposed to be routed over the Bay at night, but this reporter, who lives right in the flight path, has routinely noted flights all night.

Pelham says there have been many complaints from residents, which he says is understandable.

“If you bought a house where there are already aircraft flying over, you expect it. If not, it’s annoying,” he said.

The FBI is currently offering a $5,000 reward for help in capturing the individuals who stole and damaged the lighting on the main runway. The lights were part of the instrument landing system.

Rob Holbert is Lagniappe managing editor. Contact him at rholbert@lagniappemobile.com.

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