The Constellation Huntsville development, a project 22 years in the making, is coming closer to completion. Located on approximately 11 acres at the former site of the old Heart of Huntsville Mall between Memorial Parkway, Clinton Avenue, and the Von Braun Center, Constellation Huntsville’s prominent location has earned it the nickname of ‘Huntsville’s Front Door,’ greeting visitors as they enter the downtown Huntsville area.

According to Constellation developer D. Scott McLain, CCIM, CRE of Coldwell Banker Commercial McLain Real Estate, the project is “proceeding very vigorously now. We’re currently building 219 apartments. They’ll be the nicest in town until someone builds something nicer.”

Digital rendering of the Constellation Apartments

McLain stated that the apartment community will feature one-, two-, and three-bedroom units with “very fine decor and the amenities that you would expect in a first class apartment project.” The apartments are currently being pre-leased and are projected to be occupied as early as May 2022.

Among the many features of the Constellation apartment complex, McLain said, will be two interior courtyards, including an active space with a swimming pool and associated functions and a ‘passive courtyard’ with seating areas and grills. The two courtyards will be separated by a building lower than the surrounding apartments with a rooftop recreation space.

McLain added that they are also in the process of leasing the retail component of the Constellation project, which will be located at the corner of Heart of Huntsville and Clinton Avenue with the Memorial Parkway ramp situated at the north end of the property.

“It’s currently staged with construction materials,” he said.

According to McLain, the City of Huntsville conducted a study in 2017 that showed a demand for 211,000 square feet of restaurants downtown. “There’s $95 million worth of untapped annual revenue that’s not being spent,” he said. He expects to add several restaurants to the development by fall 2023.

In addition to restaurants and retailers, Constellation Huntsville will feature an office tower. Although Downtown Huntsville currently has a height limitation ordinance for office buildings, “it does not apply to Constellation,” McLain said. The Constellation office tower’s height limit, rather, “is imposed by physics and economics, both of which are very strong forces.”

“Our goal with this office would be to build the tallest office building in town, which is not a particularly heavy lift since the tallest building in downtown Huntsville now is 12 stories,” McLain added.

McLain acknowledged that Covid has rearranged society’s view of offices. “We are not yet flocking back to offices. That’s a whole ‘nother article. But I think that we will go back to offices.”

Artist rendering of Constellation Office Tower

He predicts that it’ll take a year and a half to determine whether on-site offices will be back for good. “If we do go to the office and someone wants a Class-A office location in Downtown Huntsville,” he said, “there are very few options,” adding that the vacancy rate for Class A has been as low as 1%.

“And it is certainly less than 5%, meaning that there’s simply not much Class A office [space] downtown. Huntsville has been a Research Park-oriented office market, but that’s changing slowly.”

Another factor at work, according to McLain, is that employers are beginning to realize that their employees want an office environment that is “more fun than a traditional office park,” including amenities such as adjacent coffee shops, beer breweries, boutiques and living spaces.

“As that demand increases,” he said, “I believe that office buildings and mixed use developments will be considered employee magnets. And as such, there will be some companies that say ‘it is in our interest to locate in an environment like that because it will help us attract employees.’”

In order to justify starting construction of a large office tower, however, McLain stated that he needs big investors, or ‘whales,’ adding “all whales that are out there, I cordially invite you to consider an office site at Constellation if you want to be downtown with marvelous visibility.”

A final part of the Constellation project involves elements sold to third parties, including a national hotel development and management company which has already opened a SpringHill Suites by Marriott at the site. The second site, located adjacent to the SpringHill hotel, will house a second hotel in the future.

Further contributing to the attractiveness of the Constellation development is the planned pedestrian ‘skybridge’ over Memorial Parkway, an S-shaped design of about 6,000 linear feet with bowstring trusses that would cross the Parkway from the Constellation development at Clinton, continuing across Governors Drive to the Lowe Mill area. In addition, improvements to Pinhook Creek and the creation of a downtown ‘riverwalk’ are on the slate in the near future.

McLain explained that a project like this typically takes 10 years. He began planning the development with his father and an additional partner, later taking on two additional partners following the deaths of his father and their original partner.

During the recession following the 2008 financial crisis, he said, his partners told him “this is a great project, and we love Huntsville, but this is hard–you’re on your own.” McLain then took on a new partner. “So I’ve had five partners, two of whom died, two of whom bailed, and one who’s still with me,” he said. “For reality purposes [there was] a six year recession. Plus, we had a four-year discussion with the city. If you take all that out, I’m right on time.”

“We happen to be the possessors of a really good piece of property in Huntsville. And with it comes the responsibility to do it right. And so we have been striving for a long time to execute this properly. We will continue with that effort until we finish, and I never give up.”