City OKs Agreement for $325M Development on Former Coca-Cola Plant Site

The long-deserted site of the former Coca-Cola bottling plant downtown will soon come to life.

The City Council unanimously approved plans Thursday to develop a $325 million mixed-use center on the 13-acre property across from the Von Braun Center on Clinton Avenue.

The city said the Council’s approval is the first step in a partnership between the City and New York City-based Rocket Development Partners LLC.  The city said it will contribute $18 million toward the project, but not until the developer has started and/or completed its commitments.

The first phase would include 26,000 square feet of retail space, 40,000 square feet of office space, a 100-room hotel and multifamily housing. Also included is an 800-space, multilevel parking garage, open space and a surface parking lot.

General site work would be completed by July 2022, followed by the start of construction on the multifamily buildings, retail space, and surface parking lot. Hotel construction is anticipated to wrap up in June 2025, while office spaces and the parking garage would be completed by September 2025.

In a presentation at Thursday’s City Council meeting, Shane Davis, Huntsville’s director of Urban & Economic Development, estimated the city’s return on investment would be $25.4 million over a 10-year period.

The plant, officially called Big Springs Bottling, closed in 2012 and was demolished two years later.

“This is a great opportunity to turn vacant property into new and unique places for people to eat, shop, stay the night and live,” Mayor Tommy Battle said. “It’s an exciting project that will attract citizens and visitors alike, which will benefit Huntsville for years to come.”

In a Huntsville Business Journal story in 2019, Mitch Rutter, a principal with Rocket Development, said the development “will be heavily residential with some office components. We’re not going to overload with retail.

“It will be a live-work facility … modeled after The Gulch area of Nashville.”

[displayAds title=’Subscription’ column=’column-3’]

Davis said the project would be a mixed-use development completed in multiple phases. The overall design of the first phase is expected to wrap up this summer, according to the city.

As part of the development agreement, Rocket Development Partners would be responsible for all construction and donate property to the city for right-of-way and easements. It would also provide a 50-year lease agreement to Huntsville for 400 spaces within the 800-space garage. The developer would also be responsible for all upkeep and maintenance of the garage, the city said in its release.

“Huntsville is blessed with triangulating factors: job growth with good wages; population growth; and the leadership team,” Rutter said.

“They have a long-term Huntsville vision. That long-term plan, which includes the Von Braun Center expansion, renovation of Pinhook Creek, greenways and bikeways, is geared to accelerate the growth of downtown.”

Rutter said his company has retained Huntsville architect Paul Matheny and Urban Design Associates, who developed the city’s long-term plan.

“We’re very focused to create the density to bring people who want to live and work here,” he said. “It’s really very exciting.”

For its part, the city would be responsible for completing downtown streetscape improvements along Clinton and Holmes avenues and Monroe Street. The city said it would also vacate the Pollard Street right of way that bisects the property.

Huntsville would be required to build a road connecting Clinton and Holmes avenues that would parallel Pinhook Creek and the proposed downtown Riverwalk project.

The city began working the project in late 2019. Because of the size and scope of the development, Davis said, it took time to put it together in a correct format that would provide long-term quality to the Central Business District.

He said it has been “critically important” to ensure the redevelopment of the property complements the adjacent public venues and is built to a quality standard.

“I believe being able to keep the project moving forward and the committed private investment says a lot about the strength of the Huntsville economy,” Davis said. “Creating of thousands of new jobs and our commitment on infrastructure investments continue to pay dividends in new private investments. We are confident this trend will continue in downtown and across all parts of Huntsville.”