The planned construction of a new urban center on the vacant 13-acre site where the Coca-Cola bottling plant once sat in Downtown Huntsville is still a go, albeit under a different agreement between the city and the developer.

Shane Davis, Director of Economic and Urban Development, presented an amendment to an already approved deal between Huntsville and New York City-based Rocket Development Partners LLC during Thursday’s regular meeting of the City Council.

The amended agreement ups the city’s Project Investment from $325 million to $400 million, but current plans increase the square footage of office and retail space.

Davis told the council the new deal was “very much, in my opinion, in favor of the city.’’

Changes of the old agreement compared to the new one in addition to the Project Investment involve:

Project Phases, which drop from four to two
10-year Return of Investment that was originally projected at $43,470 million is now $52,860 million
City Investment Payback, estimated before at four years, is now three

What doesn’t change in the new agreement is an $18 million capital investment and a construction start target of the fall of this year.

Meanwhile, city infrastructure commitments largely remain the same:

Provide public utilities
Streetscape improvements along Clinton Ave., Holmes Ave. and Monroe St.
New public street connecting Clinton and Holmes
Long-term lease of 400 parking spaces within structured parking deck for general public use
Pinhook Creek improvements between Clinton and Holmes

One infrastructure change from the original agreement is the developer is now responsible for constructing a Mews (park) within the development as opposed to the city.

The agreement guarantees a bare minimum of 100 rooms in a hotel that will be the center’s centerpiece, though Davis said planners expect that number to be much higher when a “flag,’’ or brand, is on board.

Davis added the preference for a hotel brand will be “full-service style” and will compliment the Von Braun Center.

The resolution passed unanimously.

Rezoning discussed

Thomas Nunez, city Manager of Planning Services, asked the council to rezone 4.04 acres of land on the east and west side of Triana Blvd. and north of Governors Dr. from Light Industry District to Highway Business C-4 District.

The area is primarily around Stovehouse and Campus 805 and will be designated for mixed-use.

The measure, along with other zoning and rezoning changes, prompted discussion initiated by District 2 Representative Frances Akridge. She asked Nunez if “there is any discussion of whether there’s too much’’ business space becoming available.

“Absolutely,’’ Nunez said. “There’s always discussion of the balance and how we support our current infrastructure and current retail markets. Our staff is constantly monitoring that.’’

Mayor Tommy Battle weighed in on the subject.

“I can say that there’s quite a bit of vigorous conversion about this,’’ he said. “Quite a few mornings we talk about when is it too much and when do we get to the tipping point?’’

Battle then drew comparison to apartment housing.

“The interesting thing about this is, going back four years ago and the 10-year period before that there were basically no new apartments built in the city of Huntsville,’’ he said. “These last four years we’ve had a plethora of apartments built.

“So are we catching up, or are we getting to the place where we can keep them full? Every apartment study shows we are where we need to be. We are a little bit wary of it and we’ve slowed the process a little bit.’

For more information, please visit www.huntsvilleal.gov/government/city-council