Quote:
Originally Posted by cityscapes
Question for any of you living in Tuscaloosa -
I'm writing my masters thesis on post-disaster rebuilds and Tuscaloosa is one of my two main case studies. That city center project got off the ground quickly compared to a lot of other projects and I was thinking of discussing it in my essay. I took a look at their Facebook and website and the pictures only show the condo / loft sections but none of the street facing retail that was shown in the initial render. Is there construction activity going on for that section of the project or is that not happening?
Also, the area around the Krispy Kreme and Blue Moon BBQ... is that still undeveloped or has whatever shopping center thing started construction already?
At one point I was going to focus on how rebuilding plans don't take into account current trends in a city but I ditched that. Out of curiosity, do you all think the damaged areas of Tuscaloosa have been slow to recover because a lot of construction activity and consumer preferences were starting to favor downtown and new communities around Lake Tuscaloosa rather than the corridor where the Tornado caused the most damage? If you think it's something else all together I'm interested to hear what people think.
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The City Center project is still putting on finishing touches of the residential portion. Those were the first phases, so the next should be the retail once the most recent residential portion is open for occupancy this fall.
The area around Full Moon and Krispy Kreme is still undeveloped, and the shopping center planned next to Krispy Kreme is still planned. They've had a tenant announced every few months since the project was initially announced. I'm not sure what the hold up is with it, but I know they've already found some tenants.
That last paragraph of yours is a good question. There has been continued, modest growth around the North River (Lake Tuscaloosa) part of town, but really nothing that would stand to outpace recovery in the damaged areas.
I'm actually doing my masters thesis on Land Use Land Cover change and it's spatial distribution/disparity throughout areas of the county affected by the tornado. So, if you're willing to wait a few months, I might be able to give you a little more insight, haha.