5:51 Moments before kickoff, folks are filing in. The usual mix of realtors and business persons seem to be the norm. Really cool 3D rendering of the project is being looped on screen.
6:00 Between 100–115 people here representing all parts of the community, including two rows of students taking up the very back seats.
6:08 Kick off with recognition of elected/appointed officials
6:13 Intro to project and how the assets came together
6:15 Project down to 750,000 sq ft on 25 acres
6:16 Involved convention consultant Conventional Wisdom in plans about Cooley Building.
6:18 $200 million investment
6:19 Single largest investment in Cooley Building by the National Trust.
6:20 Numbers: $90 million annual impact; $1.3 million property tax annually; $300k-$450k annual sales tax increase; Total construction jobs during 24 month building period: 300 jobs; 1000 jobs total with annual payroll of $30 million.
6:25 Working on project since Sept. 2007
6:27 Cooley: 20,000 sq ft conference/30,000 sq ft office space; Hotel ap 70,000 sq ft
6:30 Cooley building is centerpiece and will be visible from all around property
6:36 Financing has been “challenging.”
6:37 “Tremendous support from Gov. Barbour”
6:38 Construction start by mid-April
6:40 Can’t reveal tenants at this time
6:42 217 1,2 or 3 bedroom apartments for rent
6:43 5 outparcels for sale
6:44 Will be open for convention by 1/2012.
6:44 Meeting room space designed for both breakouts and larger meetings with food/beverage service for 350 people at sit down
6:46 Properties have not been purchased yet, but are under contract.
6:47 Two components of office space– Cooley and standalone building space.
6:48 CM will be connected to town and campus by pedestrian and bike paths. MDOT is being asked about a roundabout added to Hwy 12/Russell intersection.
6:51 Signalized crosswalk at Spring/12
6:52 Spring and Russell will both be widened and improved. Spring will gain an addtional lane on the east side to become 5 lane road with turn lane.
6:57 Site design to mitigate the sea of parking lot from the Hwy 12 view.
7:02 Dr. Jerry Emison doesn’t like the parking deck or lots so close to visbility from Hwy 12.
7:04 Stormwater will be intercepted and released at the SW corner under the highway; Goal is to keep water drainage at current levels; Some stormwater will be captured and used for site irrigation.
7:07 Possible business incubator in office space (along with TPS reports).
7:08 The site will be graded to 5% making it very ADA friendly.
7:14 Project has been displayed at 7 international retail conventions
7:15 Tenants will be new national brands not currently being served in the area
7:18 Spruill Place will be unaffected at this time
7:19 Applause from crowd as Jack Forbus thanks the development group
7:22 The issue of green space buffer between Spruill Place and the project was discussed. The developer promised to address the concern.
7:45 Apartment prices will be finalized in the next two weeks.
7:55 Landscaping not settled on.
7:56 Applause and end.
you say the project is “down to 750,000 sq ft on 25 acres.” how does that compare to the original plan?