Saturday, December 5, 2009

Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

River Region Redevelopment Team

The Cloverdale Project

It has been a long and interesting fall. Thanks to all of our followers, hope you have enjoyed reading about our redevelopment in Montgomery, Al, as much as we have enjoyed sharing. Our final proposal is due this coming Wednesday and we are excited to see all of our hard work pay off. Have a great weekend!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

The Waters

Hope you had a wonderul holiday!!! We look forward to seeing you at the Waters on Monday for a tour of the site. We hope that it will be informative and provide you with some ideas that might be applicable to our redevelopment site in Cloverdale. See you soon!

Monday, November 23, 2009

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We hope that you have a happy and safe holiday, and that you have much to be thankful for this year! We are thankful for you! As our gift to you - we are passing along our favorite pumpkin pie recipe from Food Network celebrity chef Paula Deen. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!
River Region Redevelopment


Pumpkin Pie
Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pumpkin-pie-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed 1 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten 1 cup half-and-half 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional 1 piece pre-made pie dough
Whipped cream, for topping

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color. For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.
Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Potential Legal Issues at the Alley

Just a quick note about some of the potential legal issues that we spotted at the Alley for your potential new business site. In an effort to help you make a well informed decision on this property, we also included some other issues that should be of interest to you. See below for the partial list of legal issues/considerations - we have also sent you a more detailed list via email and postal mail. Since it is a holiday week, we wanted to be sure that you have ample access to the information we have provided for you. Again, we enjoyed the informative tour of the Alley, and will see you next week at the Waters. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or comments.


Potential Legal Issues:

  • Building Maintenance: who is responsible for general building repairs? Is there an agreement between building owners? This issue will need to be resolved before purchase of the building (or signing lease agreement)?
  • Are there any additional restrictions on the use of the property - given the current neighboring businesses? (Specifically, the Children's Museum).
  • Are there limits to the use of live music, smells, noise, hours of operation, etc due to the residential units above the future site?
  • If using private donations to fund the project: need to make sure that all finances are properly in place and all SEC regulations are satisfied before proceeding with construction.
  • Security - are individual business owners required to provide a certain amount of security - even though a police sub-station is nearby.
  • Will we need a variance for any changes to the property - maybe extending sidewalk, create a parking/loading zone, etc?
  • We need to have an environmental inspection to ensure that there aren't any environmental concerns as a result of the previous use of the building that is available - or previous use of neighboring buildings. (Train did come through the alley!)
  • There is an existing franchise agreement in the Alley: Will that affect your new business? We may need to train servers to police alcohol entering and exiting the premises - by using unique cups, wristbands, etc.
  • Historical Concerns - If you plan to make any changes to the building that will create some historical issues, we will need to have these resolved with local and federal entities.




Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Dreamland BBQ


The trip downtown went great! The River Region team learned many issues facing downtown redevelopment projects. Great news also, the team found a location in the Alley designated to be a resturaunt that would be an interesting location to possibly invest in.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Alley

We are looking forward to meeting you at the Alley in downtown Montgomery. We will be talking about the various things the developer had to go through to get the building renovated to support a restaurant and bar.

Downtown Visit in Montgomery, Al


This coming week a visit to the new Dreamland BBQ joint in downtown Montgomery. The group will be discussing issues with renovating.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

We met with a banker this week and we are ready to meet with you to discuss just how much financial disclosure you will have to provide in order to finance this project. We are going to have to sit down and see how much cash you have to put into this project. Most banks now will not lend unless you have the ability to contribute 20 to 30% of the project in cash up front. You are going to have to disclose every aspect of your finances to the bank. The bank is going to have to see that the proposed project will provide at least one and a half times coverage of the aticipated loan payment. We can talk more about this at a later date.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Parking Requirements

Based on our findings - we will likely need a variance for the large amount of parking required at the site. While we will try to mitigate some of the parking requirements by adding trees and green space, we are still facing a similar problem that the A&P development faced. Hopefully, we will be able to work out the same favorable outcome that they did. It was a brilliant idea to allow the residents' parking to be used by the surrounding businesses during the day! Maybe we can work out a similar solution at our site!?!
It is worth mentioning that the Board of Adjustment considered a very similar variance at their meeting last month, and the Board voted in favor of it. While there are no guarantees, this is encouraging information! We have some work ahead of us, but we will find a solution to this problem! We will be in touch soon.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Meeting this afternoon

Hope that you have had a wonderful week so far. We have been working hard on our presentation re: historic and aesthethic regulations. We have prepared the necessary documents for relocating and/or demolishing the building on Parcel 1. Glad that we were able to reschedule Mondays meeting for this afternoon - we look forward to presenting our findings to you. See you soon!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Meeting at the Loft

We met Wednesday at the A&P Lofts to discuss how zoning density can work. We toured the award winning property and saw examples of how people can work and live in the same space. We discussed how a development can work with the city and obtain the variances needed to make a project work if all of your homework is done. The importance of having a complete plan before going to the city is imperative. We also discussed the importance of getting the local community on your side before you go forward with a project. Community support can go a long way in helping make your project successful. The final thing that we went over was how to organize the structure of the development whether develop the property as a condominium or to parcel the development out as individual fee simple units. We are looking forward to our presentation Monday regarding the demolition and/or moving of an existing structure.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Historic Wednesday

We look forward to meeting with you on Wednesday at the A&P Lofts - it will be an informative session about the historic regulations that the delevoper faced and how those obstacles were overcome. We will look at the A&P from the perspective of design and regulations. We will also discuss how effective the historic regulations were in this area... are we willing to overcome similar obstacles if faced with them at our project site?

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Cupola

Thought you might enjoy this website about cupolas, and hopefully will find it informative as you begin designing the cupola for the Cloverdale property. Look forward to seeing you next week.

http://www.cupola.com/index.htm

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Variances

Though the current zoning of the property (B-1-a) doesn't have minimum height requirements or architectual limits, we prepared a variance application in case any issues came up with proximal continuity. We feel that a collegiate corner building with a cupola will provide a better transition from Huntingdon college to the retail shops, between which our property sits. Thus, in case there are any issues that we would need to address with the Board of Zoning and Adjustment we took the initiative to get them approved.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Rezoning Presentation

Our rezoning application is complete and our presentation to you went well. We look forward to the hearing with the planning commision in the expectation that our rezoning request from Institutional to B-1-a will be approved. Compiling our initial site plan was also exciting and we are looking forward to added detail and further letters of interest from possible tenants.

Next week we will present to you a variance request for 2 issues that need to be addressed for the planned development. See you then!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Rezoning Request

We look forward to our meeting with you this afternoon - we have gotten some very positive feedback from the prospective tenants, and we will petition the City for the zoning change as soon as we finalize the details today. We think that you will be very pleased with our new ideas. See you soon!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

How Hampstead Does It

Hampstead has wide sidewalks, narrow streets, unique lamp posts, and unique use arrangements. The narrow streets, wide sidewalks, and unique lamp posts all deal with how the developer wants to structure control of those areas. Typically, rights-of-way are deicated to the city in order to forego maintenance costs and liability. However, one must also give up control of how that area is used to the city. Hampstead dedicated all the streets, sidewalks, lamps, and trees to the city except the sidewalks, trees, and lamp posts at the entrance and the cobblestone street area also near the entrance. Hampstead wanted to maintain closer control of the look and feel of the sidewalk areas near the entrance because that is the first impression visitors get when they come to Hampstead, thus only the street and associated street parking were dedicated to the city there. Also, the small cobblestone street near the entrance was not dedicated because Hampstead wanted the ability to freely close it off without a permit for events such as farmers' markets. Such closings require permits if the street is dedicated.

Overall the residences and businesses are governed by the Hampstead Residential Association and Hampstead Commercial Association respectively. There is an operating agreement between the two to ensure that they work together on certain issues. These agreements are where restrictions are implemented to control how residents and business owners use their property be it enforcing pet regulations such as leashes or music regulations at bars such as when and how loud the music may be played.

Hampstead is a great example of how a complicated list of issues can be controlled in a clear and efficient manner to ensure that uses normally in conflict can mesh comfortably into a single community development.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Hampstead

Today we visited Hampstead in order to study how mixed use developments are managed in order to promote the type of community desired. Hampstead offers several amenities and legal structures that promote its purpose as a stand-alone live-work community where everything you need is at most 5 minutes away.

There are amenities that include a restaurant and bar, gym, farm, lakes, and dog park. Later we will discuss how some of these features are distinct from other communities and how they are legally implemented.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Presentation of Professionals and Liability Issues

The professionals we discussed last time each present specific legal issues that must be addressed in order to limit your liability. Engineers, surveyors, contractors, architects, real estate agents, and appraisers all have to be licensed by the state to perform their profession. Ensuring that these people are properly licensed by the governing authority is the first key step in protecting your assets. Failure to check these facts can lead to liability for the developer such as negligent hiring.

Also, each professional has nuanced requirements of timing and responsibilities for duties and costs that must be addressed in their respective contracts. For instance, we definitely want indemnity clauses in contracts with engineers and contractors to ensure that we are not held vicariously liable for their actions.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Professionals

Today we discussed the types of professionals a developer deals with when preparing a new development. The professions are various and include surveyors, title abstracters, real estate agents, appraisers, lenders, insurance agents, general contractors, subcontractors, engineers such as civil and structural, architects both structural and landscape, and more.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Fixed Documents

We have fixed both the contract and letter of intent to better suit your needs. We adjusted the format for both and ensured that the key term, due diligence, was properly scheduled. 60 days for due diligence and 90 days to closing is a much more workable schedule for you than 90 and 90 respectively.

Monday, September 21, 2009

The Letter and Contract

We presented our letter and contract to you today. You were overall pleased with the results, but we most certainly need to make some changes. We need to ensure that we have enough time between due diligence and closing to be practicable. 60 days for diligence and 90 days for closing is a better ratio than 90/90 respectively. We are also going to make the contract more readable with a block format.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Purchases

We discussed the ins and outs of purchase agreements today in preparation for our offer to Colonial Investments next week. Over the weekend we are going to draft a letter of intent and contract for sale. We will present our findings to you on Monday.

Thanks!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Environmental Presentation

Today we presented to you our findings from our environmental research into your desired property. We decided that we need to have an environmental assessment performed on the property. If contamination is found, we need to seek possible insurance and indemnity options, as well as remedial guidelines from ADEM.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Biscuits Stadium

Today we met at Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium to discuss environmental issues with Mr. Ken Groves. Mr. Groves works for the planning commission and headed the development of the stadium. His team encountered an underground plum of PCE, a toxic chemical. Even though the city was not responsible for its release, it now wished to develop a site over the plume and thus had to spend more money and work closely with ADEM to mitigate any spread or release of the toxin in to the water table. Mr. Groves made it very clear that working with the EPA and ADEM reaped greater results than trying to avoid the issue.

We now know that if any environmental issues are found we need to contact these two agencies. We may have to conduct lengthy tests and costly cleanup procedures. If this issues present themselves, we will need to make the determination of whether it is worth purchasing the property at all.

We will conduct further research into these issues over the weekend and present our findings to you next week.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Environmental Research

Today our firm discussed how environmental issues could affect our plans. Environmental liability is a possibility we cannot ignore as it could pose huge losses. We are going to research what issues may arise over the coming weekend. Specifically, we are going to research the Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium where the Biscuits play baseball. That site presented serious environmental problems for the local government when the site was developed, and it may provide some insight to our property.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Our First Presentation

Monday we met for our first presentation to you. We informed you, among other things, that there are encumbrance issues that need to be addressed.

Specifically, Huntingdon College still has an open deed of trust on our property. We need to contact Colonial Investments to get this resolved immediately. Also of concern are the restrictions listed in the Cloverdale Ridge plat. The plat is old, and many of these restrictions may no longer apply. However, we still need to ask around to see if these restrictions are still enforced because they could affect our development choices.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The Deed & Plat

We have the deed and plat for the property you are interested in developing on file at our office. We also have a few tax maps and assessor printouts.

The deed and plat are official documents obtained from the Records Office in downtown Montgomery.

The tax maps and assessor printouts are only meant to give you a general feel for the surrounding area and nature of the parcels in which you are interested.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

The Site

Formerly home to Cloverdale Junior High, this beautiful piece of property is the site of your first redevelopment project in the Montgomery area.

1125 E Fairview Ave
Montgomery, AL 36106


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Coffee & Consultation

Please join us at Cafe Louisa to discuss your first project. You can find Cafe Louisa here:

1036 E Fairview Ave
Montgomery, AL 36106-2145
(334) 264-4241



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We Are Official & Online

Welcome!

River Region Redevelopment is now online. We are excited about our first redevelopment project in the Montgomery, Alabama, area and look forward to keeping you updated on our progress.

Stay tuned!

Chuck Fulghum, President
Sally Corley, Partner
Dan Cowell, Partner
Derek Danne, Partner