Saturday July 10, 2004
By Rhodes Prince
Staff Writer
ORANGE BEACH — Mayor Steve Russo confirmed Wednesday that Orange Beach officials will hold a special-called council meeting to vote on plans for a large-scale, mixed-use development slated for construction on the Intracoastal Waterway.
At two recent Orange Beach City Council meetings, representatives from Birmingham-based development firm AIG Baker unveiled plans for The Wharf, a 200-acre, retail and entertainment complex set to open next year.
The development, initially announced in May, will be on the Committee of the Whole agenda next week. A vote will follow in a special-called meeting, Russo said.
Developer Alex Baker held numerous meetings with city leaders and fielded questions from citizens in recent weeks. He expressed hopes to break ground on the project in late September or early October.
Baker announced that a 16-screen Rave cinemaplex will anchor the complex that will occupy 200 acres on the south side of the Intracoastal Waterway. The new 67,950-square-foot theater will have 3,398 seats. He said the Rave should open by July of next year.
In a meeting earlier this month, Baker said the project would be “bigger than the one built in Daphne.”
Other amenities include an outdoor amphitheater, a children’s stage, boardwalk, and a marina that will accommodate boats for residents, shoppers and visitors. Roughly 40 percent of the project will be designated for wetlands.
“Our goal is to have events going on all the time,” he said.
The marina, he said, would be cut back from the Canal and will not impede barge traffic.
The parties agreed to a deal earlier this month, Baker said.
According to designs shown by Baker, the project will front 4,000 feet on the ICW and will straddle both sides of the Foley Beach Express.
Councilman Jerry Davidson said in a June 28 meeting the city should not approve final plans until the public has a chance to review the designs and ask questions.
Baker is requesting the city split tax receipts from money generated during the first 15 years of operation.
Exact terms of the agreement that will be considered were changed slightly. Russo said the deal to be considered is more straightforward than the original proposal.
Initial terms called for AIG Baker to invest $20 million for public use area improvements up front in exchange for half of the sales and lodging tax receipts for 15 years. The city would pay a management fee for the development.
As a result of meetings between the two parties, the management fee was eliminated and the firm’s front-end commitment was bumped up to $25 million.
“The deal is basically the same,” Russo said Wednesday.
The sales and lodging tax split remained, and Baker estimated the plan will kick in 2008 — four years after the first building permit is issued. If the generated revenue fails to meet the $25 million, AIG Baker will assume the balance.
The city will collect revenue in the first three years of operation, he said.
Baker said 325,000 square feet of retail space is planned for phase one. He said Starbuck’s Coffee and other nationally recognized operations will locate there.
Waterfront condominium towers and parking decks are part of the first design phase, as well. The height of the condominiums is yet to be determined.
All five construction phases could include 630,000 square feet of retail.
About half of the retail space is signed with national interests in the initial phase of development.
Phase one will also include condominiums and a waterway design that will give “Thunder on the Gulf” a central place to operate.
The complex will also include an amphitheater that Baker said will enable Orange Beach to bring in festivals.
Amenities include a boardwalk and access to birdwatching pedestrian trails, he said.
In earlier meetings, Councilman Brett Holk raised concerns relating to traffic heading south off the Foley Beach Express toll road and turning west into the development and on Canal Road. Baker said Monday he eliminated access points to ease traffic flow.
If the council votes down the proposal. Baker said he intends to develop on a smaller scale. “We would scale down to about 220,000 square feet,” he said.
AIG Baker has been in business for 15 years. Alex Baker is a Georgia native who has 25 years of experience in real estate development, with a mostly commercial background.
Source: Gulf Coast Newspapers, LLC