Downtown Mobile’s residential building boom continued through 2017, according to the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Economy report, which found 10 new multifamily housing developments in the planning phase, under construction or already available for lease across the downtown area over the previous 12 months.
As those properties open, city and business leaders expect a surge in demand for new services downtown, bringing steadier, higher-volume foot traffic to both new and existing businesses in the area.
The report also found downtown Mobile’s office market held steady in 2016, with 1.9 million square feet of office space spread across 28 buildings. Overall occupancy rose from 76 percent to 78 percent compared with 2015, and the market absorbed more than 49,000 square feet of office space. Average asking rents rose 58 cents, ranging from about $18 to more than $20 per square foot. Roughly 80,000 square feet of residential space was removed from the 2015 count after two properties were sold and are now being redeveloped.
The 10 downtown residential developments identified in the report include: Meridian at the Port, 300 N. Water St., 267 units in preconstruction, a $51 million investment; Temple Lodge, 558 St. Francis St., 12 units under construction, a $2.7 million investment; Gayfers, 165 Dauphin St., 60 units in design, an $11.9 million investment; 360 Dauphin Street, eight units available for lease, a $1.5 million investment; Russell School, 304 S. Broad St., 26 units available for lease, a $4.6 million investment; the Staples Pake property, 100 N. Royal St., 20 units under construction, a $6 million investment; Marine Street Lofts, 901 Government St., 48 units now being leased, a $6 million investment; The Fort of Colonial Mobile, address still to be determined, 131 projected units in design, a $58 million investment; Seamen’s Bethel, 350 St. Joseph St., 60 units in the design phase, a $6 million investment; and Merchants Plaza, 106 St. Francis St., 84 units in design, a $35 million investment.
Altogether, the projects represent 716 units of new or redeveloped downtown housing and a combined investment of roughly $182.75 million — a sign of how much confidence developers have placed in downtown Mobile’s continued growth.
Other commercial real estate activity around the Mobile area was also notable in recent weeks. Alan Belcher Mixed Martial Arts, run by professional MMA instructor and former UFC competitor Alan Belcher, leased 4,100 square feet of studio space at 109 Furr St. in Mobile, where Belcher plans to open a kickboxing gym. Cameron Weavil of the Weavil Co. represented the tenant, while Jeremy Milling of Milling Commercial Realty represented the landlord.
Chef and owner James Knowles is opening an Italian restaurant, Fabian: The Trattoria, in the former La Pizzeria space at 1455 Monroe St., with a public announcement of the opening date expected in January. Jack Conger of Stirling Properties represented the tenant, and Gaines Zarzour of Monarch Group represented the landlord, McNair Historic Preservation. An affiliate restaurant, Sophia’s Italian Eatery at 20 Hand Ave. in Bay Minette, is already open and offers a daily lunch buffet along with Sunday brunch.
Elsewhere, Daryl Cleworth of the Merrill P. Thomas Co. Inc. closed the sale of a one-acre undeveloped lot on Rand Avenue in Austin Business Park for $140,000, representing the seller; Steve Murray of Ashurst represented the buyer. Mobile-founded engineering firm Hargrove Engineers + Constructors opened a new office in Angleton, Texas, roughly an hour south of Houston — its 12th location overall and third in Texas, following earlier expansions into Beaumont and Houston. And according to Mamun Siddiq of RE/MAX Partners, who represented both sides of the deal, a nonlocal investor paid $525,000 cash for the Chevron gas station at 3464 Springhill Ave. in Mobile, with renovation and upgrade plans in place for early 2018.
In other local news, the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute has joined a global research collaboration in cancer immunotherapy alongside Massachusetts-based Vedanta Biosciences and Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. The partnership, led locally by Dr. Art Frankel, will study how the gut microbiome relates to how patients respond to checkpoint inhibitor treatments across multiple tumor types.
“Data from our ongoing clinical collaborations in melanoma show that gut bacteria signatures could help determine if a cancer immunotherapy will work,” said Bruce Roberts, chief scientific officer of Vedanta Biosciences.
“We could become one of the few places in the country to develop this particular therapy and test it in clinical trials,” Frankel said. The Mitchell Cancer Institute is the only academic cancer research and treatment facility on the upper Gulf Coast, with locations in Mobile, Fairhope and Monroeville.
Also in the community, Amazon delivered more than $15,000 worth of toys, rain jackets, hygiene products and other holiday items to the Boys and Girls Club of South Alabama last week as part of the retailer’s national holiday giving tour. Children and families attending the event were able to select items, take part in holiday activities and visit with Santa Claus and other characters. Amazon has pledged to donate $1 to the National Alliance to End Homelessness for every mile its delivery fleet travels during the tour.
The donation followed the recent opening of Amazon’s first Alabama facility, a 300,000-square-foot sortation center in Theodore — the company’s 39th such site in North America — which provides expedited delivery service to the Mobile and Baldwin County metro areas.