Revisiting a Spring Topic: Starkville Improvements

[EAVdog]

That way it's pretty fair. The end user is getting what they pay for and the increased property value that comes from the improvements. I'm all for removing barriers to development but having no barriers is how that stretch of road became to be what it is. And if you are building new buildings the cost of new service is already a hard cost, burying the cables a portion of the distance is just a premium.

I think the real payoff will be rezoning some of that portion of the road, particularly closer to campus, as Multi-Family Residential/Mixed Use. Essentially a continuation of the Cotton Mills project type development to where the old Sack-n-Save/Lodge/Liqour Store strip mall is and the area by the abandoned Barnhills. And I know the Cotton Mills project is on hiatus but it will eventually come back to life. A different developer or someone will pick up the ball and run with it. As long as MSU keeps growing Starkville will grow to keep up with it. It's best to plan ahead for what is to come than look back and keep saying 'how can we make Starkville better'.

 

[Johnson85]

My understanding was that the money for the golf course at sardis and grenada lakes was appropriated with the idea that it was small step toward mimicking the RTJ trail. Both of those courses were done pretty well (sardis did seem to have a drainage problem), but I'm not sure either of them make money. The Grenada lake one is better and it actually does get decent traffic, so it may pay for itself. Don't even remember who told me RTJ trail was used as a reason to do those projects, so take it with a grain of salt.

Also, I vaguely remember seeing an advertisement touting a Mississippi Golf trail. Can't remember the phrase they used, but I think it included "trail" in it and it was basically Dancing Rabbit and then the casino courses on the coast.

 

[Spanky.sixpack]

Like I said, I'm no expert, but I thought the RTJ trail (or whoever did it - Sunbelt Golf Corporation) was an independent outfit who took investments and is now making money. I would have they would want to continue making money. I don't think the Trail is state-owned. Sooner or later they may be self sustaining so it won't even matter if the State of Alabama decides to allocate their money elsewhere. <div>
</div><div>Again, this was just my thinking and have no idea the numbers. At the end of the day, why would the Trail be held accountable by the State? I figured they're held accountable by the same reasons you and I are.....money.</div>

 

[pDigital32Dawg]

nm

 

[Johnson85]

I thought the legislature authorized the money in the pension fund for state employees to be used to develop the golf courses as an investment. Maybe the people managing the state pension fund invested in a fund that backed the courses or invested directly in the company that developed the courses. Or more likley, maybe I was completely wrong about it being tied to the state gov't at all.

I should have been more skeptical when I heard it was funded by the state, b/c using state pension fund money to invest in golf courses is crazy as hell.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Drury Inn & Suites
Marriott's mid-tier offerings
Full Service Holiday Inn (with the restaurant/lounges)
Choice Hotels mid-tiers for the budget minded (Quality and Sleep)
Jameson Inn

And restaurants, restaurants, restaurants....If they have bars, that is fine. If not, that is okay too....

And an overhead rail system circling the city and the campus.**

 

[RT23]

It was the idea of the State of Alabama's Retirement System to build the Trail. They brought in Sunbelt to construct the project, but it was funded by the retirement system. I believe Sunbelt manages everything with the Trail, but in the end, it is a State investment and was from the start.

 

[Spanky.sixpack]

I guess that would be the big question that needs to be answered.