“Five-hundred acres with this much frontage is extremely unique to any development in the Southeast,” he said.
The $400 million Town Madison mixed-use project is about to get a lot bigger.
Leaders gathered Thursday outside the new Intergraph headquarters in Madisonto announce Breland Companies has purchased more than 200 acres at the campus along Interstate 565 and Wall Triana. The addition will make Town Madison one of the largest developments of its kind in the Southeast with more than two miles of Interstate frontage.
Breland Companies CEO Louis Breland, comparing Town Madison to Cool Springs in Tennessee, said the 500-acre project will be “the gift that keeps on giving.”
“Five-hundred acres with this much frontage is extremely unique to any development in the Southeast,” he said. “We’ve invested tens of millions of dollars in land, but the overall investment here should be north of half a billion dollars.”
Site master plan
Intergraph had been searching for a redevelopment partner for the remaining campus since it began moving employees to its new facility last year. Breland, who declined to disclose a purchase price for the land, said work will start soon to demolish and remove about 600,000 square feet of old buildings.
The engineering and geospatial software company, acquired by Hexagon in 2010, has 60 days to move out of the buildings before site work begins. Officials will develop a master plan for the site as demolition takes place, Breland said.
“We have a nationally-recognized land planner that we will be announcing soon that will be putting this whole vision together,” he said.
Town Madison will include 900,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space, along with 450,000 square feet of offices and 450 hotel rooms. The project, which broke ground in August 2014, should create at least 1,600 new jobs.
Breland said they are in active negotiations with tenants, many of which are new to the Huntsville-Madison County market.
Zierdt interchange
“It has taken longer than we would like, but when you get to this scale, it just takes time,” he said. “We’re not going to sell to anyone unless it’s a perfect fit. This is a long-term plan that we’ve made a tremendous investment in and we plan on carefully managing this to make sure it’s serving this community for hundreds of years, not just in the next 10 years.”
The development recently received federal and state approval for a new interchange at Zierdt Road. Construction is expected to begin early next year, with completion slated for summer 2017.
Breland joined several Town Madison supporters, including Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong, Commissioner Steve Haraway, Madison Mayor Troy Trulock and Councilman D.J. Klein. The project should produce $1.8 million per year in sales tax dollars between Huntsville, Madison and Madison County schools.
“This consolidation and purchase of property is going to create millions and millions of dollars for the three public school systems,” Strong said. “It makes our community stronger. It makes us where we’re positioned perfectly, not only for today but for the days ahead.”