Baltimore-based Cordish Company and Covington, La.-based Stirling Properties are the two finalists among the teams seeking to redevelop the 22-acre Mobile Civic Center property, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said Tuesday.
The mayor said one of the teams could be announced next month as the winning team for the project.
“It will come down to choosing one of those and we’ll reveal it to the public and go from there,” said Stimpson.
The mayor’s announcement comes about a week after he and several officials from Mobile including Councilmen John Williams and Fred Richardson visited the 4th Street Live! Entertainment district in downtown Louisville, Ky. The district is a Cordish property, developed in 2004 as a downtown revitalization effort of a former mall property.
“Part of what they are going to recommend on the Civic Center site is similar to 4th Street Live!” Stimpson said. “But it would be suitable to Mobile.”
The 4th Street Live! property is within walking distance of Louisville’s waterfront and sports complexes, and includes an array of restaurants and entertainment venues. It’s also a draw for city festivals and events and major concert acts. Kid Rock, Jason Aldean, the Goo Goo Dolls, Justin Bieber, Eric Church and Jake Owen are just some of the acts that perform within the complex.
Stirling Properties, with an office in Mobile, is leading the other development proposal. Stimpson, however, has not visited examples that the Sterling team presented as comparable developments for what they envision for the Civic Center.
“At this point, he has not visited our team’s developments or facilities or examples we have used,” said Will Barrois, vice-president and regional manager for the Eastern Gulf Region with Stirling. “We do know they were in Louisville, so we’re waiting on that phone call. We fell like everything we did was pretty well done and we’d like the same opportunity (Cordish) has received with a site visit.”
Barrois said the Stirling proposal includes a multi-purpose event center that will accommodate Broadway shows and sporting events like volleyball and basketball tournaments. He said the events center would be constructed on the Civic Center site without having to interrupt Mardi Gras and the large balls that are held annually within the facility’s Arena and Expo Hall.
“What I want to be clear about is that we did have an events center (as part of their proposal),” said Barrois. “That was a big thing they stipulated. Our project was to leave the existing facility there and in the parking lot, build another facility. Our idea was that Mardi Gras wouldn’t be affected. We spent a lot of time and effort in working within the confines of what the mayor set out to accomplish. In our world, we focused on how to maintain Mardi Gras and in keeping the city streets … and having acces to the riverfront and access to downtown.”
Stimpson didn’t say if either Cordish or Stirling are the frontrunners for the Civic Center site. He said the City Council will receive an update on the projects pitched by both development teams in the coming weeks. Following that, the mayor said an advisory committee will meet to “weigh the two proposals” and develop a timeline on rolling out a recommendation.
“It will be after those two meetings that we will choose the developer,” Stimpson said, predicting that to occur in July.
A Cordish representative could not be reached for comment. Aside from 4th Street Live!, the Baltimore-based company’s portfolio includes downtown revitalization projects Kansas City’s Power & Light District and Ballpark Village across from Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Stimpson said the plan is for Mardi Gras to continue inside the Civic Center for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. After that, the proposal could involve moving the annual event’s largest balls, at least on a temporary basis, to a warehouse within the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley complex southeast of downtown Mobile.
The warehouse, 23 West, is owned by the Mobile Airport Authority but would be leased to the city “for a reasonable amount of money,” said Stimpson.
“We haven’t had anyone suggest another facility,” Stimpson said.
The Mobile City Council will vote next week on an $18,000 contract with Clark Geer Latham & Associates Inc. to conduct a facility assessment of the warehouse. The project will determine what, if any, maintenance and upkeep will be needed to the building to accommodate Mardi Gras balls that would need to be moved from the Civic Center to the warehouse during the reconstruction of the downtown property.
“What we’re trying to do is a facilities assessment to see if this building will be suitable to be renovated,” Stimpson said. The $18,000 contract doesn’t include design work.
“What we’re trying to do is fill the void time while the Civic Center is out of commission,” Stimpson said.