By Paul Gattis | pgattis@al.com
The introduction came by a snazzy video to unveil a snazzy name.
It’s not just a giant upscale apartment complex in downtown Huntsville that city leaders and developers formally broke ground on Tuesday. It’s the Eclipse and it’s the latest addition to the CityCentre developmentoverlooking Big Spring Park.
New Jersey-based Spring Bay Property Company is the lead developer in the residential component of CityCentre, which is being developed by RCP Companies in Huntsville, the Eclipse will feature 278 units ranging from studio apartments to 2- bedroom residences.
It will be built adjacent to the AC Hotel by Marriott, which opened earlier this year, at Williams Avenue and Joseph Lowery Boulevard.
CityCentre at Big Spring@CityCentreHSV
Introducing ECLIPSE A Spring Bay Residence at CityCentre in @DowntownHSV – 278 apartments with dynamic design highlighting modern luxury and 3 stories of residential over upscale retail and restaurants. Subscribe for pre-leasing in 2020! #EclipseHSV https://soo.nr/1EHu
“CityCentre is a destination that strengthens Huntsville’s urban core and complements a growing number of new downtown offerings and existing cultural amenities,” said Lindsey Patillo Keane, marketing and property activation with RCP. “This is the epicenter of downtown Huntsville, where important connections are made that will improve pedestrian movement and enhance already successful city events.”
Keane touted the Eclipse as having a courtyard pool, gated park and “stunning panoramic views of Big Spring Park” located across Williams Avenue.
The projected is targeting occupation as soon as late 2020, she said.
“We’re ready to roll,” Keane said.
The five-floor complex will also have 18,000 square feet of upscale restaurant and retail space on the ground floor.
“I think this project is going to be yet another piece in the great puzzle that is a growing downtown Huntsville,” said Dennis Madsen, manager of urban & long-range planning for the city of Huntsville.
Indeed, Mayor Tommy Battle praised the new project as being a part of the plans for growth in the downtown district and helps make the city more appealing as a relocation destination.
That distinction has taken on added significance with the anticipation of 14,000 new jobs being created in the Huntsville area over the next three years and a call to recruit out-of-towners to help fill those positions.
“It brings an element to our community that before we had not had,” Battle said. “It brings in the combination of restaurants and hotels and eventually offices and apartments, urban living that can attract people from all over the United States and throughout the world.
“This is part of the plan, part of the strategy to be able to attract that workforce, give people a place where they can live and they can play and they can work close to. You put all that together and you have a successful community.”
Next up on CityCentre’s agenda is completing plans for a three-park public art display as well as a artisanal market – a sort of food hall with a social allure, Keane said.
“You can do some light grocery shopping, buy pastries and breads and various cultures of food,” she said. “We’ve got some nice little offerings there.”
And it caters to a growing desire for some to live – as the development says – at the center of the city.
“I think a lot of people are enjoying the fact that they can park for the weekend when they get home from work and be able to walk and enjoy and live where they play, walk to concerts, walk around the park, take their dog for a walk in a kind of beautiful, dense community,” Keane said. “I think that’s going to be a big reason why this is successful. People can enjoy art and music and the park and restaurants all within walking distance of their own home.”
