Mobile’s Austal USA poised for success

Posted on November 5, 2008
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Austal USA’s Mobile shipyard is currently putting the finishing touches on the prototype aluminum hull littoral combat ship (LCS) for the U.S. Navy. The new LCS ship is commonly referred to as the LCS2 or Independence. Austal will likely be building two additional LCS2’s for the Navy over the next year. The number of vessels could be increased to three in the event the General Dynamics led team that includes Austal is selected as the winner from the bid competition with Lockheed Martin. Additional LCS2 vessels will be awarded by the U.S. Navy in 2010.

In addition to the LCS2, Austal is also finishing up a second Hawaii Superferry vessel. The first of the 349 foot ships which can ferry 866 passengers and 282 cars was delivered in June of 2007. That ship, known as the Alakai, provides daily passenger and vehicle transportation between Honolulu Harbor on the island of Oʻahu and Kahului Harbor on Maui. The second Hawaii superferry is to be delivered in 2009.
Austall is also eagerly awaiting the award of the three team competition vying to build up to ten military transport vessels known as Joint High Speed Vessels, or JHSV. That announcement in anticipated to occur in the first part of November.
Austal’s US operations in Mobile, Alabama is expanding it facilities to accomodate the anticpated growth. Austal broke ground a new Modular Manufacturing Facility (MMF) in July 2008. The MMF project complete will include 700,000 square feet of manufacturing space, 80,000 square feet of warehouse space, and 60,000 square feet of office space. The MMF expansion will be constructed in two phases and will ultimately accommodate a total workforce of up to 1,200 personnel in the new buildings. The state-of-the-art facility will be capable of constructing six large aluminum vessels such as the LCS2 and/or JHSV per year.

For more information on Austal, please visit their website at http://www.austal.com.

Carnival Cruise Lines bringing a new cruise ship to Mobile

Posted on August 18, 2008
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Earlier today, Carnival Cruise Lines announced that the Carnival Cruise Lines ship known as the Fantasy will be moving to Mobile In November 2009. The Fantasy will replace the Holiday which currently operates out of the Mobile Homeport. The Fantasy is 42% larger than the Holiday. The new cruise ship w Carnival Fantasy Cruise Ship ill have a 2,056-passenger capacity and will replace the oldest ship in Carnival’s fleet. Carnival expects to carry approximately 170,000 passengers annually from the Mobile port once the Fantasy is put into service. The Fantasy will be undergoing extensive renovation this fall as part of Carnival’s “Evolutions of Fun” refurbishment program for its eight Fantasy-class vessels. The “extreme makeover” will include a new Carnival WaterWorks aqua park that will feature a 300-foot-long corkscrew water slide, dual-lane 82-foot-long racing slides and various water spray apparatus. The Holiday will be transferred to Iberocruceros, a Spain-based sister cruise brand under the Carnival Corporation & plc umbrella.

San Carlos Gulf Shores Condominium Auction Cancelled

Posted on August 13, 2008
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The planned Saturday August 17th, 2008 auction of San Carlos condominiums in Gulf Shores, Alabama was cancelled earlier today. Sheldon Good & Company, which was handling the auction, stated the developer has withdrawn all of the condiuminiums from the auction and directed Sheldon Good & Company to cancel the auction event. The auction was to occur at the Renaissance Hotel in Mobile, AL. The Mobile, Alabama auction site was chosen in an effort to make the auction more accessible for out of town buyers. Sheldon Good is known as one of the largest national auction firms in the country. The auction had been advertised to be offering 35 San Carlos units, with 15 of those being offered absolute. San Carlos Condominiums is a 20-story, high-rise building fronting the beach. It was built in 2006 and has nine residences per floor. The two and three bedroom units in the San Carlos condominium were to have suggested opening bids of $200,000.

Wintzell’s Oyster House opens in Spanish Fort

Posted on August 2, 2008
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Wintzell’s Oyster House opened it’s newest store in Spanish Fort, AL on Friday. The new restaurant is located in the Eastern Shore Centre at I-10 and Hwy 181. Wintzell’s is famous for their oysters - serving them via Wintzell’s renown slogan of “Oysters - fried, stewed, or nude”. Their restaurants walls are decorated with signs that contain Oliver Wintzell’s homespun sayings. These signs are now characterized as “Wit and Wisdom from Winzell’s Walls”. Wintzell’s Oyster House has been serving seafood dishes to the Gulf Coast for over 70 years. The Eastern Show Centre location marks Wintzell’s sixth location. Wintzell’s Oyster House franchise opportunities are now available.

For more information on Wintzell’s Oyster House, please visit www.wintzellsoysterhouse.com

GAO upholds Boeing’s protest of Air Force tanker contract award

Posted on June 18, 2008
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On Tuesday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended the aircraft refueling tanker contract be re-bid. This was the contract awarded to Northrop Grumman on Feb. 29, 2008. The KC-45 refueling tankers were to be assembled and modified in Mobile, Ala., representing 1,500 new jobs for area residents. The contract award to Northrop Grumman was protested by Boeing causing the GAO to spend the last 99 days reviewing the contract. Click here For the complete release from the GAO.

Gov. Bob Riley speaks in Mobile about economic development opportunities in region

Posted on June 11, 2008
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Gov. Bob Riley was in Mobile today to speak to a group of real estate professionals and investors involved in the Mobile and Baldwin county region regarding economic development opportunities in the region. Much of the focus was on supplier related opportunities for EADS/Northrop Grumman aircraft assembly which is set to occur in Mobile as a result of the Air Force selection of the KC-30 Tanker Aircraft as its next generation refueling tanker. Subsequent announcements from Airbus have indicated that in addition to the KC-30, Airbus will also product a cargo version of its A330-200 twin-engine jet at it’s new plant at Brookley Field Industrial Complex. The additional product should result in the number of planes produced at the new facility from 1.3 planes per month to 4.2 planes per month. That additional aircraft production coupled with the weak U.S. dollar should spur a number of Airbus suppliers to add facilities in the area. The message from Gov. Riley was clear - the Real Estate community in the area needs to be prepared for this opportunity as well as for the rapid timeline associated with the decision making process. Information was also provided on how the Alabama EDPA works with site selection consultants and how real estate practitioners should work with local economic development offices to present qualified sites to the EDPA database. A new EDPA AdvantageSite program was also announced. The event was held at Brookley Field and put on by the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance .

Publix coming to Pensacola

Posted on June 10, 2008
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Publix should be operating 4 super markets in the Pensacola, FL area by the end of September. Publix announced on Monday that it is acquiring 49 Albertson’s grocery stores in Florida. Albertson’s will continue to own and operate 44 stores in Florida. The move futher strengthens Publix westward expansion into the Gulf Coast area. Publix plans to open it’s first Baldwin County store in Orange Beach in August and recently announced plans to build a new store in Fairhope. Publix is also rumored to be looking for sites around the I-10/Highway 181 area in Daphne/Spanish Fort.

Wintzell’s coming to Eastern Shore Centre

Posted on June 8, 2008
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Wintzell’s Oyster House is leasing the space formerly occupied by Roussos in the Eastern Shore Centre located in Spanish Fort, AL. The new location is expected to open in early August and be Wintzell’s sixth restaurant.

Segers Aero Corporation to Relocate North American Headquarters to Fairhope, AL.

Posted on June 7, 2008
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Segers Aero Corporation of Crestview and Opa Locka, FL to relocate its North American headquarters to Fairhope, AL.

Segers Aero Corporation has purchased a 130,000 square foot facility, which formerly housed Crestview Aerospace and L3 Communications, in Fairhope, AL. They will employ approximately 100 people at this location.

Segers is an internationally recognized provider of aviation services to fixed wing and rotary wing; military and commercial customers worldwide. Segers specializes in parts management and logistics as well as engine maintenance repair and overhaul. With locations in Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia and the USA; Segers is an organization growing to meet the needs of its customers.

“We (Segers Aero Corporation) will relocate our Rolls Royce T-56/501 Turbine Engine Repair & Overhaul facility located in Opa Locka, FL and our U.S. Corporate Headquarters located in Crestview, FL to Fairhope, AL. We are excited about this move and believe it will benefit our business in the future,” said Howard Hadley, President and CEO of Segers Aero Corporation.

“The recruiting of aerospace and aviation companies has been a long time focus of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance and it is great when a quality company like Segers chooses to locate in Baldwin County,” said Donna Givens, Chairman of the Alliance Board of Directors.

Robert Ingram, President/CEO of the Alliance states “Landing a major aerospace logistics and MRO firm is in itself significant. Bringing the North American headquarters of Segers to Baldwin County magnifies that significance exponentially. This is truly a great day for Fairhope and all of Baldwin County.”

Roussos Restaurant Relocating

Posted on May 27, 2008
Filed Under Daphne, News, Spanish Fort | Leave a Comment

Local seafaood restaurant Roussos has closed at it’s current location in the Eastern Shore Centre located in Spanish Fort. The restaurant is expected to relocate to Daphne to the former Ruby Tuesday’s location on the west side Hwy 98. The expectation is that Roussos will open at it’s new location before the end of June.

Roussos is a family owned and operated seafood restaurant with Greek influence. Roussos originally opened in 1953 at a location along the Causeway. It was moved to the Fort Conde Village area of downtown Mobile after Hurricane Frederic destroyed the Causeway location in 1979. Roussos relocated to the Eastern Shore Centre upon the opening of the outdoor lifestyle center in 2004. Owners have cited a desire move back to a freestanding location as well as moving the business closer to the Causeway as primary factors for the move.

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