513 FORNEY JOHNSTON RD
$649,900
Views are spectacular from this waterfront cottage - you are looking across Dauphin Bay at “Little Dauphin Island and the Dauphin Island bridge” as the sun sets in the summer. There are hardwood floors throughout except for tile in the baths. The master bath has a large garden tub with marble surround, pedestal sink and closet. The hall has a tub/shower with marble surround. The kitchen is dressed with stainless appliances and granite countertops. The living/kitchen/dining all in one room with approx room dimensions of 20×23. The screen porch just seems to be the perfect place to have a cup of coffee. The pier has tie off pilings for your boat and a boat lift for your other boat. The 32′ Luhrs can be yours for additional $150K- call for details. Taxes approx $3210/yr.
GRACE TYSON
GRACE TYSON REAL ESTATE
gt8312@aol.com
Phone: 251-861-8312 Bedrooms - 2
Full-Baths - 2
Baths - 2
Car Shelter - Y
Lot Dimensions - 85X125
Subdivision - PASS DRURY
Waterfront Avail - YES
Waterfront footage - 85
Year Built - 2007
Bath Extras - Y
Energy Savers - INFORMAL,KIT-AREA,LR-DR
Exterior - CEILFAN
Interior - CENTRAL
Porch - 2 CPT
Style - FRONT,SCREEN
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The First National Bank building sold for about $26 a square foot, or 10 cents on the dollar of new construction costs. Bankruptcy led to the cheap sale, that requires investment to upgrade the building, a landmark of the Mobile skyline for 30 years as the tallest building in Mobile.

Not since the Beltline was built across Wragg Swamp at Bel Air/Springdale malls connecting I-65 with I-10 has such a major project plowed through Mobile or Baldwin. From I-65 at 98 Moffett Road near Saraland to I-10 at Padgett Switch Irvington this new beltline connects the Mobile Airport to both interstates with a limited access highway that looks like an interstate passing Big Creek Lake and miles of west, west Mobile. The Baldwin side of this traffic equation is not built, but geographically Malbis 181 at I-10 is Baldwin’s Airport at 65, and 59 at I-10 would be Baldwin’s first ring road, the second ring being the Foley express to Styx I-10. Slicing these ALDOT concentric circles are other mirror pairs of Mobile Baldwin: Government St is Scenic 98, Hwy 225 is Cottage Hill Road, Hwy 31 is Springhill Avenue, and Malbis is Baldwin’s future Airport and McGregor.

Brett/Robinson once told me how he self financed projects the old fashioned way, himself. He looked smart then but now he looks like a genius. http://www.al.com/business/press-register/insider.ssf?/base/business/1223198145115230.xml&coll=3

Bel Air Mall and Springdale Mall pioneered malls on coastal Alabama decades ago. Now they are decades later a list that includes Montlimar, Malbis, Foley Outlet, Craft Farms at the Gulf, the Wharf, Bass Pro at Spanish Fort, the Rave in Daphne… is Fairhope and Snow Road next?

 Well known restaurant and real estate businessman Harry Johnson owns the Blue Gill but is selling his other Causeway location at auction Nov 11 at 1pm. Locals say it is 4 tracts and the restaurant (pictured here during Ike) and bring around $2m for everything.

     They both were Cat 3 direct hits, and neither disrupted world events. But for Gulf coast residents from Apalachicola to Pensacola Beach to Gulf Shores to Biloxi to Waveland to New Orleans, we know the hell you are in. Mobile remembers Frederic like Galveston is living through Ike. Two weeks with no electricity, no airconditioning, no cooking, no hot water, no bathing or laundry. Lines of cars for lines of ice, water, gas, supplies, food, survival. Two weeks turns into 2 months of chaos with repair, insurance, no school, some work, some rip offs, much anger and frustration. Hurricanes destroy communities, but most survive and return. Gulf Shores is a boom town, like Galveston was. They will come back, but the road to hell, through purgatory, tells the story of real life. Few things matter in life like health, hot showers, air conditioning and clean clothes, and oh yes, food. The Red Cross is there cooking meals, but still other sources of food borne illness have hit the rescuers and first responders and home owners and construction workers already. Sanitation is a problem. From the upper Gulf from coastal Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, we feel your pain. Hang in there coastal Texas, it will get worse, and then it will get better.

The Mobile Chamber developed Dauphin Island as a well planned community on par with the vision that built Fairhope. During the 1970’s the Isle Dauphine Club and Golf Course was an architectural beauty and economic success that was the focus of the island community. It inspired growth that made the island prosperous for everyone. When that generation of citizens passed away the next generation of leaders led to a strange group of infighters that set the town against the property owners against the park and beach board. Thier failure has left the club in disgrace, the community and economy in ruin, and the natural environment an embarrassment of failure. Few coastal communities look like Dauphin Island in disrepair. The club, on the list of historic places in America, is a leaking eyesore of failure. And with this disgrace has come the collapse of the entire community existence. This was not an easy task. The leaders have now for 30 years (since the new bridge in 1979) destroyed and kept in ruin the entire community. The pinnacle of stupidity was when the Dauphin Island Property Owners Association turned down David Bronner and the RSA investment fund, the same fund that built the RSA Tower, built Magnolia Grove and the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, the Alabama Cruise Terminal and the Carnival Cruise industry, protected the Grand Hotel and has invested in Mobile like no investor in the 300 year history of our county. It is a small story that Dauphin Island was ruined by a small handful of petty indecision makers. But it is a large story that such a crime began and continues for over 3 decades.

Our grand street is suffering as one columnist agrees. A great article also mentions the Russell School where Dr. Hollis Wiseman of USA Neonatology attended. The Rusell School is not the only school for sale. Another beautiful old brick school is for sale at Point Clear.

Governor James’ son Pat 72 acre residential spot now has a planned marketing partnership with Bill Dance as a lunch pad store for outfitting bass fishing in the Mobile Delta as part of an attempt to sell 300 weekender cabins for over $300,000 each with a dry boat storage. Today Gustav continued what has been a month of complaints about red clay run off into the once clear Bay Minette Creek, now brown, and growing less grasses for bass vegetation and habitat. The Fuller Estate property was the last they piece sold first to Corte then to James on their once 1,000 acres on Hwy 225 near Blakeley State Park that today is Spanish Fort Estates. James brother is running for Governor and also developed the Foley Beach Express toll bridge. Barber dairy magnate owns the Wolf Bay Bridge site east of the Foley Beach Express and The Warf. The Barber property has 1,000 acres and a large sportfishing yacht marina to be connected to Orange Beach by a similar bridge that lands at Doc’s Oyster Bar.

Dauphin Island’s recent purchase of 2 businesses on Aloe Bay is the beginning of what the own hopes will be a waterfront community commercial district. One the Patronas Seafood house the plan says Mayor Collier is to have a working waterfront for residents and tourists to enjoy. Similar successes are in Destin, at Orange beach The Warf, and planned in Gulf Shores for snapper boats, Mobile as a waterfront park overlooking the ships, Bayou la Batre as a fishing Village, like Apalachacola Florida. Spanish Fort the Causeway has one in the works also.

Join us next Thursday, August 14^th – 12 Noon at Hurricane Brewing to hear about the Town of Saltaire and their partnership with the GE Ecomagination program. This event is FREE for members and $15.00 for guests (includes lunch). Please RSVP to Blake Sullivan at blake@redsquareagency by Tuesday, 8/19.

Mark your calendar for a downtown Mobile Vancouver conference 8/27

Broad Street is regaining its prominence like Michigan Avenue because both lead to the new Brookley EADS Airbus facility. The City renovation plan encourages street and mansions be renovated to former glory.

Orange Beach Ono Island is nice if you like seclusion at a high price, but the little village of Tannin is better designed as a community, based on design, scale, architecture and value created per foot. Tannin is the example of growth for all new “Smart Growth” projects.

We stopped at Geno’s by Zekes in Orange Beach and had fresh ling for the same price as their dolphin. It was delicious! Compare that to (please do not) the blackened salmon (caught locally I am sure) and the crab (all bread) cakes (said to be rumoured to be yummy) we had at dysfunctional dauphin island—it was not edible and reminded us (just keeping it real) like dog food. The name of the restaurant does not matter—8 of 10 dauphin island meals ordered this summer were embarrassingly poor. Dysfunctional is not the business owners—they do the best they can—it is the history of the island that struggles to meet basic standards of civilization: the water tastes funny–the water is brown–the club is a disgrace–this is the same club owners that turned down RSA David Bronner–which if you know the history of the island was the focal point of the development as planned by the Chamber. The town is politically dysfunctional if it can run off the best investment partner—if the town and property owners– continue to fail they should give up trying-for the good of themselves.