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Morgantown construction is booming: Wharf District blooms; two Wal-Marts open(The Dominion Post in Morgantown (WV)(KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Dec. 31--Morgantown's construction boom shows no sign of stopping. Local officials said developers were planning to invest more than $1 billion in 2006 into the city and surrounding areas. Development is happening across the spectrum, from new office buildings to large-scale student apartment complexes. But four projects stood out as some of the most talkedabout development in the community. MPO transportation plan Planning for the future is often a thankless job. But for the past two years, the Greater Morgantown Metropolitan Planning Organization has been developing a new 25-year transportation plan to guide the development of roads, bike paths and public transit. 2006 was all about solutions to the nagging problem of gridlock. Starting in January, MPO officials asked residents what they would do to deal with traffic. They got a wide range of suggestions, from PRT extensions and dedicated bus lines to a new bridge over the Monongahela River. By October, the MPO had winnowed the list to several fundable projects, including an "inner loop" connection between the Mileground and Hartman Run Road, and a new corridor up Falling Run. But residents made it clear at a public meeting that they wanted Beechurst Avenue to be expanded, so the MPO put that back in the funded project list. And the MPO policy board unanimously voted to accept the 2030 transportation plan in the last week of December. Morgantown Mayor Ron Justice, who is chairman of the MPO board, said the vote shows the community is firmly behind the MPO's efforts to improve traffic in Morgantown. He said the plan may not be perfect, but it is a major accomplishment to come to a consensus on the way ahead. Longview power The Longview power plant has been in the works for more than five years, but 2006 will go down as the year when it actually got approved. In May, the West Virginia Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the power plant's air quality permit. In June, the state Public Service Commission issued a site and line permit, the final hurdle before construction could begin. An environmental group challenged the PSC's decision, but in October, the Supreme Court declined to hear the challenge. The action cleared the way for Longview to begin construction on the $1.8 billion plant this month. Along the river The Wharf District in Morgantown has had a huge amount of redevelopment in recent years. The Jackson Kelly Building added office space, and new businesses are moving into the area. The capstone of the riverfront development is to be the Monongahela River Center, which started construction this fall. The center will sport a restaurant, boat slips, and a boathouse for the WVU crew team and a community boating group. Construction started this summer on the Marina Tower, an eight-story office building that will also house a restaurant. In August, Morgantown City Council approved the sale of $7 million in bonds to pay for construction of a parking garage. It was the city's first use of tax increment financing to pay for construction. Wal-Marts With clockwork precision, Wal-Mart opened two supercenters on the same day in October, only a week after opening the first Sam's Club in the area. The three new stores brought in about 750 jobs and spurred new development off Hornbeck Road. The closure of the Mountaineer Mall Wal-Mart left open the question of what will replace it. Wal-Mart holds the lease for the property until 2012, but Pittsburgh commercial real-estate broker CB Richard Ellis indicated in November that it was handling the sublease of the property. There is no word yet what will take over the space. Copyright (c) 2006, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |