Retail, new housing coming to Fairview Ave. in west Montgomery

Construction is underway on a nearly $400,000 retail project along a stretch of Fairview Avenue in west Montgomery. It's an area that was once a major shopping and social destination for the city, and it's now the focus of a revitalization effort.

William and Norma Hansen live in one of the stately houses lining Mooreland Road, behind the new construction project. They’ve been married more than 50 years and have spent most of that time in the neighborhood — long enough to watch the area and the city change around them.

William Hansen smiles as he tells stories about the Blue Moon Inn that once drew dignitaries and socialites to nearby Goode Street. That 19th-century cottage is long gone now, as are most of the neighbors he grew up with. “I miss every one of them,” he said.

An interstate extension bisected the area in the 1970s and forced many residents to sell their homes. In some ways, it’s still trying to recover.

Desmond Wilson was just a kid at the time but remembers people crying at a neighborhood meeting. Now he works for the city’s community development division and is part of a team working on several projects to create a better future for the neighborhood.

That includes Lanier Place, an affordable housing community with 24 new homes built by nonprofit groups. “We’re not just building cheap houses,” Wilson said. “They’re very nice, particularly for affordable housing.” Wilson said the homes could command rent of $1,200 a month on the open market, but because the rents are tied to income they max out at about $500 a month.

On another side of the neighborhood, behind the Hansens, plans are in the works to build several new garden homes.

The Fairview Avenue exit to the neighborhood already rumbles with the sound of heavy machinery building a new commercial development. A spokesperson for the developer said construction should be finished by May and the tenant will be announced then.

“It’s not going to be a liquor store. It’s not going to be a pawn shop. It’s going to be a great-looking building,” said Lois Cortell, the city’s senior development manager. “Things like that matter, and they set the tone for future development.”

Meanwhile, the city is working on changes to make the area from Interstate 65 to Court Street more pedestrian-friendly, including walkways on both sides of Fairview Avenue, a narrowing of the street from four lanes to three, and push-button crossings. City engineer Patrick Dunson compared it to the section of Madison Avenue from Ripley to McDonough streets.

It may take a while. Federal funding has to be approved, property has to be acquired and utilities have to relocate their infrastructure before the changes can happen. Dunson said streetscape improvements are one way the city can help spur positive change — which is why there are projects underway or in the works for areas throughout west Montgomery.

“We control the right of way, so there are things we can do to improve the rideability, the walkability and the safety through those areas, and to help to improve the look within the city rights of ways,” Dunson said. “Once you get beyond that, it’s really out of the city’s control and it’s more about private development.”

The Hansens are more hopeful about plans for their street. The city has proposed turning Mooreland Avenue into a cul de sac, cutting off pass-through traffic and shielding the neighborhood from the noise of Fairview Avenue with a stretch of green space and more than a dozen new trees.

Norma Hansen smiled as Cortell laid out the ideas during a visit to the neighborhood last week. “Oh, please!” Hansen said.

Like everything else, it would take money. But Cortell said they want to make it happen if possible. She pointed out that the Mooreland Road plans call for a “stabilization project.”

“We do want to calm this street and protect those nice homes,” Cortell said.