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WhiskeyRiver

Beach Lover
Aug 29, 2005
56
1
Bartlett, TN
My mom said there was an article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal yesterday (Sunday 4/29) re Seaside. Something about them tearing down the open air market and possibly closing and/or relocating Bud & Alley's? Has anyone heard anything about this and if so WHAT THE HELL?!?!:bang:
 

Smiling JOe

SoWal Expert
Nov 18, 2004
31,648
1,773
It has been in their long range plan for a long time. It sounded like it was going to happen fairly soon, then the sales slowed for a year or so, and that project has bumped back for a while.
 

WhiskeyRiver

Beach Lover
Aug 29, 2005
56
1
Bartlett, TN
No not surprised! Thx for info. I guess my dad was right, "they" are going to destroy the feel of 30-a, small beach communities, etc. :bang:
 

Atlanta Bo

Beach Lover
Jul 12, 2005
64
0
The Seaside store has already re located over to that newly constructed eyesore and the word is that Bud and Alleys are soon to follow ( rumor -after this season ) It is starting to look more and more like Seahaven ( TS reference ) every day
 

Pirate

Beach Fanatic
Jan 2, 2006
331
29
Those new 3.5m dollar condos sure are flying out the door. If they tear down the market area and Bud&Alleys there just won't be a reason to go there anymore. Greed is killing these people.
 

mf

Banned
May 14, 2006
208
0
this is a case of destroying what will make you REAL money. it's literally someone who doesn't understand the value of what they have and destroying the value.

condos by the beach are a dime a dozen. what's being done here doesn't bring big money, it cheapens the area. we just put our house on the market because we finally got an idea of what's being done here and if we're going to live in a place with urban development, then we're also going to need the infrastructure, business opportunity, culture and services that go along with that development in numerous other markets in the country.

honestly though, i've often had the thought that many of these developments are the result of people who are very provincial trying to guess what "rich people" like or misunderstanding successful marketing by trying to compete with other areas instead of exploiting what's special about this one.

at any rate, despite the fact that my family has lived in this region for 300 years, we figured out it's not worth arguing if that's what people really want, just move on and divest.
 
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BeachSiO2

Beach Fanatic
Jun 16, 2006
3,294
737
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Hello all. I thought some of you might want to see what is being planned for the downtown Seaside area. As many of you may know, most of the buildings on the south side of the road and around Central Square were originally designed to be temporary from early on, more than 20 years. Changing these areas to be more urban was the plan in the beginning- these are not new plans. As a matter of fact the ones around Central Square were designed to be moved and are planned to go along the lyceum where the school is.
 
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Eli

Beach Comber
Apr 29, 2007
5
0
Let's not forget Seaside itself was created by developers, Robert Davis and some others I think... DPZ Development rings a bell. In other words it's not a town with a charter than goes back hundreds of years like most towns people are familiar with. So it does not surprise me that one devloper's creation will be modified by yet another developer. Like an earlier poster suggested, suits sitting in high rise offices like to pretend they know what the public wants.

Take Rosemary Beach for instance. Hello? Quakerville? I don't vacation on the Emerald Coast to feel like I'm up east on the Atlantic in search of my jacket. Rosemary Beach feels almost like a ghost town everytime I drive through it.

The only consistency 30-A has is sand from one end to the other. From Dune Allen to Inlet Beach... where's the consistency? Gulf Place and its retail area I call Tiny Town at 30-A and 393, to the Brick Yard beach-slum in Blue Mountain, to the quaintness of Grayton Beach, to the eclectic turd that is Watercolor, to the charm of Seaside, then to the Plymouth Rock known as Rosemary Beach... it's all chopped up! Seems all those developers know what people want.

Vacationers are creatures of habit. They like to return to places they remember because priceless memories are attached to their destination location. I remember blowing a gasket when I heard the Ramada Inn in Ft. Walton was bought out a long time ago. Now I think it's back to being the Ramada Inn. That's where I spent many a vacations as a teen back in the 70's. The same goes for Seaside with it's Modica Market, Perspicasity(?) and Bud & Alley's. Vacationers have a right to be concerned about change in Seaside. With every change comes a lost tangible place they can see smell and hear along with a distant memory.

I hold out hope that as long as there's a 40ft building restriction, and some agents have corrected me and told me it's 52ft, that large commercial condo developments will stay out of South Walton because they can't make a decent return on a three story building. When/if that restriction goes away, so will go the charm of 30-A. It's no accident the mondo-condo development stopped at Tops'l on the west and Bay County on the East.

Eli
 

SHELLY

SoWal Insider
Jun 13, 2005
5,770
802
As many of you may know, most of the buildings on the south side of the road and around Central Square were originally designed to be temporary from early on, more than 20 years. Changing these areas to be more urban was the plan in the beginning- these are not new plans.


Well that being the case....Seaside's "original" plans suck.


.
 
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