Ground being prepared for apartment complex on Riverchase Drive

Earth is being moved and trees removed along Riverchase Drive in Phenix City, with a 346-unit upscale apartment complex planned, the apparent first piece of a larger retail, restaurant and office development.

Crews with Flournoy Construction are working on the site, located where U.S. Highway 80 from Columbus exits at Riverchase Drive. Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital is just across the road.

"That's a project that Mike Bowden is doing," Phenix City Mayor Eddie Lowe said of the apartment complex, which will join two other high-end multifamily developments -- Greystone at Riverchase and Steeple Crest -- along the roadway that connects north Phenix City with the critical east-west interchange on the Georgia-Alabama state line.

"All of the due diligence has been done as far as the architecture and the plans, from the engineering standpoint and the traffic study, all of those things have been done," Lowe said of the work now going on and future infrastructure improvements that will be required in the area.

"You're going to see some widening of the road, some lanes added and, of course, a (traffic) light in that area. All of that has been approved," he said, estimating the timeframe for completion of the current phase of the project at around 18 months, a typical window of construction for

apartment complexes.

Bowden, who has been working on the 200-acre development around the interchange for about four years, could not be reached for comment. He has been coy in previous interviews when asked what might materialize on the property and when.

A "North Bypass Master Plan" prepared in early 2011 and still on a real-estate marketing website shows the land that is now experiencing construction also with a shopping center and outparcels fronting Riverchase Drive.

Just behind it is the 346-unit apartment complex and residential condominiums with 144 units, both near the bluffs of the Chattahoochee River.

The master plan shows development at every corner of the interchange in various shapes and sizes.

It lists commercial big box or retail store anchors that include, apparently as examples, "Lowe's, Target, Department Store, Grocery," with 475,000 square feet of space that would be available.

The development, according to the plan, would include a hotel and conference center, restaurants, additional retail space totaling 313,400 square feet, 15,000 square feet of office space, a 30,000-square-foot movie theater, 14 outparcels altogether, a bank and a pharmacy.

"This is going to be the first phase of it," Lowe said of the overall development. "But with that part, it will attract some other things. There are opportunities and other things that are in the embryonic stage as far as retail that I can't discuss. But this is the catalyst of it."

Shaun Culligan, economic development manager with Phenix City, said that as more rooftops -- or people living in the general vicinity -- increase with the new apartment complex and condos, so will the attention from development companies looking to grab a piece of the action.

"Obviously, we would love to get those big-box retailers that would be specific or unique to our area, without specifically naming the few that we're going after," he said.

Culligan pointed out that 50,810 vehicles a day pass through that portion of U.S. Highway 80 near Riverchase Drive.

That's according to a 2014 traffic count by the Alabama Department of Transportation. That heavy traffic compares to just over 48,000 vehicles a day that move past the very successful Tiger Town retail development off Interstate 85 in Auburn, Ala.

"One thing in particular, if you're from Atlanta and let's say to Charlotte, if you're going to Panama City or Destin -- those major destinations to Florida -- you're literally funneling straight through that Riverchase area," he said.

"So it literally is the hourglass for those folks going to the beach. We feel there are opportunities there for some specialty-type retail that will cater toward those folks as well."

Culligan specifically mentioned a lack of restaurants in Phenix City.

He sees that changing as the Riverchase area begins to blossom over time with its varied mix of uses, amenities and retail destinations.

"We feel that if we're able to get those big box stores into the development, then the restaurants will want to play ball and be a part of it as well," he said.

This story was originally published October 11, 2015 at 10:45 PM with the headline "Ground being prepared for apartment complex on Riverchase Drive ."