New Charlie Sealy development The Avenue.jpg

An architect's rendering of The Avenue, a proposed $30 million mixed-use apartment building at the corner of Jefferson Street and Holmes Avenue in downtown Huntsville. (Courtesy Nola|Van Peursem Architects)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Developer Charlie Sealy III's next downtown project will be almost triple the size of his Belk Hudson Lofts apartment building on Washington Street.

Called The Avenue, the proposed $30 million mixed-use building at the northwest corner of Holmes Avenue and Jefferson Street will include about 200 loft apartments, 20,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and a large on-site parking garage.

Charlie and Sasha Sealy during construction of the $12.5 million Belk Hudson Lofts apartment building in 2012. (Eric Schultz/eschultz@al.com)

"I'm super excited about this project," Sealy told AL.com Thursday. "I believe it will be another game-changer for downtown."

Sealy has been negotiating with Huntsville officials for months to acquire his preferred site: a large parking lot across Jefferson Street from the federal courthouse, and two blocks from the Courthouse Square.

At its meeting tonight, the Huntsville City Council will consider selling Sealy Property Development a $10,000 option to place a hold on the city-owned land for one year. That would give Sealy and his business partners time have it tested, surveyed and inspected.

If no red flags are discovered, The Avenue could begin rising next fall and open in early 2016.

Sealy said he plans to launch an aggressive restaurant and retail leasing campaign in the first quarter of 2014 to identify tenants for the building's multiple street-level storefronts.

"We've had quite a few calls already," he said. "I envision we'll end up mostly with smaller retailers and casual dining options, with maybe one or two significant restaurants or larger retail spaces."

Under the proposed development agreement, Sealy's company would lease the 2.7-acre apartment site from the city for $100 a year during the first 50 years. The rent would jump to $120,000 annually after that.

The agreement calls on the city to improve the area surrounding The Avenue with heavy landscaping, brick-trimmed sidewalks, new street lamps and traffic lights, and more on-street parking. Huntsville would also build a new downtown road behind the apartments connecting Jefferson Street and Spragins Avenue.

Manager of Planning and Zoning Administration Marie Bostick said the city's infrastructure commitments to the Sealy project are estimated at $2.8 million.

Sealy said he would cover all construction costs for the apartment building and parking deck, which would include at least 40 spaces for public use. He estimates The Avenue will cost between $30 million and $32 million.

Sealy said he wants a mix of retailers that will work well with people living upstairs. Downtown could use more "fast casual" dining spots, he said, plus service-oriented businesses such as salons and dry cleaners.

Bostick said the development agreement gives the city control over The Avenue's appearance. It must be a minimum of five stories tall, she said, with only natural materials such as stone, brick and glass on the outside.

"This is a major entrance into downtown, so the height requirement and pedestrian friendliness were really key," said Bostick. "We think it's going to be a wonderful extension of what's already going on downtown."