The recent demolition of an old Memorial Parkway shopping center has had drivers -- and Huntsville leaders -- wondering what's next for the prime tract near downtown.

AL.com managed to get some answers from the owner of the property.

Guy Hornbuckle said he intends to put the land up for sale this week and expects heavy interest from retailers and restaurants. He declined to reveal the asking price.

Located on the west side of the Parkway between Governors Drive and Bob Wallace Avenue, the 2.13-acre tract possesses two traits that commercial developers covet: tons of passing traffic; and good visibility from the road.

A 2014 traffic study by the city counted 114,900 vehicles per day using that stretch of the Parkway.

"The property has incredible visibility because it's not hidden by any of the overpasses," Hornbuckle said Tuesday. "And the concentration of traffic from both the neighborhood and the (Parkway) is just remarkable."

The Hornbuckle tract has a long commercial history, starting with the opening of an A&P grocery store around 1957. It was one of the first businesses built along then-new Memorial Parkway.

Hornbuckle's father, Huntsville radio broadcasting pioneer Arnold Hornbuckle, bought the A&P building in 1974 and had it divided into several retail storefronts. His Hornbuckle's Record Shop anchored the small, unnamed strip center until the late 1990s.

Because it sat in the floodway of nearby Huntsville Spring Branch, the property could not easily be redeveloped. That changed in October, when an updated FEMA flood map for Madison County moved the Hornbuckle tract to the less-regulated flood fringe.

"Bottom line, new construction is possible now," said Guy Hornbuckle, who inherited the property when his father died in 2012.

Hornbuckle decided a couple of years ago to stop offering long-term leases to the shopping center's tenants.

The last two businesses to leave were Pearly Gates Natural Foods, now located at 2818 Governors Drive; and Alterations South. The DeeP Comics & Games, which was part of the shopping center but owns its building, is still standing and remains open.