Signs of Spring - Dogwood
March 28th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan Area events, Dothan area information, Just for Fun
By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker
http://www.dothanhomesearch.com
The Azalea Dogwood Festival is this weekend. The Dogwood is one of the star attractions. Don’t miss the opportunity to take a ride through some of Dothan’s most beautiful neighborhoods and enjoy the natural beauty our area has to offer.
click on a picture for larger image
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Interested in living along the Azalea Dogwood Trail? CLICK HERE for a map of homes for sale in this part of Dothan.
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Signs of Spring - Wisteria
March 26th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan Area events, Dothan area information, Just for Fun
By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker
http://www.dothanhomesearch.com
The Wisteria Vine?s light purple color can make for a stark contrast to many other plants blooming this time of year. And because it is a vine, it is sometimes hard to tame. The most beautiful of these vines are in places where they are allowed to grow on the side of a building.
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Interested in living along the Azalea Dogwood Trail? CLICK HERE for a map of homes for sale in this part of Dothan.
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Signs of Spring - Spirea
March 26th, 2008 - Categories: CENTURY 21 Homes for Sale, Dothan area information, Just for Fun
By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker
http://www.dothanhomesearch.com
I have heard a Spirea bush called a ?snowball bush? because when you see it from a distance that?s what it looks like. The flowers are actually clustered in groups of a dozen or so blooms, and they are as white as snow.
Interested in living along the Azalea Dogwood Trail? CLICK HERE for a map of homes for sale in this part of Dothan.
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Signs of Spring - Flowering Peach
March 26th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan Area events, Dothan area information, Just for Fun
By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker
http://www.dothanhomesearch.com
Here?s another of the magnificent blooming trees and bushes you?ll find around Dothan this time of year. It is hard to argue that springtime is the most beautiful time of the year.
The Flowering Peach comes in white (shown below), pink, and red. I?m 99% sure this is a Flowering Peach, but feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
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Annual Azalea Dogwood Trail this Sunday
March 25th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan Area events, Dothan area information, Just for Fun
By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker
http://www.dothanhomesearch.com
The Azalea Dogwood Festival marks the annual return of spring to the Dothan area. We have been posting over the past week or so some beautiful pictures of trees and shrubs that are blooming around the area right now. This Sunday, March 30, you can see them first hand by following the 44th Annual Azalea Dogwood trail.
Ribbon cutting will be at 2:00 pm at the corner of West Main and Woodland Drive. After driving the trail, ?Sunday in the Park? festivities will take place at Solomon Park, including entertainment, free refreshments, and children?s games. Make plans now to attend!
Click on the map to enlarge.
There is a good number of homes for sale along the trail, so if you see any home you might be interested in, contact our office to arrange a showing.
Thanks to Rickey Stokes for the map, and also the great coverage of this event.
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The good and the bad of low property taxes
March 24th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan area information, General Commentary, Relocating to Dothan
By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker
http://www.dothanhomesearch.com
Why are Alabama Property Taxes so low?
This was a question posed on Trulia Voices last week. We have also discussed the subject here.
Having some of the lowest property taxes in the country does not mean that the government won’t get in your wallet some other way. Alabama has a state income tax (5% on all income over $3,000 single/$6,000 married) and a state sales tax of 4%. Still, when comparing this tax structure with a high property tax state such as Florida, you’ll see that the tax burden on the citizens of Alabama is still one of the lowest in the country. Alabama residents on average lose 28% of their income to federal, state, and local taxes, which ranks 49th in the nation. Only Oklahoma is lower.
While property owners benefit from the low taxes, there is a downside. Property tax collections in Alabama are used primarily to fund education. A federal lawsuit has been filed on behalf of some Lawrence and Sumter County public school students challenging the state’s property tax system. The plaintiff’s contend that Alabama property tax revenues do not sufficiently fund K-12 schools and that disproportionately hurts black students. You can read the article from the Birmingham News on AL.com (hat tip to Doc’s Political Parlor).
The premise of the lawsuit is that property taxes, and all taxes for that matter, set up by the 1901 Alabama state constitution are racially discriminatory, and that local governments are forced to raise money for education using more regressive taxes, such as a sales tax. It certainly is an interesting argument. It is also certain that voters will not vote to change the property tax structure in Alabama. If this lawsuit is successful, change may be thrust upon us.
UPDATE - The Huntsville Times has a pretty good editorial about the lawsuit. And so does The Times Daily.
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More signs of spring
March 17th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan Area events, Dothan area information
By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker
http://www.dothanhomesearch.com
Bradford Pear trees are in full bloom around Dothan. I snapped these pictures this morning. Bradford Pears are extremely popular in this area, and these pictures reveal why. They also have some of the nicest color in the fall.
There are a few azaleas in bloom around Dothan as well, and I even noticed two blooms on a dogwood tree in my yard this morning. With 70 degree plus temps forecast for all this week, blooms on these two will really start opening up. Look for the annual Azalea Dogwood Trail to be coming up in a couple or three weeks.
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Land deal done for Country Crossing
March 14th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan area information, Real Estate News
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
According to WTVY and The Dothan Eagle, a deal has been signed for the purchase of 779 acres located about eight miles south of Dothan for the new Country Crossing development. The deal reported involved over a dozen parcels of land and about six or seven owners.
Details are still emerging, but you can see an approximate location of the development below. Developer Ronnie Gilley stated that the company overseeing the project, Apogee Attractions, would be here next week to start the design phase, and that construction should begin within 90 days.
Read more on Country Crossing here and here.
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More on Country Crossing development
February 27th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan area information, Real Estate News
By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker
http://www.dothanhomesearch.com
Judy had a great post yesterday about the new Country Crossing development to be located here in Houston County. I have read through some of the documents related to the project, especially the economic impact study, and here are some interesting nuggets.
- The master plan is being completed by Apogee Attractions and Michael Lee Design. Apogee has designed numerous other projects, including Epcot Center, Disneyland Resort, and Universal Studios. I don’t think this will be a couple of metal buildings with a rock driveway.
- Out of the estimated one million visitors forecast to visit Country Crossing once all the venues are completed, only an estimated 15-20% will be local. That is 800,000 visitors coming into our area every year. You think traffic is bad now.
- Eight to ten venues are expected to be open by the second quarter of 2009. That is only about 16 months from now. The commercial district, with retail, commercial, and some lodging, will be the last phase completed, sometime around year six.
- Projections are for over five millions dollars in annual tax revenue generated for Houston County by its fifth year of operation, and over $24 million by year ten. Houston County?s total revenues for 2006 was just over $34.6 million. If the projections work out, this project will effectively double the tax base of Houston County.
- The development is expected to employ between 1,500 and 2,000 people in years one through four, and upwards of 2,500 beyond that, making it the largest employer in Houston County. Southeast Alabama Medical Center is currently the largest employer, with over 2,000 employees.
To give you an idea of the size of this project, I have a map below showing how big about 500 acres is in relation to downtown Dothan. It comes close to one square mile of real estate.
Anyway you look at it, Country Crossing is going to have a huge impact on our area.
What are your thoughts on this project? What are the drawbacks you see? Let us know by commenting below!
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Do you have 500 or so acres you want to sell?
February 26th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan area information, Real Estate News
By: Judy Spears
Broker Associate, CRS, ABR, GRI, CNHS
http://www.judyspears.com
Ronnie Gilley and George Jones may want to talk to you.
More details are to come, but the Houston County Commission yesterday gave their support to a proposed country music themed development in Houston County, somewhere just outside of Dothan. The scope of this development, headed by Gilley and Jones, is huge, and was compared to what has been built in Branson, Missouri as far as size and economic impact.
Tentatively named Country Crossing, the development plans include a 10,000 seat amphitheater, several resort hotels, restaurants and retail shops, and themed stores with ties to various country music artists. Some of the artists mentioned as already supporting this development are Kenny Chesney, Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, Big and Rich, and George Strait.
The economic impact of this development could be staggering. There are currently about 2,800 jobs in Houston County tied to tourism, according to Bob Hendrix, Dothan Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director. This project could potentially add over 4,000 more and draw over a million people to the Dothan area each year. The privately funded project is expected to cost between $100 and $300 million and seems to be on the fast track. A site is expected to be picked within the next couple of weeks.
Here is some coverage from the local media.
Dothan Eagle story includes drawing of the proposed development, details of the possible economic impact, and information on the new regulations concerning charitable bingo related to Country Crossing.
This project was originally planned for the Enterprise area. WDHN has a story on Enterprise reaction to the change in venue.
For a lively discussion among local residents on this project, head over to Wiregrass Live.
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