Two big pieces of Huntsville land are now zoned and ready for the next step. The City Council has approved residential zoning for the 536.68-acre Cleary Farm in east Huntsville and rezoned 291.3 acres near Huntsville International Airport for commercial and industrial park use, the city announced Oct. 22 (via City of Huntsville).
The Cleary property sits west of U.S. 72, on both sides of Little Cove Road, out toward Gurley. The council zoned it Residence 1 and Residence 2, and the city says private developers plan single-family homes there, with much of the land staying in its current natural state.
The zoning is the latest step for a property the city has been bringing in for months. In July, Axios Huntsville reported that the council was setting a vote on the "Cleary Farm Annexation," 536.68 acres just west of the Gurley Recreational Center. The city approved the annexation in August and said at the time that private developers were planning 400 to 500 single-family homes on the land.
Neither city release names the developers or owners, and the October announcement doesn't give a lot count, a site plan or a timeline. Those details typically surface when subdivision plats go to the planning commission.
It's not the only large residential tract moving through the council this year. In July the council also took up rezoning for the Harris Farms development in North Huntsville, which Axios said would allow 1,883 homes on more than 500 acres.
The second tract is on the west side of town, west of County Line Road and south of Interstate 565, near the airport. The council rezoned the 291.3 acres from Highway Business C-4 to the Commercial Industrial Park District, which the city says opens the door to commercial retail and industrial warehouse development. No developer or user was named. WZDX reported the same details for both properties.
Separately, the city annexed about 686 acres last December on the north side of Little Cove Road along U.S. 72 East for potential commercial and industrial use, according to a city release at the time.
Why it matters for Contractors
Zoning is early, and there's no construction date yet for either tract. But 400 to 500 homes on Cleary Farm is years of work for site, utility, framing, roofing and finish trades once lots start coming online, and the city has brought in other big tracts along U.S. 72 to the east as well.
If you're a small builder or sub in Madison County, now's the time to watch the planning commission agendas for preliminary plats on the Cleary property. Those filings usually name the developer and engineer, and that's who you'll want to get in front of, whether you're bidding lots, trade packages or site work. The airport tract is more likely to mean commercial and warehouse shells, which can bring work for concrete, steel, electrical and site contractors.