New York developer amends plans for 44-acre shopping center off I-459, Alabama 150

The New York-based development company that is planning a 44-acre shopping center on John Hawkins Parkway between Interstate 459 and Stadium Trace Parkway today released a new conceptual plan for the property.

Plans for the center, originally called Buc’s Landing but now referred to as Stadium Trace Village on plans, include a 70,000-square-foot “experiential” retail store, an organic grocery store, 40,000-square-foot medical center, 35,000-square-foot village with attached shops and restaurants and various outparcels for hotels or other tenants, said Will Kadish, marketing director for Broad Metro LLC of New York.

The highly visible site has attracted much attention in the past two weeks as work crews have been clearing trees and brush from the land.

Hoover residents are eager to learn what tenants are planned, but Kadish said he’s not able to reveal names yet due to confidentiality agreements.

He did say, however, that an “experiential” retailer has signed a letter of intent to locate there. When asked what an experiential retailer is, Kadish said Bass Pro Shops fits within that category, but this store will be smaller than a Bass Pro Shops.

The medical tenant planned is a familiar world-renowned name, and the grocer is already in the Birmingham market but not as convenient to western Hoover as this site is, Kadish said.

Broad Metro LLC was attracted to this site because of its nearly 1,500 feet of frontage along I-459 and more than 2,000 feet of frontage on John Hawkins Parkway, also known as Alabama 150.

“This is a special property. It fronts I-459. It fronts 150. It’s on the way to Tuscaloosa. It’s on the way to Birmingham,” said Kadish, whose son attends the University of Alabama. “I look at this property as heaven on earth.”

The Grove shopping center, catty-cornered to this site across I-459, is a good location, but it doesn’t have the visibility this site does, Kadish said. The site also is ideal for hotels that can accommodate visitors to the Hoover Metropolitan Complex and Hoover High School, according to the company’s website.

Access to the site will come directly from John Hawkins Parkway and Emery Drive, the first street off Stadium Trace Parkway, the conceptual plan shows.

The entrance off Stadium Trace Parkway will be located at the existing traffic light at Princeton Way, which goes in front of the former Winn-Dixie shopping center on the north side of Stadium Trace Parkway, Hoover City Engineer Rodney Long said.

The developer will create additional dedicated turn lanes to allow for easy access, the Broad Metro website said. Several developers have worked to provide conceptual plans for a renewed Stadium Trace Parkway entrance as well, the website said.

Richard Young, a foreman for the W.S. Newell & Sons construction company doing the clearing and grading work, said his company will be taking about 60 feet of dirt off the hill close to Stadium Trace and filling in other parts of the site to make it more level. They also will relocate some of the power lines that cut across the property, he said.

Some Hoover residents have been complaining about the destruction of so many trees to build the shopping center.

The Broad Metro website says that landscape designs will incorporate the transplanting of native trees and new specimens that will thrive with proper spacing and coordinate the planned entrance designs. The trees will shelter winding sidewalks and paths that connect to a city-designed bicycle plan, the website says.

Kadish said his company has been working on this project for two years and coordinating with city officials to make it something the community will like. Original plans called for two big-box stores and a lot of outparcels, but city leaders indicated they wanted to see something different, Kadish said. Broad Metro worked with Gonzalez-Strength & Associates to come up with a different design and put that on their website for people to see. After more feedback, a new design was released today with more of a village feel with a main street and sidewalks.

“It’s not going to be your typical big-box power center,” Kadish said. “We’re trying to be sensitive … We’re taking very good care with this one.”

Broad Metro, owned by his father, Lawrence Kadish, has invested more than $20 million in this development, including $12 million for clearing, grading and road improvement, Will Kadish said. The company even spent $1.5 million on erosion control measures to protect a “bone-dry” stream on the property, he said.

The commercial zoning for the property would allow an automotive dealership, but city officials indicated they don’t want to see that there, and Broad Metro is not interested in pursuing that option, Kadish said. The company wants to attract tenants that will be beneficial for the city, he said.

His father is an established developer with properties in 42 states, he said. At one time, his father was Kmart’s largest landlord, he said. His father’s developments also have included a lot of Winn-Dixie, Kroger and Safeway stores, he said.

Broad Metro purchased 31 of the 44 acres from the Chichester family and 13 acres from U.S. Steel, Kadish said. The company also has an option with the Chichester family to purchase another 125 acres along I-459 on the south side of a large utility transmission line that cuts across the Chichester property, Kadish said.

The first development pad on the 44-acre parcel should be graded and ready for development as early as January 2018, Kadish said. The projected opening date for the development is the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the website.

Partners on the project include Gonzalez-Strength & Associates for engineering, MAP Development for construction, Skippper Consulting for traffic engineering and consulting, Contour Engineering for geotechnical engineering, and Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz for legal services.