New banquet hall planned in former Martini's Ultra Lounge off Lorna Road
A new banquet hall is expected to open in Hoover in two to three weeks in the former location of Martini’s Ultra Lounge and the Rain nightclub off Lorna Road, the owner of the business said tonight.
Parvez Mulji plans to open the Soiree Event Gallery at 2132 Lorna Ridge Lane. It’s on the back side of the same building that houses Bumpers Billiards, right next to the Carmike 10 discount movie theater.
The Soiree Event Gallery will take up about 18,000 square feet of the building, while Bumpers keeps its existing 7,000 square feet, Mulji said.
Mulji, who also owns the Chevron gasoline station on U.S. 31 across from the Carmike 10 movie theater in Vestavia Hills, said he had always wanted to get into the banquet hall business and felt there was a void in the Hoover area for such a facility.
When his company tried to find a location for corporate events, he had trouble finding a location with enough event space and parking, he said. He finally ran across the former Martini’s and Rain space, he said.
His business will have two banquet areas — one that seats about 400 people and another that seats about 200, he said.
The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission tonight recommended the City Council approve Mulji’s request to offer live entertainment in the business, limited to live bands and disc jockeys for weddings, engagement parties, corporate parties, birthday parties and other private parties that are not open to the public.
Hoover Councilman Mike Shaw, who sits on the zoning board, said he is glad to see Mulji plans to operate a family-friendly establishment. Many people have had concerns about prior problems at that location, Shaw said. In December 2012, two women were shot and killed at Martini’s Ultra Lounge.
Mulji’s request to offer live entertainment now goes to the Hoover City Council for consideration.
In other business tonight, the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission:
- Approved revised preliminary plans for the first phase of the Blackridge subdivision just south of the Lake Wilborn development planned at the end of Stadium Trace Parkway. The first phase has been increased from 126 to 135 lots, but the overall number of homes in Blackridge will remain at 650, Hoover planning consultant Bob House said. The developer, Signature Homes, had changed the layout of the community and moved the location of the community pool and clubhouse to be located in it, Assistant City Engineer Chris Reeves said.
- Approved final plans for a solar panel field that is part of an experimental alternative energy project being implemented by Alabama Power for a section of the Ross Bridge community to be known as Reynolds Landing. An area that is about 400 feet by 180 feet will contain solar panels no taller than 8 feet to help provide power for homes in the community, engineer Bob Easley said.
- Approved final plans to combine three lots into one in the Inverness Office Center complex at the corner of Inverness Center Parkway and Inverness Center Place. There is one office condominium building there now, and the owner plans to build two more buildings on the property, Reeves said.
- Recommended the City Council allow the Little Donkey restaurant to sell liquor for consumption on the premises at 5363 U.S. 280 South, Suite B100.
- Recommended the City Council allow Turner Food Systems to sell alcohol for consumption on the premises at the Finley Center at 1000 RV Trace in the Hoover Metropolitan Complex.
- Recommended the City Council allow Momma Goldberg’s Deli to sell beer and wine for consumption on the premises at 210 Doug Baker Blvd, Suite 200 in The Village at Lee Branch.