Developers want Hoover to annex 833-acre Everlee development next to Ross Bridge

Signature Homes and Marbury Properties are seeking to bring their 833-acre new development next to Ross Bridge and Deer Valley into the city of Hoover, Signature Homes President Jonathan Belcher said.

But first the developers want Hoover to give zoning approval for the property, which is along Alabama 150 across from Lake Cyrus and now being called Everlee.

Belcher plans to make a presentation to Hoover’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday, Jan. 11, at 5:30 p.m. No vote is scheduled for that night. Instead, the case is set for a public hearing with the zoning board and potential vote on Feb. 8.

Jefferson County already has given approval for developers to put up to 2,800 residential units and 600,000 square feet of commercial space on the Everlee property, but Belcher said the developers now want to annex it into Hoover.

The biggest obstacle with bringing the property into Hoover was that the Hoover school system did not have the capacity to serve additional students that likely would come from the development, Belcher said in September.

But now, Signature Homes has worked out an agreement with U.S. Steel to purchase development rights for up to 1,944 houses for which U.S. Steel gained approval from the city of Hoover in an annexation agreement decades ago, Belcher said. Those houses already were included in the Hoover school system’s calculations when school officials drew up the most recent school rezoning plan, he said.

U.S. Steel still has the right to develop up to 1,944 houses on the Trigger Creek property on the south side of Shelby County 52, also known as Morgan Road. But Signature Homes has worked out an agreement to purchase the right to develop those homes from U.S. Steel and transfer those housing units to the Everlee property, if the city of Hoover will approve that transfer, Belcher said. Also, U.S. Steel has agreed to deannex the Trigger Creek property, which is about 868 acres, from the city of Hoover if the Everlee proposal is approved, he said.

A revised proposal for the Everlee property would include 2,344 homes instead of the 2,800 homes approved by Jefferson County, Belcher said. The 2,344-home Everlee development would have 400 more homes than were approved conceptually for Trigger Creek. However, 600 of the homes in Everlee would be restricted to people age 55 and older and people without children under the age of 18 living in the home, Belcher said. The net effect then would be 200 fewer homes that potentially would produce children for Hoover City Schools than is currently allowed on the Trigger Creek property, he said.

All these numbers also don’t take into account that 290 homes in the Abingdon and Abingdon by the River communities in Trace Crosssings also are age-restricted and thus won’t produce children for Hoover City Schools, Belcher said.

Half of the 600 age-restricted homes in Everlee would be apartments for rent, but they would not feel like typical apartments set aside as a stand-alone apartment development, Belcher said. Instead they would be designed to weave into the fabric of the overall development, providing a mix of different types of housing and commercial and office space in the same general area, he said.

Signature Homes also believes it would be easier for the city of Hoover to provide services to the Everlee property than to the Trigger Creek property because there already are two fire stations in the vicinity of Everlee, Belcher said.

The general design concept for Everlee would not change significantly from what was approved by Jefferson County, Belcher said. The community would have four primary parts:

1. A Village Center on 156 acres in the middle of the property — roughly a mile off Alabama 150 — with up to 600 single-family homes similar to what is found in the Ross Bridge Village Center, except about three times as large as the Ross Bridge Village Center, Belcher said. Up to 300 of those single-family homes would be restricted to people age 55 and older. There also would be a small amount of convenience commercial development in the Village Center, such as a small restaurant, and a community amenity center that includes a fitness center and gathering spaces, Belcher said.
2. A Town Center on 142 acres closest to Alabama 150 with up to 444 residential units, 100 of which would be restricted to one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments for rent above retail or office space, Belcher said. Developers have learned from doing the Ross Bridge and Trace Crossings developments that there is a desire in the community to have affordable places where young college graduates can come back to Hoover to start their young adult lives, he said. The Town Center also would include 250,000 square feet of commercial space, including about 40 acres of a core area with a mixture of office, retail, restaurants and maybe a grocery store and hotel.
3. A planned residential area with 1,000 single-family detached homes on 278 acres.
4. Two hundred and fifty-seven acres of mostly undisturbed property that would be left natural, except for the development of a park along Shades Creek. The Everlee property has about 3,400 feet along Shades Creek that so far few people have been able to see or enjoy, Belcher said. Development of a trail along the creek would provide a recreational amenity and could connect to other nearby trails such as the Lakeshore Trail along Lakeshore Parkway and trails in the Moss Rock Preserve, he said. This could create a situation where people could follow pedestrian trails all the way from Mountain Brook to Lake Cyrus, he said. Steps would be taken to protect and preserve Shades Creek, he said.

Signature Homes has purchased the 630 acres that would contain the Village Center and planned residential area, Belcher said. Marbury Properties owns the 203-acre Town Center site (which includes 62 acres of undisturbed land), but he said Signature Homes plans to develop the residential portion of the Town Center.

The Everlee development is expected to have an economic impact of more than $1 billion, Belcher said. He estimates it will lead to an additional $2.25 million a year in property taxes to Hoover City Schools and $5 million a year in property taxes to Jefferson County.

Jefferson County officials are considering whether to dedicate that $5 million a year to help pay for the new Interstate 459 interchange being proposed just south of South Shades Crest Road, Belcher said.

If the developers get a positive recommendation from Hoover’s zoning board, the zoning case then would move to the Hoover City Council for its consideration. If the council approves the zoning for the property, the developers then would submit an official annexation request.

Belcher said he expects the zoning process to take four to six months, so if the zoning and annexation are approved, he would not anticipate beginning work on the property until the end of the summer. It likely would be at least 2022 before actual home construction would begin and 2023 before anyone would be living there, he said.

Belcher said he has presented his ideas with most Hoover City Council members individually and so far has received positive feedback, but no guarantees of approval.

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said Monday night he thus far has only “seen the Reader’s Digest version of the Reader’s Digest version” of the proposal and looks forward to hearing the full presentation Monday night.

Two important things to be considered will be the impact on Hoover City Schools and the availability of city services, the mayor said.

“There’s just a lot of questions to be answered,” Brocato said. “We have to hear all the facts and see the whole proposal to see.”

Hoover Councilman Mike Shaw, the council’s representative on the Planning and Zoning Commission, said the biggest thing city officials have to get their head around is the transfer of 1,944 residential units from one part of town to another.

“It’s a very complicated process. It’s a very complicated document,” Shaw said.

There may be some benefits in moving those housing units from the Trigger Creek property to the land next to Deer Valley and Ross Bridge, Shaw said. Hoover would not have to build another fire station to serve Everlee, but it might have to build one to serve Trigger Creek, he said. Also, the proposed location could make it easier to provide police services, and it has better access to Alabama 150 and could help the city get approval for the new interstate interchange, he said.

It’s very important for people to understand that what the developers are proposing is not adding more residential units to the city’s books, but instead transferring them from one place to another, Shaw said.

There also is the potential deannexation of the large Trigger Creek property to consider, he said.

“There’s a lot of moving parts to it and a lot of things we haven’t looked at in detail,” Shaw said.

He said he wants to make sure the city gives the proposal a detailed look before making up his mind.