Developer seeks to amend plans for Village Green amphitheater at Stadium Trace Village
The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday night recommended the Hoover City Council approve an amended plan for the Village Green entertainment area at Stadium Trace Village.
Original plans for the entertainment area included an outdoor amphitheater designed to accommodate up to 1,200 people, but the developer has modified those crowd capacity projections to 600 to 800 people.
Developer Will Kadish with Broad Metro said the size of the amphitheater space has substantially maintained its original dimensions. However, the lower crowd projections account for blanket and picnic-style seating in a berm area rather than calculations based on people standing there.
“This change was meant to allow for better patron accommodations and comfort as well as additional easy access parking,” the company said in a news release.
Technically, there is about 21,000 square feet of space for people, and with typical design guidelines of one person for every seven square feet, the space could accommodate 3,000 people, Kadish said. However, “we’re not looking to stick 100 pounds into a 50-pound bag,” he said.
Also, he wants to make sure there is adequate parking for the development, he said.
“Stadium Trace Village has allocated valuable land within the development specifically to parking to satisfy the expected demand and allow for the timely opening of the venue,” Broad Metro said in the news release.
The plan recommended by the zoning board Monday night includes 159 new parking spaces right next to the amphitheater and restaurant and 105 overflow parking spaces on a 4.9-acre site just to the south of Stadium Trace Village.
However, Kadish on Thursday (Oct. 14) provided an update and said he also has a contract to buy another lot next to Stadium Trace Village at 510 Emery Drive West, which currently is home to an engineering company. He believes he can get another 57 parking spaces there and find another 40 or so parking spaces elsewhere, he said.
Broad Metro is planning to provide a shuttle service to and from the overflow parking lot to the south during special events, but city officials are requiring the developer to provide a pedestrian path between the overflow parking and the Village Green as well.
The exact route is still undetermined. Plans submitted by the developer for Monday’s meeting showed a sidewalk from the overflow parking area, but it follows a path initially in the opposite direction and comes along the road leading back to Stadium Trace Village.
City Planner Mac Martin recommended the developer provide a more direct route from the overflow parking area to the Village Green that includes stairs.
Mark Gonzalez, an engineer working for Broad Metro, said such a stairway would have to climb six stories due to the elevation change and said the developer wanted to avoid that due to cost and the belief that people would not want to climb stairs that far.
The planning commission approved the overall plan with that detail to be reconsidered by the City Council.
Kadish on Thursday said he will continue to review options to satisfy parking demands. He noted that he has the right to use parking at the UAB medical office building in Stadium Trace Village during off hours and had not been including that lot in his previous parking space calculations.
“Additionally, the developer has budgeted to implement new public infrastructure including retaining walls to secure additional parking within proximity of the Village Green and surrounding retail,” Broad Metro’s news release said.
The construction budget for the Village Green has been increased from $3 million to over $5 million to account for infrastructure, purchase of additional land, inflation and additional amphitheater stage and backstage improvements for fine arts, including ballet and theater, the company said.
The Village Green also will proceed with plans for an artisan market with “community-minded tenants as well as other synergetic tenants to compliment the Entertainment District,” Broad Metro said.
The original plan called for a 500-square-foot art gallery that includes space for live art creation by artists, about 800 square feet of studio space for rent by the hour for instructors of classes for things such as yoga, pilates and martial arts, about 300 square feet for a wine tasting room run by a Hoover resident who owns a winery in Calera, and an artisan market to feature goods made in Alabama.
The plan presented Monday calls for a 4,700-square-foot restaurant space and 3,000-square-foot retail building.
Kadish said he is in negotations with Slice Pizza & Brew for the restaurant space but does not yet have a final agreement. “We are working to finalize an agreement that is in the best interest of all parties involved and look forward to announcing the operator by Christmas,” he said.
Plans for the retail building are still being developed, said Jim Masingill, the project manager for Broad Metro.
Kadish said he has nixed plans for six executive-style putting greens to make room for additional parking but still hopes to have a children’s playground and area for outdoor games for all ages, such as bocce ball and cornhole.
Broad Metro no longer is working with Wes Keith, a music producer from Louisiana who was going to be the managing partner for the Village Green, Masingill said.
The new plan is to focus more on this as a “lifestyle venue” more so than just a music venue, Masingill said. It likely won’t draw musicians on the level of someone like country musician Eric Church, he said.
The stage, however, will remain close to the same size as originally planned — roughly 1,200 square feet, Masingill said.
A sound specialist working for Broad Metro told the zoning board that he does not believe there will be any noise impact for the Celebration Village retirement center planned next to Stadium Trace Village or other nearby residential property.
“At peak times of the concert, we should be bleeding in with the sounds of traffic,” the sound specialist said.
City Administrator Allan Rice noted that the amphitheater stage will face away from residential areas.
The planning commission recommended the City Council limit amplified music to the hours of noon to midnight, and Masingill said he anticipates concerts to be over by 10 or 11 p.m. on weekdays and by midnight on weekends.
The new traffic plan submitted with the Village Green calls for four-way stop signs to be added at two intersections in Stadium Trace Village: the intersection of Peridot Place and Amber Drive (by Edgar’s Bakery) and the intersection of Peridot Place and Emery Drive West (by Cajun Roux and Big Whiskey’s American Restaurant and Bar).
Masingill said the developer is eager to get started with construction and hopes to have the Village Green open by July 2022, in time for the World Games softball at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
“That’s an ambitious schedule, but that’s what we’d like to do,” he said.
Kadish on Thursday expressed frustration with some people’s opinions that he is reducing the quality of the development to cut costs and said that is not the case.
All the changes being made to the Village Green are designed to make it a better development for the community and have actually cost him a significant amount of additional money, he said.
“I’ve spared no expense,” Kadish said. “This is where I live. I really care. … We’re going to get it right.”
The Hoover City Council is scheduled to have a public hearing and vote on the Village Green plans at its Nov. 15 meeting.
In other business Monday night, the zoning board recommended the City Council approve plans for a Camp Bow-Wow dog day care, grooming and training facility in part of the current Hoover Fitness building at 2153 Clearbrook Road, just south of Bluff Park Village and across from Shades Mountain Plaza. The facility would be limited to 55 animals, with no more than 20 dogs outside at the same time and no dogs outside at all between the hours of 6 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 4:56 p.m. on Oct. 14 with additional information from developer Will Kadish of the Broad Metro development company, partially to clarify comments made by representatives of his company at Monday's meeting of the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission.