Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
The Park Trace subdivision sits across the street from Trace Crossings Elementary School.
Trace Crossings, a planned community begun in 1987, has earned a place in Hoover history.
With the exception of Riverchase, it’s the city’s oldest, largest planned development, said planning consultant Bob House.
It’s home to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium and Hoover High School – both of which have iconic sports-world status.
The Hoover Met hosts the annual SEC Baseball Tournament and was home to the Birmingham Barons for 24 years.
Hoover High has won 12 state football titles and was featured in the MTV series “Two-A-Days.”
And adjacent to The Met, Hoover is building an $80 million sports complex that city officials say should attract out-of-town visitors and additional commercial development.
Trace Crossings – developed by U.S. Steel, or USS Real Estate – is a mixed-use area, with residential, commercial and light-industrial uses.
It originally contained about 1,200 acres, with about 260 for houses or apartments, House said.
However, the development has been expanded and now has about 2,225 total acres, said Karen Furlow of Associa McKay Management, which manages the development.
Most of that additional land was for houses. The building of Brock’s Gap Parkway, which was completed in 2001, opened up several new neighborhoods.
Today, Trace Crossings has about 1,270 houses built, House said.
There are plans for about 40 more in the Brock’s Gap area, plus 499 houses on the Lake Wilborn property, where Signatures Homes plans to start building this year.
At press time, negotiations were under way to annex another 211 acres into the city and add 235 acres to Trace Crossings. Plans called for adding 421 houses to Trace Crossings.
Most of the commercial land has been developed, House said.
However, USS Corp. has been trying to arezone additional industrial land for commercial use. This was unpopular, and negotiations have been under way for a resolution.
The 155,000-square-foot Finley Center — an indoor facility for sports, trade shows and other events — is expected to open in May 2017.
When combined with the outdoor sports fields, the complex is expected to have a direct economic impact of $33.4 million in its fifth year.
Councilman Mike Shaw said it’s exciting to think about the positive impact it will have on the community.
