Map courtesy of city of Hoover
The Hoover City Council annexed the 169 acres in tan color on Monday, July 28, 2025. Signature Homes plans to combine it with 162 acres from Blackridge and build 331 homes, 150,000 square feet of commercial space and a western bypass road from Morgan Road to South Shades Crest Road near Brock's Gap Parkway.
The Hoover City Council on Monday night voted to annex 169 acres in western Hoover between Blackridge, Trace Crossings and South Shades Crest Road.
The plan is to add 162 acres from Blackridge to the 169 acres and build 331 homes, up to 150,000 square feet of commercial space and the much-talked-about bypass road to ease traffic congestion in western Hoover.
The annexed property is owned by Signature Homes and includes 102 acres that formerly included the Brock’s Gap Training Center shooting range, which Signature bought in October 2023 for $6.5 million, Signature CEO Jonathan Belcher said.
Signature is agreeing to build part of the western bypass road that eventually will stretch from Morgan Road, also known as Shelby County 52, to South Shades Crest Road near Brock’s Gap Parkway. The bypass road would hook into the new Interstate 459 Exit 9 that is far into the planning stages, providing another way for traffic to get from Morgan Road to I-459 other than South Shades Crest Road and Morgan Road.
Signature Homes also has agreed to build a stub road that connects to Blackridge Parkway, providing another way for people who live in Blackridge and Lake Wilborn to get to I-459 other than Stadium Trace Parkway.
The total cost of this portion of the bypass road and connector road is expected to be more than $20 million, and Signature Homes is seeking a mine reclamation grant through the Alabama Department of Labor to help pay for it, Belcher said.
Signature already has received “level one” approval from the state for the grant, but not final approval, he said. If Signature cannot get that grant, the company won’t be able to build the bypass road by itself and will return to the city of Hoover for assistance in paying for it, he said. But he remains hopeful, he said.
Belcher said he was told by the state in January it normally takes nine to 18 months to get through the second phase of approval, so he hopes to get an answer sometime between October of this year and July 2026.
As soon as he gets approval for the mine reclamation grant, he will be ready to begin building the bypass and connector road, he said. The road will have two lanes, but there will be enough right of way reserved to expand to four lanes in the future if ever deemed needed, Belcher said.
The section of the bypass road that Signature so far has agreed to build will end just north of the railroad tracks that separate Blackridge from the "South Blackridge" property, said Ken Grimes, Hoover's city administrator. A condition in the annexation agreement approved by the City Council is that Signature will not be required to build another bridge over railroad tracks. The company already has built two railroad crossings for Blackridge.
The new development, which will have a total of 331 acres, is being called Collier Valley. Collier is another word for coal mine, and this property had coal mines on it prior to the 1970s, Belcher said.
The 331 homes planned for Collier Valley are expected to include a mixture of single-family detached homes, townhomes and up to 40 multi-family units in a mixed-use area, but it could be two years before Signature Homes is ready to come forward with a zoning plan for consideration by the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission, Belcher said.
Signature Homes would contribute a $3,000 "special school fee" to the city for each home, according to the agreement.
The commercial space (up to 150,000 square feet) is expected to include “planned office,” “planned commercial” and mixed-use zoning, much like is in Knox Square and will be in Everlee, Belcher said.
When city officials in late 2020 unveiled plans for the western bypass road, it included plans for an “innovation employment center” for science, technology, engineering and math-related companies along the road. Belcher said his plan still fits within that concept as far as the commercial part of Collier Valley is concerned.
Signature Homes’ plan also would take the existing emergency road, formerly known as the Brock’s Gap gun club road, and turn it into a paved pedestrian and bike trail, Belcher said.
The new bypass road also would cross the historic “Brock’s Gap cut” railbed, considered by history buffs to be a treasure worth saving, but Belcher said the plan is to make the bypass road cross the cut at a point that minimizes the impact and save the vast majority of the cut.
If Signature Homes within three years does not get a zoning plan approved similar in nature to the design concept now presented, the annexation of the 169 acres would be declared null and void.
Also, after the 162 acres is removed from Blackridge and added to Collier Valley, there still will be 1,400 total acres in Blackridge, and the number of homes approved for Blackridge would remain at 854, Belcher said.
The annexation of the 169 acres was approved Monday night with a 6-0 vote of the Hoover City Council. Approving it were council members John Lyda, Curt Posey, Sam Swiney, Casey Middlebrooks, Derrick Murphy and Khristi Driver. Councilman Steve McClinton was the only councilman not in attendance.
Editor's note: This story was updated on Aug. 2 to clarify that Signature Homes so far has agreed to build only a part of the western bypass road. The section of the bypass road that Signature so far has agreed to build will end just north of the railroad tracks that separate Blackridge from the "South Blackridge" property. A condition in the annexation agreement approved by the City Council is that Signature will not be required to build another bridge over railroad tracks. The company already has built two railroad crossings for Blackridge.
